romsoccer12
New member
i have 108watts of t5's on my 29gal biocube wich is 19inches in height. will lighting be an issue for any coral/clams/inverts?
t5s can keep anything right?
- Thread starter romsoccer12
- Start date
Beaun
It's pronounced Bone
How do you have 108w of T5's? I'm assuming you have 2' bulbs over your 29, which are 24w. I would guess you have a 4 bulb fixture, which would be 96w total. You can grow almost anything with that, but your might run into lighting problems with very high demanding corals/clams/anemones.
romsoccer12
New member
it has 6 bulbs. its the 20" nova extreme.
divewsharks
Active member
the watts aren't really important, its more about the performance of the fixture. does your fixture have individual reflectors? some of the Nova's do, some don't. without the individual reflectors, you can still keep corals, but i would stay away from most SPS. if you went with a clam, you would want to try one of the rock borers that you could place up high.
what other inverts were you wanting to keep?
what other inverts were you wanting to keep?
romsoccer12
New member
yea it has its own reflecrors. im gonna try a clam, a nicer anemone, slimer birdsnest and montis once i get my calcium alkilinity perfected
iFisch
New member
I'd still wait man. :hammer:
Especially if you JUST got the lights (which I'm assuming, since the other day you just had one fixture). Give it a month or two. For you, I know it's hard to wait, but it will be worth the wait. Let everything acclimate. Make sure - 100% your water is consistent and your temp doesn't swing to much.
IMO - 'nem + SPS + clam in a 29 = not a good idea. Drop the 'nem and you'll be fine. If it just once moves on you, touches the clam or SPS consider them dead. It's just WAY to risky in such a small tank. 'Nem's aren't really nano friendly - unless it's the only coral.
The price of SPS and clam(s) greatly outweigh the price of a single 'nem. I wouldn't even risk it with a clone or "baby" 'nem. JMO. Do as you wish.
And go for easy SPS first. Make sure your water quality is REALLY up to par. Hit up the SPS section and ask around. Monticap's and Birdsnest are really hardy and very cheap, and are easy to keep SPS. Give them a few months of solid growth before dropping $60+ on a SPS frag.
Again, I'm giving you my advice. Recently, you've been listening, and making smart decisions. I hope you consider the advice above.
Remember, nothing GOOD happens fast in this hobby. This hobby takes patience. Reefs aren't established over-night.
Good luck. :rollface:
jadeguppy
New member
iFisch, that is the reason I have stayed in this hobby. One of the only things that has managed to keep my attention. Usually I learn nearly everything I need to and then get bored, but reefkeeping always has something new for me to learn. I love it. As mentioned, most anenomes need to be by themselves in a nano tank. The only one I can think of that might work is a warty anemone, but I don't know of anywhere that sells them. They are non-photosynthetic meat eaters that max out at about 3 inches. They tend not to move around since they don't go in search of light. As for clams, if the fixture has an individual reflector for each bulb (not one big one that covers them all) then you should be safe with any clam. A crocea may be okay on the sand, but you may need to move it to the rockwork. Any coral should be fine. For touch corals such as many of the sps, water parameters are the concern. The light you have will support any coral with proper placement. Some sps may be okay towards the bottom, but I think all will be fine with the top 1/2 of the tank. Most people like sps in the top 1/2 of the tank for looks anyway. Keep your eye on the water and start with a cheap frag. FWIW, birdsnest are suppose to be easy, but they tend to be the hardest ones for me to keep. My bottlebrush has been the hardiest, including making it through a 50ppt nitrate spike with no regression. Try to get a frag from a coral that has been in a tank for a long time. Wild harvested tend to be more touchy until they get use to the aquarium life. My local store sells small acro frags for $5 as do many of the club members. Club members may be your best bet for healthy, hardy corals.
iFisch
New member
Bottlebrushes are fairly hardy from what I read, but surprisingly, I find them a little difficult to locate locally. No problem finding them online though.
I'm still in the early stages of my two SPS frags. My monti has tripled in size, easily. I am having trouble with my temps, as my crappy Hydor heater gets "stuck" on everyday, and will be ordering a electronically controlled heater very, very soon to maintain temps. So I plug it in for 2-3 hours 2x a day.
I love that no matter how much you know now, next month, it will be outdated as new technologies are released, new different species of corals are released, new toys to learn to play with, etc.
It's like fishing. Once you get the basic idea down - one is never really considered a master - as new fake plastic baits are released, new lures in different shapes, sizes, etc. are released, and then you can, if you choose to, learn how to use the new baits and lures. And this most defiantly applies to fly-fishing. As I don't think the technique of throwing flies can ever be mastered due to weather conditions.
