Finally Got a hood! and a few questions...

[kingman8610]

Ok so I finally got a hood for my 10g HOWLR and will post pics asap, but right now Im running half 15w Incandescent bulb and half 25w flourescent bulb, I have no Corals and no fish, and 3 hermits and a few astrea starfish.. my question is: Would it be better for me to have LEDs? I've heard something about the kind of light and how it affects the tank and growth differently... I do wanna add a couple fish maybe in a month or so, and a nessarius snail and a few random ones too.

Any suggestions, advice? thanks!!!

 

[trackfast]

Howlr?

 

[kingman8610]

Hermits Only With Live Rock lol my own little acronym

 

[trackfast]

Okay. lol LEDs are nice but expensive. Have you thought about CFLs? You could light your tank pretty cheaply.

 

[bix]

HOWLR?

Haha, I agree with above, shouldn't need anything too special. Should be fine with what you already have.

Just keep the light cycle shortish (8-10 hours) and the nutrients down and there shouldn't be an issue with algae.

 

[trackfast]

Is it a full hood? A lot of people, including myself, have open top tanks. I cover it with "egg crate" at night but an open top looks cool. And it is better for oxygen/gas exchange.

 

[kingman8610]

Ok first, what is CFL? And yes it is a full hood.

Is "keeping the Light cycle shortish" relating to the set-up I have now or the CFL? And what do you mean by keeping the nutrients down?

 

[bix]

I just mean to keep your light on for 8-10 hours per day if you don't have corals.

And when I say nutrients I mostly mean nitrates. You can keep these down with good protein skimming and water changes.

 

[kingman8610]

lol so mostly PWC then b/c i have no protien skimmer ok well thanks. So "no" to the led's? and no one told me what a CFL was?

 

[trackfast]

CFL - compact fluorescent light

 

[kingman8610]

And what is that exactly? whats the difference btwn it and reg. flourescent? and is it better for what I have than LEDs?

 

[trackfast]

If you want to spend some money, get the LEDs.