Lighting for Corals & Expenses

[Crepe]

I plan on setting up a 10g nano and I'm wondering as to what type of corals could fit. I wanted to go all zoas and a few lps but I'm not sure if I can afford the light requirements.

Anyone have any suggestions as to what fixtures I should get?"

The tank is 10gallons, so no MH unless I'm doing a fish boil and 18" lengthwise, rimless.

I'm thinking about LEDs but how expensive would it be to do that for a 10gallon?
http://www.thatpetplace.com/pet/group/8316/product.web of those leds how many would I need to get?

Or should I just get t5s, if so what fixture?

 

[Jimbo7]

haha, it so happens i am currently calculating cost for my LED setup.
you will need:
Heatsink - heatsinkusa.com
LEDs - nanotuners.com
Power Supply - mpja.com
Driver - ledsupply.com

I'm still trying to figure out a good ratio between gallons and # of LEDs. I imagine 6-10 would be a good range from low light to high.
so you are looking at roughly,
Heatsink - 10-15
6 LEDs - 36
Power - 15
Driver - 15
Misc - 10

Looking at just under $ 90. You gotta think though if your tank will be setup for a long time. The advantage to LED's isnt so much their initial cost, but you never have to replace the bulbs and their draw is minimal. This is also assuming you have most of the tools to solder it all and things like that.

Another good option is UVL is coming out with 12" and 18" T5HO bulbs supposedly sometime next month. You can find preorder info on nanotuners.com as well. 2 of those would light your tank really nicely as well.

 

[ryshark]

I plan on setting up a 10g nano and I'm wondering as to what type of corals could fit. I wanted to go all zoas and a few lps but I'm not sure if I can afford the light requirements.

Anyone have any suggestions as to what fixtures I should get?"

The tank is 10gallons, so no MH unless I'm doing a fish boil and 18" lengthwise, rimless.

I'm thinking about LEDs but how expensive would it be to do that for a 10gallon?
Ecoxotic Stunner LED Strip Lights | LED Lighting | Lighting Systems | Aquarium - ThatPetPlace.com of those leds how many would I need to get?

Or should I just get t5s, if so what fixture?

I don't know too much about LED yet since it is a new and growing technology for reef tanks. However I do think it would be a nice way to go for you. However, I don't know if the links you provided are enough light to grow coral. They say it is accent lighting. Look into something like this:
14 Ultra Premium LED Nano Retrofit Kit

 

[Jimbo7]

I missed that link you posted in your original. No, you really won't get any growth out of those strips. Each one of those LEDs is 1/4w, whereas the ones me and ryshark linked you are 3w. A lot more powerful.
That kit ryshark just sent you is basically what i outlined, the difference is that site uses Cree XP-G as their "premium" but really you want to be using the XREs. There are a lot of reasons, primarily the lumen output and the wavelength is better for coral.
Nanotuners.com
Nanotuners.com

 

[ryshark]

I missed that link you posted in your original. No, you really won't get any growth out of those strips. Each one of those LEDs is 1/4w, whereas the ones me and ryshark linked you are 3w. A lot more powerful.
That kit ryshark just sent you is basically what i outlined, the difference is that site uses Cree XP-G as their "premium" but really you want to be using the XREs. There are a lot of reasons, primarily the lumen output and the wavelength is better for coral.
Nanotuners.com
Nanotuners.com

I think it has half XRE and half XP-G

 

[Crepe]

12 Ultra Premium LED Do-It-Yourself Retrofit Kit Is this sufficient? I like the price...ALOT and I can just blow 12 bucks on an aquarium hood to mount them.

 

[ryshark]

12 Ultra Premium LED Do-It-Yourself Retrofit Kit Is this sufficient? I like the price...ALOT and I can just blow 12 bucks on an aquarium hood to mount them.

You will need a heat sink, contact rapidled, they sell them for I think around $15. Whats nice with that one you will get the optical lense too.

 

[Crepe]

Also, how much do Zoas and sps range from?

Oh okay, I will get the heatsink as well...althought it looks just like something I could jury rig out of aluminum sheeting and a soldering iron in about 10 minutes.. Whatever, 15 bucks won't be much expense.

Wait... hmm, it appears that the heat sink has some really funky dimensions...5.9"x 9" won't fit into a 10gal hood. Lookslike I'm going to be building my own housing. Also finally how good is the light distribution on these things? would placing them on a 5.9" x 9" foot print such as that of the heat sink provide even lighting for the tank? Or do I need to get 2 heatsinks.

 

[Jimbo7]

You will need a heat sink, contact rapidled, they sell them for I think around $15. Whats nice with that one you will get the optical lense too.

Honestly there is really no need for optics in a 10 gallon. I havent looked at what degree they are, but you will probably end up with some spotlighting in your tank with them. It doesnt hurt to have them though to play around with, and maybe carry over to a later build.

 

[ryshark]

Also, how much do Zoas and sps range from?

Oh okay, I will get the heatsink as well...althought it looks just like something I could jury rig out of aluminum sheeting and a soldering iron in about 10 minutes.. Whatever, 15 bucks won't be much expense.

Wait... hmm, it appears that the heat sink has some really funky dimensions...5.9"x 9" won't fit into a 10gal hood. Lookslike I'm going to be building my own housing. Also finally how good is the light distribution on these things? would placing them on a 5.9" x 9" foot print such as that of the heat sink provide even lighting for the tank? Or do I need to get 2 heatsinks.

