Newb lighting question

deathwater · 07/25/2008, 05:17 PM

I am currently borrowing a friends lights until I get my own but I don't even know where to start. From what I understand I have power compacts and that metal hallides are the best. I have soft corral like zoas and mushrooms with frogspawn, xenias, and star polyps. Down the road I would like to get hard corrals too because they look awesome. I also have a damsel which I will probably get rid of, and a lawnmower blenny. My tank is a 20 gal and it is 2 ft across. Suggestions and reccomendations are much apreciated.

photobret · 07/25/2008, 06:44 PM

Starting slow is good. Perfecting your tank husbandry is the first step before hardcorals. MH is great, I have used it with very good success, an alternative to research is T5 and one I highly recommend. No matter which you choose both will allow you to keep all types of coral, quality bulbs and fittings are very important so dont skimp there and ask lots of questions here on RC before taking the plunge. Ditch the damsel if you must, they are a little aggressive and might bother new tank mates. Welcome!

reef_doug · 07/25/2008, 07:00 PM

Welcome.
Keep in mind on the lighting that one day soon that you'll want a larger tank than 20 gal so look for some used T5 lighting for now.

T5s are good and allow you to custom the color with different bulbs and put out less heat. MH give the "shimmies" which I like but use up the juice and produce the most amount of heat.

savethereef · 07/25/2008, 11:52 PM

for me personaly i would not use MH on anything under 30g because the heat they put out. unless you have a chiller than your ok. to much evap with fan on a 20g will have your salinity jumping all over.

As every one says a 20g get full fast next thing you will have a 50g or bigger then you are getting all your equipment again

More water volume is more forgiving

deathwater · 07/26/2008, 07:34 AM

Thanks for the advice, I think I am going to start to research and price out the T5s. I have a 10 gal sump with a fan and I evapporate a gallon of water every 2 or 3 days. I think if I spent the cash on MH and a chiller I would rather have bought a bigger tank haha. Thanks again guys, let me know if you hear about any good deals

powderbluu · 07/26/2008, 07:35 AM

I had used MH (viper K2-150) on my 24 gal tank + 15 gal sump. and my SPS loved it. SaveTheReef was right, it did put out lots of heat, however I had a chiller which helped.

If you plan for SPS, wait out until the tank is stable and that build up proper equipments before introducing them to the tank. (I learned the hard way.) :-). Good luck!

07/25/2008, 05:17 PM	#1
deathwater Registered Member Join Date: Jul 2008 Location: La Habra, CA Posts: 18	Newb lighting question I am currently borrowing a friends lights until I get my own but I don't even know where to start. From what I understand I have power compacts and that metal hallides are the best. I have soft corral like zoas and mushrooms with frogspawn, xenias, and star polyps. Down the road I would like to get hard corrals too because they look awesome. I also have a damsel which I will probably get rid of, and a lawnmower blenny. My tank is a 20 gal and it is 2 ft across. Suggestions and reccomendations are much apreciated.

07/25/2008, 06:44 PM	#2
photobret Rude, Screwd and Tattooed Join Date: Oct 2007 Location: Oahu, HI Posts: 1,331	Starting slow is good. Perfecting your tank husbandry is the first step before hardcorals. MH is great, I have used it with very good success, an alternative to research is T5 and one I highly recommend. No matter which you choose both will allow you to keep all types of coral, quality bulbs and fittings are very important so dont skimp there and ask lots of questions here on RC before taking the plunge. Ditch the damsel if you must, they are a little aggressive and might bother new tank mates. Welcome! __________________ Free Discover Scuba Experience - Ask Me How Current Tank Info: Contemplating 40gal Hawaii Tank

07/25/2008, 07:00 PM	#3
reef_doug Premium Member Join Date: Jul 2006 Location: Hesperia/Apple Valley Posts: 3,814	Welcome. Keep in mind on the lighting that one day soon that you'll want a larger tank than 20 gal so look for some used T5 lighting for now. T5s are good and allow you to custom the color with different bulbs and put out less heat. MH give the "shimmies" which I like but use up the juice and produce the most amount of heat. __________________ "If you have more than one tank in your livingroom, you might be a reefneck" Current Tank Info: 180r SoCal Creations, 75g SCC1M Sump, WM EcoBAK, NextReef SMR1, TropicMarin Salt, ACIII, 3x250w HQI Phoenix 14k, 2x140w Super Actinics, ATi BM250, Eheim 1262, Tunze 2x6100+7095, Tunze Osmolator, 6 stage RODI w/ Spectrapure MaxCap

07/25/2008, 11:52 PM	#4
savethereef SCRK Join Date: Oct 2006 Location: Bellflower 90706 CA (So Cal) Posts: 7,720	for me personaly i would not use MH on anything under 30g because the heat they put out. unless you have a chiller than your ok. to much evap with fan on a 20g will have your salinity jumping all over. As every one says a 20g get full fast next thing you will have a 50g or bigger then you are getting all your equipment again More water volume is more forgiving __________________ Instead of building a reef in my home i would rather build my home in the reef. Rob aka STR SCRK & SCMAS MEMBER Current Tank Info: Leemar 450g 96L x36W x 30T 3/4 inch Starfire With 70g Sump Vertex 250 Royal Exclusive protein Skimmer Laguna 2900 Return pump 5 Aquaillumination Hydra's LED Modules. 4 Tunze Stream Bubble Magus Doser. Reef Keeper Elite

07/26/2008, 07:34 AM	#5
deathwater Registered Member Join Date: Jul 2008 Location: La Habra, CA Posts: 18	Thanks for the advice, I think I am going to start to research and price out the T5s. I have a 10 gal sump with a fan and I evapporate a gallon of water every 2 or 3 days. I think if I spent the cash on MH and a chiller I would rather have bought a bigger tank haha. Thanks again guys, let me know if you hear about any good deals

07/26/2008, 07:35 AM	#6
powderbluu Registered Member Join Date: Jul 2008 Location: SoCal Posts: 712	I had used MH (viper K2-150) on my 24 gal tank + 15 gal sump. and my SPS loved it. SaveTheReef was right, it did put out lots of heat, however I had a chiller which helped. If you plan for SPS, wait out until the tank is stable and that build up proper equipments before introducing them to the tank. (I learned the hard way.) :-). Good luck!