Tank & Lighting Advice

[SaltyFish]

Hello All,

I'm new to the forum, but saw that this was a great place to gather advice, so I thought I would give it a try! Here's my predicament: I've owned several aquariums over the last 15 years and have a fairly extensive knowledge related to fresh water fish. I currently have a 30 gallon FW setup and I'm looking to add a new salt water tank (for live rock and fish)! I've figured out pretty quickly, that there is a HUGE difference between supporting salt and fresh water ecosystems, and as such, I'm now seeking advice

My goal is to start on a relatively small scale and then build from there - I've been doing some initial research on available tanks and I had a few questions. I found a couple of tanks that I'm interested in, both from Innovative Marine.

A 16 gallon 'Nano' tank: http://www.innovative-marine.com/nuvo-a ... -0302.html
Are alternatively, a 30 gallon 'Micro' tank that is "reef ready": http://www.innovative-marine.com/nuvo-a ... 0402K.html

My question is:

What kind of lighting do I need to support live rock? - Both of these tanks come with lights - the 16 gallon has 16 watts of LED lighting and the 30 gallon has 20 watts of LED lighting. I've read however, that you need potentially 3 - 4 watts of lighting to support healthy coral. Would either of these tanks suffice, based on their OEM lighting?

Thanks!
http://atlanta-smas.org/viewtopic.php?f=2&t=4435#wrap

 

[salt_for_brains]

Hi and welcome!!

I would go with the bigger tank between the two for a couple reasons. One being it adds more fish that you can keep quantity and species. Secondly, more water volume is easier to keep your water parameters in check.

If you are only considering live rock and fish then that lighting will be fine. If you ever decide to keep corals or an anemone you will probably have to upgrade your lighting.

 

[Laz]

Hi there,

If you're going with a tank that has a rectangular shape, you may need two, but otherwise an LED PAR38 bulb would do great for a cube. Like salt says, bigger would be better, and I've always personally liked the cube shaped tanks.

Here's a video of the tank:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xCc0_jZE3lk

The lighting seems to look different from the website pictures but the owner says it's the light that came with it. If it's the one in the video, then the amount of lighting looks adequate (although a second opinion from a more advanced poster should be taken).

I've only just started getting into the hobby myself, so if you struggle with something and can't find the answer quickly, be sure to check out my thread. You'll probably be able to relate to it if you're buying the cube as I'm setting up a very similiar looking 12G tank.

And welcome to the forum, the bunch are a great help here.

https://www.livingreefs.com/complete-newbie-needs-way-start-t45507.html

 

[little_fish]

Hello and Welcome!

+1 everyone, although live rock doesnt actually need any light

 

[SaltyFish]

Thanks so much all for the advice! I'll definitely be looking at the 30 gallon micro. Any advice on how much lighting I would need to support coral in a cube tank of this size?

 

[Ted]

Really kinda depends on what coral you want. Two par 38's would work, a kessil 150 would be even better. Could keep just about anything I would think with a kessil in that tank.