suitable light for nano

[Dvsfx]

hello, I'm wondering what sort of light to use in my 10 gallon nano , my current fixture can only hold 1 15inch fluorescent bulb and the current bulb is a full spectrum about 16 watts. I know I am going to have to upgrade it too a 2 bulb fixture but I was wondering if There was a better bulb I could put in for the meantime , I just want to start adding a soft coral or two maybe a polyp or mushroom to start , is this possible? I do have a cylindrical MH ballast laying around , if I used that with my fluorescent would that work more efficiently ?

 

[joy13]

I don't believe you can change ballasts around like that they are usually pretty specific. Have you thought of a 70w mh 70W Metal Halide Pendant Lights ? You might need to hook up a fan so that it keeps your tank cool but I have a friend that has one over his 12 gallon and his coral are doing great. He likes the phoenix 20k bulb the best, to me it is a little bit to much blue.

 

[Convict2161]

I don't believe you can change ballasts around like that they are usually pretty specific. Have you thought of a 70w mh 70W Metal Halide Pendant Lights ? You might need to hook up a fan so that it keeps your tank cool but I have a friend that has one over his 12 gallon and his coral are doing great. He likes the phoenix 20k bulb the best, to me it is a little bit to much blue.

Your right joy you can't just change a ballast to suit your lighting needs. There light/wattage specific.

 

[Dvsfx]

oh that looks like a nice light but a little out of my budget atm, and I "wasn't" talking about switching ballasts I ment maybe use both lights the mh and the flourecent , but that would mean removing my tank cover unless I could hang the mh and direct the light diagonally in my tank but if corals are anything like land plant growth then all my corals would be growing diagonally aswel:/

 

[Brock]

I'm following this, I have been wondering the same thing. I have a 10 gallon as well, and would like to make it a nano-reef for my girlfriend, so it sounds like we are in the same boat.

 

[Dvsfx]

haha yes brock I suppose we are
so as a follow up I have 1 fluorescent tube light and another light thats composed of 2 compact fluorescents , the tube is 120v 16 watts and the compact is 250v 660 watts. would this be a sufficient amount of output? and if so any recommendations as to what bulbs to put in each?

 

[BabyDee17]

Have you thought of LEDs? Theyre sooo much cheaper and they last forever. Plus just a few can cover all of your lighting needs. I took the top off my biocube and replaced it with a peice of plexiglass, then put an LED light strip on top if it. It looks slick and clean. Everyone is switching over to LED...so worth it

 

[pokmijn]

Why not just run the mh itself, but if it was me I'll definitely pick up that 70 watt mh fixture you wont regret it if you do.

 

[ilostnemo]

Over such a small tank I would buy leds they are worth it. Check ebay for par38 bulbs.

 

[mr_X]

What are the dimensions of your tank? Is this a standard 10 gallon?

 

[BabyDee17]

8g biocube..

 

[ilostnemo]

What?..

 

[jgraz]

I had this Odyssea T5 Aquarium Lighting for awhile before I started adding SPS and in turn my lighting. Loved it. I don't use it now though I might again in the future if I ever do a smaller nano. IMO can't beat the $. Bulbs are not the greatest but if your only doing Softies/LPS in that tank it will be fine. I had this over a 44gal Corner Pentagon and had Hammer, Frogspawn, Fungia, and Platygyra all on the bottom 1/4 of tank, and even had some Monties up high and all did great.