Lighting a 12gal

[Fishgod]

Hey all. I have been told by quite a few people that I would not be able to keep corals with my current lighting fixture, right now I have a 13w blu/white lamp at 10,000K. I have read also that some corals will be just fine with this type of lighting, as long as the water is not too deep. (Right now FOWLR but will probably soon be starting another 12gal for just corals and clowns.) What type of corals can I keep in the new system with this type of fixture??

Thanks-

 

[brandon4291]

disk anemones, or mushroom corals can work okay with that lighting setup depending on where you place them. A twelve gallon tank may be a bit tall to light them propoerly w 13watts pc light so you'll likely need to move them up to the top area of the LR structure when you get it. Mushrooms come in all colors and can add a nice touch to aquascaping, and they are hassle free IMO/ Caulastrea is a stony coral that doesnt require powerful lighting to thrive, but it still needs standard Calcium/Alk maintenance as it is a true stony. It would have to be right under the 13 watters...in any case I know that you know an upgrade is eventually needed

Brandon

 

[brandon4291]

The best lighting you could possibly put on that 12 gallon would be a Prism 175 watt MH hanging pendant. ABout 300 bucks, affordable as far as MH goes, and will never ever require upgrading. You can hang it high enough to minimize temp swings and fan it.

Secondly, a Custom Smart Lte retrofit 32w pc is also a fine choice if you are staying in the realm of PC. It fits tightly into many standard canopies such as the Eclipse versions in your size....

Brandon

 

[Fishgod]

Okay, great, thanks. I think I'm gonna retrofit my current canopy with the 32w PC... it IS a nano still and I want to keep the sleek "look" of the eclipse... but thanks for the info about that MH.. that IS cheap, for the whole fixture! The cheapest i've seen, anyway

 

[sstephen]

While we're on the topic ... Have you heard of the PowerQuad 96 Smartlite? I saw it for sale on a number of different sites. It's a 96 watt, 4 tube power compact bulb with 2 blue actinic tubes and 2 10K tubes. The retrofit kit was only about 18"x5"x2"! That seems like a good PC fixture for a nano tank. I'm curious about what others think about this. One thing that concerns me is heat output. Would a fan be necessary for this kind of lighting? I live in San Diego, so heat buildup in a small tank is a concern. If that's the case, I may have to forgo the Eclipse-style canopies and make my own. Anybody else have any thoughts on this?

 

[brandon4291]

Matter of fact, now that you mentioned it that powerquad is much better than the 32w CSL retro... if it fits well where you want it too. forgot about that! I want one of those powerquads for one of my small reefs, I'd fan it heavily and then put it over a two gallon reef, but thats just my own psychotic application.

yes it may require fanning as 96watts is alot over a nano reef, but its nothing a trip to radioshack and $40 can't solve...

good call

Brandon

 

[MiltonP]

I have a powerquad over my 29 in one of those inexpensive wood slat canopies. I also have the folding glass cover underneath. With a room temp of 71 the light keeps the tank around 77. I will probably need to drill some vent holes around the sides of the canopy or maybe add a fan before this summer. It is a little early to tell but the frogspawn and caulastrea seem quite happy so far. The dimensions of the powerquad also leave me room to add moonlight, etc....

 

[Fishgod]

:idea: After the help from everyone on here and doing quite a bit of my own research, I've decided to go with a SmartLite 64w 50/50 lamp that is half actinic and half 10000K. 32w is apparently too little power to have some of the more demanding corals that I would like to have (Xenia, bubble) but 96w would have most mushrooms or leathers shrinking in shock in a tank as small as mine.

Does anyone disagree with me or have any additional ideas?

 

[wombat1]

I think that's a good choice.

 

[Fishgod]

Wombat, how many gallons is that reef on your link?

 

[wombat1]

It's a 30 gallon extra long, 48x12x12, (imagine a standard 55 gallon that's only 12" tall). There's a 3 gallon fuge, 10 gallon sump about halfway full, and two surges with around 2 gallons at any given time, so total volume is around 40 gallons.

 

[gregmoeck]

i use a 96 watt power quad over my 10 gallon. There is really no heat coming off the bulb. Its a good light.

 

[skylsdale]

What's the price on that 96W quad? That has to be a monster...

 

[gregmoeck]

I picked it up brand new in the box from someone on reef central for 100.00

I think they run 160.00 - 180.00 new.

I am going with VHO as soon as I can afford it. The VHO set up including bulbs and ice cap ballast will run me 240.00 and then I have to build a canopy. VHO's are too damn high.

Aqua Clear 150 filter with Live Rock Chunks tossed in. This macro came out of no where and is taking over the little filter. The good thing about a suspended light is you can hang stuff off your tank, it gets light and will grow things. The inside of my filter is covered with coraline.

 

[dantodd]

Hi all,

Just joined since I am in the process of setting up my first nano.

I just purchased a Coralife Aqualite (I think) from hellolights.com

It is a full hood including 4 fans that contains a 96w quad PC 50/50 03/10,000 K

Price is $100 for the hood plus shipping and tax if you're in CA.

Just went on 2 days ago and so far I love it. So does my muchroom.

Cheers,
Dan