Lighting Questions

[IDunnoWhy]

Hi everyone, What I have here is a whole list of "Stoopid Noob" questions....

OK, I was out garage sailing , and I came across a light fixture that I believed to be a salt water light, well they had $25 listed on it, and I wasn't feeling it, so I passed.....at the end of the day I was walking by the same garage sale, and low and behold they had a "free for the taking" box, and right on top was that fixture, so I grabbed it SCORE!

The brand I believe is "Custom Sea Life" it measures 24" in length, so I assume it would fit my 20g (tall) tank.

It came with bulbs and everything (including cooling fans) although the fan seems to be switched on only when the "blue" light is on.

Anyway here are some pics

Fixture lights off.

Fixture with "blue" lights on.

Fixture with both lights on.

Fixture with fan assembly

And here's some with the bulb types.

So, the only thing I can't figure out is, how to put this on top of the tank, is it suspended from above? or is there some "legs" I can purchase to mount it to the tank top trim?

Are 65 watt (88K) bulbs going to work OK for a 20g to much/to little? Would I be able to keep any corals under this lighting, or would it have to be a FOWLR?

I know I'll have further questions, but this should be a good start for now

 

[Joe Fish]

I think those lights should work pretty good for you. I never heard of 88k bulbs before so maybe someone else can answer that. The white lights don't look that bright. Power compact lights are pretty good lights and you should be able to keep most types of corals. You could just suspend them over the tank or rig up something else.

 

[IDunnoWhy]

I never heard of 88k bulbs before so maybe someone else can answer that.

Yea, I'm not sure about that either, I'm just reading off the package label

The white lights don't look that bright. Power compact lights are pretty good lights and you should be able to keep most types of corals.

Those pics kinda make it look dull, actually those lights (both) are wicked bright, the "white" one is difficult to look at directly

You could just suspend them over the tank or rig up something else.

Yea, maybe I'll build some sort of legs to stand the light on. Should I get a glass versa-top to cover the water or just go with an wide open top w/ suspended lighting. I suppose though I would risk "fish jumping" by going that route huh?

 

[Lotus]

I have a Custom Sealife fixture that came with 8800K bulbs, and they work fine for plants. You'll need to swap out the actinic bulb for something in the 5000K to 10,000K range for good plant growth. However, on a 20g tank, just the one bulb would be more than enough, so you may just want to remove the second bulb. I don't like the blue light over freshwater tanks (makes the colors look funky in a bad way).

You'll figure something out on how to have it over the tank. I wouldn't put the light directly on the glass, you'll want a few inches clearance for air flow, even with the fans.

 

[IDunnoWhy]

Thanks Lotus, but I'm actually looking at making myself a small SW set-up, and was wondering if this fixture would do the trick. Your reply seems geared toward a FW planted set-up, but thanks anyway

 

[Limi310]

I found a site selling that light for $148.99. Seems that the actual company Custom Sea Life is out of business however.
I think it would work fine......certainly would work to get you started. Might want to upgrade down the road depending on your taste in corals. I'm pretty sure you could keep most softies.
Nice find!

 

[1979camaro]

I agree with the others...it should be good for your 20g. It will not allow you to keep some of the more light hungry corals, but the basic stuff should be just fine. I had a very similar setup 4 years or so ago.

 

[Lotus]

Thanks Lotus, but I'm actually looking at making myself a small SW set-up, and was wondering if this fixture would do the trick. Your reply seems geared toward a FW planted set-up, but thanks anyway

Sorry, wasn't paying attention to which forum this was in.

We've had our Custom Sealife fixture for about 3 years, and it has worked well. We got it sometime after they went out of business as a markdown.

 

[TheFool]

I tihnk this should be fine over 20 gallons, and if it's long rather than ridicclously deep you should be able to keep most anything. I would try and ditch the actinic as they really don't output much useful light, but PC actinics and lights with higher K wear out very quickly anyway, so maybe just wait for that to happen.

 

[Lorna]

You can buy the bulbs really cheaply on ebay for 10K bulbs which is probably what you would want or even 50/50 bulbs....I have the same type of set up on my 29g and the 2x 65w provide ample light for most.

 

[Joe Fish]

8800k, now I know what that is. I would replace it with a 10000k bulb. You could either put glass on the tank of a light diffuser from a hardware store.

 

[1979camaro]

I really believe in using the light diffuser/egg crate to keep an "open" top without letting stuff jump out. With that particular fixture, however, you will need to find some way to cover either the water or the bottom of the fixture or you will have exploding lights...which is bad.

