Lighting

Hi Everyone,

Happy Monday! I have a 30 gallon tank that I am setting up for Fiji Live Rock to sell at my store. Can someone please advise what type of lighting I should buy?

thanks a bunch
Patty

 

Just to cure some rock?

You do not need a ton of light. I would say a dual CF or dual T-5 fixture would be more than sufficient.

 

+1 on t5. It doesn't take much to cure. I would get a 10k bulb. The better the spectrum the better the regrowth of algea. But i'm sure you'll be selling very quickly out of a 30 gal.

 

The LR i am getting in tomorrow is cured already. I just want the right light for growth and or once I start adding fish to the tank. When you say a T5 light, I have no idea what you are saying. Can you advise the hood and light for me? If that makes sense.

Thanks again

 

Will this Lighting work?

SolarMaxHO - Double Lamp Fluorescent T5HO Light System w/Moonlight LEDs

36" Double T5 High Output Light System - 39W x 2
Elegant & Sleek: Crafted from pure aluminum for thermal conductivity. The SolarMaxHO. light system makes a bold statement with its sleek & compact design. Finished with an easy to clean matte black protective coating.

• Power & Freedom: Incorporates state of the art electronic ballast technology to run cooler & last longer. Independently controlled lamp channels is supplied clean stable power for optimal performance. Controls easily accessible on back of unit. Multi-Moonlight LEDs are preprogrammed to an "always-on" state.
• Amplify & Focus: Strategically positioned moonlight LEDs are specially tuned & integrated directly into the reflector simulating natural night illumination for a full day/night cycle. The main reflector adopts a light amplifying parabolic design polished to a mirror like finish. As a result, lumen output is magnified exponentially increasing both light penetration & coverage.
• Plug & Play: Ready to use out of the box. Includes acrylic lens cover for moisture and debris protection. Extendable mounting legs also included.
• Safe & Secure: Compression-fit, water resistant lamp sockets safely lock lamp pins & electrical connections away from moisture maintaining safe, reliable, high performing operation.
• Includes:
• (1) 10,000K Daylight Lamp
• (1) Actinic-03 Lamp
• (6) Blue Moonlight LEDs

 

I'm confused, do you own a lfs and want to start selling live rock? If so, no light is needed and if you decide to add one, any flourescent light would do, just enough to see what's in it. As for growth, I'm not sure what you are referring to? (if you do own/work at a lfs, you'll need to do much more research on the subject as hobbyists will be expecting you to be knowledgeable and give good advice).

I also highly recommend not adding fish to the tank. Your hands will be in and out and the rock will constantly be rearranged. Adding fish will require additional filtration, skimmer, carbon etc. The fish will most likely be constantly stressed and prone to disease. A 30 gallon tank isn't very big, so I'd assume the vast majority of the tank will be taken up by the rock with little to no room for fish.

 

Yes I own a LFS. As for growth I was meaning Algae. I was hoping to keep this tank going for 3 or 4 months and then getting another tank going and moving some of the LR to the new tank and then adding fish to the first tank that has been running for 3 or 4 months. I wanted a lighting system that work for the growth of algae and also once fish are added to that first tank.
The second tank will be much bigger to hold much more LR. I only did the 30 gallon now to test drive and see if people in my area are interested in LR.
Make sense?

 

You really don't want to grow algae on the rock as most hobbyists consider it to be a nuisance and try very hard to get rid of it. (I'm assuming you mean macro algae). When you add the fish to the first tank, are you planning on selling those fish or using the first tank as a display tank?

As for lighting, the spectrum for growing algae, if you do do that, if far different than the ideal spectrum for a reef tank. As for fish, any standard flourescent lighting will do, if you want corals, then it's a whole different issue.