Saltwater salt
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jsker
Reefing is all about the adventure
I would suggest sticking with what is working. Once your consumption goes up with the corals, I would suggest dosing Ca, Mg, Alk and elements. I use the balling method for dosing and the balling method has been very successful for my system
Ok we havn't done coral, isn't there some that will do good with low lights as we don't have lighting for them yet, I read there is some that is good with low lightsI would suggest sticking with what is working. Once your consumption goes up with the corals, I would suggest dosing Ca, Mg, Alk and elements. I use the balling method for dosing and the balling method has been very successful for my system
jsker
Reefing is all about the adventure
Mushrooms, chalices, polyps, some zoia's. Arco's are the one the like a lot of light.
Many, many of the best coral tanks in the world use Instant Ocean - use with confidence.
If you get hard corals, you will need to supplement the water with Calcium, Carbonate and Magnesium and maybe some trace elements. You can do this as simply as using driveway melt (DowFlake), baking soda or carbonate and epsom salts - I might suggest that you read up some of the articles that Dr. Holmes-Farley has written on these. Dosing these does not have to be compliacted nor expensive.
With T8, start with some colt coral, kenya tree and some mushrooms. That is not a lot if light, but neither are those. Your nitrates will have to be under 50 and phosphates under 1 (.5 would be better) to do keep these. More demanding corals will need even more light and lower nitrate and phosphate levels.
If you get hard corals, you will need to supplement the water with Calcium, Carbonate and Magnesium and maybe some trace elements. You can do this as simply as using driveway melt (DowFlake), baking soda or carbonate and epsom salts - I might suggest that you read up some of the articles that Dr. Holmes-Farley has written on these. Dosing these does not have to be compliacted nor expensive.
With T8, start with some colt coral, kenya tree and some mushrooms. That is not a lot if light, but neither are those. Your nitrates will have to be under 50 and phosphates under 1 (.5 would be better) to do keep these. More demanding corals will need even more light and lower nitrate and phosphate levels.
A pair of T8s are not enough light for a BTA. Sorry.
You do not have to spend a fortune on lights, but BTA would need an upgrade. If you are looking for cheap suggestions, then hollar.
You do not have to spend a fortune on lights, but BTA would need an upgrade. If you are looking for cheap suggestions, then hollar.
6' Tank - standard 125G? Are your current T8s in a retrofit hood, behind a wall, or in the light kits that came with the tank?
If you are OK with only lighting 4' of tank, just get a 6 bulb Hydroponics T5 unit and put some reef quality bulbs in it. Most people change them every year, but if you are going to have a BTA and some softies, then every other year would be fine. You could get another 2' unit and cover the whole thing. Hydroponics stuff is pretty good, but not as good as reef-quality ATI, but only comes in 2 and 4 foot lengths. This is a lot of bulbs to change if you get two.
Unforutnately, T5s only go up to 60 inches and to get a 60 inch fixture, you have to spend more and get a reef one. You could just get a 60" fixture and not light the outside 6" on each side. This is totally doable if you stack your rocks in such a fashion. 6 bulb would be my choice.
VHOs are available in 72 inch lengths and are really cheap anymore, but they are out of style. The have a nice, loyal base of users so they are still made, but there are no fixtures and you have to retrofit them, which some people are not cool with. 4 bulbs off of a pair of IceCap 660 or 430 ballasts would be pretty cheap and plenty of light. These only do need changed about every other year. You could probably get these done for $250-300 plus retrofit costs with used ballasts. There are less bulbs to change here ongoing. These are nice lights for 6' tanks, but most people have no idea about them and just scoff because they never used them, but they are legit lights but also very out of style.
You could look for used 6' MH fixture like an AquaMedic OceanLight or AquaSpaceLight - 150W HQI are cheap to run and effective and you might be able to get the fixture used for $100 or $200. These need bulbs ever other year if you use the best-of-breed 14K Phoenix bulb. I would not get anything more powerful unless you REALLY want to invest in corals.
You could also use some Chinese Black Box LEDs like Mars Aqua, or the like - there are many, many different kinds of each of these different kinds have plenty of fanboys. They are about $100-150 for each 2' area. These can easily handle what you want to do. In the end, they mostly light the coral the same and you end up paying for features and aesthetics.
Unforutnately, T5s only go up to 60 inches and to get a 60 inch fixture, you have to spend more and get a reef one. You could just get a 60" fixture and not light the outside 6" on each side. This is totally doable if you stack your rocks in such a fashion. 6 bulb would be my choice.
VHOs are available in 72 inch lengths and are really cheap anymore, but they are out of style. The have a nice, loyal base of users so they are still made, but there are no fixtures and you have to retrofit them, which some people are not cool with. 4 bulbs off of a pair of IceCap 660 or 430 ballasts would be pretty cheap and plenty of light. These only do need changed about every other year. You could probably get these done for $250-300 plus retrofit costs with used ballasts. There are less bulbs to change here ongoing. These are nice lights for 6' tanks, but most people have no idea about them and just scoff because they never used them, but they are legit lights but also very out of style.
You could look for used 6' MH fixture like an AquaMedic OceanLight or AquaSpaceLight - 150W HQI are cheap to run and effective and you might be able to get the fixture used for $100 or $200. These need bulbs ever other year if you use the best-of-breed 14K Phoenix bulb. I would not get anything more powerful unless you REALLY want to invest in corals.
You could also use some Chinese Black Box LEDs like Mars Aqua, or the like - there are many, many different kinds of each of these different kinds have plenty of fanboys. They are about $100-150 for each 2' area. These can easily handle what you want to do. In the end, they mostly light the coral the same and you end up paying for features and aesthetics.
Probably not. They stock some really crappy coralife fixtures, none of which are big enough for your tank. Go with amazon, everything you could need in one place! MH, LED, T5s. I think the chinese LED blackboxes would be the most economical choice for you.
