New 10 gal Nano tank

[dudah]

I have recently started a new 10 gal reef tank (see specs below). I used ls, lr, and water from an existing tank to start this tank. I am relatively new to reef tanks and have a few questions:

1. Is the 28w compact combo enough light to keep some clams and other light-needing corals?
2. Considering that I have taken the lr, ls, and h20 from an existing tank, how long should I wait to put livestock in?

Thanks,

Dudah[/list]

 

[Anonymous]

1. Is the 28w compact combo enough light to keep some clams and other light-needing corals?
2. Considering that I have taken the lr, ls, and h20 from an existing tank, how long should I wait to put livestock in?

[/list][/quote]

1: It would be very hard to keep clams under 2.8w per gallon. Thery are some corals you can keep though.

2: Check your levels of nitrate, nitrite, and ammonia. They will tell you.

HTH

Brett

 

[sslarison]

1) No.
2) adding lr and ls should pretty much cycle the tank in one day.To be sure test the water.

 

[dudah]

Thanks for the info!

What would you recommend in terms of watts/gallon for keeping clams?

Also I have been testing my water and so far it seems to be pretty good. I have noticed that a lot of water evaporates from my tank. I guess it is because of the low relative humidity in my house. I will have to work on a way around that...

Thanks again!

Dudah

 

[Enzo]

I'm not sure of the specific needs of clams but keeping coral under certain lights is not just based on watts per gallon, I know a couple people that know nothing of keeping coral but have pulsing xenia's at the bottom of their tank and only getting about 1 or 2 watts per gallon, and I also know one person that knows more than the average hobbiest and he some how manages to keep a perfect pulsing xenia in a 1 watt/ gallon tank. I think if you maybe placed the clams on the highest rocks they might be fine. But I am not sure, just a thought.
]John

 

[reefann]

Your geting a lot of evaporation off the tank because of the relativly small surface area. Do you have lid on the tank? This would greatly cut down on the need for top-offs. As far as keeping a clam in a 10 with a 28w PC,I would not personally. I like making sure that the light is absoultly sufficient why tempt fate and put creatures through a struggle to live. If you added another 28w pc I think one would live happily. BTW I know how it feels to learn you have to buy more lighting to keep everything you want and it sucks! :x
JJ
_________________
Honda NSR series

 

[dudah]

Enzo: thanks for the info. I am leaning more towards getting a second light as reefann has suggested. I am trying to get a MH light that I have retrofitted to work as a pendant. It is pretty high wattage for a tank this size and I hear that the heat they generate might be too much for a smaller tank like this at higher wattages. So I am thinking of trying to get a pendant enclosure for the MH and hanging it a little higher above the tank. That might help with the intensity and also the heat build up. I may also be able to incorporate my existing compact combo into this system for a fuller spectrum of light.

If not then I will use the compact combo light I have now for a refugium that I am going to build in the future for this tank.

As for the evap. I do not have a lid for the tank yet. I am working on designing something to allow me to have the MH light hanging from above like I mentioned above. I have NO IDEA how I am going to get it to work. Any ideas?

 

[sjfishguy]

Watts per gallon is just a rule of thumb and not the gold standard. Think about it, if you had a 2X32 watt PC on top of a 55 gal tank that would only be about 1 watt per gallon. But if you put a coral right under the light, it would do just fine. I think one 32 PC bulb on a 10gal is low for most corals and defidently too low for clams. You could probably keep some yellow polyps, green star polyps, or shrooms, but they probably would not thrive. However, I have 2X32 watt PC on my 10gal and I have both a clam and SPS. Everything in my tank is thriving and growing. I would defidently spring for the higher light. Also to note, 32 watts of PC lighting produces considerably more light than 32 watts of NO or VHO lighting. Similarly, 32 watts of MH lighting (if they made those) will give even more light than 32 watts of PC. Lumens is truly the key, not watts.

 

[shalegac]

I have 18 watts over my 10 gallon. I am keeping a torch and green pearl bubble and by all rights they should not be doing as well as they are. Sometimes things just click and through hard work and patience we can make it all work. good luck.

 

[gregmoeck]

with 96 watt pendant

I wanted to post this picture which is a month old. Ok. Notice how Brown this Acro piece is. Now look down at the last image and see the color difference. That's because I went from 2 - 36 watt PC to a 96 watt powerquad. Notice the Brown changed to Bright green

Aquaclear mini fuge starting yesterday. sand and live rock.

Aqua Clear 150 Fuge

The Acro loves the 96 watt powerquad

Above picture is from last week. I made some changes - see below

 

[shalegac]

Do you have any full pics of your fuge Greg?

 

[gregmoeck]

This is standing above my tank looking straight down into the hang on the back aqua clear with live rock, a little sand.

 

[skwsith]

I think that the derasa species of clams require less light than the other species.

 

[wombat1]

Ditto on that. Squamosa clams will do OK under less light than a crocea or maxima also. If you get a small clam of any species, however, it will benefit from feedings of phytoplankton and doesn't need as much light. I plan on keeping a derasa or squamosa under a 65W PC in a 6 gallon, 8 inches from the bulb.