And Then There Was Light!

[Demosthenes]

Okay, I have a 20H, and it has a 4-5" DSB, 40 lbs of LR, a wet/dry up to 180, and a SeaClone 100. The return pump runs at 600gph after head pressure, so the tank is turned over roughly 30 times an hour. I'm not sure if it's overkill, but it's been going great so far. I currently have a temporary resident, a Yellow Tang, but I'm just QT'ing it for awhile. I plan to house a Long-Finned Sleeper Goby, a Magnificent Firefish, and 2 Ocellaris Clowns. The clowns will host a Ritteri or Bubble Tip Anemone. I want to keep SPS and one or two Maxima Clams, and thus, the lighting becomes an issue. I currently have a single 15W bulb, but that's only until my MH pendant comes in, however the coralline has grown like crazy. I'm getting a 400W MH Pendant that will hang about 10" above the water, and the hood will be removed, so an open tank. I am unsure as to whether this is too intense for the lighting. I am also unsure as to whether to get 20K or 10K for the bulb. Does anything sound like overkill? Forsee any problems with livestock or filtration? Thanks for your help.

[NanoReefer53]

whoa man ! overkill ! not on the lighting, but on the livestock, it's just way too much.

 

(1) tangs shouldn't be kept in such a small space because they swim almost constantly and a lot.

 

(2) with 40lbs of live rock I would suggest only keep 2 fish in there.

 

(3) the anemone has gotta go. They move around a lot and if u plan to keep clams and SPS they're all just gonna get stung to death.

 

(4) take out the bioballs in the wet/dry, liverock already takes care of filteration and the bioballs will be like a nitrate factory (which I guess can be good only if u have a slightly large clam population). Also from what I hear the seaclone is very inefficient so invest in a better skimmer.

 

 

As for lighting, i see no problems with that. Go with the 10k because if u get a 20k you'll need an HQI, HPS, of PS ballast to run it or else it'll look too blue. If u do decide to upgrade the ballasts, the 20k would be a really good choice. Also, with what you want, be patient. SPS and clams need stable superb water quality so don't start stockin right away.

[JIM27]

Ditch the wet/dry, they're great for fish only tanks with little lr, but not for reefs. Your lr is the only biofiltration you'll need. I agree with nanoreefer on the lighting and no tangs.

[MKramer]

Agreeing with everything so far, except the 2 fish limit. Becase the pair of clowns will happy take to just one portion of the tank, it leaves a lot of unclaimed water for another fish.

 

But since no one answered your light color questions.... If you're only going to have one bulb, make it a 20000K. A 10000K doesn't provide enough actinic. Although, with the wattage you're tlaking about, I suppose it could. However, I think the 20000K is quite unnatural-looking, and would rather go with a 10000K plus supplemental actinic (wouldn't need to be much).

[Demosthenes]

Thanks, I put the Wet/Dry on there because I figured it would help out the tank, and it was an extra one, but now I'm thinking against it. As for the SeaClone, I also already had that in the wet/dry, and IMO, a SeaClone 100 can handle a 20H. As for the Tang, I thought I mentioned he was in there for a short QT session. He was going to go into my 75, but now I'm thinking of moving him into my newly ordered 150. Thanks for the help.

[yrureefing]

I think you should use less live rock. You won't have room for your fish to swim and you corals. I would go 20k but get an e-ballast or hqi. Deffinetly get rid of the wet/dry. Your fish load seems fine as long as you do your water changes. I don't know about the sea clone. I have seen one in action and it wasn't doing much. Then again it could have just started up so I could be wrong. I agree with nanoreefer53 that you can't keep yhe anemone. Unless you put it in before any other coral and wait until it finds a spot it likes.

[Hinecken]

First off, don't ditch the wet/dry....instead, make it a sump, simply remove your bio-balls and anything else that's going to become a nitrate factory. Now with your new sump, you can place your heater and skimmer under the tank if you haven't allready. I use a sump on my reef tanks and it works great, one of my sumps used to be a wet/dry, I removed the bio-balls and extended the intake tube so it sits below the water line in the sump (that way I don't get a splashing sound or 10 million bubbles in my sump, not to mention the added salt creep). If you wanted some added mech filtration simply put a micron bag around the down tube to catch any nastiness that might be pulled into the sump........btw, there is a new 12000k bulb out that may be a perfect balance for your needs.......