corals and light

[yonkers1]

could use your help guys.in your experiance which corals need the least light.in the process of seeing up a new 75 gallon reef running it as a natural reef the converting it to a vivarium.most of the color will come from sponges and macro alges and a few fish.so im loath to spend a lot on halon tecnology.tony ran the natual reef for 17 yrs with three powerheads one heater and lights.so spare me the advise on machines.

 

[Josh]

I'm not sure what exactly you are trying to do, but you need some sort of light to keep corals. Even the corals that don't specifically require light, they generally eat small creatures that do. These "machines" you refer to are life support for aquariums.

 

[yonkers1]

differanc of opion

thanks for trying but i don,t need excess macines to keep a reef.you do need them for fishtanks--not reefs.i ran a reef for 17 yrs,no wet dries(sewage pumps)skimmers etc. .i am also old enought to remember older techniques for keeping tanks.some cnilarias like mushrooms,zoos,gorgonians,spongs and plants need little light.im afraid you fell for the sales pitch,of the guys who wrote the books,almost all of which are salesman.i have kept aquaria for 60 yrs,i am immune to there pitches.hope i havent offended you,just a difference of opion.

 

[Lenny718]

If you kept aquariums for 60yrs and reefs for 17 than why are you asking such a simple question? Also you come off as a "know it all" which is a bad attitude for a new member asking for help.

 

[yonkers1]

so lenny can you answer my simple question?

 

[Lenny718]

You already answered it yourself which is why this is a very confusing thread. Mushrooms, certain zoos and sponges for starters, but as stated by Josh there food will need light to live.

 

[yonkers1]

thy

lenny as i stated i know how to keep a reeftank with halon lighting question is can i do it with bright flourecent lights.i know it sound impossable,but as the seabees say the diffecult we do right away--the impossable takes a little longer.hope i never reach the point where im so know it all that i know all the answers.i will only add copapods that along with fish that feed only mico alges that the tank produces.i realized that you took the salesmans pitch.i never did.you just take the tact this is the only way the salesman say i can do it--i don,t agree with the pitch.hope i havent agrivated you,i am jist trying to do the impossable.

 

[Mattl22]

Post some pics !!


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[tentacles]

get non photosynthetic corals and feed them? keep the tank near a window and constantly battle algae growth (which could theoretically dissolve most of the system's O2...) I wouldn't really say that everyone here has taken the "salesman" approach, it's more of a practical approach. Most people don't try to keep corals without a light source. I have read about tanks that have run solely on sunlight, but they were 1. built and engineered arduously to be in a specific location and 2. mostly soft coral.

 

[Josh]

I think you are looking for Instant Reefs. They require no lighting or filtration.

www.instantreef.com

 

[Cibo]

WOW Instant Reefs that sounds great! No light I guess can expect the same growth rate with or with out water! Attention reefers the future is here! do they make fish also!!!

 

[fallenlordz]

+1 on the Instant Reefs - LOL

yonkers1 your post are really hard to read. :bigeyes2:

But good luck on what you are trying to accomplish. :bablefish

 

[NYReef]

More important then reefs, learn to spell and how to be nice to fellow reefers. You come off like a humongous, arrogant putz.:lol:

 

[Imbarrie]

Hey everyone be respectful, it's not everyday someone that knows everything comes along to tell us how our successful reef tanks are done completely wrong because we are mistakenly adding lights to them.

I think the last time was switch420 with his miracle algae turf scrubber / fire hazard.

Follow this sage advice and return those optional lighting units and put that money back in your pockets.


Sent from my iPhone using Reefs

 

[jadakiss]

wow crazy thread

 

[Dre]

thanks for trying but i don,t need excess macines to keep a reef.you do need them for fishtanks--not reefs.i ran a reef for 17 yrs,no wet dries(sewage pumps)skimmers etc. .i am also old enought to remember older techniques for keeping tanks.some cnilarias like mushrooms,zoos,gorgonians,spongs and plants need little light.im afraid you fell for the sales pitch,of the guys who wrote the books,almost all of which are salesman.i have kept aquaria for 60 yrs,i am immune to there pitches.hope i havent offended you,just a difference of opion.

You are not immune at all ,what are you talking about man? You say you use tanks ,heaters,power heads and light fixtures with a bulb i would imagine and salt mixes and you say you're immune ,come on .
You fell for it .I could understand if you said you build your own tanks ,pump buckets ,light fixtures and bulbs that would be impressive AFTER 60 YEARS . Second , how can afford ''machines'' buy ''machines'' to make their lifes easier. And how told you we need excess ''machines'' to keep aquatic plants and animals alive ?Don't jump to conclusions because you don't know what we have and what we don't have.For your coral question,above in red or Google nocturnal corals.

 

[artie1209]

Sounds like you are more interested in the Lee Chin "natural method" which goes back to the 70's. Instead of a modern reef it is more like a full size fuge. This can be accomplished with live sand and new live rock, good circulation powerheads, surge deviceor even a simple air pump if you don't mind the daily maintance with salt creep. For lighting PC, t5 or vho lighting Maybe NO fluorescent. Like has been stated Natural lighting is difficult to use and manage. Unless it is a deep water enviroment all life we are trying to keep is dependant on light. Waterchanges with RO water to avoid inputting unnecessary chemistry. A secondary Sump/fuge would aid in keeping the tank stable. The growth on the live rock would be the major life in the tank with a few minor carefully chosen lower light corals add after 6-9 months. Your choices would have to detemnined by lighting chouce abd nuitrient management. Being you are trying to establish an ecosystem, fish would inadvisable because they would be top predetor in a tiny ecosystem. You can look up work by Lee Chin, Martin Moe, and Jubert to get Ideas. Certianly Mr Moe is not a Salesman. Good luck with your efforts and keep us posted to your sucesses and failures, this is all about the exchange of ideas and knowledge.

 

[yonkers1]

thy folks

 

[Dre]

thanks for trying but i don,t need excess macines to keep a reef.you do need them for fishtanks--not reefs.i ran a reef for 17 yrs,no wet dries(sewage pumps)skimmers etc. .i am also old enought to remember older techniques for keeping tanks.some cnilarias like mushrooms,zoos,gorgonians,spongs and plants need little light.im afraid you fell for the sales pitch,of the guys who wrote the books,almost all of which are salesman.i have kept aquaria for 60 yrs,i am immune to there pitches.hope i havent offended you,just a difference of opion.

Don't get me wrong bro, you like what you like.Full power to you as a matter of fact i would love to see the finished product .I have my own way of doing things as well.But if you're setting up a tank you have fallen for the sales pitch bottom line.

 

[yonkers1]

my apologies folks,i guess you don,t agree with what im going to do--ok,different strokes---i just want to test the limits. from an earlier tank i i know that i don,t need to run the reef,mother nature can do a better job then i can. i know i don,t need sewage pumps(wet dries) skimmers etc,now i want to test the limits on lighting.i can,t tell what those limits are yet--but i will find out.