What kind light for 10 gal tank?

[butter]

I am trying to setup a 10 gal tank, possibly include zoas, fishes, inverbs, and other. I have thought about using metal halide, but I am getting contradicting opinions about it versus the use of fluorescent light.
According to my colleague, fluorescent light is better because it's cooler and emits high lumen, but the MH is hotter (will boil your tank) and use more wattage.
However, according to some of the website I am reading, MH is better because it has smoother wavelength curve than fluorescent light. Furthermore, I shouldn't need to worry about heat issue, because it will take alot of light to heat up a 10 gal tank.
So, what kind of lighting would yall recommend for? I don't really mind using MH as long as the glow is not yellowish like the incandescent.
Thank you.

 

[wax32]

MH will for sure heat your 10 gallon tank. Fluorescents will too, but not as badly.
In a 10 gallon you are pretty much limited to a single tiny fish. Believe it or not, it isn't much more expensive to set up a 55 gallon tank and you could put a lot more in it.
10 gallon tanks are hard to keep water quality stable, and I don't mean cleanliness. Salinity, Calcium, and Alkalinity are TOUGH to keep correct in a tank that small. In a 55 you would have a much easier time.
I set up a 29 gallon tank thinking that would be enough to keep me happy. $1000 and six months later I spent another couple of thousand upgrading to a 70 gallon. Almost none of the equipment from the 29 was usable in the 70 and I had to buy all new stuff. Four months after setting up the 70 I am kicking myself for not going with the 120.

Do it right the first time!

 

[butter]

Ya that's what I am afraid of. BUT~ according to my colleague (who is very good at setting up saltwater tanks), 10 Gal tank is okay to keep as long as I don't go cheap (not super expensive neither) on my filtration and other equipments.
So, most of my equipments will run for at least 50 gal. lol, the filter I have just bought is about as wide and deep as the tank itself. And on top of that, I am fixing to get a protein skimmer too. And according to my colleague, the best way to maintain the ecosystem in any tank is to make sure that I find a balance with the mechanical equipments and the creatures that will be living inside my 10 gal tank.
so, here are the creature line-ups...
- clown fish (maybe 2)
- goby
- pistol shrimp
- some coral (my colleague will hook me up with)

 

[anthony17]

man i dont know much but i think thats to many fish (not for sure) but i think for saltwater tanks its like 1" to a gallon or maybe even 2" to a gallon so like wax said 1 small fish would just about be you limit. go to the nano tank thread and post this same question and they will be able to help you out alot more.
hope this helps

 

[butter]

Thank you for the tip, but leaving the fishes aside. (lol, i still need to get all the equipments first)
I have just went to the fish store this morning and asked the "experts" there about what type of lighting they would recommend. According to them, (2) 20 watts at 5000 kelvin (PC something) should be sufficient for zoas or mushrooms, but might be abit dim. So, I have asked them to order 2 of those for me today.
oh ya, I have also decided to go with the fluorescent light instead of MH, because it will most definitely boil my fish and possible explode if exposed to water.
How much did yall spend on the lighting equipment on average?

 

[crazyaqua]

If you want to do a small tank there is a company that makes nano cubes which comes with all the lighting and filtration that you need I havent used them but you could check out one of those if you like. Good Luck small tanks are tough

 

[rod_the_gh]

I have a 10g and i just recently bought the aqualight 96w quad 50/50 pc. Really nice light. It's about 100 w/ shipping. I had trouble picking out a light too and this site pointed me on my way. Hope that this can help

 

[chipmaker]

A 10 gal with MH is overkill in my opinion, unless its oging to have corals which require intense lighting. Corals and other critters have been kept for years on end under florescent lights. PC lights are a good way to fit a heap of watts in a small space, and 96 watts on a 10 gal would be more than sufficient for 99% of whats commonly kept. The coralife 20" Aqualight w/1, 96watt PC 50/50 should be more than sufficient for your needs. The smaller the capacity of the tank the more problems your going to have with temp swings due to lights, power heads etc.......To me since the MH came out, as well as the new HO lights (T5?) folks just seem to think thats what they HAVE to have, just to be able to say they also have MH lights, when all along they cold have had just as good of parameters usuing a NO or PC setup and save some $$ as well in the process and not be plagued with additional problems created by use of the MH lights...... Stick with a PC setup for your 10 gal, and odds are in your favor it will do just fine.

 

[razoreqx]

Originally Posted by wax32
MH will for sure heat your 10 gallon tank. Fluorescents will too, but not as badly.
In a 10 gallon you are pretty much limited to a single tiny fish. Believe it or not, it isn't much more expensive to set up a 55 gallon tank and you could put a lot more in it.
10 gallon tanks are hard to keep water quality stable, and I don't mean cleanliness. Salinity, Calcium, and Alkalinity are TOUGH to keep correct in a tank that small. In a 55 you would have a much easier time.
I set up a 29 gallon tank thinking that would be enough to keep me happy. $1000 and six months later I spent another couple of thousand upgrading to a 70 gallon. Almost none of the equipment from the 29 was usable in the 70 and I had to buy all new stuff. Four months after setting up the 70 I am kicking myself for not going with the 120.

Do it right the first time!

I agree with Wax. MORE IS BETTER

 

[jeepman3sk]

i just put my 96watt PC on on my 10g the other day and im looking it. I will have to tell you that the water is much hotter now i actually was able to pretty much turn off my heater and the light kept the water warm enough. Some peopl esay you can keep clams some say no just depends I might try it out b/c my LFS has some clams that are pretty cheap. I think they were 30-40 for a 3 inch clam cant really beat that. Oh yeah if you have your glass top on take it off b/c you tank will get too hot with it on.

