Lighting a 10g nano

[biomekanic]

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?

[TankIt]

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)

[AquaticEngineer]

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.

[spectra]

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.

[R-3]

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

[spectra]

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.

[AquaticEngineer]

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.

[R-3]

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

[SamatSLS]

70W setup with 20K Ushio.... You'll be happy.

 

Sam