Lighting advice for a 20gal BTA tank

Treadingwater

New member
Hi,

I currently have a BTA that I bought in hopes that my false percs would use it for a host, but they seem not to be interested in it at all. (Of course, I found out later that this wasn't the best choice of host for them anyway. Live and learn and no harm has been done, thankfully). Currently the BTA is in my 55 gal tank, but I am setting up a 20 gal tank that I want to move it into. However, I am not sure how much light and what kind of light I need for the 20 gal tank and I need some suggestions.

The 20 gal will be specifically for the BTA and a maroon clown which I plan on purchasing.
 
if you can swing it, please get a larger tank. Oceanic makes a beautiful 30g cube tank that would make a perfect BTA tank (and a 50g that would be even better) w/ a 150w 14k MH bulb over it.

best of luck!

the more water, the more stability and ideally the better water quality.
 
lil bigger would be better but 20 will work for now
you need allot of light and it will be expensive 200-300 bucks totall unless you can find something used
I would get the 150w aquamedic oceanlight
 
Thank you for the replies. This tanks will eventually be plumbed to a large sump that will feed the 180 I'm planning, but for now it has it's own seperate 20 gal sump. I watch my water parameters pretty well and I am already planned 4 gal water changes weekly.

As for the lighting, what you both suggested fits with what I have been reading and thinking, but I wasn't sure if I could maybe get away with using T5's or PC's.
 
TW,

Are you saying this is a 20g w/ 20g sump? That's great news. The BTA will most likely take up all the room in the 20g, so there will be little to no swimming room for other fish, etc. A single maroon and the nem would most likely work very well here, esp. w/ the added volume of the sump.

As for PC lighting, i think things would get pretty crowded if you tried (or even could fit) more than 2x 65w PCs over that tank. If this is a 20g TALL (16" depth) then I'd recommend T5s or MH, but if this is a 20g long (12" depth), then PCs or T5s would be nice.

btw, the shimmer of MH is a thing of beauty, imo!

hth,

Matt
 
Thanks again Matt

Yes, it's a 20 + 20. I had 2 tanks and a old metal stand that weren't being used so I decided to make use of them. The only thing in the tank will be the BTA and a maroon (or a mated pair of maroons, if I'm lucky), live rock, and a clean up crew.

I'm going to go with the 150w Mh as suggested. It's really not expensive and I want to make sure I'm providing the BTA with enough light.
 
I have a 130 watt (2-65) Orbit on my 20. 3 year old rose BTA is doing great and I have had 2 splits. Rose takes up half of the tank.
 
dont think that t5 and pc are the same they are not pc is not close to as good as t5 i have 2x65w orbit and my BTA gets angry and starts to move every 4 months when the lights get old
i can not wait to get the t5 light i need
 
I agree that T5s are much better than PC and they will be going on my new 58-gallon. The orbit is a good choice for a 20-gallon tank. My rose BTA has never moved (besides splitting) in 3 years after it got settled in. I can let my lights go for a little over 1 year. My SPS's are not happy if I let the bulbs go much over that.
 
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