Reef Lighting

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***WARNING...devil's advocate has just entered the room***
I totally agree that the 150watt MH lights will pretty much turn a tank into a hot tub. However, have you considered the 70watt Vipor clamp on lamp by JBJ? It is less wattage and the design allows you to suspend the lamp several inches above the water. If you are heck-bent on MH this is the only lamp I would consider.

So...the next question is, why MH? If you would like some SPS and a clam then go for it. If you are interested in LPS and softies then look at a different option for lighting.
 
I gave the 70watt Vipor clamp on lamp a look, and for $140 bucks I think it would be a good choice. Iv'e been thinking about switching to the 29G cube that fijiwigi was talking about. Would 70Watts be enough for SPS and hard corals as well as clams? (this is not even 2.5 watts/gallon). Would it be a wise choice to go with the 150 watt model or would that also get too hot, even when the arm is fully extended.??
 
But with a great deal of attentiveness would it be possible to start a 10G reef even if it's just 1 or 2 simple, easy to keep corals(but I have seen some SWEET closed brain corals, I'm not sure how they fair in captivity)? What am I missing?
 
What type of high light corals are available for a 10? Is it too small for any decorative clam?

Would it be a very big mistake to go for the metal halides in my situation?
 
alot do MH on 10 gallons you will need a couple things tho , one being a series of fans for evaprative cooling and an ATO to help negate the drop in water . You may also wish to look into a chiller (not always necessary on an open top with fans) and some sort of controller such as a ReefKeeper. The most I would go is 150 and watch for temp swings ,most get fans to do the work and a controller for it as well. You would then be set to keep most anything , coral wise .If you go MH you are as limmited as your imaginaton (some corals will still be difficult to keep reguardless of lighting ) You may find yourself trimming frags so you may want something that is a slow grower :)
Some keep clams in the 10 with 80 watts I have no personal experience with them and really can not offer sound advice there , the one thing I do remember from reasearch is that clams less than 3 inches will need fed, larger ones pull stuff from the water column ....:)
 
Just my 2 cents, but I consider nano and 10 gallon reef tanks for experts only. Things can wrong very quickly in that small of an environment.

I know SadieLynn feels it is doable and is proof that it can be done. There is a great sticky on understanding the nano on the site she links to.
 
I understand this thought of inexperience, but how do I gain knowledge without first trying things? How do you suggest i get started or how did you jump into things? Im still learning things everyday, but they are coming in shorter series. If I got the MH should I still start with the easy to keep mushroom/xenia/star pollyps?
 
I am by no means an expert and my very first salt tank was a nano .
With that said there is no reason you can not start off on a nano . Most of it is trial and error , and learning from the failures and experinces of others ....I have had many failures in the nanos , things that I just did not understand would it have been diffrent with a larger reef perhaps , or perhaps not , we will never know ... Sometimes I find myself still pushing the envelope and failing but to never fail is to never learn , this is how we have come so far , people push the envelope every day and in every way with nanos ... Would I do an anenome in a nano I have but they quickly out grew my tanks so now I would not ... Would I try sps sure if I had the lighting for it I perhaps would but I also dont have the base knowledge other than they are more difficult than softies,zoas , and lps ,They also require diffrent specs such as possibly dosing diffrent trace elements that would be used quicker in a nano so I would not be able to try them with out further research for me to be more comfortable ... Even with MH you can keep the softies as listed above pph but you would need to light acclimate them. With the 80watt light those and most lps should do just fine in a nano ...with out the high price of a fixture and what you may need to run it :) You have to just jump right in to learn , sometimes joining sites with just a nano base population that can help you understand the smaller reef...Just because they are smaller you need to watch more closely your perematers and must stay atop of your top offs and your weekly water changes ...just to help export the DOC that will build up . In talking with those that have a larger tank vs a nano here is the diffrences I find :
Nano---
Less intense lighting needed
skimmer not needed if water changes are done and bioload kept minimal (Fish, feeding wise)
Easier to move in future moves :)
quicker to stock to capasity (only a few frags wil fill most nanos up LOL )
Larger-----
require more intense lighting ,
require skimmer but will still need a weekly /monthly change of water
more upfront costs such as lr and corals if wanted ...
I guess what I am saying is each has their own "special" requirements and has thier own set of problems that can present but there is no reason that by going sloooowly with a nano that it cant be your first salt tank :)
 
I agree with everything SadieLynn just posted. But, I have to add one item to the nano column. Perserverance in the face of disaster. It takes a dedicated soul to start with nano tank.

I had a FW tank for over 10 years and I learned a lot through trial and error. The most important thing I learned was that PWCs are your friend and can help sick fish faster than most medications.

When I decided to start a SW tank I kept hearing 'go with the largest tank you can afford". They forgot to mention all the other items that need to be sized accordingly and quickly drive up the price. I started on the opposite end with a 125. Now I can't move :rolleyes:
 
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