BigEyedFeesh Posted August 25, 2004 Share Posted August 25, 2004 Hey everybody, After running a AGA 29g freshwater for 3 years and taking 2 years off, we finally have a house we'll be in for a while and I want to assemble a nano-reef. I have been reading about them now for going on 4 years. I've been surfing around the different messageboards and forums. First things first: Lighting. I really like the options offered with the DIYReef retrokits: - 24" DIYReef retrokit MH and VHO actinic - 175w or 250w MH, IceCap electronic ballast - twin VHO URI super actinics (I am assuming they're 75w) - standard reflector for housing the above The best bulb they seem to offer are the XM line, probably get a 10k bulb from them for $50 and then snag a Ushio 10k bulb from MarineDepot as well (I have been comparing the pics of color at CnidarianReef comparison site). I am going to make my own canopy for the 29 gallong to house this, try to keep the MH at least 10" above the water surface. Of course I am going to mount twin cooling fans on the DIY canopy. Questions: 1. Does this sound like a good setup for eventually trying to put SPS and clam into this reef? 2. The difference between 175w and 250w is only $2 (believe it or not), so any reason not to just get the 250W in case I upgrade down the line to a larger tank? 3. Anything else I should consider? I really like this system because I think it has quality components and it should be easy enough to get, put together, and bolt into a DIY canopy. Look forward to comments, Thanks! Louie total-newb-somewhat Link to comment
impur Posted August 25, 2004 Share Posted August 25, 2004 I will be setting up my 29 soon as well so i've been researching a lot of lighting options. I am going to have a pendant style, but will also use the 250w MH with a 14k bulb since i won't have room for VHOs. Everyone i've talked to with a 29-30 gal says that they love the 250w MH on it. Plus as you've pointed out, if/when you decide to upgrade, you can just pick up another and your set. Link to comment
BigEyedFeesh Posted August 25, 2004 Author Share Posted August 25, 2004 I was beginning to think that maybe the 250w with the two actinics would be too much heat, but I suppose I will mostly run the actinics before and after the 250w depending on how much I like the appearance of the tank with just the 10k 250w MH. Going through that 250w MH bulb comparison site , some of those look like garbage to me, I wouldn't want my tank to look like that. I guess there is a balance between picking what will look good and what will work best and for me, and that is probably the 10k XM line with actinics or the Ushio 10k MH by itself, maybe with the actinics..... Louie Link to comment
skeletor Posted August 26, 2004 Share Posted August 26, 2004 Originally posted by BigEyedFeesh The best bulb they seem to offer are the XM line, probably get a 10k bulb from them for $50 and then snag a Ushio 10k bulb from MarineDepot as well (I have been comparing the pics of color at CnidarianReef comparison site). the 250w xm 10k has a much better par than the ushio: (on an icecap ballast) XM10K - par 530 Ushio - par 414 1. Does this sound like a good setup for eventually trying to put SPS and clam into this reef? yep. 2. The difference between 175w and 250w is only $2 (believe it or not), so any reason not to just get the 250W in case I upgrade down the line to a larger tank? the cost of electricity is also a factor, 250w sucks down a lot more juice, and heat is the other issue but you have fans which will also cause lots of evap so be prepared for that too. 3. Anything else I should consider? moonlights -skeletor- Link to comment
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