Lighting needs.

[Ryan]

I have decided to put my "good" SW tank on hold for now. I got accepted to college today so i figured that came first. I dont want to go without a tank so I was thinking and decided to go for a 10 gallon. I was wondering what i should use for lighting and circulation for these corals
- mushrooms -Hammer -Zoos -Toadstool leather

I was thinking a 70 watt 14K DED mh placed 4 inches from the top. There will also be 2 Corallife 50/50 55watt pc lights for when the halide isnt on. Is this going to be enough lighting or should i go for a 150.

Also what should I use for circulation. I was thinking of getting a mag 250, drill 12 inch bulkheads and run a SCWD on there. Then I will convert a AC 150 into a fuge. this sound good to you all.

[StirCrazy]

why waist money on MH for thoes? PC's will be all you'll need

Steve

[SeaHorse_Fanatic]

This is only a 10g. You'll probably boil everything with a MH system on it & it's only 10 or 12" deep so (like what Stir Crazy said) you'll have no problem with depth penetration with PCs so don't waste your $$ on MH.

[Ryan]

ok at what depth should I start thinking of MH 14 inches?

[AJ_77]

18, minimum

[StirCrazy]

Originally Posted by Ryan

ok at what depth should I start thinking of MH 14 inches?

hell you could consider using them at 12" but who cares about depth in this situation, you are planning on keeping nothing in there that requires the light intensity of MH. get off the depth issue and look at the critters your planning on keeping.

Steve

[Ryan]

Ya ok. Ya I just wanted to make sure that i wasnt under doing my lighting.

[Willow]

3 outa the 4 things you want to keep in there don't even want that much light and in a 10 the zoos will grow well with pc or t5's. in fact you will probably kill schooms with that intensity of light,

[danny zubot]

probably kill schooms with that intensity of light,

Why is that? I have a whole colony of orange fussy shrooms sitting at the highest point my tank offers.

Ryan, are you thinking of upgrading in the future? The lighting you mensioned is definately overkill on a 10 gallon. If you went to a 20 gallon you might be able to justify spending the money

[StirCrazy]

Originally Posted by Willow

. in fact you will probably kill schooms with that intensity of light,

nope unfortunately they will adapt like any other softy to high light

Ryan the point is you Can go with a MH on that tank, and things would adapt and like it but you don't need it. VHO or PC would be cool, like one of those 96 watt quad lamps. if you are still wanting to go MH get a 150 watt HQI pendant and hang it above the tank and you will be able to grow anything you want in there, small clam or some acro as a center piece. I have not seen the 70 watt MH but you could try it, it won't hurt anything.

Steve