Lighting

[bioreef84]

I need to find a light for my 55 gallon saltwater tank..i need to get one that is has a deep color spectruim and high on the kelvin level. i dont know much about this b/c its my first tank but i just put my live rock in and i dont know if i need a light immediately. Where can i find a good priced light that has all the top of the line assets? Also since ive put my live rock in and ive tested the water after letting the rock sit overnight, it seems that everything is perfect and that seems odd since im suppose to have nitrite, nitrate, ammonia, but this is basically none and my pH is perfect.

[charlie]

You need to let us know what types of coral you plan on keeping before we get to far into the lighting thing, OK?

As for the other question. it sounds like you should possibly do a little research. try this link and do a little reading . If you have questions after that, come on back and we will be glad to help.

Click here before you ask, (links to answers)

[bioreef84]

umm...... that didnt help at all.

[Original Fin]

The short answers are that we really can't recommend any products or equipment sources until a lot of other questions have been answered by you, like telling us what you plan to keep in your tank for starters.
There are a lot of people here willing to help you and anyone else regardless of your experience level, but just don't expect it to be with open arms after quips like "umm...... that didnt help at all. " Charlie was pointing you in the right direction, and it was good advice.

Cycling duration with LR usually takes several weeks or more to complete, although I've just read in this article EstBioFiltMar that it may be possible in some rare cases to be "instant" with that method. More likely, IMO that the cycle has not yet begun, and that is why all levels are at zero. Expect in the coming days and weeks for Ammonia to rise first, then when it peaks, nitrites will show up. Then when Nitrites peak, ammonia will have dropped back down to zero, and nitrates will begin to show up. The cycle is more or less complete when Ammonia and Nitrites read zero, but most of us would tell you to wait another week after that just to be sure. Nitrates will continue to accumulate and rise after the cycle has completed, so you will need to change water, or find other means of exporting nitrates down to acceptable levels. (10 ppm or less for a reef).

[gregony]

The short answer is, you generally don't want to put any animals in the tank for many weeks even if your chemistry looks good. Take this time to research what kind of animals you want to keep and what kind of light they require. Also, take this time to ask all the questions you want on this forum. It's cheaper to discover something now than later. This is especially true with lighting. It's sad when you rush into things, get a great looking fish home and watch it get sick and die. Corals are even more sad to watch perish because they usually take weeks to waste away. Or maybe you get the Red Slime so bad, you give just give up the hobby out of frustration. Your water parameters will look good, but if you rush animals into the tank bad things are likely to happen anyway leaving you wondering what went wrong. There's so much going on in the water in the first several weeks, you can't hope to catch everything with your test kits.

[gregony]

But just for the record, for your lighting I would recommend a 2 or a 4 bulb T5 HO fixture (4 bulb if you want to keep stonies). LED's are really awesome, but they're expensive. In 'the Bluff' (as my brother and his friends referred to it back in the day) you'd probably want to shy away from Metal Halides because of heat complications.