lighting for a 10g nano

[newreef06]

i was wondering about lighting a 10 gallon nano. How may watts should I have. Also can I buy a desk liamp thats 27 watts from Home Depot. I seen them there. Alot of people I know are using those kind of light fixtures. I just bought a MH for my 55 gallon. It ran me 600.00 so Im on a budget. How many power heads should i use. I have 2 PH that are 250 GPH. Is that enough flow


Scott

 

[tmfreak]

A god guideline is to provide around 3-5 watts per gallon. This should be sufficient for most sps.. I see some people going with 96w coralifes and that is a good idea so they wont have to upgrade later in case they want to keep anything that needs intense lighting

 

[oldreefer76]

watts per gallon is useless rule, par is the true measurement, as far as pc lighting the par is not a whole lot better than normal out put lighting and they tend to shift color rapidly after 6 mos. the powerquad is a bad choice imo as it is a single tube and you can't alternate changing bulbs to avoid algae blooms. I have about 800gph for flow in my 10 with about 20# of LR

 

[brandonlai]

Well Scott,
the lighting really depends on what you want to keep. We can work from there. Are you trying to do softies, lps or sps?

tmfreak: i have to disagree with the WPG rule, it is not the wattage of light, but the intensity that matters, and 3-5 gallons is not enough for SPS.

If i were you, i would still go with MH because it saves the hassle of upgrading later. The powerheads sound like good for the tank. If you wanted to do PC lighting, i would recommend the current 2x40w light over the coralife, because of the control over the bulbs and moonlights. People usually do about 1 pound of LR per gallon, but you can do what you wish.

Good luck
Brandon

 

[Amphiprionocellaris]

It's been said, but it bears repeating; watts per gallon is a fairly useless rule, especially on very large and very small tanks. For instance, I have a 140 with 3.5 watts per gallon MH, and I have a 10 gallon with 9.6 watts per gallon PC. I grow SPS in the 140 fine, but I would not try them in the 10 gallon. If you can find PAR information, that's more useful, but the really useful measure is PAR/sq. meter (or sq. foot). It's the concentration of the intensity that counts.

As for your tank, if you definitely want SPS, you pretty much should go with metal halide, because they are the best way to get appropriate amounts of light over small spaces. If you want anything else, the Powerquad will work great (the need to alternate bulbs is not crucial, but the Current 2x 40 W will also work in place of the Powerquad). IMO/E, it's easier than you think to work around "less-than-adequate" light.

 

[G13]

If you go with MH's are you going to be able to keep the tank from getting too hot? 10 ga tank can get warmed up pretty quickly. That's why I went with the 96W powerquad lighting. Only thing is pc isn't enough for sps.

 

[clowninaround74]

now what kind of sps are you talking because i have several pieces of montiporia that are thriving under my 96w quad in my 10g.

 

[reefaholic101]

Good Luck!!!

 

[Amphiprionocellaris]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=8312415#post8312415 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by clowninaround74
now what kind of sps are you talking because i have several pieces of montiporia that are thriving under my 96w quad in my 10g.

By "SPS," I mean the absolute most light-intensive corals (to cover all the bases). However, many SPS will do fine under the 96 W, as your experience confirms.

 

[G13]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=8312415#post8312415 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by clowninaround74
now what kind of sps are you talking because i have several pieces of montiporia that are thriving under my 96w quad in my 10g.

So far so good for me too. I had some extra pcs from an orange/red monti and decided to try it in my 10 with the 96 watt powerquad.