kernyboy
08/01/2008, 07:48 AM
Hey All,
I'm very new to the hobby! I have a 10g nano tank thats been going for about 3 months now. I initially started this venture as a FOWLR tank. But now I'm at a crossroad and looking to slowly take the plunge into coral.
I would like to get coral, and based on my research the easiest to manage for a beginner are mushroom and polyp. I have just a standard stock lighting that comes with a 10g tank (15W AGA lighting). I spoke to my LFS and I was told I could keep mushroom coral in my existing lighting conditions as mushroom are low light corals.
They recommended I get a 15W 10K light.
On my way from work, I stopped in at local petco. When I went to pick up the light, the attendee suggested I not get the 10K light and instead get a 50/50 6500K bulb claiming that 10K would cause much unwanted algae to grow and that I could only keep it on for shorter intervals (4 -6 hours I think)
I bought and installed the 50/50 light, but now everything looks "blue" and my clown fish and other livestock all have a drab, washed out appearance. Should I have gone with the 10K? I haven't added any coral yet, but how do I light this so that:
1.) My mushroom coral have enough light
2.) My fish dont look washed out
My Specs are-
Filtration:
10g tank
13lbs Live Rock
10lbs Live Sand
100gph Bio Wheel Filter
Live Stock:
2 Clown Fish
1 Dottyback
1 Red Banded Shrimp
1 Black Long Spiny Urchin
Clean Up Crew:
10 small hermits
1 Turbo Snail
1 Mexican Snail (I think that's what its called)
Lighting:
18" 50/50 6500K 15W Flresnt
I do a 10 - 20% water change EVERY week
My water chemistry is:
Ammonia - 0
PH - 8.2
Salinity - 1.023
Temp - 82 degrees
nitrate- 0
nitrite -20ppm
http://kernyboy.com/uploads/IMG_0899.JPG
I'm very new to the hobby! I have a 10g nano tank thats been going for about 3 months now. I initially started this venture as a FOWLR tank. But now I'm at a crossroad and looking to slowly take the plunge into coral.
I would like to get coral, and based on my research the easiest to manage for a beginner are mushroom and polyp. I have just a standard stock lighting that comes with a 10g tank (15W AGA lighting). I spoke to my LFS and I was told I could keep mushroom coral in my existing lighting conditions as mushroom are low light corals.
They recommended I get a 15W 10K light.
On my way from work, I stopped in at local petco. When I went to pick up the light, the attendee suggested I not get the 10K light and instead get a 50/50 6500K bulb claiming that 10K would cause much unwanted algae to grow and that I could only keep it on for shorter intervals (4 -6 hours I think)
I bought and installed the 50/50 light, but now everything looks "blue" and my clown fish and other livestock all have a drab, washed out appearance. Should I have gone with the 10K? I haven't added any coral yet, but how do I light this so that:
1.) My mushroom coral have enough light
2.) My fish dont look washed out
My Specs are-
Filtration:
10g tank
13lbs Live Rock
10lbs Live Sand
100gph Bio Wheel Filter
Live Stock:
2 Clown Fish
1 Dottyback
1 Red Banded Shrimp
1 Black Long Spiny Urchin
Clean Up Crew:
10 small hermits
1 Turbo Snail
1 Mexican Snail (I think that's what its called)
Lighting:
18" 50/50 6500K 15W Flresnt
I do a 10 - 20% water change EVERY week
My water chemistry is:
Ammonia - 0
PH - 8.2
Salinity - 1.023
Temp - 82 degrees
nitrate- 0
nitrite -20ppm
http://kernyboy.com/uploads/IMG_0899.JPG