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Innovative Marine Aquariums

how bright should I go?


Mmorse

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I am starting a 15g long nano, and I am stumped on what lights to use. I would like to keep lower light corals(any suggestions which ones would be best) and I dont want to spend a ton of money. I already have twin-tube 24" flourescent strip light from an old tank, would this be enough if I added an atinic and a 50/50? If its just best to go buy some pc's, ill do what has to be done. But if what I have will work for what I want then I would rather stick with that. Any ideas or suggestions would be appreciated.

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Perhaps you could use a 2X55W retro, but I'm not sure what the dimensions of your tank are. IMO, AHSupply has nice retro kits that are decently priced and so do several other online sites.

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I agree. 2 x 55 watt PC retros would do nice. AGA 15-gallon tanks are 24x12x12. The 15H are 20x10x18. Since I guess he is calling it a long and the 24" lights fit over it, I am guessing it is the standard 15 dimensions. The 55 watters should fit real nice over it. You would have a pretty good range of keeping what you want with them.

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MrConclusion

I can guarantee that it is not better than the AH Supply retro kit.

 

AH supply has a much more efficient reflector. This puts more light into your tank. A good reflector is important - the same bulbs with a crappy reflector might deliver only half of the light that they would if outfitted with a good reflector. The best reflectors are parabolic, the worst reflectors are a flat sheet.

 

Also, I can tell you from experience that the AH supply kit has all of the screws, brackets, wiring, etc. that you'll need, so there won't be any surprises.

 

ahsupply.com 2x55watt retro $65

10,000K bulb $23

Actinic bulb $23

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MrConclusion is exactly correct about AH SUPPLY... They have the best reflector I have seen. It makes the Hellolights reflector look like a toy. You will be completely satisfied with AH SUPPLY.

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I have a question. I have a Fuge in my 60G and one on my 10G. I use 65W PCs with 6500K rating is this enough to light a small tank? I would like to keep a BTA.

 

 

Keith

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6500k is good, but you need to have actinic supplimentation with that. 1 x 6500k and 1 x Actinic is what I have on my 10g, and it looks great.

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I really dont care how good it looks I just want to know if the BTA would be able to live under a 65w PC at 6500K or two if I needed to. Do I need to have the Actinic?

 

 

Thank you Mnesarchus for your reply

 

Keith

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