Lighting Question

[cwugigi]

This is in response to my earlier post:

I am currently running 2 x 250W MH (14K), 4 65W actinic bulbs, and some led moon lights. It's lighting a 90 gallon FOWLR tank, with 20 gal wet/dry underneath. I want to eventually add corals to this tank, but right now I'm trying to get the coraline algae to take over. I purchased 2 large rocks covered in it, and a few chunks also. They were placed around the tank, and the bottoms of the stuff were scraped clean before I put them in to help seed the rest. Since then (about 3 weeks ago) there has been little algae that has spread, and almost 50% has disappeared. I was first running the hqi bulbs from 9am to 9 pm, and was told that was WAY too much. I cut it back to 12 to 9, and now they're running from 3 to 9 with the actinics coming on an hour before and after. Any idea if this is an appropriate time for corals/coraline algae? Thanks for the advice!

 

[skriz]

Lighting is only part of the equation. You'll need calcium to boost coraline growth. Make sure that your levels are in check and don't worry about it. Before you know it, coraline will have spread everywhere!

Btw, 6 hours without corals is fine. You'll probably want more daylight when you have corals.

 

[purplegorilla]

How old is the tank?

 

[cwugigi]

It was purchased on July 6th, and has had water in it since then. The sump has been running since the end of July.

 

[johnr2604]

Did the coraline rocks get exposed to air for more than a couple of seconds?

 

[cwugigi]

The guy took them out of the water at the petstore, and put them into a bag. Then I took them straight home and put them in water. They were probably out of the water for about 20 minutes in the whole process.

 

[johnr2604]

Well I have to disagree. I have seen coraline bleach with minimal exposure to air but yes it will come back.