Ten Gallon Lighting Questions

[BallyHoe]

Hey guys maybe you can help me out here. I have a 15 watt bulb in my ten gallon tank I know that this is not enough for live corals or to start growing some macro algae. How many watts would I need to start growing some macro algae or to be able to keep the corals alive? How much would the bulbs I need cost? My lamp is 18" long and only one bulb fits inside it what should I do? I would appreciate any and all the help you guys can give.
Thanks
BallyHoe

[bigchili]

Well your obiously in need of more light -
How much???? What do you eventually want to keep???

Clams??? you need lot... I mean a Lot - MH time...

'Shrooms- I had a pretty decent 'shroom and button pollyp 10 gallon on 30 watts of NO flourescents.

If your hood ( I take it it is a hood that came with the tank??)
only holds one Flourescent bulb - look at <A href="http://www.ahsupply.com">AH Supply</A>. THey have retro fit (Which means this is a kit that is meant to fit into your existing flourescent space) kit for 2 X 13 watts of PC (Power COmpact). But this still isn't enough - you could also look at their custom hoods they sell - THey fit right inside the lip of a standard 10 gallon tank and will hold 4 13 watt PC's (which is 2 of thier 2 X 13 kits). With this ou will have to mount the ballasts on the outsid e of the hood.

I bought one of thier custom hoods and a 1 X 13 kit and a 2 X 13 Kit.

The cost was $113.37 (including shipping)... Took about 30 inutes to wire it up and it looks great.

You can see pictures of my hood <A href="http://www.bigchili.com/nano">here </A>. Click on "SETUP" - this is showing the process of me building my tank.


I hope I didn't confuse you more - -

Anyone else want to ring in here????

[chromis]

Ok, I am probably the minority here but I beleive you would be fine with a frag of xenia or two with your current lighting. I also think you would be fine w/ button polyps or a small little yellow polyp rock. You have plenty of light for macroalge. I grow gracilaria and cauperla racemosa in my 10 w/ a 19 watt striplight. Watch out for most large snails as they really appreciate a meal of gracilaria. For a cheap solution you might try 1 or 2 of the 65 watt florex Lights of America fixtures available at Home Depot. These are slightly yellow in color but would allow you to keep most corals/ clams. These units run about $30 each.


HTH
Andrew

[BallyHoe]

Wouldn't the home depot bulbs get a lot hotter?
BallyHoe

[chromis]

yes, but I dont think it would affect your tanks temp. You could always retrofit the fixtures into a fan cooled hood.

[Q-ball]

Actually, the HD bulbs that he's referring to don't get too hot, they're PC lights. Make sure your canopy is well vented and you should be fine. Personally, I've got 4x13w PC's over my 7g and I think it's enough...I may eventually stick another 2x13w's in there, but I'm not sure I need it really. Time will tell. I got my lights at www.ahsupply.com and have been really happy both with the prices & quality. HTH

Q!!!

[chromis]

The actual fixture is what gets very hot. I have one on my refugium and it runs 11 hours on and then one off then another 11 and then one off. This way the fixture does not fry. I have read that these fixtures will overheat very easily. I would also reccomend ahsupply for PCs if you dont like the yellow tint of the LOA.


HTH
Andrew

[BallyHoe]

I think that it would affect my water temp. My 15 watt is making my water temp go up to 82 degrees.
BallyHoe

[kennerd]

Might consider the 32w smartbulb kit from Customsealife: should be able to get it in to the stock fixture housing on your tank...maybe add a piece of 1"X2" wood to space it a little. @ about $40-45, it's a pretty good jump-in point.