5g nano reef help

[canadianbudz604]

I'm setting up a little 5g reef and wondering a couple things. What should I use for lighting? Will smd 5050 led strips be enough for all corals or are they not bright enough? Also wondering about maintenance. How often and how much water should I change? I've had many saltwater tanks but none this small.

I don't want t5 (though I like it better) heat will be an issue.

Let me know what everyone thinks. Thanks

[spit.fire]

I'm setting up a little 5g reef and wondering a couple things. What should I use for lighting? Will smd 5050 led strips be enough for all corals or are they not bright enough? Also wondering about maintenance. How often and how much water should I change? I've had many saltwater tanks but none this small.

I don't want t5 (though I like it better) heat will be an issue.

Let me know what everyone thinks. Thanks

All depends on what kind of Coral's you plan on keeping, what kind of color you want out of then, and how fast you want them to grow

[canadianbudz604]

Zoas for sure maybe the odd expensive fuzzy stick with nice colours of course. The faster they grow the better. I like all corals except the Kenya weeds and pulsing xeweed.

[Portuguesenrg]

If your using mature rock , I have a par 38 , chemi pure and filter floss and I have acans Zoas etc in it with no problem . I recommend a skimmer I know a lot of people say it's not necessarily need but keeps up with the heavy feeding i do


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[Portuguesenrg]

And my tanks a 8gallon and I do weekly water changes of about 1-2 gallons


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[spit.fire]

http://www.canreef.com/vbulletin/showthread.php?t=111019&highlight=fusion+nuvo+10

[canadianbudz604]

Would DIY LEDs be a good way to go? If so how many?
Par38 from eBay (if I'm going to buy a 90$ par38 I might as well get a kessil instead)
So are the smd 5050 led strips out then? I haven't been able to find anything on Google about people using them on a small tank. If I put enough of them in a row?? They look pretty bright

I'm gonna start up a build thread in the next couple days.

[Ram3500]

I am a kessil fan they are a great lights and they will grow anything but I recently bought a ai prime for my sump where I keep frags. This's led is fully controllable with there app it a really nice light but with its wide spread led matrix expect a little bit of disco. Defentily a light to concider

[WarDog]

I recently bought a ai prime

What happened to you man? I thought I knew you man!

[Portuguesenrg]

I like my par but I got it second hand I don't think there worth it brand new , like you said you could get kelssi


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[Myka]

Zoas for sure maybe the odd expensive fuzzy stick with nice colours of course. The faster they grow the better. I like all corals except the Kenya weeds and pulsing xeweed.

So are the smd 5050 led strips out then? I haven't been able to find anything on Google about people using them on a small tank. If I put enough of them in a row?? They look pretty bright

I'm gonna start up a build thread in the next couple days.

The SMD strips would work provided you aren't too picky about which fuzzy sticks you put in there. Some Acros actually do quite well as far as coloring goes in lower light situations - Cali Tort and A. austera are two that come to mind in particular. You may have to do some experimenting to find out which ones will do well in the tank and be willing to trade out ones that don't. They won't grow fast, but that's probably a good thing for a nano anyway. When you say "expensive" stick, that makes me think you want some fancy "designer" Acros which I don't think you will have much success with using the SMD strips.

If you go with the SMD, look for the 15,000K ones instead of the 50/50. I've used these ones and they put out a decent amount of light visually (never PAR tested them). Be prepared to replace the strips every couple years though - they burn out very easily. What are the dimensions of your tank? I'd be using several of the strips, not just 2 or 3.