Starting 16 gal reef tank- lighting question

[Cmd5235]

Hey everyone,

In a few months I will be slowly starting a 16 gallon nano reef tank. I've been researching reef tanks for the past 6 months, and I think I'm a few months away from getting started with the appropriate information. I have a 36 gallon fresh water tank, but I don't want to go that big with a salt water tank, simply due to monetary and space restrictions and the fact that I don't want to put a thousand dollars into something that may not suit me. That being said, I was going to use 20 lbs of sand, 20-25 lbs of live rock, a Rena Filstar xp2 canister filter, and two powerheads. My question for you- what is a good (brand) light that can be set on a 24 hour timer (automatic day and moon lighting) that will work for low and medium light level corals?

[Cmd5235]

excuse my mistake- meant to say and/or in reference to the power heads and filter, seeing as how the filter is fairly high output

[Cliff]

Depending on the exact lighting requirements of the corals, either a two or four bulb T5HO fixture would fit the bill. Aquatic life is a good fixture that is reasonably priced.

http://www.aquaticlife.com/products/277

May I ask what you are planning to use the XP2 for ?

The below link might be of some help with you questions about water flow

http://saltwater.aquaticcommunity.co...nd-movement-2/

[Cmd5235]

I was going to use it to a) increase water flow, but more importantly b) keep the aquarium as stable as possible, given the small volume of water I'm using for my first salt water attempt.

[Cliff]

With the factory spray bar and a additional power head or two, you could set-up some pretty good flow around the tank.

I would suggest only using the filter for chemical media then (like chemi-pure). You won't need any bio-media as that much live rock will give you all the biological filtration that you will need. It's always best to try to avoid using bio-media in a filter as that can lead to extra work that you really don't need to do

There are also some HOB skimmers (like bubble magnus) that will give almost the same amount of flow as compared to the XP2 with the added bonus of providing you with improved water quality. Might be worth looking into.

[Cmd5235]

I think I'll go that route (skimmer). Best of two worlds there. As I said, I'm still researching, as I feel you can never know too much! I'm planning on creating an ongoing thread from the day I start the tank and go from there. I'm sure I'll pester people with the odd question or two, but I appreciate the speedy response so far. Thank you!

[Cliff]

There is also some good info in our SW blog here (link below)

http://saltwater.aquaticcommunity.com/

[Cmd5235]

I've been reading that blog over and over! It's fantastic! I'm going to post my list of equipment for critique on here next week. (unless this storm that's coming knocks out power and kills my 36 gallon aquarium this week, because my apartment doesn't allow generators, which means I'd be moving up in salt water aquarium size!). Once I move into my first house (yay!) in a few weeks, I'll be getting a generator and I'll start to acquire some aquarium hardware.