lighting for a 10g nano

[Beverly]

Looking forward to your pics, Marty

[Richer]

I've been debating between sticking with PCs or getting a 70w/150w MH over my 15g fuge... keep us updated on your progress!

-Rich

[Ryan]

We've got a 70 watt DED and 2 30 watt NO actinics and it does great. I would defiantly spend the money now on a halide because you are going to want one in a year anyway.

[Richer]

Originally Posted by Ryan

We've got a 70 watt DED and 2 30 watt NO actinics and it does great. I would defiantly spend the money now on a halide because you are going to want one in a year anyway.

Are you referring to me? FYI, I've had these PCs since the beginning of time (though the bulb has changed). My fuge is doing perfectly fine on them... its a matter of whether or not I want to spend the money to make my setup look a little nicer.

-Rich

[Beverly]

Rich,

Do you have pics?

[martym]

Yes, can we see pics to back up that MH is better even in a smaller tank. I had PCs over a 75g and then went with 2x175w MH, didn't notice any difference in my tank. Granted, I only ran the halides for 2-3 months before I had to take the tank down. I've been looking for 70w bulbs but they seem hard to find and the color is yellow even in the higher K's.

[Fish]

I have a 70w halide over my 2gal and I don't think it is too much light. That is 35watts/gal but I think there is a point when the watts per gal ratio is irrelevant. For example, if 70 watts mh keeps my frogspawn is healthy under 5 inches of water in a 120gal tank, why would it suddenly need less light just because I put it in a smaller tank?? The thing to remember though is that in a nano, depth has no real affect on light, because the amount of light that hits the BOTTOM of my 2gal is the same amount that would be penetrating only the TOP 8 inches of a 120gal (directly below the bulb). I am not a power crazy par-nazi or anything like that, the only reason I went with mh is because I believe that corals need a threshhold amount of radiation to be healthy. Also, halide is a very compact option for lighting - any other type of bulb/fixture would have ended up being bigger than my whole tank .
Finally, because of its penetrating power, I am able to raise my mh a lot higer above the tank, which helps with temperature control. 70watts of metal halide keeps my tank cooler than the 13watts of pc that it replaced !

- Chad

[Matt]

I promised to post a photo of my 10g lighted by the coralife 96 quad...

[martym]

That doesn't look too bright to me. Can't wait to get mine.

[Ryan]

Originally Posted by Richer

Are you referring to me? FYI, I've had these PCs since the beginning of time (though the bulb has changed). My fuge is doing perfectly fine on them... its a matter of whether or not I want to spend the money to make my setup look a little nicer.

-Rich

No I was refering to the ten gallon a friend and I have set up.