lighting and corals

jessey

jessey

Large Fish
#1
Dec 25, 2006
548
0
0
37
Tampa, FL
#1
first; can anyone confrim whether this (the 18w) bulb will fit the eclipse 3 gallon hood? i think it should.
Aquarium Lighting: Current Compact Fluorescent Square Pin Bulbs

next.. i'm hoping to buy some corals soon. i have 47 gph of flow in my 3 gallon tank. i'm hoping that's enough, what do you think? i want to start simple, with mushrooms and/or zoas.

i read that while fish/inverts need to be drip acclimated, corals only need to be temperature acclimated. is that true, or was that a bad source? and either way, what do i do after i acclimate the frag? do i just pick it up and drop it on a piece of rock?

also, i never see anything (mushrooms or anything) less than $40 at my lfs. is that reasonable, or should i look elsewhere?

thanks folks.. kind of excited!!

jess <3
 

C

CoolWaters

Superstar Fish
#2
Dec 10, 2006
1,028
1
0
Milpitas
#2
the bulb is abot 9" long so if your hood is shorter then that it wont fit...
also u need to make sure its compatible. like is the ballast for a 18w bulb and is it a straight pin or square.

about acclimated i would play it safe and do the drip and them temperature thing.

many LFS overprice their livestock....u just have to shop around for good deals.
i shopped around and found some $5-10 frags, shrooms, ect

47 gph is pretty good for a 3g but u have to remember that some corals and most mushrooms dont like a lot of flow. placing them in the perfect spot will take a while.

heres a tip go and buy a big plastic bin, heater, and powerhead and premix some water for water changes. worst thing that can happen is your water gets back and your coral dies...and your put in saltwater that isnt properly mixed...their goes $40...
 

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Cichlid-Man

MFT Staff
#3
Jul 9, 2003
8,866
14
38
38
Columbia, SC
www.youtube.com
#3
I drip and temp aclimate them...as well as light aclimate some of the more fussy ones to my lights. I've found my Zoas and shrooms to be really rugged and tough and don't have to have as much care as some of my other coral.

Once aclimated i pick them up and place them in the tank. If they are small enough to blow around even with whatever they are attached to i will reglue them to a bigger piece of rock. But yes basically pick them up and put them in,

As far as pricing goes its a very wide range across the country. $40 would not be bad for a nice mushroom rock with multipule on it or a large zoa colony. Typically my LFS sells Zoa frags anywhere from 5-20 heads/polyps for about $10-24. They also sell mushroom rocks with about 1-4 on them for about $20-30 each. And loose mushrooms for $10.
 

jessey

jessey

Large Fish
#4
Dec 25, 2006
548
0
0
37
Tampa, FL
#4
hhm, ok.. good advice. i know of one other lfs that i need to look into, because i really like the lfs i shop at most of the time but if i can get better prices, that's what i'm looking for! ;)

i'm pretty sure the light will fit. i know it's 18" and i think it's square pins.. i dunno about the ballast though?

matt, when you reglue the corals, what glue do you use? (and where do you get it?)
 

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