My Nano tank

[juggernaut303]

I am getting a 20 gallon with a 16 inch hood i was wondering what watt heater i should get and what type of light should i get. Also i was thinking of getting 2 Pengiun power heads 145 GPH is that okay. Tks pat

 

[spllouder]

I suggest 2 Maxi-jet 600's at least . They are only $11.99 each at Foster and smith . I would get one Maxi-Jet 900 and one 600 Total GPH=390 .

Heater probaly a 75 watt or 100 watt . Depends how cold it gets in your house in the winter .

 

[juggernaut303]

Thank you and what should i do about lighting what type of bulb for most corals? Would a 70 watt bulb be okay for most corals? Pat

 

[sdivell]

what type of lighting are going with?

Power compact?

with 70 watts of power you would only have about 3.5 watts per gallon which isnt a ton..

For example I will have 7.2 watts per gallon over my 10 gallon tank

and for corals its not so much the wattage as it is the light intensity. you should be looking for 10,000k bulbs minimum to keep most corals.

 

[juggernaut303]

I cant find a powerful enough light on the web i am finding 15inch 30w bulbs but cant find anything more powerful? What do u mean by 10,000k I am new to Salt water. Would it be good for most corals soft like mushrooms and buttons?

 

[sdivell]

Sorry I didn't notice you had a 16" hood on it.

What dimension is the tank? I assume its 24" wide since its a 20g??

if you want to keep corals you will have to throw out that 16" hood as it wont allow you to keep powerful enough lights to keep corals. So toss that away and pick up a glass lid for your tank - probably about $10 @ your LFS and then set up a strip light above that.

You have a couple options with 24" that will work:
First you could use T5 - Flourecesent bulbs - 24" long - 14watts - coralife makes them - for your tank i would run 4 of these -

Coralife T-5 10,000K Lamp-24" at Big Al's Online

and you can either get the fixture @ a LFS or save some money and get it at Home Depot or rona or whatever.

another more costly option is to go with power compact flouresecents which I think is your best option - buy one of these and a glass lid and you're set to keep most corals.
Coralife 24" Aqualight Power Compact Strip Light- 1X65Watt at Big Al's Online

and do some reading - saltwater for dummies is a good book to start with!

 

[juggernaut303]

Thank you so much. I called the pet store and asked how big of a hood should i get and thats what they said thank u. I'll do more reading i am new at this tks. Pat

 

[juggernaut303]

Will that light get me soft corals and some medium corals zoos,frags?Would this be enough for most corals mushrooms,frags zoos? Current Usa Satellite Dual W/Lunar Light 24" 2x65w.



If Its good i was thinking of going with the single which is 65w but i want lots of coral should i go with the luner one instead?

 

[TRe]

the light in the link will be fine for zoos,shrooms,xenia,gsp,leathers, you could even get away with a frogspawn