What are some low light corals?

[Altohombre]

I was told that the Sun coral is a low light coral. Now I just have the basic lighting that came with my 46g Allglass tank. Are there corals out there that I could buy that don't require more lighting than this? Unfortunately my tank is right under our thermostat and if I got heavy duty lights I would be afraid that it would put off a lot of heat and screw with our apartment temperature.

I have heard that the Sun coral is hard to take care of. Please list any that you know if there are any and I will do my research.

 

[Bifferwine]

The sun coral doesn't require strong lighting, but each polyp has to be hand fed (by you!) every day or every other day. They are very time consuming. I can't think of any other corals off hand that you could keep under those lights. Look into getting T5s for lights, they don't put off heat.

 

[Altohombre]

Can you run a T5 with a glass top?

 

[Bifferwine]

Yeah, but you're better off going with eggcrate for a top instead of glass, no matter what kind of lights you're running. Glass tops keep the tank from breathing and prevent gas exchange at the surface.

 

[cthegame]

Yea and now that i have my tops completely removed, the tank looks cooler. I get this awesome shimmer effect. Both with the day lights and moon lights.

 

[yote]

I agree.Get a good set of T-5s and get rid of those glass tops.You tank will thank you.

 

[bri74]

I was told that the Sun coral is a low light coral. Now I just have the basic lighting that came with my 46g Allglass tank. Are there corals out there that I could buy that don't require more lighting than this? Unfortunately my tank is right under our thermostat and if I got heavy duty lights I would be afraid that it would put off a lot of heat and screw with our apartment temperature.

I have heard that the Sun coral is hard to take care of. Please list any that you know if there are any and I will do my research.

Ya about the temp it does lol I am having the same issue with my 48 flourescent. it raised the temp at my t-stat about 4 degrees once I got it figured out with a remote t-stat its no prob. Just gotta set it a little higher. It doesnt change the temp in the house at all.

 

[Altohombre]

hmm differing opinions on the giving off heat issue. Are florecents the same as what T5 is? I have no idea about lights.

 

[reeffreak]

T5 is a type of florescent lighting but it doesn't put out nearly the heat as other florescents.They also have better PAR(photosynthetic active radiation) per watt than other florescents.Thats why they make good choices for reef lighting.A T5 fixture will probably put out less heat than what you have now.

Non-photosynthetic corals such as those suncorals,carnation and chili corals are to difficult to care for.All will need heavy feeding to survive and with carnation,even with heavy feeding they still wither away.They will all compromise water quality as well.

 

[Altohombre]

I have been looking and it seems that the TEK and the Nova Extreme Pro are the most talked about. TEK seem a little out of my price range and it looks like I would need to hang it up. The Nova looks more my style because it props on top of the tank. Both are still pretty expensive. Damn this hobby.

 

[reeffreak]

Yep,I'm afraid this hobby isn't cheap.Both the Tek and Nova Pro would make great choices.The bulbs aren't that great on the Nova but at least they come with bulbs.The Tek does not come with bulbs and you have to buy the tank riser separately.When cost ISN"T an issue,I would go with the Tek.

 

[Altohombre]

what might a good alternative to both systems be. Something slightly cheaper, but still does a pretty decent job. I think I might wait to go all out if I upgrade tanks in a couple years (or weeks).

 

[reeffreak]

You could go with the regular Nova Extreme.Those do have the bulbs,lunar and tank riser but only have one parabolic reflector for all the bulbs instead of individual reflectors.I believe its $160-170 from the 2Docs.Its good enough for all soft and LPS corals.Some moderate lighting montipora and clams will be okay too.

 

[Bifferwine]

I had the regular old Nova Extremes over my old 55 and kept SPS and anemones. They are much cheaper than the Novas with the individual reflectors, but they are still really good lights.

 

[Alexander]

i agree i love my nova extremes on my 80

 

[yote]

Im running the regular Novas over my 75.Got an anemone and SPS in there with no problems.