lighting

[krel]

I've noticed many different actnic/vho combinations for 10 gallon tanks (what i have) and am just perplexed by the sheer number of combinations. people using different brands. different setups.

 

i have simple questions really.

 

1) what is a retrofit? does that mean it comes ready to just stick on top of my tank as opposed to a non-retrofit that requires a canopy?

 

2) for a 10 gallon tank. is there a specific wattage guidline i should follow? what's the max wattage suggested for a 10 gallong tank.

 

3) for those of you who have a 10 gallon tanks or tanks of this size, can you refer me to a source material that will give me a basic setup.

 

some people may be sensitive to issue of "biting" or "copying" someone else's setup. i am merley asking for what works. as i know that your successful tanks have good lighting and i wish to simply know the best and what is reliable. any practical suggestions are welcome.

 

-eager to stock, patient in learning. still researching.

 

thank you in advance for your responses. your responses are greatly appreciated and help us sw newbies.

[Kool-cat]

96 watt coarlife power quad, 65 watt coralife power compact> Power compact lighting would satisfy most moderate light loving corals. THese two setups would be good.

[krel]

hey kool-cat, i'm looking into that setup. but can you tell me what are retrofits?

[Cellenzweig]

Hello Krel,

 

1) what is a retrofit? does that mean it comes ready to just stick on top of my tank as opposed to a non-retrofit that requires a canopy?

A retrofit does need a canopy. A retrofit kit comes with a ballast, a reflector and a socket. You provide the canopy and do the work. On the other hand fixtures are "plug and play". If you want one of these, you could consider a coralife powerquad, and orbit (i've heard they're are hit & miss) or a coralife aqualight 2x65w. I'm using the aqualight on my 10g and I'm very happy with it. It's a bit longer than the tank, but it looks good with the legs. And as a benefit, you have two bulbs with their own ballasts and cords. That way you can have actinic come on before and go off after the daylight to simulate dusk and dawn.

http://www.esuweb.com/cardfile.asp?ItemNum...Relationship=36

 

2) for a 10 gallon tank. is there a specific wattage guidline i should follow? what's the max wattage suggested for a 10 gallong tank. [/quote}People say 5w per gallon, but imo it's really meaningless. Not really any guideline. More is better.

 

3) for those of you who have a 10 gallon tanks or tanks of this size, can you refer me to a source material that will give me a basic setup.

Look around here. Use the search tool. I'll give you a few tips.

-use RO water if possible. RO/DI is even better.

- If possible, drill the tank, setup an overflow and put a sump below with a return pump. This increases your water volume and allows you to put any equiptment below, out of site.

- BE PATIENT!

 

some people may be sensitive to issue of "biting" or "copying" someone else's setup. i am merley asking for what works. as i know that your successful tanks have good lighting and i wish to simply know the best and what is reliable. any practical suggestions are welcome.

I don't think many people would be bitter if you copied them. I think most would be honoured.

 

Colin

[ReefMonkeee]

if people dont want you copying their ideaz then they wouldnt have posted it in the first place. There's isnt much orginality when it comes to fish keeping, people tend to go with what works best like the whole idea of the AC500 mod into a Fuge. but i dont think it matter if u bite soomeone's set up or not it's not like your copying them with their aquascaping and everything.

[Cellenzweig]

Good point! The tank will look how you want it to. Aquascape it how you like. Even if you did want to copy someone, it's not really possible. Every piece of rock is unique.

[krel]

hahaha. i never meant to copy aquascaping.. that's too much. but you never know. some people are just sensitive to these things. (too used to car forums) but in any case, i will heed your advice.

 

as far as plug/play, i noticed several members had legs on their light fixtures, is that what you meant?

 

as for wattage, you didn't answer my question regarding the watts. your suggestion is a good example and i may use it but overall is there a general rule regarding the number of watts per gallon of water.

[holyherbiness]

The idea of watts per gallon for corals and stuff is generally an inaccurate estimate

It's all about the intensity and the light that gets through the water (Lumens, was it?)

