urgently need lighting help

[debbie]

Hi, all you 10 gal people out there. Can you please tell me what type(s) of lighting you have on your tank(s)?
I would like to know the kind of bulb, wattage, k etc
I am needing to get some proper lights for my tank asap and need some advice.
If there is some cheaper places besides our LFS stores that one can purchase these lights etc it would be greatly appreciated.
:help:

 

[fishman830]

what do you have in your tank now??? coral wise

 

[debbie]

nothing, I am glad to. My Cyano outbreak would have killed everything I am sure. But when the time is right I hope to get some very very easy corals, maybe some mushrooms.
I did find a place called Big Al's they are in Canada and the 20 watt mini compact fluorescent 50/50 bulbs are 10.89 each. Sure is alot better than what the stores want here. $ 27.00 each. Even with the shipping cost it still is alot cheaper. I get two bulbs for the price of one. :cheer:
Anymore advice greatly appreciated

 

[craig_08]

Debbie,
I went the route that you did by going as cheap as possible. I built my own canopy and wired three screw in fixtures. I have 2 20 watt 50/50 bulbs that you mentioned, and one 19w 6500k curly compact flourescent. It is a lot smaller than the 50/50 bulbs but is kind of yellow. The 50/50 bulbs are pretty large. I also have a 13W bookworm light (waterproof casing around 13W power compact bulb with ballast) with an actinic 03 bulb to offset the 6500k. It is a total of 72 watts and looks really nice (especially with my custom canopy... nice!).
That being said, if I had it to do over again, I would probably just buy the coralife 96w 50/50 fixture (only about $110 shipped). With all bulbs bought, supplies for the canopy, and wiring supplies, it did not end up being that much cheaper other than bragging rights and I don't get as many watts. It is also very hot and I will be adding a computer fan as soon as I can figure out how to wire it in my current configuration (needs DC current). If you would like I will post some pictures of my set up and how I made it. Good luck,
Craig

 

[debbie]

Craig,
Hi, living in Canada has HUGE disadvantages. By the time I order anything from the USA the cost is outrageous. So this is what I am stuck with getting.
I can order:
10 watt coralife mini compact 50/50
20 watt coralife mini compact 50/50
These come from a Canadian retailer.
What i was wondering though,could I put in One 20 watt and then a 13 watt regular compact fluoresent?
Just a thought, hubby is going to kill me for all this added expense but I cannot turn back now after spending the money on the fish, rock etc.
I just want to get some lighting that will not give me the horrible algaes than like the "red spectrum" of things.
Debbie :help:

 

[craig_08]

The most important question that you need to answer is whether or not you would like to keep corals at some point in the future. If so, for several reasons (heat, amount of light, time...), I would chalk up the money and get the complete hood system from coralife. PM me if you want to know a cheap place to get it.
If the answer is no, you will not be keeping corals, and would just like lighting in the correct spectrum to promote benefitial algae growth (ie corraline) and discourage the growth of nuisance algae and cyanobacteria, then you have a lot more options. The cheapest of these options is to get the 13 watt bookworm lights (ballasted and ready to go, just mount them). I would reccommed two of these for a 10 gallon to cover the length of the tank. Being that you live in Canada I don't know if you will be able to get a hold of these. Your other option would be the 50/50 lights. If you do not plan to have corals then you can get away with two of the bulbs to cover the length of the tank. I would go with the 20W versions. This lighting would be more in the correct spectrum than the aforementioned lights and would be more pleasing asthetically. You would have to build a canopy to mount the lights to. You could get hubby to do it to get him involved and not be as upset about the cost. That way he would feel as if he had a part in the hobby too. Let me know if you decide to go the DIY route and I will post dimensions and directions to building a canopy and wiring your lighting. If I can do it, anyone can.

 

[debbie]

Craig,
Well, I went and bought my light. At the moment they only have one is stock, more on the way. Better than what I was using. Wow what a huge difference in color the 50/50's put out. Nice blue hue, love the look. You know the fish even act differently too. They were out and about including my shrimp whom was hiding alot.
But.......you will never guess what happened when I went to the store. As you know I have no corals and low and behold I never would ever pass up a free one. Especially the price we have to pay here for them. Yup they offered me a free green mushroom. They had a few that had fallen off from the current in the tanks. I honestly could not pass it up as I would have loved to have some of these someday. I gladly picked out the one I wanted. Looked real healthy and beautiful color too.
I was so scared when I got home with this mushroom for killing it along the way. The fold up when they are taken out of the tank and even when the lights went out tonight I noticed it was folded up. Is this normal?
When it was in the tank today it opened up and looked so nice. You must think I am totally nuts as I have one coral and so excited about it :cheer:
The cyano is very little left on the coral bed, just the odd spot. I am making sure that none of this stuff touches my one and only mushroom. I will tackle this cyano no matter what. So many people have told me to not add the Chemi Clean no matter what, change my lights and just see what happens. Hey , I am game for anything right about now. But I did find out that our big salt water store here battles this stuff quite often so I am not the only one I guess.
I was braging the other day about beginners luck, yup it sure crept up on me hey

Anyways, now I that i have this light thing under control. It is by the way a 20 watt mini compact fluorescent 50/50. I do have room for one more when they come in. My mushroom is under the side with the light.
What do mushrooms eat and what should I be putting in the water for them? Anything else you could help me with to keep my one and only coral alive would be very much appreciated.
Oh, one last question. If a fish or shrimp touch the mushrooms do they tend to curl up a bit? Mine was that way and then opened up again.
Thanks for all your help, it sure has been great :joy: