sgould

I am fishing (just went back to proof before posting...believe it or not this pun was unintentional!) for suggestions on lighting for a FOWLR tank. I have read that standard flourescent is all that is needed, but that better lighting will result in more and better looking coralline coverage. Pricing for different lighting setups seems to vary pretty dramatically. What are your thoughts?

atmmachine816

A simple flourescent strip light with a special reef bulb will do. If you want coralline your probably going to be needing to test for calcium and alkalinity to make sure the levels for it are met. Besides that I can't help.

Mike

yeah, a 50/50 reef bulb or similar would do well along with what atm said about keeping ph, calcium and alk in line. You need a test kit to monitor these parameters, because you can overdose. Keep these parameters where they should be and you should see coralline growth over time.

sgould

Thanks, Mike...I will look into those tests. I got a saltwater master kit, but it does not include any kind of calcium test.

atmmachine816

Calcium and Alkalinity test kits usually need to be purchased separately. So one for calcium and alkalinity, they happen to be their own little kit in a way.

sgould

The number of test tubes I get to play with is growing exponentially.

atmmachine816

LOL, I'm up to eight plus a refractometer, I'm hoping to get up to 11 my the end of the summer

Louie3

How big is the tank you're setting up? Im useing a 65W PC fixture on my 29g DOWLR

sgould

Setting up a 29 also. I filled it yesterday morning, and the live rock is due to deliver today!

bhcaaron

ATM, what are each of the 11 tubes for?
SGould, how'd it go with the rock?
Louie3, how'd it go with your FOWLR?