Mobile New Reefer here

[Salt'n'Lime]

Just wanted to say hello . Not sure who all in or around Mobile...but glad to see fellow Salt nuts in the state anyway.

[JOYAWAITSYOU]

I JUST NOTICED THAT YOU ALSO WERE FROM MOBILE AL. I HAVE A 65 GAL REEF TANK THAT I SET UP ABOUT 4 WEEKS AGO. I HAVE BEEN READING ALOT ABOUT THIS HOBBY. I HAVE ALOT TO LEARN.
TANK SEEMS TO BE DOING GREAT AT THIS POINT. IT HAS GONE THROUGH THE CYCLE AND I HAVE SOME BROWN ALAGE SHOWING UP IN A FEW AREAS. I HAVE ABOUT 60 POUNDS OF LIVE SAND AND ABOUT 80 POUNDS OF FIGI LIVE ROCK. I HAVE 2 EMP 400 FILTERS RUNNING AT THIS TIME. I HAVE JUST ORDERED A NEW PROTEIN SKIMMER. I READ UP ON MANY AND DECIDED TO GO WITH A AQUA C REMORA PRO HANG ON SKIMMER. I ALSO ORDERED THE SURFACE EXTRACTION BOX TO COMPLETE THIS SET UP. IT SHOULD ARRIVE ANY DAY AND I WILL BE HAPPY TO GET THIS SKIMMER GOING. NOW I NEED SOME HELP WITH LIGHTS AS I DO WANT TO GROW CORALS AND SUCH. ALL I HAVE AT THIS TIME IS ABOUT 15 HERMIT CRABS AND A STAR FISH THAT SEEMS TO BE DOING OK. ANY IDEAS OR GOOD ADVICE WOULD BE GREATLY APPRECIATED. YOU MAY ALSO E-MAIL ME.
JOYAWAITSYOU@AOL.COM

I DO HOPE TO HAVE SOME PHOTO'S TO POST IN THE NEXT FEW WEEKS. ENJOY YOUR REEF TANK.

[Leviathan]

Welcome to the Alabama Reefers Club Forum:)

Maplesville here about 40 minutes north of Montgomery. Nice choice of skimmers BTW. As far a lighting goes, it is really going to depend on what you plan on keeping. There is a wide arrange of lighting choices- Metal Halide/VHO/PC, and many combos of each.We are here to help you anyway we can so please feel free to post a new thread or email/PM us at any time. Hopefully you may be able to attend one of our club meeting soon.


Chris

[JOYAWAITSYOU]

THANK YOU CHRIS FOR THE INFO ON THE LIGHTS . I am interested mainly in a reef tank with a few fish.I know I will need good lighting for the corals and clams. I had thought about ordering mh/with a conbination of 4 other lights in a hood to use on the top of my tank. My reef tank is doing much better than i thought it would. With the help of others maybe I will learn and have a nice hobby going with nice corals by next year. What do most start out with in a new reef tank set up?
Joy

[Leviathan]

Lighting- For MOST softies and fish either PC's or VHO's are more than enough. I would say a nice dual 110watt vho system or a dual 96watt Pc system. Each having a combonation of daylight and actinic bulbs.

If you are planning on ever having clams and or sps/lps corals I would then recomed either a 440 watt vho system ( this would really only be appropiate for some sps/lps and then only clam would be a squamosa ) However you would be much more well equiped to have a much more diverse assortment using a dual 175watt Metal halide system with some vho or pc actinics for supplimentation. Like I said before knowing what you plan on having before hand will go a long way in deciding which setup is best.

As far as starter corals, some mushroom ( which come in a wide range of colors ) would be good. Also zoo's would be a nice hardy choice, once again a wide range of colors. You can also look into some leather corals such as colt, sarcophyton( toadstools ) or various hardy finger type leathers.

My best advice to you is take your time. Dont rush to stock your system fast. Give plenty of room for corals to grow and enjoy.


HTH


Chris