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a fish-only tank is overkill to the extreme. Your fish are more likely to get sunburn than show any appreciation of the high-intensity lighting system you are providing them.

So, what lighting system is right for you? The real answer is: it depends. Researching potential tank inhabitants will provide you with an idea of the lighting intensity they'll require to sustain themselves. Providing inadequate lighting is not an option, as most corals will not adapt easily to improper lighting. The best option is to determine what you like, and then build your lighting setup according to the needs of the animals.

A few notes on matching corals to their lighting needs:

A coral's color will depend a lot on its habitat. The same coral, collected from different depths, can look drastically different in color. In general, the symbiotic algae within a coral show a brownish hue. The more brown a coral shows, the deeper it was likely collected from. If a coral's tissue is white or almost white, with accompanying neon colors, odds are it was collected from a shallower depth and will require higher lighting.

Purple encrusting coralline algae grows best in lower lighting conditions with more actinic or blue lighting.

Depth of the tank will play a very key role in the penetration of light. Though it may look uniform to our eyes, even a few inches of water can make a drastic difference in light penetration. Tanks over 20" deep will usually require VHO or metal halide lighting to provide good lighting to lower-level inhabitants.

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