uh-oh, now what?!? Lighting/feeding/nano/newbie questions

[LynnCeeBee]

So I had this 10 gal tank that used to house a beloved fish (which ultimately ended up in a 125g-FOWLR tank downstairs) that was empty save for the cleanup crew. I was keeping up with the water changes and testing, mostly because I still had a few snails (mostly astrea,) one red-legged hermit crab, and one brittle sea star living in there. I put in a teeny yellow gobie just to keep up my interest. He's still less than 1/2 inch long.

For one reason or another, both my husband and my best friend (neither of whom really understand aquaria!) decided to give me saltwater presents for my birthday last week..... *sigh* and now I've just acclimated three mushrooms (very small: one green, one bullseye, and one orange ricordia) and one medium sized moon coral. They're still alive anyway, but I need to know what to do with these guys pretty quickly, I think!

Here's my tank stats: 10g, with a 105 Fluval cannister filter, 30lbs live rock, 1-2" live sand, 8.3pH, 0 ammonia, 0 nitrite, 10 nitrate. For lighting, I have the omnipresent hood lamp that is sold on freshwater tanks, but I replace the bulb with a Marine-Glo and/or a Sun-Glo bulb (alternate every couple of days, because it's built to hold only one bulb.) I also do PWC every week, or every other week, depending on my test results.

I've been reading like crazy, trying to catch up before I hurt these babies, but I'm a little confused and a little intimidated. What should I do first?

 

[lReef lKeeper]

those lights will not sustain them for very long at all. they say they are marine bulbs, but they are for marine FISH, not corals. i would see about trading them in for a fish or two or buy a new light setup for the ten gallon if you want to take a stab at a nano reef tank.

 

[h8z2luze]

Deffanetly not enough light. Id get a better light set up if I were you of like Reef Keeper said trade them for some fish Whatever you do id hurry.

 

[LynnCeeBee]

OK, I'll start with getting a new lighting system..... I've read about a couple in here. How much wattage should I be getting? Would I need more than 46W? Go for the 96W? Two bulbs or one?

Thanks for the advice! and yes! I'll probably have new lighting as soon as I can figure out which setup I should be upgrading to.

 

[lReef lKeeper]

i would go with something like this ... with a 14k bulb. for the price you can not beat them AND you could keep anything that you wanted. you would probably need a $5 fan from wal mart to keep the heat down, but i think it would be well worth it.

http://www.drsfostersmith.com/product/prod_display.cfm?c=3578+3733+15489&pcatid=15489

 

[Sadielynn]

While those are good watch as they had issues with the arms letting loose you can get something like these used for a great price usually , you will probably need to change the bulbs , but they can be found on ebay as well pclighting

$99.00 pc light
many use those on 10 gallon tanks .... I can say I have used it and liked it ... , I have in the past ordered from there just not sure how they are as it has been 4 years ago that I ordered ... what I will say is you will possibly have issues with heat from MH in a 10 gallon but will be able to keep just about anything at all that you want

 

[lReef lKeeper]

what I will say is you will possibly have issues with heat from MH in a 10 gallon but will be able to keep just about anything at all that you want

thus the fan recommendation.

 

[Sadielynn]

what I will say is you will possibly have issues with heat from MH in a 10 gallon but will be able to keep just about anything at all that you want

thus the fan recommendation.

That will cause evap issues (if some one can not top off ,yes a fan will work but you may find the need for an ato (and they are hard to hide in a10 gallon nano belive me we tried ) or a chiller which can run a pretty penny .... There is nothing wrong with PC lights many use them with great success .
I also run the PCs and need fans for cooling so we also have evap issues , we top off about 1/2 gallon a day in the frag tank and about a quart or so in the 10 gallon

 

[LynnCeeBee]

After reading all I could about the 14K MH lamp, I decided I was sufficiently clumsy enough to steer clear of it. *sigh* If I go with the 80W PC lighting, how will that affect my choices of additional corals and mushrooms in the future? Is this lighting considered low? med? high?

Also, I found these two similar lighting fixtures, and with the free shipping offered, it seems to be the best price on them. What's the difference??? Which do you recommend and why?

http://www.bigalsonline.com/BigAlsU...it202x40wattpowercompactstriplightwlunarlight

http://www.bigalsonline.com/BigAlsU...al2x40watt20powercompactstriplightwlunarlight

Thanks so much, all of you. I really appreciate your help. And hopefully, my new aquarium additions will appreciate the upgraded lighting very soon!

 

[Sadielynn]

The limits with pc will be that you probably will NOT support corals such as sps or clams but Most all LPS and shrooms will do fine as will most zoas ...
The second link was the one that I provided earlier and that is what I use the 1st link is pretty much the same . If money is not an issue you could try something like this
again you will have to acclimate all your corals to this and also may have heat issues but it sits the same way as the ones you linked and I linked .There are also pendents as well that some use or make a stand for them ...if you are inclined to do so
[url=http://www.marinedepot.com/ps_ViewItem~idProduct~CU01058~tab~1.html]MH

MH light
MH
Those are the normal choices for the 10 gallon tank.... also you could retro your own light and make your own MH or PC light fixture if you decide to get your hands dirty so to speak
hello lights
they have stuff from premade to diy as well .

 

[LynnCeeBee]

WOW!! Woke up this morning to find the moon coral with all its tentacles waving....I can see where this reefkeeping business can get addictive. (uh-oh)

I'm going to purchase the PC lighting this morning but still have a few questions.

Apparently the old adage "Less is more" does not apply to reefkeeping, does it? With a 10gal, I can really get away with 14K or 150w of lighting? and still not have enough for SPS or clams with the 80W PC lighting I'm planning to use. Sheesh. I'm amazed.

Also, I don't understand how you determine how many corals/shrooms you can put into your nano tank. I cannot believe how beautiful yet how filled some of your nano tanks are. What's the determining factor? I know you sure couldn't put as many varieties of fish as corals in there!

 

[Sadielynn]

You will probably not be able to keep clams or sps with PC tho some do so successfully .. However I would not really try ... With the MH you should be able to keep most anything you could want but remeber that some things such as anenomes will out grow a 10 in no time flat ... The moons tenicals waving means that it is capturing food and such , it is also when I feed mine such as oyster eggs , or even cyclop-eze .... as for the fish you are very limmited in the types of fish and the ammount of fish in a 10 gallon tank .. How ever you find alot of things that can fill a tank and thrive with the PC lighting and still strike the balance of full and beautiful all in one but it will take some time for them to fill in and grow...