I Need some help

you can roughly estimate with smaller tanks using the watts per gallon rule 1-2 watts is low and not able to keep much, 3-4 is medium and 5+ is high. Ofcourse this only works for smaller tanks and i think a nano would fit into this category, though im not sure how deep those tanks are. This is also considered a rough and very crude method of determining lighting since PC's MH's and T5's give out different PAR values even with the same wattage. You may end up with trial and error on what you can keep just never over estimate your lights capabilities.

Biff made a point about this with her deco (or is it pico this year?) and her keeping her clam in a 3 gallon, she has 6+ watts with the 18watt light that comes with the small tank, enough to keep the clam happy. The light however, only has to penetrate a few inches to hit the clam though which means that the depth is really a determining factor.
 
Last edited:
I'd say you have the ability to keep low to medium lighting corals, you may get by with a few more requiring light by placing them right near the top of the aquarium, but I wouldnt push it for harder things like clams.
 
That would be enough to keep softies and LPS. Anything that's more light demanding would need to be kept higher up. Clams, maybe....maybe.
 
There's a guy on the nano forums that kept a clam in his QUAD CF for several months with no problems. He did eventually upgrade to T5 though.

It very difficult to make a general statement to what constitutes low, medium, and high lighting because EVERYTHING becomes a factor. Type of lighting, amount(wattage), type/brand of bulb, depth of the tank, type of reflectors, etc. So, to make a general statement to what lighting is high, med., low has gotten harder and harder in the hobby. I know it doesn't answer your question but, unless you give us a rundown of all that information, it's not really going to be an accurate answer for you.
 
Its an integrated 105 Watt Compact Fluorescent Quad daylight illumination, 2

10,000k White Daylight and 2 7100k Blue Actinic combo lamp with a polished

mirror reflector. depth of tank is 22inches, not sure what else to put.
 
Yea, I posted yesterday, for your tank specifically you're at about moderate lighting. Which gives you plenty of options for corals.
 
You can have the majority of LPS, though there are going to be some that are going to be harder to impossible to keep because they will need more light. Clams and SPS are going to be no go's because they just need more light than what the quad produces. I personally knew that I was going to want a clam down the road when my tank is mature, so that was one of the reasons I went with the LED version. There have been several individuals who have successfully kept clams with the LED version of the Nano Cube.
 
Yea, I posted yesterday, for your tank specifically you're at about moderate lighting. Which gives you plenty of options for corals.

yea i know, i jus figured id let you know just in case

I personally knew that I was going to want a clam down the road when my tank is mature, so that was one of the reasons I went with the LED version. There have been several individuals who have successfully kept clams with the LED version of the Nano Cube.

i didnt really have a choice with the tank i got, i got mine as a gift for christmas, so im

just tryin to learn as much about everything as possible.
 
Last edited:
Its better to find out now before you put anything in and lose it because you don't have the lighting to support it. I have seen some SPS that go for over $100 a frag. If you lost too many of those it would get expensive really quickly.
 
Back
Top