Email the guy from that website, he is very fast about responding to questions. Jimbo is probably right about not needing the optic lenses for a nano thats why in the first link I provided they don't have lenses. You may be able to piece it together without lenses for even cheaper.
Frags for zoas and sps can range from $5-$100+

 

[Crepe]

alright then. I'm going LED for sure then. I looked at the kit you showed me at first and its heatsink is only marginally larger than the one they have for sale individually. I'm certain with the opical lenses I won't need two heat sinks. Now there's the matter of fans to dissipate the heat. I think I'll just get their dc converter and use computer fans a trip to radio shack is in order.

 

[Jimbo7]

I missed that link you posted in your original. No, you really won't get any growth out of those strips. Each one of those LEDs is 1/4w, whereas the ones me and ryshark linked you are 3w. A lot more powerful.
That kit ryshark just sent you is basically what i outlined, the difference is that site uses Cree XP-G as their "premium" but really you want to be using the XREs. There are a lot of reasons, primarily the lumen output and the wavelength is better for coral.
Nanotuners.com
Nanotuners.com

so i dont know much about XP-Gs. they might be better, i was thinking of XP-Es. I'm going to have to look into that.

The only downfall i see about that 12 premium kit is that the driver is only 700mA. Most setups i have seen, people like to run their whites at 1000mA.

 

[Crepe]

12 Premium LED Do-It-Yourself Retrofit Kit This kit has the xre and lenses with for all the lights at the same cost. I think i'll get this. Those lenses seem pretty good.

 

[Jimbo7]

Sounds good, post up lots of pictures when you do it.

 

[Crepe]

Sure thing. Now I need to drum up 500 bucks for the rest of the set up. I'll buy the lights now because, I know this may sound pessimistic, small companies like these may not last for long and it may be a year or year and a half before I can afford the whole set up. I've seen small mom and pop shops like these that sell neat stuff go out in a few years of awesome service.

So gonna blow 145 on lights, 10 bucks on a tank, 150 on sump with protein skimmer, 50 for LR and base rock, and then 145 on livestock! woo! I can't wait! Yes, I want immaculate water and already have an RO system. Just need to put it back in and buy new membranes... Oh wait I need a refractometer...I'll probably skip the protein skimmer then and spend 80 on the sump and the rest on test kits. Master api salt, copper test, phosphate test, Ca test and a refractometer should cost about 80 I'm guessing.

 

[ryshark]

Sure thing. Now I need to drum up 500 bucks for the rest of the set up. I'll buy the lights now because, I know this may sound pessimistic, small companies like these may not last for long and it may be a year or year and a half before I can afford the whole set up. I've seen small mom and pop shops like these that sell neat stuff go out in a few years of awesome service.

So gonna blow 145 on lights, 10 bucks on a tank, 150 on sump with protein skimmer, 50 for LR and base rock, and then 145 on livestock! woo! I can't wait! Yes, I want immaculate water and already have an RO system. Just need to put it back in and buy new membranes... Oh wait I need a refractometer...I'll probably skip the protein skimmer then and spend 80 on the sump and the rest on test kits. Master api salt, copper test, phosphate test, Ca test and a refractometer should cost about 80 I'm guessing.

I agree with skipping the skimmer on a 10-gallon for now. You can easily do PWC to keep pristine water on that small of a tank.
IMO the API alkalinity, ammonia, nitrite and PH are good. I don't think there is a need to buy a copper kit unless you are dosing copper to kill parasites. For CA test kit I would get Elos or Salifert, same with phosphate. Refractometer is a must.

 

[Aquarium1]

I agree with skipping the skimmer on a 10-gallon for now. You can easily do PWC to keep pristine water on that small of a tank.
IMO the API alkalinity, ammonia, nitrite and PH are good. I don't think there is a need to buy a copper kit unless you are dosing copper to kill parasites. For CA test kit I would get Elos or Salifert. Refractometer is a must.

+1

 

[ilostnemo]

Refractometer is a must.

i dont agree. lol

 

[mrg02d]

Do those LED kits include blue leds? Im betting those whites are 6500k and that means yellow looking tank. YUCK! Id make sure it includes blue leds that have good PAR. Seems to me that a PC light would cost much much less and provide more light than LEDs.

LEDs seem like the Hybrid cars...They are more efficient, yes but the regular gas cars cost so much less that they are the best still.

Will LEDs grow SPS corals? If not, then absolutely no reason to not go PC here with such a small tank.

You could build your own LED driver and save even more money. They arent all that hard to build either. Just a constant current driver that can put enough voltage across your LEDs to forward bias them. A beefy voltage regulator could be used. Some capable of several amps of current draw with a 37v operating voltage.

EDIT: Doesnt 6500k grow algae like nothing else? Seems to me these LED setups will likely have algae problems to deal with. Might just offset the benefit to having LEDs...

Matt

 

[Crepe]

Yah, according to the website they are a mix of blue and white. 8k-10k and 453nm.

Oh and one more thing. Is is true that LEDs help reduce algae growth??

No, these aren't 6.5k LEDs according to the website they range from 8k to 10k in color for white and 453nm in blue.