AndreaC Posted October 29, 2018 Share Posted October 29, 2018 Hiya My kids and I are conducting an experiment. Its called we have an empty 5gal glass aquarium, spare space under my 300w full spec grow light and were missing my 30g FOWLR that I had to give to my mother (so we still fish sit). I want mainly ricordea and macros but I know myself, there will be a zoa in there somewhere. Goal is to be as minimalist as possible (air powered Whisper for water movement but LR main filter) so in lies my question. The grow light yay or nay? Anyone with experience? It is LED w/ 12 orange, 14 red, 6 infra red, 10 white and 16 blue. I've had it over my aquaponic beta tank and carnivorous plant terrarium. At the specs the surface of the water is at a PAR of 1070 or less since I have it toward the edge and not directly under. I really don't want to add another plug and can fashion a shade cloth if need be just don't want to melt anyone. (Ignore the green power strip safety issue it is being moved, extra grow light only has a 10 inch cord 😒) I know it grows algae well, as evidenced by the beta tank that is due for another scrub, so was thinking start with the macros until they grow in and provide shade for the rics... Thoughts or experience? Thank you much! Quote Link to comment
Clown79 Posted October 29, 2018 Share Posted October 29, 2018 The grow light spectrum will really help aid in algae growth. Red tends to be used very little with corals, it can burn corals. You can get an ABI par38 tuna blue for $23 on amazon that would be a great alternative that won't break the bank. 1 Quote Link to comment
Lula_Mae Posted October 30, 2018 Share Posted October 30, 2018 I probably wouldn't use a plant spectrum light with corals, it can muddy their colors. The lamp suggested by clown is a good one, bluer than I like (I like a bit whiter) but there's several successful picos with it, like Natalia's reef bowl. Quote Link to comment
AndreaC Posted January 20, 2019 Author Share Posted January 20, 2019 Thank you for the replies. I'm sorry it took so long to respond I've been playing and redoing on a budget. I took your advice and went wit the reef light, after 2 months of set up I also switched my 5 and 10 gal around so the reef is now in the 10. Also been keeping an eye out for deals, so live stock aquiring has been slow. Picked up a iced lilac color ric florida and a frag w some green zoas w 1 med and 2 baby mushrooms on it. Yesterday I stopped at big box lfs to find there frag tank looking like crapped apparently they are not ordering anything new until what was in there was gone so they could do a full cleaning to remove all the runaway frags. Picked up a coral frag and found a healthy ric Yuma hiding in the back in the substrate got it home to find it was a big Yuma hiding a baby Yuma and an unknown tag along... looks kinda like a half a zoa. Anyone know what that extra hitch hiker is? Yuma and unknown freebie three of four frags Coral frag Whole tank, need to hang my light back up 1 Quote Link to comment
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