Lighting for an all xenia tank?!

[Rhinecanthus]

Well, it will actually be a fuge

Looking at (2) x 32w powercompact retrofit in the stand.

Fuge is 12" x 9" with 8" water depth.

Looking for my xenia to go nuts in there and really suck up some nutrients.

Sound like ths lighting will be good?

Now, should I go with (2) 10000K bulbs or (2) 10000K/6700K mixed bulbs?

Any suggestions appreciated.

 

[Rhinecanthus]

My other thought is a 70w Metal halide with a 10K bulb.

Better?

I want this xenia to gro incredibly fast.

It will suck nutrients from my tank plus I can trade it tot he LFS.

 

[reefnewbie54321]

If it were me I would use 4 54w t5's all 10k

To make them go crazy you could use more light then a 70w halide ... Ive seen xenia scrubbers with 175w halides and some people have xenia under 250w halides in there display

 

[Rhinecanthus]

The only problem with that is I am workin gin a tight space.

 

[reefnewbie54321]

How tight of a space?

They will grow under pc (I would use atleast 2 65w) but depending on how fast you want them to grow I would use 70w-175 halide w/e works best for you.

I suggest you check out http://www.nano-reef.com/forums/index.php?showtopic=63394 for some ideas for strong lighting on small tanks. You could turn a 10gallon tank with a 150w halide into an amazing xenia scrubber but be prepared to have to prune atleast 1x a week.

I also suggest you check out the prop section at reefcentral, Ive picked up a few tricks on how to maximize growth of corals there.

some ways to maximize light used by corals,

- I made a custom 10 gallon tank out of mirrors to maximize light used.
-Eggcrate can be used to higher the corals so they recieve more light
-Use a high quality reflector, It might not seem like a big diffrence but it is!

 

[Rhinecanthus]

The fuge area is 12" x 9" with a water depth of 8"

Doesnt make much sense IMO to have lights longer than 15"

The light will be 12" from the water surface.

So Im not talking about a large area...only a 5 gallon space.

http://www.thatpetplace.com/Product...it/T1/F38AB+0434+0013/EDP/42634/Itemdy00.aspx


I was looking at that fixture with (2) 10000K/6700K bulbs'


Or a 70w 100000K MH

The reason I am thinking the MH is the light will be better concentrated.

They also make a 6500L 70w halide but I think the 10K would work better for xenia as opposed to macro.

 

[reefnewbie54321]

I didnt know it was that small, I think a 70w halide will do just fine then. You could use eggcrate to make the best out of your 70w light. Evap might be an isssue but its plumbed into the main tank so it should only effect the sump.

10k is your best bet for xenia

 

[reefnewbie54321]

Tell me how it works out, It would be great if a 5 gallon tank could be turned into a decent scrubber I always thought on a larger scale but a smaller one could be just as good ... just more pruning.

 

[Rhinecanthus]

Well, after much deliberation I have actually decided on the 64w of PC with 6700k/10000k bulbs

 

[king4345]

Get us some pics after you get it up and running I am interested to see how it turns out.

 

[Fat Surgeon]

Remember, you are working in a very enclosed area of only 3.75 gallons of water based on the dimensions you gave. Its good to see you went with 64 watt PC, but IMO, you should cut that down to one bulb (32 watts). 8-9 watts per gallon in 6700K will make it grow like mad. Using 64 watts will produce 16-18 watts per gallon. Way to much friend.

 

[Chad Vossen]

watts per gallon isnt a good way to determine which light you need. its more of a general idea than a rule. watts per gallon changes when you factor depth and what kind of lights. (i think 70 watts halide would be better than 80 watts pc, but i havent had halides yet to confirm.)

i have an 80 watt pc on my 10 gallon tank. the xenia grows slow. it has finaly reached 2 inches after 5 months. and i promis that it has plenty of nutrients. (i have another group of xenia 4 inches higher than the other and in alittle higher flow and it is growing a good 3x faster.)