 

for example, 60 watts over a 10 gallon would mean about 6 watts a gallon, but the same 60 watts over a 3 gallon would mean 20 watts per gallon! Nevertheless, in both cases, this is not enough light to sustain some of the more light intensive (SPS corals or clams)

 

It's all about intensity, distance from lights (a coral on the bottom of an aquarium will receive less light than a coral nearer to the light because water absorbs a certain amount of light) as well as other factors which I am unsure of.

 

The amount of lighting you need also depends on what kind of setup and what you are hoping to keep (For example, fish only systems require minimal lighting, whereas stony coral setups require much more intense amounts of light)

 

Plug and play basically is a phrase used to mean that minimal setup is required for something.

A plug and play light, for example is a light which is complete out of the box and the only set up it requires is plugging it in, hence, plug and play.

[Cellenzweig]

as far as plug/play, i noticed several members had legs on their light fixtures, is that what you meant?

By "Plug & Play", I mean, you don't have to do any wiring yourself. Everytrhing is ready to go. You just put the light on your tank, plug it in and you're all set. As for legs, some brands of lights come with them, others don't. Coralife doesn't - you have to buy them seperate. They're about $10.

 

as for wattage, you didn't answer my question regarding the watts. your suggestion is a good example and i may use it but overall is there a general rule regarding the number of watts per gallon of water.

I personaly don't believe in any "Watts per gallon" rule. There are too many factors involved for that to be accurate. Mainly water depth and lighting intensity. Some lights are more intense that others, allowing them to penetrate deeper into the water. ie. 250w of metal halife will penetrate much deeper than 250w of PC.

[sdbeazley]

Maybe you are confused.

retrofits are mounted in a Canopy and aren`t stand alone fixtures. It`s like making your own lamp for your house out of a socket and powercord. Where as you could just go out and buy a desk lamp.

 

this retrofit is often reccomended as you can keep alot of things under it and is all you will need untill you advance to SPS and Clams.

http://hellolights.com/1851x96wcomf.html

 

 

 

where as this is a complete lighting unit and you can purchase legs to make it not need a canopy.

 

Complete hood

 

BTW, When nano reefers refer to hoods and canopies they mean a wood or other material raised off of the tank to give it a more professional look.

[krel]

-holyherbiness: thanks for your information. i understand now that intensity is important and it will depend on what kind of a setup i want. for now, my main concern will be a fish plus whatever lives on my LR and whatever survives cycling in my LS. I don't plan to go coral or anenemones as i am a newbie in this game just trying to learn as much as i can. If you can suggest a potential setup for this, then i will be grateful.

 

Also, if there isn't a particular setup that will be most beneficial for this setup at the moment, is there a such thing as too much intensity?

 

-cellenzweig: thanks for clearing up "plug and play". and just as the before with holyherbiness, is there such a thing as too much intensity? and same question, what kind of setup will i be looking at, wattage and lamps? VHO, actnic, PC, metal halide?

 

-sdbeazley: you are correct, my initial impression of "retrofit" was way off base. thanks for the links. those are invaluable as they also have FYI and some additional information that is very helpful. most online e-markets have the products but lack clarity in their descriptions. they assume everyone has already done their research and doesn't need to the additional and "superflous" information that, we noobies need.

[Cellenzweig]

"-cellenzweig: thanks for clearing up "plug and play". and just as the before with holyherbiness, is there such a thing as too much intensity? and same question, what kind of setup will i be looking at, wattage and lamps? VHO, actnic, PC, metal halide? "

 

Too much intensity not really, but depends on what you want to keep. Some mushrooms and low light corals may bleach under heavy MH lighting. You can always put those corals at the bottom of the tank or in shaded areas. But if all you want is softies, theres no point in going MH..

 

You have a few options for setups. I'll outline some of them and what the benefits/downsides are.

 

-Power compact. These are great for pretty much all softies and most LPS . I personally use a 2x56w aqualight. It is an aluminum fixture (pretty nice looking) with one 10000k bulb and one actinic. It has 2 built in ballasts with seperate cords allowing you to run actinic alone. You could also go with a 96w powerquad. This is almost the same, but only one 50/50 bulb (half white, half actinic) and one ballast.

