Upgrading!!

Discussion in 'T5 Aquarium Lighting' started by french4orlife, Jan 17, 2011.

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  1. french4orlife

    french4orlife Spaghetti Worm

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    So I just ordered a 72w T5 HO. This is going to be going on my 15g. Theyre will also be an extra 40w from the coralife 50/50 compact flourescent. All this bringing me to 112w. With this lighting what NEW things will i be able to keep.. anemones...clams...
     
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  3. Magnus

    Magnus Sharknado

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    That's almost 7.5 watts per gallon, you should be able to do sps as well. I don't know about the nems... they need an established tank for what I have read. How old is your 15 gallon tank?
     
  4. french4orlife

    french4orlife Spaghetti Worm

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    a little over a year
     
  5. Magnus

    Magnus Sharknado

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    Do you have fish in there too?
     
  6. french4orlife

    french4orlife Spaghetti Worm

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    yes, fire angel, 2 damsels, and a clown
     
  7. Magnus

    Magnus Sharknado

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    I would be careful adding anything else in a 15, other than corals bud. Your bio load sounds at its limits unless you have a sump that expands your total water volume. Do you use a skimmer, sump etc?
     
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  9. french4orlife

    french4orlife Spaghetti Worm

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    No I'm running a sump or a skimmer. I will not be adding any more fish, I may even take the damsels to my LFS. I wud rather have tons of corals! I find them sooooo much more fascinating
     
  10. Magnus

    Magnus Sharknado

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    I would keep one or two of your favorites. Damsels are mean and in a 15 gallon they will eventually stress the angel and the clown to death, so that would also be my first choice to return to the LFS.

    As far as the corals, start with soft corals, like zoanthids, pulsing xenias, mushrooms. Other hard to keep corals like SPS's require very good water parameters, and even though your light is good for them, you will have problems maintaining the parameters in a smaller tank as they're not as forgiving due to the total amount of water you have. A simple mistake when adding any additive to it, or a drastic change in temp can wipe out the entire tank and these are common problems in a small tank.
     
  11. french4orlife

    french4orlife Spaghetti Worm

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    Thank you very much for your feedback! But I did forget to mention that I already have a frogspawn, torch, mushrooms, elegance and flower pot. I was just wondering which corals require a lot of light, like the ones I will be able to get with my new lights