New lights and im going to start adding corals. need advice.

[clearblue]

I received my new PC light setup and soon Ill be shopping for low to medium light Corrals. Ill have to use this light until I can afford a T5 setup. Im sure that these corals will need certain amounts of light/dark intervals please guide me in the right directions as far as setting up my coralife outlet timers, also what kind of nutrients will I need to add for the corals and when should I start adding them?

With my current fish only setup what light intervals should I start using? until I get the corals.


I appreciate everyones help.

30 gallon tank

The new light fixture specs.
30" 130W (65Wx2) Aquarium Power Compact Light
Dimension: 29" X 7" X 2 1/2"
Aquarium power compact fixture for fresh and saltwater aquarium use.
Sleek Aluminium Housing in black finish.
German made HQ light reflector.
Bulti-in fan on the top of the housing.
2 x Dual Blue moon LED module
3x ON/OFF power switches.
3 individual power cords for timer setup.
1x 65w Straight pins 12000K Daylight PC Bulb.
1x 65W Straight pins True Actinic PC Bulb.
1x Acrylic lens.
1pr Flip-able light Stands/legs

 

[dustin_P74]

i run my lights for 13 hours a day. and i would only keep low light corals with that light fixture if any corals at all and you dont need to add any thing to the water for the corals, they will be fine with whats in the water

 

[yote]

You should be alright with a lot of the soft corals.I think srooms would do great as well as zoanthids.Which wont need anything except for the light and what nutrients your fish produce.

 

[newbeemike]

You will be suprised what corals you can have with a pc. I would recommend different zoos, mushrooms, some leathers, different polyps.

I would use the following light scedual.

Blue lights on from 12pm till 2pm by themself (simulate morning).
White lights come on at 2pm till 10 pm. (8 hours)(Blue lights are still on at this time, so both are running) (simulate day).
White lights turn off at 10pm, while blue stay on one more hour till 11pm (simulate early evening).
Moon lights kick on at about 10:45pm (just before blues go out) they are on all night till about 12:30 pm. (Again I am over lapping time)
(notice how my lights overlap turning on and off. I do this so if the timers are not exactly in sinc there wont be a time when one goes off and the other turns on a little late.

To make this easy, follow this:

Blues= 12 PM to 11 PM
Whites= 2 PM to 10 PM (when I am home and awake to enjoy)
Moon= 10:45 PM to 12:30 PM.

My light are running with both on for about 8 hours, morning to night cycle is 12 hours. You need to watch algea growth. and adjust to that. Too long a period with lights can grow unwanted algea.

Other advice put the white lights and fine on a timer that has double plugs. If they are on different single timers you run the risk of them not turning on together and over heating them. Fan and moon lights are some times bigger (block style) and it may be hard to plug next to others. Watch out for those timers that have all the switches (blue , white, moon, extra plugs) a lot of times the fan plug is to big and you cant fit the white one next to it. Timer are pretty cheap and you can get them at Walmart. Make sure the timer has three prongs and not to(common mistake, Ive done it). Oh remember Timers will stop when you cut the power off your equipment to change water or maintain your tank. It may back up your times depending how long your power is off. Might not be much but after a few months it might throw off the times. They will be in sinc with each other, but they might turn of later. 15 to 20 minutes every couple of weeks will change ur time. Sorry this was so long. Good luck

 

[newbeemike]

when I said fine. I meant Fan. sorry

 

[clearblue]

newbeemike - I appreciate your responce no matter the length.I have a 30 gallon, I may run a similar time but back it off a bit to stay away from major algae growth. Ive yet to pick up some corals but will be soon.

 

[reeffreak]

I would do 12 hrs. for corals or 8 or less for fish only.Have the actinics come on one hour before and stay on one hour after the daylights.

Water changes should replenish everything that gets use up in most cases.Still,magnesium,calcium and alkalinity is something you will want to test for in addition to the basic test(ammonia,nitrite,nitrate,pH).You should good lighting wise for LPS and soft corals.