lighting question

[KafudaFish]

Hello,
I am in the process of designing a 5.5 gal mantis tank. I have a question about lighting. I can choose from the following PC retro kits:
1. 1 x 28 PFO with reflector 50/50 bulb
2. 2 x 18 without
3. 2 x 24 without.
These are all about the same price except I would have to buy reflectors for 2 and 3 so they would be a bit more.
I would stock the tank with zoas only probably blues so I would not need excessive lighting.
Any suggestions? Thanks.

 

[KafudaFish]

So almost 30 views but no replies. No love huh?

 

[Crawling68]

It all depends on the mantis you plan to keep. If it is from shallower waters you can brighten them up. But, the deeper mantis prefer dark settings.

 

[KafudaFish]

Crawling 68,
Can you give me some examples of your lighting set ups? I really do not want to fry my mantis. I figure since they are cryptic light is not too important other than correct spectrum correct? Or am I off base?

 

[Crawling68]

All three of my tanks run 2x18PC's with 50/50 bulbs. They give ample light for life and some softies for color, while not being so bright as to keep my mantis hiding. They also do not put a ton of heat to the tank. My most recent tank, the N. Wenn in the TruVu Nano 6 with a Coralife fixture, was a hit with my fiances work where it sits on her desk. The light is what drew people to the tank, where they became completely enthralled with the mantis

 

[KafudaFish]

That is good to know. I might go with the 28 since it has everything I would need and I have access to cherry to build a canopy and stand. I had thought about a 10 gal. but not sure if I want to loose that much desk space in my office at school or my home office. Decisions, decisions.

 

[Crawling68]

The TruVu Nano 6 is a 12" cube, acrylic, and has built in filtration.......awesome little tank.

 

[Thurge]

One thing to keep in mind is PC lighting runs hot as a Mother. Thats going to lead to some serious evaproation; in a 5.5 that could get detrimential very fast...

 

[KafudaFish]

Yeah I have PC's on a 50 right now am I loose around 1/2 gal per day so I know the deal. I am setting up a 95 with T5's and am interested in evaporation. I still might do the 10 for stability and additional room for the mantis.

 

[Crawling68]

Heres the new 6 at my fiances work.

 

[PaulieWalnuts]

i might as well ask a similar question...i have 2 mantis tanks...1 is a 10g and the other a 2g...next week im planning on moving my 2x9watt corallife mini over to my 2g and adding a 70watt PC rerto to my 10g...would that be too much light for a mantis? ...im not exactly sure of the species (a lime green hitchhiker)?


thanks

josh

 

[Crawling68]

I would say 70w over a 10 is a little much for a Mantis tank, but thats just me. I have a 96w powerquad over my 10g clown tank and my Maxima loves it.