28g Nano Cube Stock Lighting Experiment

[Qube]

For starters, I have a JBJ 28g CF Quad Nano Cube that has been set up for almost 1 year at this point. This was my first venture into the salty side, and it's been a great learning experience along the way!! Sometime back in December, I replaced the stock lighting with an 18" 150watt metal halide fixture. I began to accumulate all the typical animals that these lights allow us to have, ie, a clam, LPS corals, and SPS corals. Things went great with good growth and lots of color!

On July 1st, I decided to run an experiment with the original lighting that came with this aquarium to see if it could not only sustain animals that were more light demanding, but rather get them to thrive For those that don't know, the stock JBJ 28g CF Quad comes with a 105watt 50/50 compact fluorescent bulb. The tank dimensions are 18"Lx22"Wx22"H.

To my surprise, the few hard corals and one clam that I left in this system have done very well! In fact, one birds nest frag that started out as one branch about 1" long has only been under this light since purchase! Below are a few pics of the corals...






















I just thought I would share my little experiment. I think if the bulb was a little more evenly spread with the white and blue, the color would definitely show up more. Unfortunately, the actinic portion of the bulb sits back, this a lot of colors don't pop as much as they could. That being said, the growth is there, along with the color on those corals getting some of the actinic. I'll try and post an update in a month or so. Who knows, this light may be a little better than we think...

[Deejay62]

Originally Posted by Qube

For starters, I have a JBJ 28g CF Quad Nano Cube that has been set up for almost 1 year at this point. This was my first venture into the salty side, and it's been a great learning experience along the way!! Sometime back in December, I replaced the stock lighting with an 18" 150watt metal halide fixture. I began to accumulate all the typical animals that these lights allow us to have, ie, a clam, LPS corals, and SPS corals. Things went great with good growth and lots of color!

On July 1st, I decided to run an experiment with the original lighting that came with this aquarium to see if it could not only sustain animals that were more light demanding, but rather get them to thrive For those that don't know, the stock JBJ 28g CF Quad comes with a 105watt 50/50 compact fluorescent bulb. The tank dimensions are 18"Lx22"Wx22"H.

To my surprise, the few hard corals and one clam that I left in this system have done very well! In fact, one birds nest frag that started out as one branch about 1" long has only been under this light since purchase! Below are a few pics of the corals...

I just thought I would share my little experiment. I think if the bulb was a little more evenly spread with the white and blue, the color would definitely show up more. Unfortunately, the actinic portion of the bulb sits back, this a lot of colors don't pop as much as they could. That being said, the growth is there, along with the color on those corals getting some of the actinic. I'll try and post an update in a month or so. Who knows, this light may be a little better than we think...

WOW! that is awesome to know, as I also own a JBJ 28g CF Quad Nano Cube. I've only had it for almost a month, and I love it! Glad to know that the stock lights actually will grow those kind of corals. I will keep an eye out for your update!😄

[Convict2161]

I think the OP said they replaced the stock lights with 18" metal halides, so I'm guessing those corals aren't under stock lighting.

EDIT:

Re read the post. I see the experiment an wish you luck but I really don't see those stock lights being enough for the birds nest and clam.

Also I I'm mistaken up to about 4 inches clams are filter feeders, after that they will get there nutrition from photosynthesis. This also depends on the type of clam.

http://www.reefaquariuminfo.com/Reef...ers_Clams.html


I will be following along to see. It would be interesting if you could get a PAR reading in different levels of the tank.

[Qube]

I don't have the extra cash for a par meter right now, but I too am curious. You are correct about the clam, and it is a Tridacna Derasa, so it is a bit on the easier to keep side and has not lost any color. As far as the birds nest, I don't know... That growth came solely from the CF bulb.

I too am interested to see how long I can keep this up and I'm ready to switch back over to halides, should I see any significant decline. We'll see how this goes...

[Qube]

Originally Posted by Deejay62

WOW! that is awesome to know, as I also own a JBJ 28g CF Quad Nano Cube. I've only had it for almost a month, and I love it! Glad to know that the stock lights actually will grow those kind of corals. I will keep an eye out for your update!dde04

I wouldn't jump into the more light demanding stuff with this light just yet, this thing could still melt down right in front of me. It does look promising though...