bennerkla's 5.5 AGA Nano Reef Diary (Lots of PICS!!!)
- Thread starter bennerkla
- Start date
Hey, not sure if you checked out my thread today, but i found a housing for a mh retrofit kit. My grandpop has a worklight housing at work that i'm gonna get. i do have a question about supplimental lighting, with your 2 20w coralife bulbs, did you have to get a ballast for them? basically i'm curious as to how you set them up.
I'm going to see how the worklight housing works, and if that is a bust, i'm just going to buy a retro fit kit and have all the pieces for a canopy precut at homedepot so i can mount the kit straight to the top of the canopy. this way i can expand it. I know it'll cost a bit more, but at least it would look a bit better. I'm still hoping the light housing works because it's free, but if not i'm just gonna have to go for the full canopy
I'm going to see how the worklight housing works, and if that is a bust, i'm just going to buy a retro fit kit and have all the pieces for a canopy precut at homedepot so i can mount the kit straight to the top of the canopy. this way i can expand it. I know it'll cost a bit more, but at least it would look a bit better. I'm still hoping the light housing works because it's free, but if not i'm just gonna have to go for the full canopy
Hey, the Coralife bulbs have built in electronic ballasts I believe, so all you need is a socket (this ease of use is one of the main reasons for my purchase). It was just too easy and too cheap to not want to add 40 more watts to my tank. For your supplemation, though, you might want to add purely actinic lighting. I'm not sure 50/50 lighting will do you much good to supplement the MH.
clown fanatic
New member
love the brain and the video. keep up the progress!
Thanks guys. I had to remove my finger leather today because he wasn't getting enough flow. I need to figure out another coral to add in the back right.........
spe934- I wouldn't be able to fit so much in such a small space if I were to keep my old rockwork. I love how my new design allows for expansion.
spe934- I wouldn't be able to fit so much in such a small space if I were to keep my old rockwork. I love how my new design allows for expansion.
Hey, thanks for the lighting info.
Your tank continues to evolve. Hopefully i'll have half as much success as you've had (well maybe 3/4 the success would make me happy, hahaha)
oh, i'm not sure if i'm still going the pendant route or not. Still up in the air for a couple reasons (the biggest being that all the diy pendants i've seen cast light not only over the tank, but also over most of the room)
As far as a canopy goes, how tall do you think it would need to be from the top of the tank to sufficiently accomodate the MH lights? How high are your lights mounted from the tank?
Your tank continues to evolve. Hopefully i'll have half as much success as you've had (well maybe 3/4 the success would make me happy, hahaha)
oh, i'm not sure if i'm still going the pendant route or not. Still up in the air for a couple reasons (the biggest being that all the diy pendants i've seen cast light not only over the tank, but also over most of the room)
As far as a canopy goes, how tall do you think it would need to be from the top of the tank to sufficiently accomodate the MH lights? How high are your lights mounted from the tank?
Cosper
New member
Wow.. what a nice setup. Love everything from the canopy to the lights. You did a real good job on everything; espicaly that canopy. Only thing I would have done differently... is I would have ran a sump and hid it somewhere. You could add a 10gal sump and have a much larger water volume, and run all your equipment on the sump. But... thats just me, great job!
demon- I'm not sure of the dimensions of mine, but you'd want your MH to be maybe 8" off the top of the water. Thanks for the compliments!
Jordan- Thanks, my brain doesn't look very good today, don't know why
Cosper- Thanks man. Trust me, I would LOVE to have a sump, but I don't have the room. Plus, this route I have no worries about an overflow or syphin break or whatnot.
I think the problem with my brain is that I left my desk lamp on while the lights were out, and it was hit with a lot of low kevlin light. I hope it looks better tomorrow.
Cya guys,
bennerkla
Jordan- Thanks, my brain doesn't look very good today, don't know why
Cosper- Thanks man. Trust me, I would LOVE to have a sump, but I don't have the room. Plus, this route I have no worries about an overflow or syphin break or whatnot.
I think the problem with my brain is that I left my desk lamp on while the lights were out, and it was hit with a lot of low kevlin light. I hope it looks better tomorrow.
Cya guys,
bennerkla
bkztrini465
New member
Wow! Just came across your thread. Your tank is amazing!!!! Makes me want to try a nano again. That brain coral was a great find. If it looks this good now, how goods it gonna look a year from now? heh.
-Kris
-Kris
