Lights for 2.5 gallon

bmr33775

New Member
I just started a 2.5 gallon and I wanted to look for thigns I could do to have a light on at all times. the LFS said I should only keep it on about 5 hours a day but I wanted that really cool look all the time. what can help?
 

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funkngroovy

New Member
Mine are on for 14 hours, 2x15W T8's. No aglae, corals are growing, I'm starting to think you may need to look for another LFS???
 

bmr33775

New Member
lol, he seemed real smart with it, and seemed to really care, I am not some young buck, so I can read people rather well, but I know my gut is telling me listen to the people that do it all the time. thanks for the help, I'm sure I will have much more to ask you in morning, thanks again
 

TimSchmidt

New Member
I have seen any where from 8 - 14 hours with seemingly little stress to inhabitants. I personally try to mimic nature with actinics running 11-12 hours and my main lights 8-10 hours.
 

tmd77

New Member
i run mine from 10am through to 9:30pm at night

i dont think 5 hours would give your corals enough light and cause them to fail.

remember with our tanks, we are trying to replicate nature here in the best way possible.

HTH
 

bmr33775

New Member
ok, here is I big question for someone, so how long will it take beofre I start seeing things pop up on my live rock. don't get me wrong, I know we are in a waiting game right now, but parts of the rock have this little greenish tent to them and I was wondering if that will turn into any thing, or am I looking in all the wrong places?
 

TimSchmidt

New Member
You should see some pods soon. For the colors that will probably turn to algae. It does get ugly before it gets better.
 

bmr33775

New Member
well might be in a little danger. I started leaving my lights on since I talked to some people on here, so my corals can grow. well, when I got home after about 11 hours of light on, I saw that the tank was at 28.6 Cel. and even with the lights off for about an hour now, it's still at 28.7 AHHHHHHHHHHHH what do I do, and is my tank done for?

oh, and I added some more live rock so I would have more places to put corals when I get them.

also, what type of fish can I put in here, I talked to the LFS and they said only one, I think it was called a Psyco somthing but not sure. and help with that would be really cool, and thanks in advance.
 

funkngroovy

New Member
What about with a couple of fans, looks like this the way it will have to be.

Also, can't see from your tank shot, are the lights placed directly onto the top of the tank glass?/

if they are on brackets, it willl be much cooler.
 

bmr33775

New Member
yes they are right on the glass, and where would I find brackets at, I thought that a tank this small would not have a whole lot of accomidations. if you can direct me to a website or a big chain LFS that would be cool. and as far as the fan, where can I find one small enough to to not be loud, or inturupt my wifes day. when you talk about a little fan, just how big are we talking here, I'm thinking like a few inches?
 

funkngroovy

New Member
4 inch fans only cost about 10 bucks.

As for brackets, that may be a DIY project.

reefcentral.com may have some DIY light brackets in a forum, you could do a search.
 

TimSchmidt

New Member
Can we get a shot of the lights and top of the tank? I have a few ideas, but need to see what we are dealing with. :cool1:
 

bmr33775

New Member
hey Tim, sorry it has taken me so long to reply. I tried to post a picture on here but not really sure how with out starting a new topic, so if someone can help me, that would be cool. I'm glad I did not go out to walmart and try to find a fan, not to mention I got to thinking about it and thought, how would the air from the fan get to the water with the type of glass top I have.
 

bmr33775

New Member
oh, and before I forget, I'm having so filter issues. the stupid thing just stops on me, mostly while I'm at work. so for hours at a time there is no movement in the water. I called the LFS where I got this thing and they said to bring it in tomorrow and they will take a look at it. but do any of you have any suggestions? and how long can my tank go without water movement?
 

TimSchmidt

New Member
Tanks can't go very long with out water movement. The water stagnates quickly, power failure is actually a VERY bad thing.

Photobucket is a great site for being easy to use and has about the easiest way to post pictures. After uploading a photo onto photobucket there will be some lines of code under each picture (move your mouse over the picture to see the lines) click in the line that has IMG in it and paste here in your response. That's it!
 

bmr33775

New Member
ok tim thanks, let me know what you come up with, as for the filter problem, I have fixed that for now, looks like sand was getting sucked up in the fitler causing it to jam up. so I turned the flow down a little
 
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