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Hi, this is my first post on the board so of course I've got some newb questions for you guys. I'm still in the planning stages for my future tank, I haven't even bought anything yet and it might be a couple months or so before I start it. I always like to be well informed before I start on something like this, and from what I've read so far that is a good thing.
I've got a friend who's kind of gotten me hooked on salt water tank keeping, after I saw his set up and how cool it is, I decided I'd like to give it a try. His tank is pretty big so probably on a smaller scale. He also posts here and told me about it, but I don't know his screen name. Anyhow here's what I'm considering, I'm thinking a 40-50 gallon tank, with a deep sand bed and live rock. I'd like to start off with fish and then add some hard corals one I get everything going. I think I'm going to go for metal halide lights, so that light isn't an issue when I go to put corals in. As for my questions, here goes:
1. For the afore mention tank and setup, how many MH lights will I need at how many watts a piece to provide adequate lighting for corals?
2. Will 10,000k be a good temperature light for various kinds of corals and fish? I've seen pictures in JB NY's thread of the different temps and that one seems to look the best to me, so once I'm ready I'll look for corals that do well in that range light. Offhand is there a fair variety that do well at that bandwidth? I'm trying not to create an environment that only a limited number of animals can survive in.
3. As far as the UV emissions of the MH lighting, you mentioned needing a filter between the lights and you so that you won't get burned by it. Will the fish require this filter also? Or does the water filter it for them? I'm thinking as long as the lights are fully enclosed in the hood, it should be safe not having that buffer underneath them, as long as I don't leave them on when I'm taking the hood off or anything. I'm thinking it would take some extended exposure to cause the burns you were talking about, but I wanted to be sure the fish would be insulated from this if there is no buffer. Or is the buffer a definite requirement?
Thats about it for now. I'll probably have tons more later on. Thanks!
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