advice on lighting, used mh or t5 glo

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Tnks

[whatcaneyedo]

Originally Posted by megs_clark

Whatcaneyedo, your tank to is very nice, 20 gal would be such a nice size. And the purple theme has a warm feel to it. Do you have it hooked up to a sump or on its own. And if its on its own do you have a hard time keeping it stable. Im wishing id had my 30 gallon set up for a sump and drilled before i cycled and put anything in it, but will just keep it in mind for future tanks, lol How long have you all been in the hobby for. Crazy how much so many of you know since their is so much to remember long term with these tanks.

The tank is drilled and connected to a 20gal rubbermaid tub sump. In the sump I've got an aqua C urchin Pro skimmer (really over sized for this tank but I already had it before I set up the tank), ATO float valve and heater. The return is a Mag 7 that pushes through a SCWD to two return jets in the tank. The salinity, temperature and cleanliness of the tank stays very constant.

I've been doing saltwater for 5 years.

I used to light this tank with a 10K 65W Coralife PC. After I switched the tank looked much brighter and I noticed the big pink leather opens up far more often now.

[mike31154]

Originally Posted by fishytime

Dont let people scare you about the hagen lights...here is what I did with two hagen units over a 20g http://www.canreef.com/vbulletin/sho...fishytimes+20g

Agreed, although I currently have a retrofit T5HO set up (4x54watt), I started with a 36" Hagen Glo fixture on my 4 ft tank with the same bulb config as you, one 10,000k & one actinic. Worked fine to get things going and even had a few soft corals sprout out of the LR on their own under that light. I also had a BTA under it for a number of months and it was fine. I've recently added 2x250 SE mogul MH on magnetic ballasts which I run for about 3 hours during the midday period, with the T5s off. I now have a few LPS corals and the added lighting is helping those along quite a bit. You'll be fine for the time being with just a few fish and this will give you time to contemplate your next move. Depending on where you want to go, corals, etc. you'll likely want to increase your lighting, whether it be T5HO or MH, maybe even LED, yikes. If you wish to add a bubble tip anemone for your clowns, it should do ok, but try to have it at up as high as you can, although they tend to move on occasion and find their own spot. There's no guarantee that the clowns will host in it, but with a little luck & patience, they'll dive in there at some point.

[SeaHorse_Fanatic]

Any anemone should NOT be added into a new system. They do better when added to a more mature system and best if the anemone is a clone from someone's tank.

[mike31154]

Originally Posted by SeaHorse_Fanatic

Any anemone should NOT be added into a new system. They do better when added to a more mature system and best if the anemone is a clone from someone's tank.

Yes, you're correct sorry I didn't clue in on the amount of time the tank has been running. I believe I added my BTA about 6 months after start up, with established LR since the tank had been running previously. Waiting longer would certainly be better. My BTA is still with me and grew fairly well from the outset. It was quite pale when I purchased it.