porcupine LIGHTING

[xmikebrock]

i have a porc puff and i want to do up the lighting

i have a double flourescent fixture (not willing to by a new one)

and i just bought a actinic bullb

i do not have any coral/invert obviously

but i wantt that natural look


i bought a 10,000k daylight and put that with the actinic but it looked bad i thought, kinda green ish


what if i put a 50/50 in there with the actinic

other suggestions?

i have it with a perfect-a-lamp bulb now, thats kinda purple


if there is any thing i can get to grow red and purple algae i would like that also

[Pufferpunk]

You'll have to add calcium to get coraline algae to grow. You'll have to fool with lighting a bit until you get the color you like. Will your LFS let you take home bulbs to try & then return? Some won't, because folks return their used bulbs instead (jerks!). You really don't have many choices with a PC light though. You might want to install moonlights, since most porcs are nocturnal. At least the ones I observe in the wild are.

[xmikebrock]

coolbeans haha, ill do some research on the moonlights

i was planning on getting a zebra moray soon, to keep with my porc,bright eyes, do you know of hand if the moonlighting would be good for the eel too?

and if i dont do moonlights, you would suggest T5's ??

and what would i need as far as the T5 goes?

or compact flourescent?

[Pufferpunk]

T5s are a ton of $$$ for just FO tanks but do put out some nice colors. I have T5s & moonlights.

[xmikebrock]

so i should be ok with the floures. for now right?

i think i might get some moonlights, cuz they look awesome, haha

as far as the coraline algae

just get some calcium, how should i go about dosing it, does it usually say on the bottle?

[Pufferpunk]

You're going to need to test for it.

[Jivenjune]

T5s aren't too bad on Ebay right now. I've purchased a couple for quite a reasonable price. My 48" double bulb cost me 65; this includes shipping. My 48" quad T5 system with LEDs and a fan cost me 125. They both came with 12000k and actnic blues. Looks beautiful when I actually turn them on, and the wattage is pretty decent. My quad system is 216 watts and my double is half of that. Power compacts and VHO T12s tend to use a bit more wattage from my understanding.

[xmikebrock]

i was checkin out the moonlights

do those pretty much replace my current lighting. so it would only be the moonlight?

and if i go for the moon, i cant grow the coralline then correct?

[Pufferpunk]

Only for night time. They shimmer too!

[xmikebrock]

what shimmers?

the light?

[Pufferpunk]

Moonlights shimmer--very nice!

[xmikebrock]

ohhh haha thats true

[xmikebrock]

eright, so i got everything i need for the coralline and started adding "kents calcium" stuff

tested my kH thi morning and im reading at a 4.0, i dont even know what that means haha

[xmikebrock]

am i doing it right?

what would happen if i put more calcium in than it say on the dosage oon the back f the bottle?

[Pufferpunk]

Aren't you testing for it? There is a delicate balance going on in your tank.
http://www.reeftime.com/reef-chemistry-calculator.asp