Clownser's 10g diary

clownser

clownser

Member
Just added live rock and some live sand from the LFS! Been cycling my tank for about a week with mollys. Going to be taking them out and giving them to my friend so they don't die (made me feel bad about cycling with live fish). Anyone know about how long it will take before my cycle will complete and I can start adding my fish? Below is a pic of my current liverock set up!

Nutrafin tests on 3/28
Ammonia- 0.8
PH-8.2
Nitrate- 5
Nitrite- 0.2
 
clownser

clownser

Member
Fish I plan on getting:
Greenbanded goby
a small clownfish
Red-striped goby
Corals:
Torch coral
Frogspawn
Mushroom
Zoos
Candycane
maybe a small brain or bubble coral
inverts:
Littlebear conch
sexy shrimp
pom pom crab
2 Turbo snails
2 Nassarius Snails
1 Halloween Crab
3 Hawaiian Zebra crabs
Is this going to be too much for my 10g? Thoughts? I have a Rena Smartfilter 30 as my filtration.
 
nikesb

nikesb

Active Member
add a little more lr and try to get a hang on skimmer
even then, 3 fishes is pushing it. i would stick with the two gobies
what lighting have you decided to go with?
 
clownser

clownser

Member
Added some more rock! As for the lights I haven't decided yet. The tank I had is tall and narrow. So it looks like LEDs are my only option unless I want T5s but they will hang over...I dont think I will like that look. I may just cycle this tank out with the current lights I have...Get a CUC and 2 fish...run that for awhile and then get my lights. The filter on the back takes up the whole back side so no room for a skimmer.
Do you think that is needed?
 
ibanez

ibanez

Member
The pom pom crab may not be a good choice for the tank IMO. Most likely it will take another week or two before you could house any fish, but it just depends on your tests.
 
clownser

clownser

Member
Nike been doing some more research...I think I am just going to go with the lights. My only question I have is with LEDs is wattage not as important as in other lights. With my current lights I have a total of 2x18 watt bulbs. While the LED is only 21 watts (The PAR 38 21w 20k)? I am kind of curious on how the LEDs will work out! Everyone that I have talked to about it is kind of iffy about it b/c its a newer idea. I like the idea but not sure. The LEDs the best price I can seem to find is about 120+shipping. Is there any benefit of the Ledio over the Nanocustoms LEDs?
 
nikesb

nikesb

Active Member
Originally Posted by Clownser
http:///forum/post/3252377
Nike been doing some more research...I think I am just going to go with the lights. My only question I have is with LEDs is wattage not as important as in other lights. With my current lights I have a total of 2x18 watt bulbs. While the LED is only 21 watts (The PAR 38 21w 20k)? I am kind of curious on how the LEDs will work out! Everyone that I have talked to about it is kind of iffy about it b/c its a newer idea. I like the idea but not sure. The LEDs the best price I can seem to find is about 120+shipping. Is there any benefit of the Ledio over the Nanocustoms LEDs?
watts mean nothing when it comes to led's. they put out so much power that its ridiculous. the ledio have more coloration choices. i dont know why people are iffy about the idea, its a great way to light up small reefs such as yours. theres absolutely no contest against leds. i have t5-ho but if i had good diy skills and all the tools for leds, id be all over it.
 
clownser

clownser

Member
Ya I was actually just reading an article about lumens, K, and such and comparison of lights. I am definitely going to give the LEDs a go! Now just need to decide on Ledios or the Nanocustoms!
 
clownser

clownser

Member
So I called nano-customs today and the Rep thought I might need 2 LEDs of the 60 degree variety to light up my small 10g...Do you think that is needed?? Also are there any benefits to the 12k lighting over the 20k you recommended? Thanks and sorry for all the questions...just trying to do it right the first time! LOL
 
nikesb

nikesb

Active Member
did you give them the dimensions of your 10g? they might be thinking its a standard 10g which 2 bulbs would be needed becaused of its length. 12k is supposed to give more growth, but the the colors dont pop as much. 20k will give you nicer color but supposedly slower growth, but it really depends on what you have growing. me and a buddy have two different lighting (his being a higher kelvin) and he gets faster growth out of the same sps. it has alot to do with the tank set up as well
 
clownser

clownser

Member
Ya I gave him the dimensions...He said 1 should work but would be safer with 2...I am going to get 1 and I can always add a second if its needed. Probably going to order it tomorrow after work...then the building will begin! As far as how far the light should be from my tank is that more trial and error to get the best coverage?
 
clownser

clownser

Member
Cool I was probably going to give one a go anyway! They are cool little guys! I just started my tank (still cycling) the hardest part is picking what I want!
 
nikesb

nikesb

Active Member
Originally Posted by Clownser
http:///forum/post/3252730
Ya I gave him the dimensions...He said 1 should work but would be safer with 2...I am going to get 1 and I can always add a second if its needed. Probably going to order it tomorrow after work...then the building will begin! As far as how far the light should be from my tank is that more trial and error to get the best coverage?
this will depend on what you are keeping in the tank, if you are keep sps, probably no more than 12" away. ask for their par graphs from varying distances. i was trying to look for it on another forum, but cannot find the thread
 
clownser

clownser

Member
So I was going to make some type of hood for the nanocustom LEDs I was wondering if anyone knows of any marine sockets to install the bulbs into or should I just get it from the local hardware store?
 
nikesb

nikesb

Active Member
i think you would be better off just hanging them out in the open as long as you can do it in a sleek way. leds do better with open air
 
clownser

clownser

Member
So my tests since I started my tank have not moved...nothing spiked even when I added my liverock even a little. So I read that it is possible to get a faulty test. I went out and bought an ammonia test to test my water and with the new test my ammonia is showing 0 (my old test always read .6)! I am going to go get all the additional tests tomorrow to make sure everything is in check. Assuming everything is 0 do you think I am safe to start adding fish? Its been about 2 1/2 weeks since I started my 10g. I had a small algae bloom a few days ago and put 2 snails and a few blue legged hermits in there this morning. They are doing great so far! You think I may have missed my spike due to my faulty test kit? Should I give it another week to make sure everything stays at 0?
Nike I think I am going to give a DIY LED panel a try and see what happens with that! Looks fun...been reading alot on them! Need to order the parts soon so I can get me some corals! Found a LFS with some awesome looking frags and such for $15!
 
nikesb

nikesb

Active Member
the diy would be alot nicer as long as you do it right. as for your cycle 2 1/2 weeks is a very short time for cycling so im not sure what to tell you there. you can try a fish to put bioload on it then just watch your parameters. thats what im about to do soon because ive had my tank running for 4 weeks and i dont think there was enough of anything in my aquarium to start a spike so ill be adding a fish on tuesday
 
clownser

clownser

Member
Ya I have 3 freshwater Mollys in it since I started it! I am going to watch it for another week or 2 just to be safe.
As for the lights I was planning/guessing on 12-15 3w cree bulbs...will be checking out all that tonight sometime and diagraming it out and making sure I have the color I am looking for! Probably going to go with a 50/50 Cool White/Royal Blue with a dimmable meanwell. Hopefully I will start buying parts too! :)
 
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