Light recommendation for a 7.3 gallon cube

Nheko · Sep 17, 2022

Hello,

I am putting together a small tank, 7.1 gallons cube reef tank (title is wrong, should be 7.1). It will be the home for a clownfish and an anemone.

Which light will you recommend me for it?

Nanolifeuk · Sep 17, 2022

Ai prime is really easy to programme and can be set to virtually any spectrum. It’s not too big, I love mine.

Any particular reason you are going so small? It can work but as they both grow they will need more space. Also if your anemone wanders it may benefit having more space to explore low/high light areas etc and find where it’s happy. Im considering a pico tank 5gal but coral and invert only (using old water from my 16 gal )

When I first got my clownfish they would of looked fine in a 7 gal , over a year later and a 16 gal looks small for the female.

Fishyfish22 · Sep 17, 2022

Nheko said:
Hello,

I am putting together a small tank, 7.1 gallons cube reef tank (title is wrong, should be 7.1). It will be the home for a clownfish and an anemone.

Which light will you recommend me for it?

You might be able to get away with using a par 38 bulb or two

AwakenedReefer · Sep 17, 2022

I started a 7G last may and it’s running a Kessil A80 7”~ off the water and it’s doing great.
I was planning to put a BTA in there with a clown but I decided it was to small for a clown. Maybe you could try some sexy shrimp instead of the clown.

Nheko · Sep 17, 2022

Thanks for your reply. Yes, indeed I can answer why I am going small. First reason I have a larger tank and wanted to have a smaller “desk” tank I can enjoy my clown and nem.

In the event the fish become uncomfortable in the tank they can go back home.

I do love AI Prime. I have them in my main tank and I am very happy, but I thought it was an overkill (performance wise) for such a small size tank.

Nheko · Sep 17, 2022

AwakenedReefer said:
I started a 7G last may and it’s running a Kessil A80 7”~ off the water and it’s doing great.
I was planning to put a BTA in there with a clown but I decided it was to small for a clown. Maybe you could try some sexy shrimp instead of the clown.

Sweet picture and nice setup. I’ll take a look at the Kessil.

X-37B · Sep 17, 2022

Nheko said:
Thanks for your reply. Yes, indeed I can answer why I am going small. First reason I have a larger tank and wanted to have a smaller “desk” tank I can enjoy my clown and nem.

In the event the fish become uncomfortable in the tank they can go back home.

I do love AI Prime. I have them in my main tank and I am very happy, but I thought it was an overkill (performance wise) for such a small size tank.

Not overkill as you can dial them back which you know. I love the colors they bring and run 8 16hds on 3 systems and 4 different tanks.

Nheko · Sep 17, 2022

Nheko said:
Sweet picture and nice setup. I’ll take a look at the Kessil.

I really liked the Kessil A80. I think I’ll get one

Nanolifeuk · Sep 19, 2022

90's reefer said:
Not overkill as you can dial them back which you know. I love the colors they bring and run 8 16hds on 3 systems and 4 different tanks.

I think Most AI stuff is slightly overkill for 20 gal & under. The price for quality can certainly be justified for the lights but for example run a Nero 3 wave maker and I keep it about 17% max power or my torch sulks no matter how I point flow. I had a £30 fluval one, slightly uglier that did the same thing lol

X-37B · Sep 19, 2022

Not really overkill, imo.
I guess it depends on what you are growing. I run 2 16hds on my 20g nano cube. Mostly sticks with great growth and color.
I have a build thread if you want ti check it out.
This is my 20g nano cube. Its only 7 months old.

Thread '18" AIO Nano Cube Stag System' https://www.reef2reef.com/threads/18-aio-nano-cube-stag-system.883090/

noopsyche · Sep 20, 2022

Hi here is Noopsyche. One K7 Mini is recommended. IMO it is necessary to compare parameters

Nheko · Sep 22, 2022

noopsyche said:
Hi here is Noopsyche. One K7 Mini is recommended. IMO it is necessary to compare parameters

This looks promising, I’ll take a look.

AwakenedReefer · Sep 24, 2022

Nheko said:
I really liked the Kessil A80. I think I’ll get one

It looks great I doubt you will be disappointed especially considering other options/cost. I was surprised.
The “small” gooseneck will hold the light, lowest, 7”~ off the water which I think is higher than recommended but it’s working for me at about 75% intensity heavy on blue. I am sure that Birdsnest would appreciate more light but it is noticeable growing day after day.

Another note: With the light mounted at the height there is light bleed. So I bought a Black #1 growers pot from Home Depot for $1.50 then trimmed, cut most of the bottom out for air flow, and flipped it over to catch the light bleed. Works great. One more thing. Be careful bending that gooseneck while you have it attached to the glass. I could see regrets happening fast.