Opinions on a 10-gallon nano...

[Quinn]

I'm hopefully going to have the time to set up my 10 gallon cube this fall at my new place. The tank will contain a shallow sandbed with eggcrate, about 15lbs of LR and a diversity of corals, as well as either a couple of citron gobies or else just some damsels. The question I'm facing right now is whether to go with a 250w halide pendant and attempt to keep the same SPS corals I had in my 150gal, or to keep it simple and do a power compact setup with softies, maybe an LPS and perhaps a Montipora sp. I'm leaning towards the halide and having it about a foot above the water, but I'd like educated opinions on whether this is a good idea, as well as general thoughts on the setup as a whole.

[mr_alberta]

Well Quinn,

I think that since you love SPS, you should go with 250W. Sure, the power bill might be higher and all, but you gotta go with what you like.

You may not even need a 250. Have you considered a 150?

[Quinn]

I tried a 175w pendant and decided it wouldn't be adequate for more demanding SPS corals. As well, 150w systems are the same price or more expensive than a 250w system, since I can DIY a 250w pendant quite cheaply.

[Dale D]

Go with the 250w. I'm thinking of putting a 150w over my 2 gallon. :biggrin:

[trilinearmipmap]

I would expect 250 Watts over 10 gallons would heat up the water too much.

[Beverly]

At some point you are going to get back into the hobby big time again, so I say go with the 250w MH. I'd also use a 20g. 10g is just too small to do anything worthwhile in, especially if you have the MH.

[Quinn]

Unfortunately the 10gal was a custom tank and to make a long story short, at the time 10gal was the largest I could go with. :neutral:

[whaase]

Seeing as you love your fuzzy sticks :biggrin: , I'd say 250w. I'm going to go with a 400w Radium over my 20g. I wanted to use a 14k-20k bulb so I didn't need to suppliment with actinics.

Walter

[kris_willard]

I'd also use a 20g. 10g is just too small to do anything worthwhile in, especially if you have the MH.
check this thread out...only 150w mH and by god get a change of underwear..
http://www.nano-reef.com/forums/showthread.php?s=&threadid=35941&perpage=20&pagenumber=1

I would go with a 70w mh or 150w but definately mh if you got the cash.