 

[Lorna]

that fixture has a sliding plexi piece that covers the bulbs doesn't it?

 

[IDunnoWhy]

Thanks for all the tech tips/info guys!!

Yes Lorna it does have the sliding plexi glass cover over the lamps.

I'm confused about the "egg crate/difuser" comment, what does that mean....Do you put the egg crate over the top on the tank, just like you would do with a glass "versa-top" type set-up? Or am I way off base there?

Anyone have an example pic to show me?

IDunnoWhy<-------Salt Noob

 

[1979camaro]

You are exactly on base. It is like this:

http://seanmcg.com/blog/wp-content/images/IMG_6578.jpg

http://seanmcg.com/blog/wp-content/images/IMG_6576.jpg

 

[IDunnoWhy]

More Questions

Thank you!!! Those pics were just what I needed!

I haven't exactly decided on how I'm going to go about all of this, Now that I have some idea on how to set-up the top & lighting, I need to get a list together for what else is needed. I have a HOB style filter, heaters, and 2 power heads.

Is a skimmer required on ALL SW set-ups or just larger ones?

Is there any other "hardware" I'll be needing? I have access to RO water when ever I need it. So I won't be needing a RO unit.

I currently have:

Penguin 330 (was planning on using just the mechanical portion, no charcoal, maybe keep the bio-wheels?)
2 Power Heads
More heaters than I know what to do with
Obviously the lighting

Mods...I can start a new thread if needed, I just thought I'd be easier to keep the flow of questions here

 

[1979camaro]

No reason to make a new thread.

Your powerfilter will be good for water movement, but it will make crazy amounts of nitrates. You are going to use your live rock for your biological filtration so it will be best to run it empty. The standard story is that you need to turn your water over 10x per hour minimum (I would say at least 20x) so make sure between the power filter and the powerheads you are in that range.

Though not necessary on a 20g, a skimmer would not be a bad addition. Personally, I would go with an Aqua C Remora though Aqua C also makes a nano skimmer.

 

[IDunnoWhy]

Thank you...again

OK, well I have some planning to do, I don't expect this whole thing to get rolling for at least another month (too many Irons....) However I am going to go check out that skimmer, and inquire about some LR and look into some substrate, are there pros/cons to live sand vs. Crushed coral or a combo of both?

Also need to track down a refractometer, any brand suggestions?

Is there a "guideline" for LR?....Like 1 lb per gallon or anything like that?

After we get all this "hardware" figured out and get the tank cycled, then I'll be picking brains for stocking suggestions

 

[Joe Fish]

That all depends on how porus the rock is. A lighter more porus rock would have more surface area and would require less than say a denser rock. Fiji is usually a good bet, but there is better.

I don't know the maker but the blue refracto from Pet Supplies, Dog Supplies, Cat Supplies, Pet Meds & Pet Products: Drs. Foster & Smith Pet Supplies is what I have.

eBay usually has a some good aqua c remora skimmers.

Usually crushed coral will have larger sharper pieces of shells and what not. So getting a sand sifting fish wouldn't be a good idea. I prefer really fine sand, but they say the best is between 1mm and 2mm.

 

[TheFool]

20 gallons is kind of the tip point where skimmers are possibly a good idea - it's either a skimmer, or commit to doing 'largish' water changes once or twice a week (2 1/2 or 5 gallons at a time). If you do the latter you really are unlikely to build up a lot of nitrates, and thus you can keep the HOB filter for extra backup biofilt. It's a tough call between a skimmer and the ongoing cost of salt for all the water changes (but you're going to have to do water changes pretty often anyway......). I run a 10 gallon without a skimmer on this principal it has worked for me for a long time with a few tanks. If you decide to buy a skimmer buy quality. I still have a prism somewhere, sure they're cheap, and I actually got it to skim really well, but I would never recommend it as it required constant tuning, was hard to get to work well (I doubt many newbies would get it to work 100%) and after two years was falling to pieces which is a total p.i.t.b as all the plastic joints were letting air in meaning it needed tuning even more often!

Rock - used to be 2 lbs a gallon, now most people look at 1 lb per gallon. you don't want a tank full of rock. Atthis size don't buy online if you have a good source nearby. Pick stuff you can see, and will be visually appealnig .- if you're filling 200 gallons and get some ugly rock, well you hide it at the back - with a 20 you have to look at it.

The big con of live sand it is a waste of money. It's barely live. Try to get very fine aragonite for as little as possible.

All the refractos are made inthe same couple of factories in china anyway so stating brands is pretty worthless at this price point (< 200$). I have a hydrometer anyway so what do I know