My New Nano Tank Journal - 20 Gallons Long Tank - Page 2

Boomboy · #11 01-09-2009, 05:07 PM

your fish will die, might as well give me the whole set up

i would try and make the tank dark but thats because that light would bother me.

MCC · #12 01-09-2009, 06:53 PM

Fixed my lighting issue last night... took some extra background paper...cut it up..and taped it to the refugium wall.... problem fixed

Today tested my water...

pH: 8.2
Ammonia: 0.00 ppm
Nitrite: 0.00 ppm
Nitrate: 0.00 ppm
KH: ~125-130 mg/L
Ca: ~ 460 mg/L

I guess the KH and Ca is a little bit high?? But then there is nothing in the tank to change the chemistry of the tank...so I guess this is okie??? Once more inhabitants are in the tank... the numbers should drop slowly... and then I will need to start dosing...

Did a 20% water change afterwards.... added some Kent Pro d Buffer + Seachem Prime Conditioner....

Salinity reading is at 1.024-1.025 .....

So far so good.... I plan to add a fish next week... but now I will give it a few more days to stablize some more

MCC · #13 01-10-2009, 05:47 PM

Question guys.... for my refugium light... is it okie to leave it off during day time??? Since i taped up the refugium with back paper... it doesnt get any light from my main tank during the day time anymore... my living room is not the brightest as the tank is in an area with out much light..but the room is not pitch dark ...its still very visible during day time....

So if i leave my lights off during day time for the refugium...would i get the pH drop issue that people get at night time when its pitch dark???

Thanks.... right now i have my light on 24/7... but if there isn't a need for it..i don't want the light to be on 24/7

MCC · #14 01-12-2009, 12:52 AM

Went to the local fish stores today... actually wasn't really local...it was like 30-45 minute drives from my home....

Anyways....picked up another nice piece of Live rock... 12 blue legged hermits, 5 red legged hermits, and 2 tank raised clownfish (one larger than the other, that what the dude said ... its best to keep them diff. sizes)

The clownfishes look curious..and not breathing hard at all... so seems like the transition is going fine...

Right now only have my moonlights on ... to 'de-stress' the fish...... later in a couple hours...I will take some pictures.....

Also got a diatom bloom today when i got home.. i was surprised... hope the hermits will do their job walking and moving the sand

Rbacchiega · #15 01-12-2009, 01:01 AM

Looking good, but I'd go with a larger powerhead. A Koralia nano doesn't pump through enough gph for a 20 gallon long in my opinion

MCC · #16 01-12-2009, 01:45 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Rbacchiega

Looking good, but I'd go with a larger powerhead. A Koralia nano doesn't pump through enough gph for a 20 gallon long in my opinion

No worries... I got two of them now.. one on either end...

MCC · #17 01-12-2009, 03:03 AM

I got a question:

What do you guys think of this?

http://oceanaquatics.com/store/produ...lamp-150W-14K/

Would it be horizontal enough to light the whole 30 inches??

I read Metal Hailides disperse way better than PC and T5.... and i been looking at fixtures... even a 30 inch MH fixture ... just has one bulb in the MIDDLE anyways... so wouldn't this fixture do its job??

Also ... its a 14K bulb... I like the looks of blue in my tank... my Coralife right now is a 10k + Atinic.... I was wondering with 14K bulb would this make my tank look too "yellow"???

And the Viper 70 watts lamp is very popular with Nano tanks.... so it doesn't seem JBJ is some cheap brand...

for 229.99 cdn... this seems to be a steal !!!

Will a 20" SunPod also work?

mseepman · #18 01-12-2009, 04:33 AM

If you aren't too unhappy with your Odyssea fuge, then you might want to look at an Odyssea light...okay price and though people have started some interesting rumours about this light brand, most people seem happy enough with it. Here's a link to a 30" version that has both MH and PC so you can cover a better range of light periods.

http://www.aquatraders.com/30-380Wme...c-ballast.aspx

tang daddy · #19 01-12-2009, 05:50 AM

14k IMO is not yellow at all if anything it will be whitish with a decent hint of blue. Why a 150w why not 175w?

BlueAbyss · #20 01-12-2009, 06:24 AM

14K bulbs are more blue than 10K bulbs, as the numbers get higher it gets more blue. A 6.5K bulb would look significantly less blue (or more yellow depending on how you look at it) than a 10k but will likely still look quite white, though they are rarely used in reef aquaria (more common on freshwater planted tanks).

On a side note, I myself would go with a 30" hood for good even light coverage unless you were planning on having a lower light region in the tank for organisms that would not do well in an intensely lit position. I have looked into this rather extensively and it seems that if you are planning on having a large variety of different organisms, ie: not dominated by SPS, having a lower light area is a good idea, to approximate the different zones of a reef better.