10g SPS lighting question

[tpallas]

Hi, I am trying to decide what lighting combination to go for with my 10g AGA. I want to keep SPS, mostly acropora sp. Right now I have an IceCap ballast that I plan on using 2 18" VHOs and want to add one MH bulb. Will a 70 watt do the trick? I am concerned about overheating and burning with a 150 watt. Any advice? Thanks!

 

[sir_dudeguy]

Both the 70 and the 150 would be fine. If you find that the 150 is heating the tank up, just add a small clip on fan to the side of your tank and have it pointing at the water surface.

 

[jski711]

i would not go with the 70, i had a green slimer, basically the easiest of all acros and it browned out very fast, i would do a 150 if you want to keep any acros. i put the same coral under 150's and its now the fasted growing coral in my tank.

 

[sir_dudeguy]

jski, what light did you have? I hear that the viper 70w one sucks, but i think there are one or 2 other 70w ones that are supposedly good...

 

[All Clear]

from my experince a 10 gallon won't sustain acropora long term, as the ph swing is to stressful on them, i had a 20 gallon w/5 gallon sump/fuge and cpr bak pak, i added kalk at night, and had reverse lit refugium and still could not get ph to stabalize, even after a year of the water perams being almost perfect...just my .02 cents

 

[All Clear]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=9530489#post9530489 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by All Clear
from my experince a 10 gallon won't sustain acropora long term, as the ph swing is to stressful on them, i had a 20 gallon w/5 gallon sump/fuge and cpr bak pak, i added kalk at night, and had reverse lit refugium and still could not get ph to stabalize, even after a year of the water perams being almost perfect...just my .02 cents

forgot to mention i had 150 watt sun pod...

 

[Shooter7]

How about something like this?:

http://www.illuming.com/catalog/product_info.php?cPath=152&products_id=284


And SPS are fine, but what if you are also trying to keep zoas, rics, gsp, other softies in the same 10g? Is the 150w going to fry them. I'm in the midst of revamping my 10g and am caught between ordering the 70w vs the 150w as I was going to try a mixed reef setup.

 

[Rosseau]

following along, looking for similar answers.


mainly, keeping SPS and softies together in a 10G, if possible.

 

[tpallas]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=9530489#post9530489 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by All Clear
from my experince a 10 gallon won't sustain acropora long term, as the ph swing is to stressful on them, i had a 20 gallon w/5 gallon sump/fuge and cpr bak pak, i added kalk at night, and had reverse lit refugium and still could not get ph to stabalize, even after a year of the water perams being almost perfect...just my .02 cents

I plan on adding a 10 gallon sump with a ph controller....we'll see how it pans out. hey, if not, i can always keep some LPS.

 

[demeyer2]

I have a 15 gallon with a 150 watt Sunpod and am getting great colors and great growth. I drip Kalkwasser and have a temperature controller hooked up to my fans to get my temperature the same always.

 

[Shooter7]

demeyer2, any pics? Would love to see it. What are you using for flow. I'm toying with a closed loop manifold setup, but the first pump I tried is way too weak, so I have to upgrade that.

 

[nUgZ]

I've got the Coralife Aqualight over my 10g frag tank. I'm using a 10k 150w halide and 2x65 watt PC actinics. Everything in there is doing great from the Acropora to the Zoanthids, Ricordea, and LPS. Here is the link.

http://reefcentral.com/forums/showthread.php?s=&threadid=987802

 

[Shooter7]

Thanks for chiming in, nUgz. Not only do you have the 150w over the 10g, but you don't have it up all that high either. I have kind of built a canopy for mine that would allow me several inches of room to go up or down with whatever retrofit light I do. Good to see a fine example of using that wattage of light. Guess I'll be ordering mine soon. Nice pics in that link, glad someone already asked you about what camera you were using because I was going to. :lol:

 

[nUgZ]

Thanks a lot Dave. My original plan when I got the light was to suspend it since it came with the hardware for it, but the wife wouldn't approve me bolting it into the ceiling.

 

[Shooter7]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=9539833#post9539833 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by nUgZ
Thanks a lot Dave. My original plan when I got the light was to suspend it since it came with the hardware for it, but the wife wouldn't approve me bolting it into the ceiling.

And are you still with this woman?! :eek1:


:lol:


I built this canopy of mine so that I can hang my light from small chains inside the canopy and be able to adjust the height up and down that way. It's nothing fancy as I am nowhere near handy with woodworking, but it should at least be like the one I built for my 120g.....functional. I was mostly worried about my zoanthids and rics being really unhappy under a 150w if I used one.

 

[nUgZ]

She puts up with me most of the time so I can't complain. I could build something to hang it from, but I'm designing a new setup so it wouldn't be worth it for now. Acclimation is the key with the Zoanthids and mushrooms. I don't keep any regular mushrooms, only Ricordia florida and one yuma. When I first got the light I started with a 4 hour halide photoperiod and worked my way up from there 30 minutes a week.

 

[herostar]

What you really need to think about is the light need of corals. Regardless of tank size 70w is still 70w. I'd go with the 150w MH and just put it a couple inches higher over the tank to help combat the heat. I've got a 175w above my 10g and sps grows well.

 

[Chris Lakies]

I don't think it would be wise to put softies and sps together in a 10 gal because of the chemical warefair from the soft coral. I would pick one or the other and stick with it. But then again its your tank so if you do decide to do it make sure you run carbon.

 

[edwing206]

What if you ran Ozone? Doesnt it improve light penatration? Wouldnt 70watts be enough then?