so many lighting options, so hard to decide

[reefdude2002]

I'm setting up a 10g nano and I need help deciding which lighting options to go with. Here are some of the questions/options I have: (in order of cost)

1) 1x15W 20K
1x15W Acnic
Q: would this be enough to keep some mushrooms and softies? What would this setup get me in terms of corals I can keep?

2) 2x36W PCs from ahsupply. One is 10K the other is acnic. What What would this setup get me in terms of corals I can keep?

3) 1x96W PC (which include 2x10K and 2xacninc tubes) from marinedepot.
Same question here.

4) 1x150w MH from marine depot

What would be the ideal, most flexible lighting. I guess the MH would be the ideal but what about option 1-3, would they work. I am afraid the MH will get the tank pretty hot, plus it costs a bit more.

I sincerely appreciate your imput.

[gregmoeck]

If I had could do it all over....

I have a 10 which is doing fine on two 36 watt 50/50's. The custom sea life bulb seems soo much brighter than the hellolights bulb by the way.

I have one custom sea life ballast and one ahsupply ballast with water proef end caps. I also went ahead and bought their wood canopy too which is sweet for the price they charge. You will ant to suspend or lift the hood higer though if you have any splash going on, even the tiny pops of water from say an aqua clear hand on the back filter. I went to home depot and got some nice wire and some hooks and suspended mine.

I think two 36 watt is fine for a 10. I have acro frags, leathers, shrooms etc etc in mine doing great.

96 watt would be better, but halide would be the best. I want to get halide for mine soon but I am going to chill for a while. IF you can afford halide do it because you will eventually go that direction if you are really into this hobby and propogation. Your gonna eventually want it so why not start with it. It's not really that much more money if you go with a retro and a starter bulb.

Championlighting.com has a custom sea life retro for $139.90

1X175W CSL MH RETRO KIT W/ 5500K LAMP
Remote ballast (enclosed core & coil) w/switch & quick disconnect, 15' cable, Mogul socket, 2' x 2' polished aluminum reflector, 5,500 k daylight lamp.

Or they have a sweet pendant with splash guard for 199.00


Your power compact's will cost you damn near 139.00 but you have one problem with the above setup's. The bulbs are not really the most ideal for a reef. Not much Blue, a little yellow from what I hear.

No actinics = no neon glow.

hope this helps.

[Peabody]

MH, man. A got a great MH pendant cheap used here on RC. Your horizons will be open as far as what you can keep.
I have a 175 MH and a 55 watt actinic (to help the 6500k mh bulb I got for pennies) over a 15 gallon, and I LOVE it!

I spent all kinds of money on PCs and if I was starting over, I would have just gotten a used MH pendant from the start. Now I have gotten a maxima, some sweet SPS, and I couldn't be happier!

[reefdude2002]

Thanks for the imput, I appreciate it.

If I go with the retro kit at Championlighting.com for $139, would it make a big difference by upgrading the 5k bulb to either the 175W 10000K BLUELINE MH LAMP (blue white collor) or the 175W 20000K CORALIFE MH LAMP (blue color).

As before, any and all comments are appreciated.

[Peabody]

Oh yeah, make sure to get a higher K bulb. I hear 5000 is worthless. 6500 is ok but looks bad to us, and 10,000+ is better looking to us. Many like 10,000 ok without actinic, some still need it. 12,000 and 20,000 look great without actinic. (Many say 20,000k is way too blue)

[Peabody]

Oh another thing, I think analysis of the coralife bulbs showed them to be terrible performers. If you want a 20,000k, check out another brand. Check out 12,000' "sunburst bulbs" too, as they look like a good compromise between the 10k and 20.