 

Or you could get a retrofit if you have/want to build a canopy.

 

benefits

- simple (especially if you get a fixture)

- not too expensive

- good light output

 

drawbacks

- bulbs only last 6-9 months and are expensive

 

 

VHO. Pretty intense light. Softies and LPS will do well. Still not enough for high-light SPS and clams. The shortest bulbs are 2", so with endcaps they would be way longer than a 10g. (the aqualight is 24" too, but looks good with legs, imo)

 

benefits

-pretty bright. Most have internal reflectors, so more efficient.

-bulbs last a year or so.

 

drawbacks

- pretty expensive compared to PC.

 

 

-MH. Very intense. You can keep anything you like under this light, including clams. A 150w double ended halide would be great on a 10g. They can be used with actinics (PC, VHO, T5) to supplement the colour and make the tank look nicer. Some people use 20000k bulbs and no actinics (20000k is very blue)

 

benefits

-bright enough for anything

 

drawbacks

- expensive initially

- produce a lot of heat, so more heat and evaporation.

- may want to buy VHO or PC actinics, so more $$$

[krel]

-cellenzweig: this outline is impressive as well as invaluable.

 

if i may ask a personal question, does your budget affect the lighting? of the three, it seems that PCs are the cheapest but the bulbs seem to be comparative to VHO and MH.

 

i am a college student whose taking this on as a hobby. budget wise, i'm willing to spend about 1k max on this project. with an initial estimate at costs around 500 for setup including all LR and LS if i choose, equipment, etc. do you think it would be feasible to spend the majority of that money on lighting? or should i just go PC?

 

also what size tank do you have with that setup you mentioned?

[Cellenzweig]

Hey Krel,

 

if i may ask a personal question, does your budget affect the lighting? of the three, it seems that PCs are the cheapest but the bulbs seem to be comparative to VHO and MH.

When I started my tank, budget was a big factor. Unfortunately, I didn't do much research and just went with what the LFS guy told me. I ended up a 10g tank & hood with 2x20w 50/50 screw in PCs. That was just enough light to keep some mushrooms and maybe some zoos. Eventually I bought 2 more bulbs so I had 80w. The light was sufficient, but I hated the big bulky canopy I had to build to accomodate them. And also, they began to dim after a couple months.

 

When I finished school and began work, all the sudden I had much more money than I was used to having. Almost immediately, I bought a 2x65w coralife aqualight. Then I built a growout tank (which has now become a fuge) and bought a Jalli 2x55w PC (used) for it. I am very happy with both units. In my tank I keep xenia, gsp, several different zoanthids, blue candycane, flourescent green candycane, a couple different leathers, a goniopora, an octobubble, a green open brain, several riccordia florida and a hydnophora (medium light SPS). Everything is doing very well. So, as you can see, you can keep LOTS of species under PC. Unless you plan on keeping high-light SPS (acroporas, etc...) or clams, MH are overkill (imo).

 

If I had around $500 to spend on a 10g setup, I'd probably go with something like this:

 

-10g tank $10

- Aqualight 2x65w $140

- Ebo-jager 50w heater $25

- 14-15lbs live rock $100

- 15lbs aragonite $20? (If you can get Yardright or Southdown from home depot, it's much cheaper)

-2 minijet powerheads $50

- Salt $30

- B-Ionic $20

- test kits $50

- if I could find it used for a good price, a Remora skimmer. If not, I'd wait until I could afford a good skimmer. Imo, seaclone (which I have and hate) and prizm are garbage.

- A HOB refugium, if money permits. If low on cash, a modified AC500 filter will do the job. (use search tool here to find out about the modifications)

 

If I had more to spend, I would drill the tank for an overflow and returns. Get a sump and return pump and a good skimmer.

 

Now that I can afford it, I'm setting up a 30g with a 250w double ended MH. It should be nice, but I've spent well over a grand on it and there isn't even water in it yet.