TN Newbie 22Cadlights or 22Finnex?

[nashvillenano]

To be fair I have been lurking on RC for about 3 months:eek1: and amazed at how complex nano's have gotten. My budget is $300 for the tank alone so no MH lights. I def. have gained alot of knowledge...so I need help with determining the lighting for what i want. I dont understand the cadlights t5 vs finnex's 3 pc 36watts for my stocking purposes.

*MY ULTIMATE PLANS FOR MY NANO ARE; 25# lr (lalo/ fiji premium/ RS new lr, 1"ls, bright polyps, some lps, flower/ ricordea mushroom, bright fiji acropack @ top of tank due to lighting, 1 picasso clownfish, 1 tankbred clown, 1 goby or blenny, 1 red or orange starfish, orange sponge, snails, 1 shrimp. Any forseen problems here? PLEASE know this is my overall list--ive learned patience is a virtue.*

1?WHICH TANK (mostly regarding lighting) WILL BETTER SUIT THIS LIST IN THE LONG RUN? I don't want to mod, and i want to use the stock lighting. Ive heard there issues with the finnex skimmer.

2 ?On both tanks; i plan to not use the 3step filter, rather add lr rubble and filter floss, and run a skimmer. Is this suitable?

CADLIGHT 22 gallon nano 4 bulbs package
[22g nano dlx] $219.99

This beautiful 22 gallon nano tank has the dimensions of: 23 3/4"length x 14 1/4"width x 14 1/2" height.
The package includes our 4 bulb lighting strip, It includes (2) 10,000k daylights and (2) 03 true actinic blue bulbs. This fixture has 2 separate switches for complete control of the 10,000k and the 03 true actinic bulbs.
SPECS:
*High intensity 4 bulbs T5 lighting (10,000k daylight, 03 true actinic blue) 56 watts.
*Extra thick (5/16"), seamless bow front glass panels.
*Diamond and mitered "Glaziers" edges.
*Cell-cast acrylic 3-step filtration unit.
*All filter media, pump and fittings included.
*Blue or Black adhesive vinyl background (Please specify on the comment box on your order).
*Flip-up hinged mounting legs.

VS

Finnex M-Tank 22g Glass Frameless Aquarium w/36W x 2 power compact + LED
Code: FI-MTG1802a
Price:$219.95
System includes:

22g frameless glass tank:

Bevel edge frameless 6mm glass tank with built-in protein skimmer chamber and wet/dry filtration chamber.

Capacity & dimension: 22 gallon, 18"L x 18"W x 17" H
Lighting fixture: Choice of 36W x 2 power compact + LED, 36W x 3 power compact (no LED), 150W HQI + 18W x 2 power compact + LED. See product name for exact model.
Protein skimmer: Venturi-driven, rated 60 gallon, 211 gph power head
Filtration:
4 layers rain tray built-in wet/dry filter
Filtration material: Ceramic bio ring, fine and coarse filtration sponge
Water return pump: 343 gph
Net weight: 58 lbs

Sorry for the long post, I appreciate any insight to the tank choice.Thanks

 

[Illuminati]

No chance of keeping acro's in either of these no matter how close to the lights. Best case is they lose their color and turn brown, worst case is they die. I have seen someone keep some orange digitata high up in a stock NanoCube. It browned but grew like a weed.



Mixing different clown species is never a good thing in a nano. You might get aggression from one of them towards the other.
If you had a monster of a tank you could get away with it.

Starfish need a LOT of food to be kept happy. Lots of food = depleting your sandbed of the critters other tank inhabitants enjoy. Might want to rethink the star.

Watch which Blenny you get, some can be picky eaters.

 

[chelskisw6]

i would get the upgraded cadlights tank, the one with 6 bulbs.

 

[nashvillenano]

colina-- thanks for the insight- sucks about the acros, but i def. want to have vivid, colorful items. Do you think the cadlight tank would be better with its lighting with my list?

chelski-- i saw that, they also added a new tank this week...but its not really in my college budget right now.

Thanks though anything else run it by me.

 

[anarchtech]

I'm in Oak Ridge NashvilleNano, maybe we can trade corals when our tanks are going good. And good luck with your new tank.