Wanted to know if this was good advice?

theneewguy

New Member
I just wanted to know if this was some good advice, I found this at a website, they had a bunch of advice for starting a reef. I'll e-mail it if anyone wants it. Please let me know i am new to the hobby. Thanks in advance...
There are many different types of lighting you can get. You can either get several light fixtures or just one. I'd recommend getting more than one because the color spectrum is greater in the tank and on your fish. One is still good, but if you want to spend the money on something expensive it is your choice. The better the lights are, the better your reefs and things will grow by photosynthesizing. Many corals require an intense lighting system to speed up their metabolism. A general rule of thumb is to have 2-5 watts per gallon for a reef tank. For fish there isn't really any requirements. There are many types of different color spectrums you can get. Make sure though that they match with what your reefs or inverts require. Choosing the color spectrum for fish isn't as big a deal because most can adapt to almost any color of lighting. For reef tanks fluorescent lighting may not be an intense source. You can try metal halide lamps to cover the top of your tank. Visit as many retailer shops as possible to see a wide variety of choices and choose the most appealing to you. Also a useful thing to have is a timer. You can set the times of when you want your tank to be on or off.
 

bang guy

Moderator
IMO 5WPG is the minimum you should have for a Reef.
Most bulbs designed for saltwater aquariums are wide spectrum. The exception is the Actinic. As far as I know the spectrum makes little difference anyway. Just get a LOT of light that looks good to YOU and the corals can adapt.
 

theneewguy

New Member
thanks, I have another question if you dont mind, Since I am a beginner, what type of corals and inverts should I start off with if any?
 

zanemoseley

Active Member
Color spectrum can sometimes affect coral color especially when using MH's, 20k typically provide better color while 6.5k and 10k provide better growth and less coloring. The poor coloring can sometimes be helped with actinics. The type corals depends on how much lighting you get and how good your water parameters. Ricordia and zoanthids are pretty easy starter soft corals, for a starter SPS coral I'd suggest a montipora digitata, for LPS a brain would be good.
 

zanemoseley

Active Member
Asbury, WPG is only a rough guideline, what you really need to look at is intensity, VHO will never be as intense as MH no matter how much you have of it unless you're measuring PAR at 2" below the surface. MH simply carries intensity better than VHO. I think 10WPG of VHO on your tank is very good, I'd say with good water parameters you can probably keep most all corals, coloring them up may be a different matter for some acropora and other high light corals.
 
Top