Low light corals with this light setup - possible?

[larsson]

Originally posted by Brooke
Our FO is about 31" tall and I concur that anything less than VHO is a waste of money in a tank that tall. In this hobby you can either pay to do it right the first time or keep paying for multiple upgrades which is inherently more expensive.

If you are truly planning a 400 gallon tank, you need to sit down and plan everything out. It can take weeks/months to get everything together for a tank that big. Do a search for "the beast" and you can see all the planning that went into Mike's tank. If you don't do it right the first time you will be on the road to disappointment and dead livestock.

I would also encourage you to invest in some books before buying equipment. (click on the books button in the header above) I'm not sure what your knowledge base is right now...but you need to learn the basics about water chemistry, fish combatibility, etc. We all know how exciting it is to set up a new tank and the desire to stuff it full of pretty stuff. If you get that urge go put your keys in the freezer and sit on your hands. Take your time. You will be rewarded if you do.

HTH, FWIW-
Brooke

First, thank you very much for all the info and suggestions. Second, I've already bought all the equipment and the tank. Total I paid is $1400 for the tank, canopy, lighting, skimmer rated for 700 to 800 gallons, Iwaki 200GPH pump, sump, all the plumbing, stand, 100 lbs. of live rock, and 250 lbs. of live sand. I thought it was a very good deal as I would have spent the same on a brand new 125 gallon, which I was originally planning to purchase. I want to take it slow in adding fish. The more I think about it, the more it looks as though I will be going towards a FOWLR as someone suggested on another board that corals need much more than fish only. Since this is my first large saltwater tank (I have a 2 gallon nano), then maybe it's best to start with fish only. I can always upgrade the lighting and trade in fish later if I ever get rich enough to be able to make a full fledged reef tank out of the 450. If you have any more suggestions, please let me know. I'm new to this, so any information is helpful.

[Mrs Smith]

I concur that under the circumstances, a FOWLR would be best for now. Still, I'd add more LR - 100lbs seems like a lot, but that's a monster tank, and it won't amount to much filtration-wise or looks wise. I know you want them to have swimming room, but even if that tank had 600 lbs of rock in it, there would still be an abundance of swimming room. Look at the online places - there are some very good deals out there, and the more rock you have, the better filtration you will have. (Which you'll especially need with "messy" fish like lions and triggers.)

While no one wants algae, FO tanks with non-clean-up-crew fish do take some planning and research. Take your time and learn all you can about the chemistry and needs of this new tank.

It almost sounds like it's up and running - is it an established system already? (And you bought the whole thing together?)

In any case, read, read, read. That's the most important thing you can do. I'd also encourage you to check out the "beast" thread. Big tanks can be incredible if done well, but heartbreakingly frustrating if the planning isn't there.

Good luck, and try to be patient. It's very easy to get caught up in the excitement and make really expensive mistakes. We've all done it... The problem lies that a "really expensive mistake" on a 55 gallon tank is nothing compared to a "really expensive mistake" on a 450.

Danielle

[larsson]

Originally posted by Mrs Smith
I concur that under the circumstances, a FOWLR would be best for now. Still, I'd add more LR - 100lbs seems like a lot, but that's a monster tank, and it won't amount to much filtration-wise or looks wise. I know you want them to have swimming room, but even if that tank had 600 lbs of rock in it, there would still be an abundance of swimming room. Look at the online places - there are some very good deals out there, and the more rock you have, the better filtration you will have. (Which you'll especially need with "messy" fish like lions and triggers.)

While no one wants algae, FO tanks with non-clean-up-crew fish do take some planning and research. Take your time and learn all you can about the chemistry and needs of this new tank.

It almost sounds like it's up and running - is it an established system already? (And you bought the whole thing together?)

In any case, read, read, read. That's the most important thing you can do. I'd also encourage you to check out the "beast" thread. Big tanks can be incredible if done well, but heartbreakingly frustrating if the planning isn't there.

Good luck, and try to be patient. It's very easy to get caught up in the excitement and make really expensive mistakes. We've all done it... The problem lies that a "really expensive mistake" on a 55 gallon tank is nothing compared to a "really expensive mistake" on a 450.

Danielle

FOWLR is looking like what I am going towards. I may purchase more live rock. I'm not sure at the moment. I want to see how it looks when I set it up. As far as fish go, my stock list so far includes Yellow Tangs, a Naso tang, a Sohal tang, some Anthias, and some Chromis. I'm staying away from the predatory fish, such as lionfish and eels because they may eat the crustaceans and inverts, which I plan to have a nice amount of. I'm not really sure what is sufficient for that size tank to keep the algae in check, but I don't really want 700 snails crawling all over the glass.

I'm constantly reading online about saltwater tanks. The amount of information is amazing.

The tank is somewhat up and running. It is not currently at my house yet. It still has to be moved. The live sand still has water over it and the live rock is in a 75 gallon with powerheads. Yep, I bought the whole thing together.

I'm going to read "the beast thread". It sounds .

What I do like about the size of the tank is that I definitely won't be needing a larger tank for many years. Plus, the larger the saltwater tank, the more forgiving it is. My nano is probably harder to keep than the 450 will be.