So I have a Coralife 29 gallon BioCube with stock lights, I recently just bought a couple zoas and some mushroom corals.im having a little problem trying to understand how much light I should give them since I don’t have LEDs it’s a little hard cause everytime I search on the internet it’s people giving me advice with LEDs. I’m planning on getting them in the future but I kinda need somewhat of a solution for right now
Stock lights
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BighohoReef
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Mushrooms and zoas are traditionally low to moderate light. The everyday reefer normally measures everything in par. I prescribe to the Tidal Gardens par scale (though you’ll find lots of opinions on what folks consider high and low par) here is there scale below:
- Low light: between 30-50 PAR
- Medium light: is between 50-150 PAR
- High light: anything over 150 PAR
You’re probably asking well how do I know the par of my stock lights? Long story short... coralvue lights are probably in the low -mid range most are out of the box, The par can vary depending on the depth and aquascape of your tank. If you want true measurement of par I’d recommend renting a par meter. For the corals you have now, shrooms and zoas it should be okay but not a long term solution.
- Low light: between 30-50 PAR
- Medium light: is between 50-150 PAR
- High light: anything over 150 PAR
You’re probably asking well how do I know the par of my stock lights? Long story short... coralvue lights are probably in the low -mid range most are out of the box, The par can vary depending on the depth and aquascape of your tank. If you want true measurement of par I’d recommend renting a par meter. For the corals you have now, shrooms and zoas it should be okay but not a long term solution.
GlassMunky
2500 Club Member
I assume you mean you have the old Compact Flourescent bulbs like these
If thats the case, then they are on the low end of light, and you can run them both all the time, but most people choose to have the blue/actinic light turn on before the white light and then have the white light turn off before the blue one so that way you sort of mimic a sunrise/sunset.
you should be able to keep most soft corals like mushrooms and zoas and leathers and maybe some LPS like hammers or torches or acans, but i would stay away from any SPS, as the lights just are not strong enough
If thats the case, then they are on the low end of light, and you can run them both all the time, but most people choose to have the blue/actinic light turn on before the white light and then have the white light turn off before the blue one so that way you sort of mimic a sunrise/sunset.
you should be able to keep most soft corals like mushrooms and zoas and leathers and maybe some LPS like hammers or torches or acans, but i would stay away from any SPS, as the lights just are not strong enough
Brian82143
Community Member
As stated above, you should be fine growing soft corals with no problem with the stock lights. Those stock bulbs do get pretty hot though so keep an eye on your tank temperature during summer months.
I ran a 29 biocube 3 years ago and switched the stock lights out with an LED retrofit kit. Steve's LED retrofit kit is what I ran and it worked perfectly with that setup. I was able to grow and maintain any type of coral.
I ran a 29 biocube 3 years ago and switched the stock lights out with an LED retrofit kit. Steve's LED retrofit kit is what I ran and it worked perfectly with that setup. I was able to grow and maintain any type of coral.
Awesome this information helped me out a lot hopefully when everything opens up I’ll post some picturesI assume you mean you have the old Compact Flourescent bulbs like these
If thats the case, then they are on the low end of light, and you can run them both all the time, but most people choose to have the blue/actinic light turn on before the white light and then have the white light turn off before the blue one so that way you sort of mimic a sunrise/sunset.
you should be able to keep most soft corals like mushrooms and zoas and leathers and maybe some LPS like hammers or torches or acans, but i would stay away from any SPS, as the lights just are not strong enough
BighohoReef
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Glad to hear! Mushrooms and zoas are hearty, easy to keep and in my opinion rewarding. Looking forward to seeing some pictures!
