Reef Lights for Planted Tank?

Pittsford_Pets · Nov 27, 2017

Hey everyone!

If any of you have seen my recent posts, I have a few tanks set up - some freshwater and a now 10g saltwater. Recently, I had a tank crash due to heater failure (saltwater), so I've decided to "start over".

That being said, I've been looking to downsize my saltwater tank. I only had my two clowns, a hammer coral, a torch coral, a few heads of xenia, and my green star polyps survive. It really stunk because I'm 15 and worked my entire summer to pay for that tank... I'm also applying to a local PetWorld for my first job!

I started in the reptile hobby, then branched to this, haha. My few years of experience with reptiles, my year and a half of freshwater, and now my few months of saltwater will help out with the job opportunity!

Like I said, I'm still a beginner for saltwater. So, the point of this post is to ask if this will work:

I lost my reef after a few months, so I want to start a Fluval 13.5g all in one Aquarium (totally forgot the full name, but I think you know what I mean). It comes with its own light, and I plan on using its light. I still have the T5s from the tank, and I'm wondering if I can move that fixture to my 20g planted. The bulbs are Coralife actinic and I believe a 10,000K daylight bulb, so not the best out there by any means. Are they adequate for a planted tank? I don't have the hardest plants- wisteria, dwarf sag, water sprite, Java fern/moss, and that's pretty much it...

To sum it all up, I want your opinions on the fluval tank and if the bulbs will work out.

Thanks everyone, and happy late-Thanksgiving!

- Cycled media, rocks, and sand will immediately be moved into the Fluval (if I go through with it) and the clowns will remain in the 10g to monitor while the tank cycles - which shouldn't really happen, considering it's just changing tanks.

- The T5s are under a year old and I will switch to freshwater bulbs if I get the new tank

eatbreakfast · Nov 28, 2017

10k bulbs are great for freshwater plants.

However, I would advise against downsizing the saltwater tank. Smaller tanks are less stable, and more likely to experience craahes.

lbacha · Nov 28, 2017

I ran a 10k and 6500k t5 on my planted tank for years. The actinic isn't any good for freshwater though

Waters · Nov 28, 2017

I agree....the 10K bulb is fine with those plants. Just stay away from the high light/CO2 plants and you will be fine.

lbacha · Nov 28, 2017

Twin t5's on a 20g is really close to high light you may want to just run one bulb or you will need to use CO2 and ferts or deal with algae

Mohammad D. ALMUTAIRI · Nov 28, 2017

I have 2 planted tanks, one 50 gallon and one is 120 gallon.
I run both with 6500K LED Flood lights they are cheap and strong 15 watts in = 150 watts out
add them to a timer and they'll work wonders for you.

lbacha · Nov 28, 2017

Here is my build thread for my 25g cube it started with a 150w MH went to a 70w MH then a twin T5 and is now using a Kessil w160 tuna sun. The only time I didn't use CO2 was when I ran a single bulb on the T5 fixture

lbacha's 25 gal Crypt Cube

https://r.tapatalk.com/shareLink?sh...t/forums/showthread.php?t=140030&share_type=t

Pittsford_Pets · Nov 28, 2017

eatbreakfast said:
10k bulbs are great for freshwater plants.

However, I would advise against downsizing the saltwater tank. Smaller tanks are less stable, and more likely to experience craahes.

It's actually a bigger tank - I switched everything into a 10g.

Pittsford_Pets · Nov 28, 2017

lbacha said:
Here is my build thread for my 25g cube it started with a 150w MH went to a 70w MH then a twin T5 and is now using a Kessil w160 tuna sun. The only time I didn't use CO2 was when I ran a single bulb on the T5 fixture

lbacha's 25 gal Crypt Cube

https://r.tapatalk.com/shareLink?sh...t/forums/showthread.php?t=140030&share_type=t

Awesome, I'll check it out!

Pittsford_Pets · Nov 28, 2017

Mohammad D. ALMUTAIRI said:
I have 2 planted tanks, one 50 gallon and one is 120 gallon.
I run both with 6500K LED Flood lights they are cheap and strong 15 watts in = 150 watts out
add them to a timer and they'll work wonders for you.

That sounds awesome. I really like nano planted tanks, but a huge planted tank would be so cool. Thanks for the info!

Pittsford_Pets · Nov 28, 2017

Waters said:
I agree....the 10K bulb is fine with those plants. Just stay away from the high light/CO2 plants and you will be fine.

Yeah, I'll probably learn a bit about CO2 at PetWorld (If I get the job) so it'll be great before I actually dive into a more complex setup.

eatbreakfast · Nov 28, 2017

Pittsford_Pets said:
It's actually a bigger tank - I switched everything into a 10g.

Stability is one of the most important things to have success in a saltwater tank. You started with a 20g, if memory serves me correctly, then moved them to a 10g, now want to move them into a 13.5g, all within 8-9months. This is not good for the tank inhabitants.

Larger volume also stabilizes the system from changes.

Pittsford_Pets · Nov 28, 2017

eatbreakfast said:
Stability is one of the most important things to have success in a saltwater tank. You started with a 20g, if memory serves me correctly, then moved them to a 10g, now want to move them into a 13.5g, all within 8-9months. This is not good for the tank inhabitants.

Larger volume also stabilizes the system from changes.

It wasn't my choice to move them to a 10 from a 20 - my heater exploded/overheated and totally wiped out my live rock, my fish (except these 2), coral, and sand died off.

I had a heater but it was rated for 5g, so not good enough for a 20g but better-ish for a 10. I also didn't have a lot of salt at the time. I wouldn't move them into a bad setup, and anyways, the 13.5g would be cycling for a month or two while I get everything figured out. The clowns will remain where they are until I'm 100% certain it'll be ok in the 13.5 [emoji1417]