Lighting Question

[aaronc0311]

I have a 10g tank that has been running for about a month. I am looking at lighting options, as Christmas is around the corner,

and I am curious as to what type would be better for my 10gal tank. I intend on keeping polyps, two fish and some of the easier stony corals that will do fine with cheaper lighting. The two options that I am looking at are:
20 inch 1x40 Watt Current USA PowerCompact Single Satellite Fixture
No./Color Temp: 1-SmartPaq 10,000K/460nm
No. of Lunar Lights: 1
Fan: No
No. of Switches: 1
AND A:
18 inch Current USA Nova Extreme 2x18 watt T5 HO 10K/460nm
They are both the same price. I am new and need some info.
Any info would be of great help!!!
Thanks!!

 

[mboswell1982]

what type of fish are you looking at keeping?

 

[aaronc0311]

Lawnmower Blenny and a Clown... Or that is what I am thinking at this moment.. I guess that would look nicer with an anemone. So I guess you can add that to the inhabitants of the tank.

 

[mboswell1982]

lawnmower blenny is too big for that tank you can do a nice goby, lookin for one now for ya to look at, and as for clowns, in a 10g tank, ur kinda limited to basically a false perculis clown, aka the ocellaris clown
and you dont need to do an anemone, the clowns dont need it, especially tank bred/raised clowns, an if you get the false perc, they should be tank bred

 

[mboswell1982]

and for the goby, a wheeler's watchman should be perfect for ya

 

[aaronc0311]

Oh man you are breaking my heart.... not really. Oh well, that is why I am on here. Any other options that you have in mind for such a small tank? I think I remember seeing a dartfish??? that was pretty cool. Looked like it maintained a compact size, but I might be wrong. I have not researched to heavily yet as it will be a while before I add them in.

 

[mboswell1982]

and for the lights, if you have an option to get T5HO's, get them!!!!! especially over pc lighting, you will be much happier, an any corals you get will also be much happier as well

 

[mboswell1982]

honestly, id scratch a second type of fish altogether, well, what kind of filtration are you runnin on this tank? if your runnin enough, and reallllllyyyyyyyyyyy stay on top of things, you could do a pair of clowns, but i honestly wouldnt recommend that in anything less than a 20g to be perfectly honest, or maybe a 15g if you can find one

 

[aaronc0311]

Two HOB's enough for a 30gal... My intentions are to use live rock in them with the sponges that you had previously told me about and culerpa. The rio nano skimmer which is rated for a twenty gallon. So if two fish are out of the question, are there any other creatures that you would recommend? Stars, crabs, shrimp? Anything?
What is the main difference in the two types of light? They appear to have the same outputs. Not questioning you, just curious.

 

[mboswell1982]

honestly, i cant answer that question, except that t5's will put out more light for less wattage and less power consumption than the pcs, so ive been told LOL and, you could prolly do a yashia goby/pistol shrimp combo along with some hermits an snails an whatnot for ur clean up crew and you should be ok on that, im actually in the process of building a sump/refugium for my 2.5g pico tank i got yesterday

then i gotta find lights for it, its only a 12" long tank, so t5's are outta the question, unfortunately LOL

 

[aaronc0311]

Ok t5's it is. Ummm how are you going to build a sump/refugium for such a small tank?

 

[mboswell1982]

i got enough acrylic sheet to build a 12x6x6 tank, which is 2g, and im gonna turn a HOB powerfilter into a HOB overflow, route it into the sump, and i got a penguin 550 powerhead/pump that im gonna have in there to pump the water back into the tank

if you want, check out a thread entitled a pico, in the nano section, i got a drawing on page 3 of how im gonna do it

 

[aaronc0311]

That sounds cool. I am going to check out the thread. Thanks for the info and help!!! I am sure I will be back for more.

 

[mboswell1982]

np man, im glad to help out

 

[1990jpyj]

you can do more then 2 fish in the 10g. i have plans to get 1 more in mine. i have 2 clowns, & 1 damsel. i plan on replacing the damsel with a yellow watchman. here is what i have to run my tank:
marineland 100 filter
moded aquaclear 70 (fuge)
2" sand bed
and 18# of LR
i do a 3g water change each week to fix any issues of the build up. a protein skimmer isnt needed for such a small tank.
as for the clowns i plan on getting a set of T5's HO same one you mentioned, and getting a frogspanw to get the clowns to hopfully host.

 

[mboswell1982]

i forgot all about your clowns in a 10g chris LOL so there ya go man, u can do a pair of clowns and a yashia goby in that 10g tank, that would be pretty tight if you ask me, i really wish i ahd a 10g tank, but, 2.5g is a great starter, cause if i can make a success of it, i should be able to keep anything

 

[1990jpyj]

https://forums.saltwaterfish.com/data/smilies/party.gif[/img]
dude if you can keep a tank that small without a problem then you woundt have anyproblems with your giant lagoon. i wish i had to do a 2 cup water change like you will have to do.

 

[1990jpyj]

o and as far as corals go in the 10g you could probly do a few softies, a few zoa's, and im gonna try an xena(hopfully it works out better then last time, i think it was a bad frag cuz it died 2 days later)

 

[aaronc0311]

Thanks for the input. I don't have my mind made up on the fish just yet. I am not really worried about the burden they would put on the tank, just having fish that would be living in such small confines its whole life. I would like to have more than two, but we will see after I start adding them. I really want to watch the creatures that I add serve a purpose, to watch them work. I feel like a dork at this point, I have watched my live rock for more than an hour a day for about a month now. haha It is kinda interesting and after a month of watching I saw the first small stars.. I have no idea where they have been hiding all this time. About the skimmer, I have heard both yes and no. I think I will keep it running just to create more water movement even if it doesn't produce.
Thanks again for the info!!