"BB" wrote in message ...
Absolutly stunning tanks, Looks like you put alot of time into it. Out of
curisity what are your thoughts on the new Coralife lights, compact tubes i
beleive. I have heard they are wonderfull for plants compared to the basic
set up for lights. Thoughts? If I may ask as well what are you using for a
substrate?

Thanks

BB,
Those are NOT my tanks. They belong to Luis Navarro who I believe
never posts here.

The pictures don't do the tanks any justice. In reallity his tanks
are so striking that one can easily mistake them for artificial.

That being said I'm not sure you would like my opinion on aquarium
lighting, hehe. But here it is:

Light:
If you want plants then throw away the basic light that comes with
your tank. :-)
As far as Compact Fluorescent bulbs are concerned I don't think there
is a big difference between the diferent manufacturers supplying the
US market. Kim that runs AHSupply is known to sell bulbs that he
personally has confidence in. They are not Coralife but most
everybody knows AHSupply - great prices, great service, no glitches in
the product, as simple as that.

Substrate:
Luis uses a rather complex mix of different materials. Without too
many details - his substrte is layered - a base of some sort of
organic substrate, also something to fluff up the substrate and not
let it compact badly, everything is topped off with inert material.
Ask about layered substrate here and I belive many folk will give you
more details. I personally didn't have success with such substrates,
but Luis has.

--Nikolay