Nano Reef Aquarium

For some time now the only available lighting options for Reef Keeping are T8 tubes, T5 Tubes, and Metal Halide. The cheapest option is T8 tubes, these are not very bright but are great for a fish only system. T5's are much better and will allow you to keep quite a few corals. This includes many soft and a vast amount of Large Polyp Stoney corals. Stocking these types of Coral can create an attractive looking Aquarium. The problem is to achieve enough light you need numerous tubes and this increases the power consumption. Metal Halide is the brightest option and allows reefers to keep almost all corals including Small Stoney Polyp Stoney corals that are considered the most difficult to keep. These units start with a minimum power consumption of 150 watts, increasing up to 400 watts. Running these 8 to 12 hours a day can put a big increase on energy bills. At the moment that is the last thing that people want in the financial situation and economy. The problem with all thes...

This weekend my maintenance includes the replacement of my actinic T5's in my Arcadia luminaire . I have put this off for a little while, I know they should be replaced every six months but i ran over a little. Nearly forty pounds for two 24 watt Arcadia 420 tubes seemed really expensive but the expense of loosing invertebrates doesn't bear thinking about. I cant believe the impact these replacement tubes made, The difference in light colour and the impact on the live in the reef. The new life that has come out of the live rock, some of which i have not seen before and the existing inverts appear more colourful and open up more. If you have put replacement tubes off because of cost or whatever reason, the above reasons are more of a reason to replace.