# New lights and coral question



## Jmoquarium (Mar 31, 2012)

I went to the Los and got some new lights for my 10 gallon soon to be reef tank. I got 15 watts 18 inch. Couldn't find anything more. Should it be alright for polyps and mushrooms ect? I got a feather ducted as well and it is doing very well and I think it will be fine eating whatever plankton I have floating around. I was gonna get some mushrooms since I didn't get a powerhead yet and I had some cash but petco wanted 43 bucks for their cheapest mushrooms on a small piece of live rock. It was like 3 mushrooms which I found outrageous. Any ideas on how I could get mushrooms at like 20-30 max I've seen people on Craigslist sell frags for 5 dollars. Should I get them from there?


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## Reefing Madness (Aug 12, 2011)

Yea, go with Craigslist. You'll find all kinds of good deals from people who are cutting back their corals and such. What type of light is that 15w? Normal flourescent? Either way, not sure your going to get anything to thrive in there. W ouldnt go with anything less than say a 34w T-5


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## Jmoquarium (Mar 31, 2012)

I'll probably go lower light. It's actinic fluorescent called coral sun by zoo med its suppose to promote coral growth


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## Reefing Madness (Aug 12, 2011)

Supposed to promote and does promote are 2 different things. That means its a normal output lamp. T-12. Not a good lamp at all.


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## Jmoquarium (Mar 31, 2012)

Well promote coral growth. I just got it and don't have corals so I hope so


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## Jmoquarium (Mar 31, 2012)

I have a kind of stupid question but here it goes. Since the light is a purpleish bluish actinic and I am getting some zoas and mushrooms next weekend I want my tank to be as colorful as possible so are there certain colors I shouldn't get. I like blues but I am afraid they won't stand out at all in the actinic


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## Reefing Madness (Aug 12, 2011)

Actinics actually make colors pop.


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## phys (Feb 4, 2011)

45 bucks for a single mushroom is a ripoff unless its a high end rare one.. you probably wont find that at petco though. All you'll need is a Koralia nano power head. HYDOR componenti per acquari

Zoas dont need much light and neither do mushrooms. I am also currently setting up a 10 gal nano. I have a 15 watt t8 on it right now. I'll probably double it before i put any corals in. I tried some Xenia and it just withered so you may also want to double it. You can find them here: 18 in. Direct Wire Fluorescent Undercabinet Light-16547 at The Home Depot

You could get a Zoo-med light for it. They have 10000K, actinic or 50/50 lights. I'd suggest an actinic and a 50/50. 

If you want to go another route, build yourself a LED system. You'll only need about 8 LEDs. 4 cool whites and 4 royal blues. Throw two small 14v 1A power supplies on it and a simple heatsink with a fan and you're golden for anything you want in it!

If someone has some frags on craigslist, the only thing you need to make sure of is that they dont have any bad algae or hitchhikers on it when you get it. Most of my frags came from people at the local club and the local fish stores.. Never bought any from petco.


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