Help/advise required - coral growth/lightling

[160mgzr]

I have just set up a 180 litre jewul vision tank- it currently has 2 lights (triton freshwater and marine 25 watt each)

I have been told by that the level of light i currently have with the 2 tubes will not be strong enough to grow corals and that i should be able to fit a third tube into my current light fitting, does anybody know for sure if i can do this on my tank and how? if not is there any think else i can do or buy?

Another person told be that the lighting i currently have will be sufficent to grow certain types of coral as different types of corals can grow with higher/lower levels of light.

Can anybody steer me in the right direction as i dont know whos advice to take, how can i upgrade my lighting if necessary. and what types of coral can i go for with my current light setting.

Much Appreciated

 

[Navarre]

Hi,
One of my tanks is a Vision 180. You can fit another tube under the lid by piercing the hood in front where the door is. I put an actinic here and it really helped before i changed my lighting. If possible change the current tubes for something more suitable for marins tanks. Freshwater tubes are not designed to help reefs and will promote algea.

If you do this then you will probably be ok with certain soft corals, perhaps a leather mushroom (sarcophyton) or zooanthid buttonpolyps.

If you wish to upgrade then you can get some overtank luminaire t5s that will fit on the Vision. (attached a photo below). These will be adequate for any soft coral IMO, like xenia, starpolyps, yellow polyps etc. I think you would need halides for hard corals though (though i have seen them under T5s)

 

[Reefer 4:19:59]

If i did the conversion correctly, that is ~50 or 55 gallon US? so 18 - 24" deep? Less than 6" substrate? You substrate will also affect which corals will be happy ih your system BTW.
I can't comment on how to add lights, esp as your are a Brit, but check out www.AHSUPPLY.com he has great light kits & ya'll must have folks like that on your side of the pond. I personally have jury rigged all my lights & amazingly have never electrocuted myself or any fish. That is a miricle as I have dunked more fixtures than I can count & am on imtimate terms with my breaker box. If you really want corals you might have to bite the bullet & get a whole new hood/canopy.
Or you fall in love with 'Shrooms - disco or ricordia, they have a lot of names but will survive in your tank with added light - esp if you add T5s as Navarre suggested. Those are awesome - I have not used long enough to truly evaluate & "endorse" but they put out a lot of visible light & my critters respond to 13watts of T5 as much as they do to 65 watts CF - but different lamps and again only a few months so don't know if long term they are sustaining.
Chili corals, gorgonians & sponges may survive & thrive.
One word of advice - with that pitiful illumination (I still suffer with comprable lighting on 1 tank I haven't gone Dr. Frankenstein on yet) - TURNOVER! You need MORE water movement with low ligthts to help combat nuisance algae.

 

[ostrow]

You need to change the lighting altogether for corals. PCs or MHs for sure.

 

[ste2k3]

TMC have just launched T5's to fit into juwel tanks. it may be worth checking them out although I don't know if they are available as of yet?. Also, T5's are cheaper in the long run as the bulbs cost the same but they have a longer life span.

ste