[Saltwater Fish Lover]

Hi all, I am new to this site, I currently have a 40 gallon saltwater aquarium containing a yellow tang, and a striped sailfin tang(holding for my friend while he moves) and the two fish get along fine. The are both still little guys. My filtration method is liverock with a 3 stage bio wheel filter(no bio wheels to avoid nitrates) with a Super Skimmer. Tank conditions are ideal, nitrates 0ppm to 8ppm in between water changes, nitrites 0ppm, ammonia 0ppm. Salinity 1.022, and ph 8.3. I am new to the whole reef thing and was wondering if I can achieve the amount of wattage required to grow some stony corals and soft ones without the store bought lights to avoid the price. I cannot aford a really expensive light for the corals. But I was wondering if I could use another type of light to grow them. Any help is greatly appreciated.

[Saltwater Fish Lover]

Anyone know?

[zhenya]

Hi Saltwater Fish Lover,

Tank conditions are ideal, nitrates 0ppm to 8ppm in between water changes, nitrites 0ppm, ammonia 0ppm. Salinity 1.022, and ph 8.3. I am new to the whole reef thing and was wondering if I can achieve the amount of wattage required to grow some stony corals and soft ones without the store bought lights to avoid the price. I cannot aford a really expensive light for the corals. But I was wondering if I could use another type of light to grow them.

This is pretty broad question, as lights alone don;t make or break a reeftank, but nonetheless it is one of the more important parts of the entire system.
Not to be blunt, but I'm not aware personally of any other types of lighting that is suitable to grow stony corals other than high intensity metal halides or the newer fluorescents like T5 bulbs. The question itself is not difficult to answer but the answers may be highly debateable.
Having said that, if you are handy with electrical components, you can make your light fixture yourself using store bought components, like ballasts and bulbs, reflectors could be purchased or made at home using some highly polished aluminum.
Check out our Light Forum and some searches there for DIY options for lighting. I know of some people who had used shop light fixtures from hardware stores to modify them to house VHO bulbs, and you can certainly grow some stony and soft corals under those.

In the meantime, I think you might want to check into your salinity/specific gravity as it is quite low for a reef tank. Fish only system would be fine with sp.gravity of 1.022 but reef aquariums need full strength sea water ( 35ppt salinity or 1.026 sp. gravity). Your NO3 levels would be much more acceptable for reef tank at 5 or below 5ppm as well. Not to be picky, mind you.

Here's some articles for you to look over if you haven't read them already.
Advanced Aquarist's Online Magazine - Feature Article: Lighting the Reef Aquarium - Spectrum or Intensity?
Advanced Aquarist's Online Magazine - Feature Article: Lighting by Number: "Types" of Zooxanthellae and What They Tell Us

If you need more articles on reef aquaria let us know and we can provide some more links for you.

HTH.