Low Light Corals

[sen5241b]

I've noticed most of the all-in-one tanks like the Oceanic Biocubes, the Red Sea Max and others come with about 2 or 3 watts per gallon lighting systems. Most corals and anemones need around 5 watts per gallon. What corals can I sustain in my Biocube 29 with its under-par 76 watts total?

(BTW, nanotuners.com has a $500 lighting upgrade for the Biocube 29. Maybe later this year.)

 

[yote]

Mushrooms seem to do good in those tanks.As well as xenia.

 

[RyanG]

You could keep some non-photsynthetic corals and with the tank size I dont think it would be such a PITA to feed them. Although water quality could quickly become an issue.

 

[reeffreak]

You should be okay with soft corals and maybe a few LPS corals.I really despise using watts per gallon.The reason I added LPS to the list because nanos are pretty shallow systems.

Duncans,ricordeas,frogspawn,many of the mushrooms are partically nice.

I'm no authority on nano tanks but $500 sure is expensive for lighting on a nano.

 

[joeman]

In the 29g Biocube I've just set up again I previously had various LPS corals that all did really well. I also had a Green Bubble Tip Anemone that kept splitting - normally into two, but once into 3 - every time I did I left one in the Biocube and the other(s) into my 90g... breaks all the rules, I know, but try telling that to the BTA :-)

One thing I will say with these smaller systems, is that it is more difficult to keep the system stable (salinity, temp, etc, etc) as nitrates are kept low only through regular water changes, and the envoronment outside the tank also had a greater impact.

So I agree with Reeffreak in that using 'watts/gallon' might be a bit missleading... but make sure you are rigorous about changing the bulbs every 6 mnths. They lose their range (wavelength) so gradually that you get used to it, and think they don't need changing - but the day you do it's like someone 'turned the light on':lamp5:

 

[cumminz]

Try some suncoral.