Light for a nanao

[JoeJoe]

Hey everyone I'm looking to soon start up my nano. I was looking to put lps, sps and softies in it, along with 2 or 3 fish. It's gonna be a 20 gallon long with a HOB filter. I purchased a book called corals from the lfs, and was wondering if I should stay away from lps due to their size, or becoming big. Also, what type of lighting (specifics) should I purchase. I'll probably get a little stand to hold the lights over the tank, but I may also look for something, such as a canopy, to hold them. Thanks in advance for any help!!

[bamann345]

How much are you looking to spend on lighting?

The best would be a 175 watt MH with some PC or VHO actinics.

But I am sure you could do some PC in a hood and it would be good for a lot of things.

How good are you at DIY or building hoods? This could save you a lot of money on your lighting letting you put more into the ballasts and bulbs.

If you wait until December when I am home, I coule help you build a hood for the tank, you would only have to buy the supplies, I have( my dad) has all the tools needed to build such a thing.

Hope this helps!

[QuAcKeR]

I put a 20" 1x96W Coralife Aqualight CF hood w/ Quad 50/50 on my 10 gallon, but I'm betting it do a good job for a 20g as well... though I have no lps.

[ckreef]

That hood that Quacker mentioned works really good. Not sure how it would fit on a 20 long but it does a good job for lighting corals.

LPS corals are fine you just need to stick with very small one or two polyp frags. I have a 2 polyp frogspawn that has split into 4 polyps and is still just fine in the Nano ---- Also Candy Cane corals do great in Nano's I start with 2 polyps and now have 8 going on 9 polyps --- it's still not too big for the Nano ---- could easily double from its current size before I considered doing anything about it.