Beginner with some Q's about my tank

[JJshiv]

I have a 10 gal that is 1 month 3 weeks old. It has about 12 lbs live rock, 20 lbs live sand, a AquaClear 150 filter, fluval 1 for circulation, and a 50 watt heater. As for the live stock, there is a 4 line damsel, yellow tail blue damsel, small blue tang, 5 hermit crabs, and a small colony of mushrooms. The tang wont be there for long because my roomate got kind of talked into it by the LFS and I dont think it belongs in a nano no matter what size it is.

 

Now on to my questions. I got a $5 flourescent undercabinet light from Home Depot that says it is a 15 watt light with 60 watt output. So far everything is good, but I am wondering if this light really has that kind of output and if coral will thrive with this light alone. I have had the shrooms for 1 week and they are doing really good so far. What do you guys think about this light and adding any type of coral?

 

 

My next question is about the tang. Has anybody here ever had a tang in a nano of this size? I think its ridiculous and my LFS probably just wanted to get rid of some because they had about 10 or 15. He is doing really good in the tank and hasnt got ich surprisinglybut does he belong in there?

 

I have heard a lot at different LFS's about temperment of fish. It seems everyone has a different idea about damsels. None of mine are aggressive at this point, but when they get bigger I am worried about what will happen. One LFS says that the 4 line is the more aggressive of the 2 and the other says the yellow tail blue damsel is. So which one is it? Will throwing a perc into the mix change anything?

 

The fluval one I put in to act as a powerhead I guess because I had it lying around and figured it couldnt hurt, but could it? It shoots the current all around the tank and when it crosses with the flow of the AquaClear it really makes for some good circulation.

 

Thanks for any info.

[gobies]

Everything sounds good except for the tang+damsels combination. Out of curiosity, how big is the tang?

 

What kind of snail population do you have?

 

On the light fixture...the "15w with a 60w output" makes me think it's a compact fluorescent fixture, which is good. The "60w output" just means it's as bright as a 60w incandescent bulb.

 

First, what's the color rating of the bulb? If it's the one that came with the fixture, it's probably in the 2700K to 4100K range. That's the biggest problem with Home Depot/Menards/Lowes etc lights. You want something around 6500K or 10000K for corals.

 

Second, you want to get another fixture so you can put an actinic bulb into it. Some 'shrooms glow fluorescent green under an actinic bulb, which looks way cool.

 

Other coral stuff you can grow if you get another bulb...not that much, really...shrooms, certainly, and maybe some polyps. You *can* have quite a nice tank with just those two types of corals.

 

The Fluval as a powerhead is fine. Did you take the square box part off of it?

[JJshiv]

gobies,

 

The tang is about 2 inches max.

 

We dont have any snails.

 

So you are saying a new bulb with higher color rating in the same fixture would be better for the mushrooms or for any corals we want to get in the future?

 

I didnt take the box part off of the fluval because the powerhead on top doesnt work without it, or at least it didnt when I tried.

 

Thanks for the help.

[Keng Yew, Leong]

Although I'm very very new to reefkeeping,you have a little too many fishes in a 10 gallon.Did you check your nitrate level yet,it might be too high for corals.Since you are a beginner like me,nutrient levels will be kinda hard to control.(I keep only ONE damsel in a 4 gallon).It's better to keep 1 inch of fish for every 4 gallons if you are just a beginner to make things easier.If you like the tang you can return the rest of the fish to the LFS and keep the tang.(remember that a the tang can grow bigger)I know a beginner(YES, including me) likes to stock the tank with a lot of stuff and end up paying dearly in $ and most importantly lifes.I have learnt a very harsh lesson and I hope you dont have to learn it the hard way.

[JJshiv]

Keng Yew, Leong

 

Thanks for the concern and warning. I know we have a little too much fish for the tank. The reason we do is because the LFS told my roomate to get a tang instead of a perc. We wanted to get a perc from the beginning but we waited til we had a ammonia and nitrate level of 0. Our tank so far is exceptionally stable for a new tank and I attribute that to the live sand. But when we went to the LFS to get a perc after our tank tested 0 for everything, they told us that it was too soon and that a tang would be much better and hardier. I dont know about that because tangs are susceptable to ich, but so far so good with the tang. We have had him for 2 weeks. He is gonna go back to the LFS today though I think and we are gonna reduce the number of fish in the tank to 2 with the 4 line damsel and a perc.

[SteveC]

Watts aren't a measure of light output, so your "undercabinet light" is really saying that it's equivalent to a 60-watt incandescent bulb, as gobies has already said. Flourescents are naturally brighter than incandescents. When you read people talking about how many watts of light they have over their tanks, they are almost always talking about flourescents (unless they're talking about metal halide, but then they usually say so). So, what you currently have is 15 watts over your tank, i.e., not much. Plan on very low light corals.

 

I'm guessing that it's an 18-inch NO (normal output) flourescent with a "cool white" bulb. If you're on a really tight budget and can't afford expensive aquarium bulbs from your LFS, buy a $6 "Sunshine bulb" from Home Depot, which has a color temp of 5000K. This isn't ideal but it's better than nothing. If you're not on a tight budget, get rid of that "undercabinet light" (which probably has a cheap ballast that buzzes) and buy the double 36-watt kit from http://www.ahsupply.com and you'll be able to grow lots of things.