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flame me: bta in bc29 ?


TheNorthernLight

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TheNorthernLight

Hello,

 

Now before you flame/beat me up for wanting to keep my BTA in my new biocube 29g tank.. let me explain..

 

I'm downgrading and I would love to keep my bta. I DO plan on either upgrading to either 4x36W pc's, or 1x 70/150 HQI + 2 x 36w PC's.

 

I would like to do this in the next month or so... the BTA would only be leaving the larger tank in 3 weeks or so, and then I'd be upgrading the lighthood within a month of that (mainly due to cashflow... and a vacation at the end of Feb).

 

I KNOW it's not perfect... but does anybody think a Nanocustoms 4.36 would be enough for a bta in my 29g?

 

Or should I only consider HQI for it...

 

I should mention that it's the only coral I have that NEEDS bright light.

 

Thanks for your CONSTRUCTIVE ;) opinions... thanks.

 

Spyrule :ninja:

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If you go HQI that joker is gonna get hot. You might want to think about a chiller if you go that route.

 

UNLESS

 

He goes the topless route. I have a 150w sunpod on my bc29 and it's goooood. Minimal temp flux.

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TheNorthernLight

Actually I live in Canada, so 8 months out of 12 it's cool, so its all good that way, and I'd upgrading the fans in a push-pull config. The other 4 months it would be sitting in the direct airflow of my a/c (albeit 25 feet away).

 

The other part that I'm lucky, is that I'll be transfering my Reefkeeper elite from my large tank to my nano, so I'll have more then average control over the environment.

 

I should also mention that I'd rather not go topless on the tank (although I don't mind when others do around me :haha: )

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I tried to keep a BTA in my 12g nanocube, the PC's weren't enough for the little guy. Gradually became bleached and then just disappeared :( I kept the water pristine, so I'm confident my PC's weren't enough for it.

 

That being said, it was a baby BTA, not much larger than a quarter.

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TheNorthernLight

Ok,

 

That pretty much answers my question.

 

Thats a smaller tank, with the same lighting (or very close to it)... which would equate to more lumens/gallon which means that it probably wasn't enough...

 

Mine is a mature anemone, about the size of a typical desert plate.

 

I'm strongly considering going to dual/Quad T5 and a 70w HQI, with custom fans.

 

Now I just need to source some cheap parts from Canada.

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Guess I'm out of the ordinary cause I kept a bta under pcs for a about 3 years back in 97. It got too big for the tank though and I sold it to a local reefer who had a pair of maroon clowns looking for a home. The tank was 15 gallons if u were wondering the specs. But that was back in 97.

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TheNorthernLight
I have a bta in a 29 gallon biocube with a 150 watt halide and he's been doing good and I have 0 temp issues with a closed top

Do you run a chiller?

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northstar1357

I personally have kept a BTA in a NC12, and now i am Keeping a RBTA too. PC should be enough with every 8 month bulb change. or you can go LED. With PC i do heavy feeding but rarely feed RBTA under LED and its growing

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CoralWhisperer
I have a bta in a 29 gallon biocube with a 150 watt halide and he's been doing good and I have 0 temp issues with a closed top

 

+1

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TheNorthernLight

Ok... stupid me.. I just realized it's a smallish LTA... NOT BTA... do you think that would change the situation?

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Ok... stupid me.. I just realized it's a smallish LTA... NOT BTA... do you think that would change the situation?

 

yes and no... it will get large faster than a BTA, and may have to be rehomed. The good note is a LTA is less light demanding than a BTA. I've always wanted a nice LTA in a nano, but never seen anyone do it before.

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  • 1 year later...
TheNorthernLight

So a looooong overdue update for anybody who ever reads this thread :

 

I decided to go completely LED awhile back, mainly because I was finding PC's we're getting too hot, and I just couldn't justify the potential heat issues with HQI without going topless... something I DID NOT want to do (I have cats... :rolleyes: ).

 

So I went with 2 ReefBrite LED strips in standard WHITE/Actinic setup, and then I later added two Stunner Strip LED's to the hood-flap to light up the front of the aquarium a little more.

 

Since doing so, my BTA (I was wrong originally, they are not LTAs), have grown, and split TWICE now. So now I have 3 Anemone's total, with my two clown fish and one chromis. I sold my Valentini puffer once he started to grow, and I had a filefish for awhile due to an aptasia problem, but I think he swam too close to an anemone the other week and perished from his war wounds.

 

I need to replace him though, because I've had an explosion in aptasia's again! :furious:

 

Anyway, for those who are sitting on the fence about LED lighting... don't. They are awesome, WAAAY less heat/power consumption and just as effective as smaller HQI's or hanging hoods.

 

I'll post a pic tonight of what the tank looks like now.

 

- Spyrule :ninja:

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