 

[razoreqx]

Originally Posted by Jeepman3sk
i just put my 96watt PC on on my 10g the other day and im looking it. I will have to tell you that the water is much hotter now i actually was able to pretty much turn off my heater and the light kept the water warm enough. Some peopl esay you can keep clams some say no just depends I might try it out b/c my LFS has some clams that are pretty cheap. I think they were 30-40 for a 3 inch clam cant really beat that. Oh yeah if you have your glass top on take it off b/c you tank will get too hot with it on.
You'll be throwing away 40 bucks then. Clams wont grow under PC lights and will eventually die a slow death of starvation.

 

[jeepman3sk]

ive talk to a few LFS that say they will work well certian ones. Yes i know some people dont agree with that. But you know what i havent seen any data to back up either opinion. I never said im goingm to do it but go to lots of places to get my information So untill you show me ACTUAL data inclubing numbers im going to take everyone's opinions in the same.

sorry im a number's person. Im not a person who if someone says it cant be done thats the fact untill i get the numbers (damn i hate being an engineer).

ive talk to a few people on here that have given me some useful information on here but there is also BS i hear. OH yeha byt he way i have another tank with the "correct" lights so if they show they arent doing well in my tank at school they can alwasy be put in my other tank...boy do i love having multiple tanks.

 

[uberlink]

I've read that there are a couple of deeper water clams that can do okay under less light, but man...I'd be really wary of putting them in a 10 gallon tank! Then again, I basically think of the 28 gallon tank I held over from my freshwater days as a 'nano' at this point, and I'm thinking of upgrading to at least a 55 in the next year...if not bigger (though I'd hate to have all this great equipment I've bought go to waste if I get too much bigger!).
Go as big as you can. You'll want to soon, anyway.

 

[jeepman3sk]

yeah i know im at college right now so 10g is my limit also with my budget. I wasnt trying to offend anyone on here or anything like that. I want to take my 75g form ym parent's place when i get my new place and money and continue with that one to a reef from FOWLR. uberlink i agree that a 10g might be a little small but i can always stick him in my parents tank. I know my dad loves getting free things. Right now i think i might just stick with my corals. I just picked up a hammer today and it is amazing. They kinda scrunch up at night? I hope that is the case b/c it look amazing today after being in my tank for 15 minutes. Butter you will be very happy with that light. I light want to add that you need to either get the legs for it or hang it over your tank. If you get the legs you are either going to have to cut them to pick you lid up on your top or run you tank with out a top. I finally got fed up and took the top off and moved my filters to the side of my tank and it looks very clena now well worth it. Go do ***********.com for your light i believe they had the best price. 105 shipped with the legs

 

[maeistero]

:notsure: this thread is kinda disturbing to me.
who does a 10 gallon? a nano is for experts only in my opinion as water parameters need constant attention. really a 30 is nothing pricewise and spacewise, why a 10? :help:
i forsee many problems and dieoff. good luck to you and your tank though.

 

[chipmaker]

I prefer Nano sized tanks to large tanks myself, and to be honest I prefer PICO sized and smaller even more.......I started ooff my interests with a 2 gal PICO, and its not been any problem......I later added more picos, then went to a NANO and now have large tanks, but still prefer the numerous picos scattered all around the house........They maay take a bit of fiddling with until you can get things adjusted and within reason, but after that IMHO they are no harder to maintain than any other tank.......

 

[jeepman3sk]

why do people do nanos that are 10g. b/c some of use cant afford or have the space for tanks over that size. I know tha tbeing in college this is a cheaper way to have salt water compaired to my 75g i have at my parents house or even my 45 that i have. A smalled tank is harder then the bigger ones BUT if you take the time to take care of the smaller tanks there is no reason why you cant make it work for you. I have had great success with my new nano so far. ANd the best off I hate to say it but the girls LOVE my fish. :joy: You cant beat getting girls b/c of 2 little fish that are named wick and nemo. The only thing i have had a issue with this tank is that i should of used sand instead of CC but b/c i think it would make the tank look "cleaner" so I might change that over in some time. But i dont see why anyone who has atleast read some books on salt water and has mine taken care of a fresh water tank for a while cant do a nano. CHipmaker I like you idea of putting a bunch of small tank over the house that all have different things in them. I never thought of that. Great idea. I had problems withmy 75g tank due to certain things. Like no having enough money to support the tank. But I think some beginners dont understand how much money you reall yhave to put into these tanks espically if you are going to make it a reef tank. I know right now for my 75g i couldnt afford about $1000 in corals, another 90 pounds of LR time $7 thats ummm $ 630 for LR, $500 on lights and say $300 on fish. thats a under $3000 without the live sand, tank, salt, water, stand, etc. I have spent $40 on fish, $60 on LR tank is from my freshwater set up same with my filter. I know thats not alot of money right there but you cna get the nano set ups for like 150 i believe with lights (not oo sure on that so dont quote me) Im just trying ot say that it might be a little harder to keep the water conditions good but even if it does crash youa re save a heck of alot of money if your 75 crashed. Not trying to flame or anything on anyone but im kinda looking at it from a college student life. Oh yeah it really seems to help with stress too :joy:

 

[butter]

thank yall for so much opinion. Yup, I knew that 10 gal tank is going to be hell to maintain, but that's the biggest space I can afford in my little cubicle at work. As a matter of fact, I had to get permission from my HR to setup a 10 gal tank since everybody else has only 1 to 2 gal (freshwater) tank.
My colleague, who knows more about saltwater tank, reassured me that 10 gal is going to be okay and too much light can be damaging to the zoas. And if the light is too dim, I can always "borrow" some fluorescent light from my company since I am working in a fluorescent light company.