# Reef lighting Question



## neven (May 15, 2010)

I am making a 10 gallon nano reef, but i am unable to find much information on lighting, all i see is fixtures recommended without guidelines on what you are after. I understand different corals require different conditions, i've read into coral types and i dont see myself going beyond softies and maybe a brain. I will keep up with my water changes, and i will be having a sealed bucket with a circulation pump and heater so that my salt water supply is stable and lasts for several changes.

The type of lighting will be 2ft t5ho, its cheap and i can make a bank of strip lights w/ individual above average reflectors. They will be mounted on a floating shelf so the height can be varied. The questions remains, how many bulbs, what height above the substrate would be optimal. With cycling the liverock, do i start with less lighting? I'll be taking this slow, but i want to plan where i mount the bulbs so i can add on as i need them.


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## jkhcjris (Jun 1, 2010)

You could probably get away with using only two bulbs. Softies and most LPS (open brain) don`t require much light. You could cycle your live rock with out tank. If you keep your water clean by doing water changes weekly you should have no problem keeping those corals. I don`t think there is a optimal height over your tank for the lights. 6`to 10`above should do. It`s nice to leave enough room so you can work in your tank without have to remove your light.


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## SeaHorse_Fanatic (Apr 22, 2010)

Since you have extra light spilling outside your tank, you could convert a HOB filter into a HOB refugium and add some macroalgae and live rock rubble for extra nutrient export. 2 bulbs should be fine. While cycling just a few hours of light a day is fine. No clean up crew until your Ammonia and Nitrites are at zero.

Anthony


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## msjboy (May 2, 2011)

some old watts per gallon rule using T5 bulbs is 4W per gallon... so if you have a 10 gallon, you need at least 40W of T5. However, since you have a fairly shallow 10gallon tank, maybe slightly less watts. With the tank having to change T5 bulbs every 6 - 9 months, you might be interested to go out and buy say a LED light...you'll save some money in the long run in terms of electricity, bulbs, less wasted bulbs. I just bought a Ecoxotic Panaroma Pro light strip ( blue and white LED) with a separate dimmer dial for around $100.00...there are other brands as well but this one is the sleekest in my opinion. You can easily make your own mount out of plexiglass or even wood. When you upgrade to a bigger tank or something else, use that light there.
I myself was going to use this light as a supplemental light to my existing lights or put in on a future frag or sump tank.

regs
msjboy


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## neven (May 15, 2010)

i thought refugiums were supposed to be on a reverse cycle from the tank lighting


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## gklaw (May 31, 2010)

I ran my refugium 24/7.


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## neven (May 15, 2010)

So two bulbs about 2 inches above the tank will be fine?


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## gklaw (May 31, 2010)

I think 2T5HO for a 10g is probably more than enough  You don't have the depth that the lights need to reach. You should consider building a 10W LED spot


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## neven (May 15, 2010)

problem with LEDs then i would need to think about cooling them, and that means i need to do more work to the shelf already there. Its really easy to pop in 4 clips and snap in a t5ho and call it a day


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## tang daddy (Apr 21, 2010)

2 t5 HO is definately enough for this tank,,if you have time to make it out to rmd I will show you my 50g breeder with 4 t5ho keeping lps and softies so you have an idea. Also for saltwater changes instead of running a pump for circulation run an airstone instead to keep the salt water aerated and fresh. Just drill a small hole in the lid of the container the salt water is kept and keep it aerated and air tight for months!


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