biomekanic Posted July 25, 2008 Share Posted July 25, 2008 Hey all, I'm planning out my 10g nano mantis tank. I was thinking of getting one of the deeper water species of mantis, and having a tank with LPS in it as well. I like the Duncan's, candy canes, and others. I'm not sure about lighting though. I have a 96w quad unit, one of the 10,000K/Actinic PC hoods. I've never been thrilled with the look of them though, they've always seemed kind of washed out to me. There's a 2 bulb T5 unit that's 18" long, but only with 10,00K and actinic bulbs in that size. The other T5 unit I saw offered was 6 20" bulbs, which seems like overkill to me. MH would be overkill IMO too. I was considering getting some Icecap or another brand of T5 reflectors and trimming them down to fit in a hood, and using T8 bulbs. There's a much wider variety of colors available, and they're fairly cheap. I have a wooden hood I could pull the old unit ( 2 36w(?) PCs ) and put these in. Any thoughts? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TankIt Posted July 25, 2008 Share Posted July 25, 2008 lights The problem with pc lights is the heat!!! On just a 10 gal heat can be a real problem with such low water volume. I would say if you can go with the t-5s. Also I have seen a 70 watt MH on a 10 gal, and it looked great!!! I was actually running 3 65 watt PC lights on my 29 gal, then the ballast quit on me. Now I am running a 400 watt MH and I do not think the heat out put is much more, my tank temp went up about 2 degrees and has been stable with a small fan pointed at it for cooling. I love the look so much better of the MH. I would say if you can run a MH definatly do it!!!!! Hope this helps!!!!(naughty) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AquaticEngineer Posted July 26, 2008 Share Posted July 26, 2008 I agree about the 70w halide. I'm going to be running dual 70 watters on my 15gallon tank along with 2 24 watt PC's for supplimental actinic. I guess it depends on how you want the tank to look. It you have a canopy to mount the lights and fans in I say do it. You can get build yourself a retro fit kit for just under $80 pretty easily with the 70 watters. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
spectra Posted July 26, 2008 Share Posted July 26, 2008 I am in the same boat but you have to remember some Manits Shrimp do not like MH lighting. I have Uhurus old 16 cube and want to do a Mantis tank out of it. I guess it all depends on what type of shrimp you get. I am wanting to do a 70 MH also as my sons nano looks great with a 70 sunpod over the 12 gallon AP. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
R-3 Posted July 26, 2008 Share Posted July 26, 2008 Why not run 150 if you are running two 70w's? A lot cheaper I would think. Also there is a greater selection with bulbs on the 150 scale. I would go with the T5's though for a tank setup you are looking at. Later Ryan Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
spectra Posted July 26, 2008 Share Posted July 26, 2008 All depends on the tank. My set up is rimless and I want a pendant. And as stated most Mantis shrimp will get a shell disease from to much light. I would love to run a 150 or even a 250 but yhen the main reason for the tank is defeated. I am just wanting to have a Mantis and some sofies and maybe a few LPS in there with it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AquaticEngineer Posted July 26, 2008 Share Posted July 26, 2008 Why not run 150 if you are running two 70w's? A lot cheaper I would think. Also there is a greater selection with bulbs on the 150 scale.... I already had one 70watt setup, so it was cheaper to get another 70w ballast and 70w bulb than it was to get a 150 ballast and bulb. But I probably will upgrade to a single 150w after a while. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
R-3 Posted July 26, 2008 Share Posted July 26, 2008 Ahh that makes sense. Well let me know if you ever wanna upgrade I got a setup I could let go real cheap. Later Ryan Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SamatSLS Posted July 28, 2008 Share Posted July 28, 2008 70W setup with 20K Ushio.... You'll be happy. Sam Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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