hughey's new tank

[hughey]

I'm just getting back into keeping a reef tank. I have a 150 gallon tank coming in next week. I had a 75 gallon tank several years ago, so this is going to be a lot more fun. I haven't picked out any equipment yet, but will be doing that tomorrow. I'll update this when I know what I'm going with.

So Far:

150 Gallon Reef Ready tank with two Megaflows
Custom Stained 72 x 18 Stand and Canopy

[Loverotties]

Welcome to TRT! Good luck and welcome back to the hobby!

[Dragonist]

Awesome good to hear about to return to the hobby. What are you plans for the tank?

[hughey]

I thought at first that I was just going to do a fish only salt water tank, but since I ended up with such a big tank and the megaflow system I might change my mind about that. I'm going to pick out my filtering and lighting equipment today, so I'll have a better idea exactly what the tank will look like after I make all of those decisions. I am thinking that I don't want to skimp on anything so that I don't run into problems down the road. The shop owner has been great so far with helping me find the right tank and stand, so I'm sure we will come up with a good system to keep things going. I had a reef tank many years ago, and had moderate success with a few corals, but never did well with anemone. With this size system, if I do things right I hope to do better. My biggest question mark right now is lighting. I had a metal halide system in my old tank, but don't want to do that again. Heat is the biggest concern, living in south Texas. The tank location will always be fairly cool, under 75 F, but I know I don't want the expense of having to add a chiller. Any thought from anyone on T5 VHO lighting. I would love to do LED, but it doesn't seem the technology is advanced enough yet to be practical.

Thanks for the welcome.

Paul

[Reeftanker3295]

Originally Posted by hughey

I thought at first that I was just going to do a fish only salt water tank, but since I ended up with such a big tank and the megaflow system I might change my mind about that. I'm going to pick out my filtering and lighting equipment today, so I'll have a better idea exactly what the tank will look like after I make all of those decisions. I am thinking that I don't want to skimp on anything so that I don't run into problems down the road. The shop owner has been great so far with helping me find the right tank and stand, so I'm sure we will come up with a good system to keep things going. I had a reef tank many years ago, and had moderate success with a few corals, but never did well with anemone. With this size system, if I do things right I hope to do better. My biggest question mark right now is lighting. I had a metal halide system in my old tank, but don't want to do that again. Heat is the biggest concern, living in south Texas. The tank location will always be fairly cool, under 75 F, but I know I don't want the expense of having to add a chiller. Any thought from anyone on T5 VHO lighting. I would love to do LED, but it doesn't seem the technology is advanced enough yet to be practical.

Thanks for the welcome.

Paul

LED's have become very advanced over the last few years, it is just hard to find LED fixtures because they aren't being mass produced at lower prices yet. You could go with a 72" T5HO aquactinics fixture, those are nice and give off alot of light. The only problem I see with those fixtures is that they are only 14" wide, but I am sure it will give you great coverage.

[Dragonist]

I say go with a t5 retro fit imo, 48in or 36in due to easier to attain the bulbs.

[hughey]

Today I picked up my wet-dry sump, Marineland Marine Series Pro 300 gal protien skimmer, Rio+ 3100 powerhead, custom RO-Deionization filter, substrate and salt. Didn't get the lighting yet, as what I needed wasn't in stock. Looks like the custom finish on my cabinet is going to take an extra week, so I won't get to start setting the system up this weekend. Still looking for suggestions on lighting. My reef store guy told me I should start with two dual HO bulb 36" units and add some moonlight leds, then add another two dual bulb fixtures in a couple of months to get enough light in the tank for corals. I can then put the blues and whites in seperate fixtures, put everything on an external timer and save a few bucks over the fixters with four bulbs, moonlight leds and timers built into one unit. I'm not sure I which way I want to go. The all in one units have cooling fans, etc... and would an easier install with less wiring to deal with. Hopefully something will speak to me soon.

Paul

[Augy]

I like the all in one units. I've got a MH t5 and led all in one fixture. It has the built in cooling fans and 3 separate plugs to put timers on. It also looks really nice since I don't have a canopy. It does make it hard to reach in the tank though since it is really wide. It did come with the hardware to hang it instead but I don't want to mess with the ceiling or worry about it falling. The convenience of the all in one is definitely nice though.

[hughey]

OK, so I found an amazing deal on Current Sundial 36" fixtures on the web, and ordered two of those. I hated to not get them from my local fish guy, but I've already way over spent on this set up, so I had to take the cheap route on the lighting. At less than $500 for both fixtures, I figured that would keep me going for quite some time as I get the reef set up. I wasn't planning on this system to be loaded with corals anyway, so I think I'll be happy with the amount of light I will get out of the two fixtures. My next big expense will be live rock, but i can take my time adding pieces and spread that out a bit.

Paul

[hughey]

So the tank is set up and running. Here is a quick pic. Still have to add live rock to get the cycling started. Will pick some up today.

[Loverotties]

Looking good!

[schmnr]

It might be a bit late but you should check out the Current Nova Extreme Pro light fixtures. They come in a 72" with 12 39W bulbs individually reflected. I switched from a 250 watt metal halide due to the heat and energy consumption.