thinking about starting a nano fish tank

[growsomething]

Also, there are low light coral. 

A few stony may even do well set up as high as you can like Acans, but others may know that better than me.

Mushrooms, xenia, rock flower anemone, gsp,  some gorgonia  all may do fine in addition to macro with your planted tank light.

Have you seen @Tigahboy 's macro tank?

[Guest]

28 minutes ago, growsomething said:

Also, there are low light coral. 

A few stony may even do well set up as high as you can like Acans, but others may know that better than me.

Mushrooms, xenia, rock flower anemone, gsp,  some gorgonia  all may do fine in addition to macro with your planted tank light.

Have you seen @Tigahboy 's macro tank?

Thanks! I have not but will check it out now 🙂

[Clown79]

5 hours ago, FreshwaterFishMan said:

Just a question before I get to exited, I own a fluvalsmart planted light from an old tank, and since it is slightly oversized was wondering if I can just adjust the spectrum to be more blues and purples and less whites, or how could I make that work?

Sorry, this is going to be long winded but i wanna try to give you as much info as possible.

 

Lighting for corals is not just the led diode colour but the specs of the leds, kelvins, spread, wattage.

 

Low light vs incorrect lighting is different. 

 

Fw lights are usually 7500-8000k and Reef lights are 10k - 22k

 

For fish and macro it can work but even with the incorrect spectrum, with corals expect that you won't get the fluorescence/growth from them. They will stay a fleshy colour and some may simply sustain life until they can't.

 

Light is very important for corals.

 

You may also get more algae with a light designed for plant growth.

 

I attached 2 pics its from a popular light and shows the difference between fw and sw lighting. It gives you an idea on the difference.

 

Corals that may work:

 

Discosoma or rhodactis Mushrooms could work

 

 leathers

 

Xenia- they love light but lose their pink colour with low light. 

 

Zoas- are finicky, they will not get the pretty colour without heavy blue light.

 

Rfa's- they only get their pretty colour from heavy blue leds otherwise they are actually blah. 

 

Non photosynthetic gorgs but these need lots of food.(not considered beginner coral)

 

Non photosynthetic corals like sun corals, dendros- these need to be fed directly.

@banasophia has some of these. Check out the TOTM of her tank, it very informative and a beautiful 

 

Now that being said, 

There are budget reef lights you can go with that will work when you are ready to upgrade. 

 

After numerous reef tanks and trying to cut costs, the one thing i will honestly tell you- if you want corals get a light designed for corals. It doesn't have to be the expensive brand name but something designed for them.

 

In the end it costs less.

 

I highly recommend checkinh out member journals, totm tanks, brs videos, and the sticky threads here.

[Guest]

44 minutes ago, Clown79 said:

Sorry, this is going to be long winded but i wanna try to give you as much info as possible.

 

Lighting for corals is not just the led diode colour but the specs of the leds, kelvins, spread, wattage.

 

Low light vs incorrect lighting is different. 

 

Fw lights are usually 7500-8000k and Reef lights are 10k - 22k

 

For fish and macro it can work but even with the incorrect spectrum, with corals expect that you won't get the fluorescence/growth from them. They will stay a fleshy colour and some may simply sustain life until they can't.

 

Light is very important for corals.

 

You may also get more algae with a light designed for plant growth.

 

I attached 2 pics its from a popular light and shows the difference between fw and sw lighting. It gives you an idea on the difference.

 

Corals that may work:

 

Discosoma or rhodactis Mushrooms could work

 

 leathers

 

Xenia- they love light but lose their pink colour with low light. 

 

Zoas- are finicky, they will not get the pretty colour without heavy blue light.

 

Rfa's- they only get their pretty colour from heavy blue leds otherwise they are actually blah. 

 

Non photosynthetic gorgs but these need lots of food.(not considered beginner coral)

 

Non photosynthetic corals like sun corals, dendros- these need to be fed directly.

@banasophia has some of these. Check out the TOTM of her tank, it very informative and a beautiful 

 

Now that being said, 

There are budget reef lights you can go with that will work when you are ready to upgrade. 

 

After numerous reef tanks and trying to cut costs, the one thing i will honestly tell you- if you want corals get a light designed for corals. It doesn't have to be the expensive brand name but something designed for them.

 

In the end it costs less.

 

I highly recommend checkinh out member journals, totm tanks, brs videos, and the sticky threads here.

Thanks so much for all the info, I am definitely not dead set on the light I have, so I think I will use it for cycling and the first few macro algae, and some crabs, and by that time I should be done with all the basic setup, so as time goes on I will upgrade all my systems, and start with the light 🙂

 

very glad to have you on the forum, otherwise I would probably end up with some dead very expensive corals! 

[Clown79]

2 hours ago, FreshwaterFishMan said:

Thanks so much for all the info, I am definitely not dead set on the light I have, so I think I will use it for cycling and the first few macro algae, and some crabs, and by that time I should be done with all the basic setup, so as time goes on I will upgrade all my systems, and start with the light 🙂

 

very glad to have you on the forum, otherwise I would probably end up with some dead very expensive corals! 

You're welcome

 

We are all here to help and nano is full of great folks willing to help.

 

There are many ways to run a reef and over time you will see just with the nano members alone, there are different ways to do things.

 

During cycling i would run the lights minimally to not at all, it just encourages algae. 

 

A macro algae tank can be very pretty, there are few members who have macro tanks.

 

Here is a list of lights in all different budgets you can look into while you cycle.

Lighting can be a bit overwhelming, so many options!

 

ABI tuna blue par 38

 

https://www.amazon.com/ABI-Coral-Optimized-Spectrum-PAR38/dp/B01LWP37SD/ref=mp_s_a_1_1?dchild=1&keywords=abi+tuna+blue+led&qid=1596089061&sprefix=abi+tuna&sr=8-1

 

Black box 

https://www.amazon.com/Phlizon-Dimmable-Decoration-Saltwater-Freshwater/dp/B074DRCVC4/ref=mp_s_a_1_3?dchild=1&keywords=viparspectra+165&qid=1596089022&sprefix=viparspecea+165&sr=8-3

 

Current Orbit marine

Ai Prime hd

Kessil

 

 

 

 

 

[Guest]

On 7/26/2020 at 12:57 PM, growsomething said:

Do it.  Maybe buy live rock to minimize/eliminate the cycle.  Use rodi top off water. Get cheap coral and just start.  You WILL change your mind about what you want to do and how to do it, but only by doing something 👍🏼

 

You don't need a skimmer or filter for what you are thinking of keeping, but you do need circulation.

 

Look up some pico reef builds.

 

@WV Reefer has a "dirty" 12 g tank that i think uses minimal equipment and no filtration.

 

 

wow! looking back at thi ( I know its only like two or three weeks ago but whatever 🙂 I did change what I wanted quite A lot! Man, like really what was  I thinking 2.5 gallons, no fish!!