Lighting question, incandescent hood

chrisnif

chrisnif

Member
I've got a 5 gallon AGA which came with an incandescent hood. I've currently got a 10 watt self ballasted mini PC light in there and I was wondering, I've seen a 20 watt mini-PC that screws in and has 10k and actinic (50/50). Would that light be enough to at least do soft corals and an anemone or am I underestimating the power of this bulb (didn't buy it yet) and maybe because the tank is so shallow I can maybe even do some of the easier stony corals?
Thanks in advance
 
scsinet

scsinet

Active Member
You might be able to do some really low light stuff like mushrooms.
Any kind of LPS, SPS, Clam, or Anemone would be out of the question.
Anemones would not do well in a tank that small anyway. They require more stable water quality than a 5g would have, get too big, and if one were to die, it would be catastrophic to a system that size.
 
chrisnif

chrisnif

Member
Originally Posted by SCSInet
http:///forum/post/3157592
You might be able to do some really low light stuff like mushrooms.
Any kind of LPS, SPS, Clam, or Anemone would be out of the question.
Anemones would not do well in a tank that small anyway. They require more stable water quality than a 5g would have, get too big, and if one were to die, it would be catastrophic to a system that size.
Thanks much, my LFS has a 3 gallon nano cube with similar lighting and has mushrooms, a toadstool and zoos in it along with a bubble tip anemone, but then again they have a blue hippo tang in there too and that's just about as dumb as you can get. Of course they've got 20k gallons of other water to move it to when it grows. I think I'm still going to get the 50/50 bulb and maybe get a mushroom or two, plus the blue makes it look nicer in the tank :)
 
chrisnif

chrisnif

Member
Originally Posted by SCSInet
http:///forum/post/3157621
You do realize how difficult it is to maintain an aquarium that size, right?
Yeah, I'm actually going backwards :) I had a 5 gallon that I free'd up, so that is my "reentry" into salt water for now. I'm getting a 38 gallon which im going to make into a full reef (I'd go bigger, but that is the best size to lighting cost ratio I've found), then hopefully I'm going to be grabbing a large tank on that local for sale site, I've got a 72" by 24" by whatever height is required space so maybe I can find a 180 to do FOWLR and get some of the tangs and other things I certainly cant have in my micro and small tanks ;)
While I've got your attention, I have a few feather dusters on my live rock (love free stuff) and I'm concerned because the tank is so new that there isnt anything for them to eat. Should I go grab a bottle of invert food?
 
chrisnif

chrisnif

Member
Originally Posted by SCSInet
http:///forum/post/3157648
What else is in the tank besides rock?
Rock (with feather dusters and "good" bristle worms) a small blue leg hermit, a few small round snails and a pointy tip snail that has the same kind of shell as my hermit. I'm still working on identification with them, but the round ones are white and tan and the hermit and other snail are about 0.5 cm pointy black and white shell. No fish yet, i wanted to make sure the tank cycled with the rock first. My ammonia was at 0.2 this morning (day 2) on the way down from 0.5 about 3 hours after the rock went in, and nitrites are not showing up yet and nitrate was at 1 ppm.
 
scsinet

scsinet

Active Member
Okay you are still cycling. I wouldn't add invert food just yet. Adding additional food to the tank without a fully functioning biofilter can cause ammonia to further spike, endangering your livestock. I'd give it a few more days. Given that the rock is new, there is probably plenty for them to eat right now anyway.
 
chrisnif

chrisnif

Member
Originally Posted by SCSInet
http:///forum/post/3157699
Okay you are still cycling. I wouldn't add invert food just yet. Adding additional food to the tank without a fully functioning biofilter can cause ammonia to further spike, endangering your livestock. I'd give it a few more days. Given that the rock is new, there is probably plenty for them to eat right now anyway.
Good deal, thanks, so I'll need to get invert food in the future but not an emergency today :)
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Top