Coral?

[Zman16]

After the algea goes away in my tank I plan on getting coral. What kind could I be able to get for my tank?

 

[OCCFan023]

What kind of lighting do you have

 

[Zman16]

Its a 15 watt flourescent hood light.

 

[Sebastiandacrab]

i would guess some zoas or mushrooms

 

[Perfectblue]

Its a 15 watt flourescent hood light.

Imo with that amount of light you wont be able to keep any corals. I would invest in a PowerCompact fixture if you wish to keep corals.

 

[Sebastiandacrab]

yeah thats what i was gunna say but you mite be able to but id buy a better light

 

[Joshua76]

Zoo's and star polyps will do fine under NO lighting, they just wont thrive.

 

[Zman16]

How may watts do coral need? And would star polyps be good for my tank?

 

[Austin815]

yeah a power compact will do really good... but the problem i had with mine, was i was leaving the light on too long, and i had big algae outbreaks! and they aren't as expensive or get as hot as other types of lighting!

 

[Joshua76]

What size is your tank? Try to think less about needing just specific watage and more about spectrum I'm not discounting the need for watage, but people seem to forget how shallow these Nano's are they have no need for max lighting, I've even had a brain thrive in a nano with just PC. If I were in your shoes I would get a 10k bulb or a 50/50 6,500k and Actinic combo, that will be sufficient light to keep some Zoanthids and Star Polyps but even your standard 5k lamp that comes with the national chain light fixtures will be ok (just not optimal). After saying all that I do think you would be happiest with some good 50/50 PC lighting, you will see colors come to life. My suggestion is to get a frag of some star Polyp from your LFS (mine sell frags for around $5) and test it out, if your happy step up to Zoanthids could even try a mushroom. By the time you've tried a couple out maybe you can get a little PC setup. Doing this you can learn what you can keep with out going in the hole.

Best wishes.....Joshua

 

[Zman16]

yeah a power compact will do really good... but the problem i had with mine, was i was leaving the light on too long, and i had big algae outbreaks! and they aren't as expensive or get as hot as other types of lighting!

The same thing happened to me. My light was left on too long and then the algea came.

And like it says in my signature its a ten gallon tank.