Lighting a 10g

[happyclam]

I am hoping to set up a 10g nano tank this summer. I'm trying to figure out which light to use. The tank will contain mushrooms, ricordea, zoanthids, and leathers (all softies) in the beginning, though I might experiment with a few LPS, SPS, and clams later on. Right now I was thinking a MH, as it would be compact enough to fit over my tank (standard 10g, 20"x10"x12") but provide enough punch. Also, there will be no canopy (stand-alone fixture) and it will be in my bedroom so a sleek fixture would be appreciated. I was thinking a 150w or 250w HQI 20" Current-USA SunPod. I would most likely use a 14K or 20K bulb, either Radium, ReefLux, CoralVue, or Pheonix.

Thank you for help.

 

[fishieness]

I had a 20" 150 watt sunpod on my 10 gallon before I just upgraded to t5s. The 150 will be fine. I ran into more heat problems and bleaching new corals when I had a 250 on there.
You can also look into the nova extreme pro. Though with the limited bulb selection out right now, I would get the halide.

 

[Newreeflady]

The 250w is way! overkill. I'd do the Nova Extreme 18" T5 fixture since the 150w is gonna really heat that 10g up with a canopy and you'll get lots of light spill without one.

-A

 

[plainrt]

150 sunpod or a 150 pendant of some sort hanging over it.

 

[KevinYates]

a 70w halide will be fine for the coral list. what i did was overkill the bulb a little, like in your case a 150w would be what im talking about, then shoot for a 14 or 20k that you wouldnt have to put atinic supps on

-just a thought.

 

[plainrt]

Not much for 70w bulbs so i would go with a 150.70 would be fine though if your ok with not that many decent bulbs out there for it.


I kept sps,rbta and crocea under 70 mh in a 14 gal cube with no issues.

 

[KevinYates]

and if you went 70 i would stay with a 10k meaning hardly any blue enless you put in atinics.

 

[james3370]

have you considered doing LEDs?? using soundwave's thread in the DIY forum, you could make a kicka55 fixture for probably $100-150ish.....no heat, bulbs last loooong time, etc

 

[suitsnakes]

Re: Lighting a 10g

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=15104440#post15104440 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by happyclam
I was thinking a 150w or 250w HQI 20" Current-USA SunPod.

I have the 20" 150w SunPod on my 40 gallon and I really like it. I would've thought it would be overkill for a 10 gallon tank, but a lot of people here seem to think not, so maybe I'm wrong...I have a 10 gallon too that I've been planning to set up as soon as I move and I'm wondering what light to put on it too. I was going to go with a 70w but now I wonder if that wouldn't be enough...

 

[thorsky]

I had a 150w Oceanlight hanging over mine with a 14k and loved it. If I setup a 10g again I will use the same setup.

 

[Conductive]

yeah forget the 70w and go with the 150w. I have a 70w mh that looked awesome on a former 6g setup, but looks decidedly dim on my current 10g.

 

[Newreeflady]

Agree- I had a 70w over a 12g nanocube- looked dim. Also, bulb offerings are slim- completely garbage imo.

-A

 

[happyclam]

Thanks for the replys everyone! Actually though, I found a 15g at my local PetCo and got that, and now I'll be able to use T5's since 24" length. Thanks for help though.