Newbie! Advice needed

[Dak]

I'm looking to upgrade my son's nano reef (5 gallons) to a 30 gallon tank. I'm feeling confused on the dimension of the 30 gallon. The lps is recommending a show tank, which is long and skinny, but it seems I've read somewhere skinny is not good when it comes to reefs.

What would a good amount of lighting be for this tank? What do you think of Aquatic Lighting System's $75 metal halide kit? 175W 4300K Bulb.

Would appreciate any additional advice you might have.

Currently his tank is full of live rock, a feather duster, an anemone with crab, and a damsel fish.

He'd like to start adding corals; polyps, brain, pulsating xenia, mushrooms, not necessarily in that order.

[Doug1]

Welcome!!!!!! the thirty and 29 gal tanks get mixed up alot but the 30g is 36" long versus 30" for the 29. I'd vote for a bigger foot print and lower tank. The light you mentioned is cheap but you need to upgrade the bulb, the 4300K is way to red for coral, great for macro algae tho, go at least 6500K on the bulb which of course jacks the price up a lot

[Spanky]

Dak, WELCOME!
Let's see, first the 5gal, then the 30gal! Will it ever end?

Just do yourself a favor and buy a 125 now.

In the mean time, do what Doug said. and Happy Reefing.

[Drew]

First of all - Welcome to TRT! Second - Don't believe anything an LPS coral tells you! HEHEHE.
Alright, my two cents. Don't go with a skinny tank! I have a 45 and I really don't like how I have zero room for aquascaping. If I were to do it over again (oh wait I am! ) I would go with, like Doug said, a bigger foot print.
If all you want to keep are those corals, you don't HAVE to go with MH. You could get a nice Power Compact setup and be just as well off. But if you plan to expand (we all do!) MH porbably is best, with at least a 6500k bulb. Thoroughly confused? Good. That's what I'm here for! Good luck!

Drew

[Doug1]

And you do it well Drew. Personally my choice would be 95 watt VHO but 96 watt PC from www.ahsupply will work. If you do go with Metal halide remember they only light about 2 feet effectivly which means you'd have some dim areas on the ends of the tank(not always a bad thing)

[Dak]

Thanks for the replies! I'll be looking for a 36" tank. Too bad that MH won't work, I really liked the price .

My son can buy his own 125 gallon when he lives on his own and is independently wealthy, thank you very much. I think it's a great hobby, he's kept the 5 gallon alive and thriving for 6 months so for his 12th birthday he's getting a upgrade.

Though I must admit it's not just his hobby... maybe a 45 gallon next year.

ahsupply.com is a great link, thank you very much!

Any leads for a good skimmer? Leaning toward the venturi type but open to suggestions.

[Drew]

Why thank you Doug!

Dak,
The skimmers that come to mind would be the RedSea Prism http://www.premiumaquatics.com/Merch...Code=Aquamedic
And the CPR BakPak2 or 2R http://www.premiumaquatics.com/Merch...ry_Code=Bakpak
I have the BakPak 2R and I think it does a decent job pulling out the gunk. Good luck.

Drew

[Dak]

Feels like I'm leaning towards the metal halides. Aquaticlight.com jumps from 4300K, 5500K to 12,000K. What do you think of the 12,000K, would it be overkill?

[Drew]

I think 12000k would be fine. The color of the bulbs is pretty much a matter of personal preference. But when you get up higher, some bulbs lose intensity.

Drew

[Doug1]

better choice, you can prolly get away witjout additional actinic lights

[Dak]

Are MH much more power hungry than power compacts? I've been noticing quite a few MH's on ebay, with the seller getting rid of them because of rising electrical costs.

[Doug1]

Dak hard to say, VHO and Power compact on eletronic ballast are cost efficient, as would be an electronic ballast for MH not only do you have to figure in the watts consumed by the bulb but the ballast will consume some power too. Old style(cheap) tar ballast are more power hungry tha e-ballast, but I think a lot of people are swirching from 175 and 250 watt units and going with 400 watt for SPS and clams.
On the other hand except for the ballst consumption factor watts is watts at the meter, but MH wins the intensity race hands down

[ 06-27-2001: Message edited by: Doug1 ]

[Dak]

Thank you Doug! I'm learning there's no simple answers in reef-keeping

[Alice]

Welcome Dak!

Learning that and how to have patience are the hardest lessons out there! I have to admit, I'm not the patience poster girl!

[Wrasse Man]

Be nice Drew!
Alice: I thought you were the poster girl for patience...now my image of you is shattered!

Dak, just to confuse issues, I have been running with PC's and NO Florescents *Ducks thrown IceCap ballasts* and I have had great luck. Some of the best corals (in my mind at least) are not high light lovers: Gorgonians, Leathers, etc. It all depends on what you want to keep and realizing that no matter what light you decide on, it will limit the corals you can keep. MH will cause SPS to do great, but mushrooms and some leathers will melt, and the non-photosynthetic gorgs will die. PC is good for middle of the road, but don't try SPS or Clams, or some anemonies. I am not an anemonie expert (or any type of expert for that matter) but since you have one, I would look into what that animal would like, then base the tank's lighting along those lines.

Hmmm, I seem to have come full circle.

Come on Drew, let's go confuse someone else!