b-rad_c Posted November 1, 2009 Share Posted November 1, 2009 Hey Im new to the site and just wanted to know if my 12 gallon nanocube lighting will be enough to keep soft corals. Its the standard 2x24W lights. So let me know. Actually will my standard nanocube do the job in keeping a reef aquarium? Or do i need to upgrade? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jgf86123 Posted November 1, 2009 Share Posted November 1, 2009 i can promise you that you will want to upgrade eventually, probably sooner rather than later, and as for the lighting, it should be about minimum for most soft corals, such as zoas and shrooms, but, if you would like, its very easy to upgrade the lighting by taking the lid off the tank and hanging a 70w halide over the tank, if i can find the guys email, i know of someone who is selling 2 70w halides, no reflectors and needing new bulbs, for 100 bucks. just let me know if you'd be interested, and ill gladly get it to you. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CA2OR Posted November 1, 2009 Share Posted November 1, 2009 I had a similar set up and let me tell you I had some soft corals and a bunch of zoa's which didn't thrive...they didn't die...but they didn't trive. I spent like $150 on a JBJ Viper2 Clip on 150w MH with a 20k and never looked back. My opinion, upgrade to a similar light setup as described above. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nwcoralfarm Posted November 1, 2009 Share Posted November 1, 2009 You will be able to keep a lot of different soft corals in that lighting and actually many will thrive. I had a 12 gallon nano for a long time and everything grew like crazy, just be sure to do your research and see what kind of lighting you need for that specific coral. The breakdown is about 4 watts per gallon which is actually pretty good. Remember to change your lights as recommended and water change weekly, detritus can build up pretty quick and bad things happen much faster in small tanks. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CA2OR Posted November 1, 2009 Share Posted November 1, 2009 Here is pic... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CA2OR Posted November 1, 2009 Share Posted November 1, 2009 You will be able to keep a lot of different soft corals in that lighting and actually many will thrive. I had a 12 gallon nano for a long time and everything grew like crazy, just be sure to do your research and see what kind of lighting you need for that specific coral. The breakdown is about 4 watts per gallon which is actually pretty good. Remember to change your lights as recommended and water change weekly, detritus can build up pretty quick and bad things happen much faster in small tanks. which lighting? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nwcoralfarm Posted November 1, 2009 Share Posted November 1, 2009 The real benefit to upgrading the lighting in these is that you can lose the lid and hang a skimmer on the back too. These tanks are made for reefs and although they are not perfect, it can be done very successfully. Check out nanoreef forums, those guys know their nano's. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jgf86123 Posted November 1, 2009 Share Posted November 1, 2009 that is a helluva nice looking 12g cube eric, i dont think ive seen one nicer anywhere on the web, at least not between here and the other 2 forums ive been on lol that 150w clip on halide really does the trick dont it? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nwcoralfarm Posted November 1, 2009 Share Posted November 1, 2009 That is a nice looking tank Eric, and it is great if you're neighbors have a hard time seeing in their driveway, I was just commenting on keeping softies in a nano, not anemones, ha ha. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CA2OR Posted November 1, 2009 Share Posted November 1, 2009 That is a nice looking tank Eric' date=' and it is great if you're neighbors have a hard time seeing in their driveway, I was just commenting on keeping softies in a nano, not anemones, ha ha.[/quote'] I was just trying to give an idea of what types of corals he could house and such. Thanks...oh the anemone's yeah....that Green bubble tip at that time was splitting as often as some roses I knew of. IMO the 150w clip on is perfect for a 12g or around that. You are over 10w per gallon, which used to be the goal when determining light. Now it's par and such. The 20k will give you great color, if you go with something like a 15k you will get crazy growth too. depends on what you want...really vibrant or pretty vibrant that grows a little faster Thank you for the compliments....that isn't actually the most recent pic. I have to find that one. It got a bit better before the upgrade to the 36. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CA2OR Posted November 1, 2009 Share Posted November 1, 2009 Let me tell you....I know most wont agree, but that 12g, in my opinion, was the easy days....it is much more complicated now in the 72 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nwcoralfarm Posted November 1, 2009 Share Posted November 1, 2009 Let me tell you....I know most wont agree' date=' but that 12g, in my opinion, was the easy days....it is much more complicated now in the 72[/quote'] Yeah, I agree in some way. I have a 1000 gallon grow out system that is so low maintenance that it that it takes care of me in the off time, ha ha. No but really it is probably almost as much work for me to take care of that as it was for my nano, just because the setup is so much better. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CA2OR Posted November 1, 2009 Share Posted November 1, 2009 well and you if reacters now and all kinds of stuff....sump....refug...so on. I took all my filtration out of the back, stacked with LRR and added xenia...tank was a breeze...and I am famous for not doing water changes. Xenia filter You can ask Nick as Rose City....when I traded him the tank there was still xenia stuck on the back wall....matter fact same thing happened with Doug and the 36.DOH! oh...I also had the filter foam and lrr under that carbon...sorry forgot about that. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
