this is going to start a riot...

[speakeraddict]

I have been keeping small reef tanks for years. One area of argument that has never slowed in it's passionate discussion is lighting.

 

Most folks say the more the better, MH is best, PC is the best yada, yada, yada... I once saw a guy put a 175w iwasaki bulb over a 5.5 gallon tank! (hope I didn't just offend someone here)

 

Well, I have to respectfully disagree.

 

The first "Nano" I ever saw was a 10 gallon with black dolomite on the bottom 20 pounds of florida live rock and a staggering amount of what today are deemed "MH only" corals. The lighting... two 15w tritons and a blue moon.

 

I bought the same bulb combo from the salesman, some black reef sand (I never did use dolomite) and rushed home the exorcise some neon tetras from their happy home.

 

I set up the tank with liverock from one of my well established tanks and a bunch of coral frags (back then cuttings) and slapped on a skilter and the new bulbs in homemade plastic gutter hood setup. It was just as fabulous looking as his was, actually because it was mine, it looked better.

 

I had to constantly, it seemed, prune corals and scape coralline of the glass. This tank was setup for over 4 years this way with yearly bulb changes (I never waited for them to "turn themselves off") and never once did I lose anything except for a clownfish when I knocked over a piece of liverock on him when I was picking up a leather to prune it (now called "fragging")

 

The point to this long story? Well, you can say what you want and buy what you want but I am running another 10 gallon right now with 3 NO tubes on it and have, thus far, 3 different varieties of leathers, star polyps, xenia, 3 kinds of mushrooms and some weird species of hard coral that I can't identify yet all doing well, once I switched to RO water, but, that is another story in itself.

 

Yes, some of these are low light corals, but the point is, a reef is a mixture of inhabitants so should your nano be. IMHO.

 

I will get another digital camera and take pics as soon as I can afford one, my 3 year old decided this one was a football and he had just made a touchdown!

 

Here is another 10 gallon with 3 no tubes on it also:

http://members.tripod.com/~rbrducky/

(lots of pop ups sorry!)

 

As for tanks deeper than say 12 inches, yes, you probably will need stronger light even for less light loving species, but for small standard sized tanks, I believe that you can have an absolutely stunning aquarium setup with just cheap tubes.

 

I do have to admit to a real liking for the coloring of a 96watt quad 50/50 but I could buy over two years worth of NO bulbs for the price of one bulb alone and not really grow anything that I haven't already.

 

One last note: Please don't try to grow an anemone or a clam without really strong lighting "just to see if you can"...you can't. Don't kill something that beautiful to try and be cheap.

 

speakeraddict

[speakeraddict]

Forgot to mention:

 

Right now I am using GE 10000K bulbs - $7 ea. and home depot 6500K bulbs $6 ea.

 

speakeraddict

[fastredponycar]

any pics of under the lighting hood to give me an idea of how I want to setup my 10g?

[speakeraddict]

I will get them as soon as I get my camera (see comment in the original post).

 

It is simple how I have them now. I have 2 GE 10000K (very blue probably really 20000K) bulbs with a 6500K philips bulb in between them. I used a workhorse 3 ballast (awesome!) and regular leviton med bi-pin endcaps. I also have a sheet of plexi between the bulbs and the water that I wipe every other day to keep it clean. No corrosion thus far and, if it does, I will diy some water proof connections.

 

My reflector is a piece of mirror polished aluminum left over from a cut down reflector.

 

I must say that I am considering adding a 4th bulb a 9325k GE for coloration as I really like them in combination with the 10000K GE's but I like 6500K for growth.

 

speakeraddict

[serjuanca88]

Are you using the GARF method?

[speakeraddict]

Sort of. I don't use plenums. I use a 1.5 inch sand bed and about 15 pounds (guess) of live rock. I have some crabs and snails but need more.

 

I really just use my own way of doing things that works for me.

 

I do however use their dosing method religiously. Seachem products are excellent.

 

I have a AC200 with the sponge in it and purigen and an amiracle 90 HOT CC protein skimmer which does a fantastic job.

 

Other than that no other filtration or water circulation as of right now. In my original 10 gallon I two small power heads in the rear corners. I may add one to this tank as I have a couple little areas behind the rock that gather mulm.

 

Which brings me to another point: Open rock structures. I can't tell you how much easier it is to maintain good flow and to clean a tank with a nice, open rock structure. The "wall o rock method" is really not a good idea IMO.

 

You can take my advice or leave it, I really don't mind. I just hate to see inexperienced aquarists throwing cash away on equipment they don't necessarily need or because they keep killing stuff "trying out new things".

 

BTW, I don't own an RO unit. I buy water from Walmart vending machine and fill my own jugs. This stuff is great! I figured I would have to use over 500 gallons a year at 33 cents a gallon of makeup and water changes to make it break even having my own setup. Not to mention the pain in the but of plumbing the supply and draining the waste water. No thanks, I'll tote it. Especially since Walmart is less than a mile from my house.

 

speakeraddict

[Matt Peacock]

With rock-structure, I agree with you that "the wall" can be problematic (for the record I've seen some absolutely fantastic "wall" tanks) and I prefer a mixture. I like the sides being pretty built-up but the center relatively open, with perhaps a "bridge" somewhere. Think of a valley. I believe this gives a good water-flow and it's more interesting to look at. The built-up sides are useful for hiding inlets/outlets and float switches etc. Also the fish seem to appreciate it.

 

As for lighting, I really don't know. I've seen so many tanks with minimal lighting. Some have done fantastically others have been crippled. I think I'll be looking into LED's for the future, I'm currently trying to assess whether they provide the required wavelengths in a real-life situation.

 

Matt