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Lighting on a very limited budget


dogfishmom

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Long story short, I had what I believe to be a toxin of some sort introduced into my 30 gal nano so I had to remove my last surviving little clown yesterday morning and he is currently in our "ICU" tank getting fixed up. In the meantime I am trying to put together a 10 gal setup in the kitchen far away from any sinks and/or cooking devices (for those of you who may be concerned) for my last little guy, a few (maybe 4 if they make it) small corals and a very small clean up crew (no thanks to my red leg hermit). I don't want to get rid of him or any of my other live stock because I feel that would be completely irresponsible as a pet owner so I am trying to make it happen. I am looking for suggestions on lighting that can be mounted under the cabinet or clipped on the tank for a very tight budget since I just spent a small fortune trying to salvage my last tank and setting up the new hospital tank. I do not want to try to reuse the nano until I can drain it and give it a good scrub down because I do not know at this point what was introduced to the tank to make it kill off all my fish, even then I may still be skeptical. I am open to any suggestion for lighting and or anyone selling a cheap light that can be mounted or clipped on for a 10 gal reef. Thank you for any help!! please.gif

Somewhat related - Suggestions on what I should do with my rock? The nano is still up and running to preserve the rock if I can save it... Water parameters don't show anything out of whack either. Nitrites & Nitrates are 0, PH is 8.3, ammonia is perfect (i apparently found the fish very shortly after they died), nothing indicates a problem and that is why I believe it was something chemical that accidentally came in contact with either my sock or one of my cleaning tools. I did have a strange film on the top of the water as well which also leads me to believe this. From talking to several people and reading for hours it was probably a detergent of some sort and it caused either a chain reaction or itself created a shortage of oxygen in the tank. My corals and clean up crew were not affected like the fish and the smallest fish was the only one that survived which leads me to believe the oxygen theory.

Edited by dogfishmom
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Sometimes being a responsible pet owner means rehoming inhabitants instead of setting up a new system. Largely it is up to you, your tolerance, and the animals you have left.

What are you trying to keep under the lights? Softies, leathers and some LPS can be kept under a clip light with a 5k twist CFL bulb. The brown zooxanthelle will be the most prominent under that lighting but the corals will live until you can get them under other lights. All in all, it will cost around $12 from Home Depot.

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Check out Stephen in equipment for sale he has a 33 watt clip on LED full spectrum dimmable for $30

This may be your best bet.

Alternatively, at Lowes you can get a par 38 led flood light for around $30 plus a clip on socket for about $10. I have one in my refugium and it keeps soft corals happy no problem. Never tried lps or sps under it though.

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WPG is kind of a crummy metric with the advent of economical LEDs in reefing. PAR is a better way to measure. A clip on LED (33w) is definitely sufficient for a 30g, depending on the optics and whether or not it will fully spread to cover the footprint of the tank.

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I'll echo what was previously mentioned. If you're in a pinch and need light NOW. One or two of the small $8 clip on shop lights and a two pack of sylvania 15 watt 6500k spiral cfl bulbs will keep everything alive and maybe even growing. It will not be attractive but it will suffice. I've got a 6" rock flower anemone and bits of montipora and Acropora littered in my refugium that are surviving and actually growing for about 8 months now using a 15 watt 6500k spiral cfl. Ugly color but provides them the spectrum needed for photosynthesis

Purchased these at lowes for about $20

Edited by Bpb
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