b-rad_c Posted November 1, 2009 Author Share Posted November 1, 2009 Thanks for all the help! I think im going to get the viper HQI clamp light after a little while. I will update after I actually get my tank up and going. So with your filtration you tooke everything out and just replaced it right away? Or did you use all your filtration that it came with and then decided to switch it all over? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nwcoralfarm Posted November 2, 2009 Share Posted November 2, 2009 I will tell you this, straight up, you can mod till the end of days, we all do. The problem is you will start with something simple and then need something bigger. This item that you bought to make your house look better will become a drug, addiction and hobby. Those tanks are not perfect there are a lot of things that can be done to them, and if you are like any of us you will someday buy the best, most expensive and perfect piece of equipment you can buy just to mod it too. Its really fun. However in the end, there are a few basic rules to reef keeping and the rest is trial and error and just doing what you are comfortable with. You will quickly find that you will get 100 different answers from 100 different people on the right way to do something, and 1 thing that someone swears is the best way to do something another will say is the worst thing you can do. You can run the tank just like it is, as I said I did it for years with great success, but you will most likely find something else you want that needs more light or better filtration and need to update. The filtration on that is sufficient, but nothing beats a good skimmer and a refugium so once again it is all how you want to do it. If you have enough live rock you can get rid of the bio rings, add a bag of charcoal if you want. I strongly recommend first and foremost getting comfortable with it first and learning your parameters. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
grassi Posted November 2, 2009 Share Posted November 2, 2009 We started with the 14 gallon Biocube with stock lighting too. Softies will thrive in there! But eventually it's not a matter if they will thrive, but about all the corals you fall in love with while shopping for the low light softies that you need high lights for! lol We got tired of having to first ask what we were allowed to keep and only have a couple items to chose from. We upgraded to the 16.5" 70watt Sunpod and I love it. We've had it up on the tank for almost a year. We can't keep most SPS but I can have most everything else.. even chalices do fantastic. You can also have the 20" Sunpod in a 150 or 70 watt but we really didn't like the look of it hanging over or all the wasted light flowing outside around the tank. For our 10 gallon nano (yes we have two nanos!) we bought the 150watt Fish Need It clip on and it has been fantastic. We can keep all the SPS but unfortunately the light bleaches out some of them because it's too strong lol Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nwcoralfarm Posted November 2, 2009 Share Posted November 2, 2009 We started with the 14 gallon Biocube with stock lighting too. Softies will thrive in there! But eventually it's not a matter if they will thrive, but about all the corals you fall in love with while shopping for the low light softies that you need high lights for! lol We got tired of having to first ask what we were allowed to keep and only have a couple items to chose from. We upgraded to the 16.5" 70watt Sunpod and I love it. We've had it up on the tank for almost a year. We can't keep most SPS but I can have most everything else.. even chalices do fantastic. You can also have the 20" Sunpod in a 150 or 70 watt but we really didn't like the look of it hanging over or all the wasted light flowing outside around the tank. For our 10 gallon nano (yes we have two nanos!) we bought the 150watt Fish Need It clip on and it has been fantastic. We can keep all the SPS but unfortunately the light bleaches out some of them because it's too strong lol Not to hijack the thread but, Grassi, do you think if you introduced the corals to the light slow enough that you could grow them? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
grassi Posted November 2, 2009 Share Posted November 2, 2009 You mean introduced them to the lower light from the store lighting? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nwcoralfarm Posted November 2, 2009 Share Posted November 2, 2009 You mean introduced them to the lower light from the store lighting? NO I mean introducing them by exposing them to the light for only a few hours a day and then gradually increasing it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CA2OR Posted November 2, 2009 Share Posted November 2, 2009 That is what I did. I didn't do the whole cover shade thing. I just cut lights back to 4 hours and started a program I run everytime I upgrade lights. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rick Posted November 2, 2009 Share Posted November 2, 2009 I have an acro (plus several other corals) within 4" of the top of my tank with 400w MH lights over it and the only thing I've had problems with bleaching was the chocolate candy cane (The brown was starting to fade). Once I moved it under the 250w light the color darkened back up again within a couple of days. I did start off with only a few hours under the 400w and worked my way up to the 7 hours or so they run at now over about a 2 week period. (Added 1/2 hour or so each day) As mentioned above there are many many opinions about what is best but in the end what works for one may or may not work for the next. Unless you can duplicate exactly the same thing (including exactly the same feeding, bio-load, calcium demand, etc.) then chances are you will find you need to develop a system that works for you that is different from all others. It's really a grand experiment with many possible ways to get the same basic result. There is nothing wrong with finding people that are successful and asking them what works and then trying to duplicate it but also don't be surprised if your result isn't the same. As far as lighting over a Nano you might look at my spiral bulb experiment (link in my signature). I'm trying to find out what I can grow under $12 worth of spiral bulbs from Lowe's. Par values are probably similar to the stock nano lighting. So far I'm finding that soft corals and LPS both fair pretty well under these lights. I have an Acan under them that in only 3 weeks or so actually looks better than it did under the MH lights in my display. The leathers are also showing good growth and I have a Paly that already grew off the frag plug onto the egg crate. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CA2OR Posted November 2, 2009 Share Posted November 2, 2009 I have a Paly that already grew off the frag plug onto the egg crate. Really?:eek: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rick Posted November 2, 2009 Share Posted November 2, 2009 Really?:eek:LOL, You can guess where my competition piece is. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CA2OR Posted November 2, 2009 Share Posted November 2, 2009 LOL' date=' You can guess where my competition piece is.[/quote'] isn't there a rule about spiral bulbs?(scratch) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rick Posted November 2, 2009 Share Posted November 2, 2009 isn't there a rule about spiral bulbs?(scratch) As I recall yes. The rule being that if it works I share the information afterwards. (plotting) Note that I still don't expect to win.(scratch) I don't expect to either way so I'm not out anything if it doesn't work. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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