I'm still in the early stages of my two SPS frags. My monti has tripled in size, easily. I am having trouble with my temps, as my crappy Hydor heater gets "stuck" on everyday, and will be ordering a electronically controlled heater very, very soon to maintain temps. So I plug it in for 2-3 hours 2x a day.
I love that no matter how much you know now, next month, it will be outdated as new technologies are released, new different species of corals are released, new toys to learn to play with, etc.
It's like fishing. Once you get the basic idea down - one is never really considered a master - as new fake plastic baits are released, new lures in different shapes, sizes, etc. are released, and then you can, if you choose to, learn how to use the new baits and lures. And this most defiantly applies to fly-fishing. As I don't think the technique of throwing flies can ever be mastered due to weather conditions.
Unfortunately, even though as I understand it, the newer Nova Extremes have individual reflectors for each bulb, they're still on the low end of T5s. In other words, you can't necessarily attribute them with all the great things you hear about T5 lighting. I'm rather impressed that you could fit 6 bulbs over a 29g, so that will probably help. I'd probably start with a couple SPS frags to see how they do before you get a clam. Of course, the only two giant clams that are really appropriate for a nano (maxima and crocea) are also the most light demanding. I agree with Jadeguppy 100% on the anemones. Those common to the hobby will generally get big enough to dominate the aquarium and take out most of your corals.
iFisch
New member
That's not necessarily true.
For nano tanks - they are perfect. Absolutely no need for expensive reflectors, because nano tanks aren't usually deep.
For instance it's 10" from the top of my sandbed to the top of the water.
The $60 T5 fixture will penetrate that water 100%. I could put SPS all day on the sandbed if I wanted to.
For larger tanks, with more depth, yes, you're right. You need the expensive reflectors because the reflectors have to bounce the light into deeper water.
DT's_Reef
New member
Most small tanks with intense lighting routinely have temperature swing issues. With SPS I find them to be much more intolerant of very high temperatures, than other corals. I try to not go above 82, and really keep it around 79-80 on my large tank.
One device that really helped me out is the Tunze Aquawind. It's really a laptop cooler that Tunze repackaged and made easy to attach to tanks. On my tank, it turns on when the lights go on, and turns off when the lights go off, keeping the temperature swing to only 1 degree (2 if it's more humid in my home), whereas before my tank would go from 78 or 79 to 84 or 85 on a hot day, and my critters were not enjoying it.
Bullet proof corals such as Monti's are great to put in your system as a sort of test, before placing anything more delicate. If you rmonti is growing well, nutrients and algae are in-check, then perhaps try something else.
So many people, including myself, have the experience of putting SPS in their tank "early" because the water parameters seem perfect, and then they do very poorly or die because the system just isn't balanced right. Probably the hardest thing to do in reefing is be patient.
One device that really helped me out is the Tunze Aquawind. It's really a laptop cooler that Tunze repackaged and made easy to attach to tanks. On my tank, it turns on when the lights go on, and turns off when the lights go off, keeping the temperature swing to only 1 degree (2 if it's more humid in my home), whereas before my tank would go from 78 or 79 to 84 or 85 on a hot day, and my critters were not enjoying it.
Bullet proof corals such as Monti's are great to put in your system as a sort of test, before placing anything more delicate. If you rmonti is growing well, nutrients and algae are in-check, then perhaps try something else.
So many people, including myself, have the experience of putting SPS in their tank "early" because the water parameters seem perfect, and then they do very poorly or die because the system just isn't balanced right. Probably the hardest thing to do in reefing is be patient.
nikon187
Active member
+1 with everyone else. Just because a lighting system can grow anything doesn't mean you can forget about avalible space in the aquarium ( Anemones for example will take up all the bio cube leaving no room for other corals) Also, there is much more to keeping SPS than just proper lighting. flow and nutrient levels are just as important.
romsoccer12
New member
thx guys for all the info. im trying not to rush, i just wanted to know this question before i even think about starting SPS. I asked the SPS forum before this what the easy SPS where so my order is gonna be monti, slimer, birdsness and maybe in a long time a clam but this will be a long time until i add anything. actually im taking your advice and selling the anemone before i even start getting an SPS and they will force me to wait a long time because im waiting for it to grow a good 4"+. thx agan for the help loved all the replys
romsoccer12
New member
i have one t5 fixture o n my biocube and one compact fluorescent on my new 10gallon tank if thats what your asking. i meant i have weak lights for my 10gal
romsoccer12
New member
no why would i?
