desktop nano questions...lighting, short tank life, sumps

[mboze45]

I am planning to set up a 4-10gal. tank for my studio space at school. I plan to have a sump behind my desk with all the equip. in it. It is still in the planning, but I have a few questions...

 

1. With power compact lighting what is the most wattage per gallon that one should put on their tank. I want the lighting to look nice, but I don't want algae or heat to become a major problem.

 

2. This tank will only be set up for about 4 months at a time. What corals are hardy enough to be put in the tank after a few weeks water cycling?

 

3. What do people think about about sumps? Will it make it that much easier to stabalize the saltinity and cleanliness of the water?

 

I know I'm asking a lot of questions so I'll stop there. Thanks for reading this. I appreciate your suggestions and ideas.

 

Matt

[HuBu]

1. With power compact lighting what is the most wattage per gallon that one should put on their tank. I want the lighting to look nice, but I don't want algae or heat to become a major problem.

 

you can put whatever lighting you want under the tank, there really isnt a prescribed wattage per gallon. it depends on what you want to keep in the tank. heat wont be a major problem if you install a cpu fan in the hood.

 

2. This tank will only be set up for about 4 months at a time. What corals are hardy enough to be put in the tank after a few weeks water cycling?

 

if you get LR and LS, your cycling period will probably take a few wks. corals like xenia, polyps or pretty hardy. since its a nano you can spend the money on cured LR without spending too much.

 

3. What do people think about about sumps? Will it make it that much easier to stabalize the saltinity and cleanliness of the water?

 

a sump will help with the water chemistry and parameter since youll have a greater amount of water. installing a top off system, by getting a float switch (which you can get one from Cam). this will help with stablizing your SG fluc by adding evaporated water back into your tank.

[Strife]

when setting up a tank, try to go 1-3 watts per gallon when you plan to keep most softies, like mushroom and button polyps..

when going for LPS like frogspawn, try to keep it from 2-4..

 

most people will tell you if your using PC's ..watts per gallon doesnt matter, but if you really think about it, it does really matter, it gives you an idea of what you can get...

 

a 32 watt smartlight over a 10 gallon is about 4 wpg.

which is just about right..

 

and that tells you, the lighting is good enough

 

read on the corals that you want, then you can figure out what you need.

 

 

its usually better going for stronger lighting IMO..cuz its a waste of time and money to upgrade later, when you start wanting more corals that require more light..

[BCOrchidGuy]

What Hubu said, except put the lighting on top of the tank not under it.....

[mboze45]

Tanks for the advice, I'll post pictures when it's set up. Has any one found where to buy the Book Worm lights besides the hardware store?

[HuBu]

Originally posted by BCOrchidGuy

What Hubu said, except put the lighting on top of the tank not under it.....

 

imagin that, MH bulb under the tank. youll have shimmering effect on the roof...that would be so tight.

[ross76053]

Bookworm light source:

 

http://www.stacksandstacks.com/html/60014.htm

 

Good luck, Matt.

[BCOrchidGuy]

LOL HuBu and you wouldn't need a heater.. mind you fish would swim upside down.... .... Hmmm.. what if you mounted coral etc upside down on a false bottom, put the light on the bottom... would it weird out your families?.... lol