novice

[Grimstein]

Hello all.

My name is Matt. I am somewhat new to the hobby. my tank will be up soon hopefully. I'm gonna try to start with a 20 long. if anyone has any opinions or suggestions on starter equipment
I will listen to all. by the way Mo, nice meet had great time but missed ya at Rivals
Go Broncos!!:dance:

[zooqi]

I know I could not go to Rivals untill 10:30pm.. Rivals is a good place and I love going there. I will see you in Erie when i come down with Jimmy then. I don't know if you have a tank or not but I had a couple of used tanks in the back room. I also had more lights PCs. Jimmy will be a good help and he has good experience in this hobby and good to see that you live close to him and know him.

[Grimstein]

Yes Rivals was a good hangout. All I have now is the 20 L and heh... my corals. forgot to look downs stairs at equip, but i'm currently pricing new and used items. dont know if I should start with power compact or M.H for lights. my my thats just the start of it.

[zooqi]

Originally posted by Grimstein
power compact or M.H for lights
MH for that size tank might be a little too hot but if you have a way to keep the water cool then is fine. Power compacts are not bad but if you are planning on going bigger soon then you will buy PC and then will decide to go bigger and get a MH. Somebody else might have another good idea or suggestions.

[Grimstein]

well guess if I get the PC they can be used for atinics when I move to MH and a bigger tank.

[nixnutz]

Grimstein,

You should start with the PC's or VHO, but get a retrofit kit. If you get one of those PC's that's in a fixture with fans, you'll have trouble fitting both the PC fixture and halides over the tank. I'm speaking from experience....

I have one of those 48" 4x65 watt Aqualight PC fixtures. It's a great fixture and works well for softies. I picked up a dual 175 watt MH fixture at the swap on Sunday. I had the same plan as you do, put actinics in the PC fixture and run it with the MH's. Guess what? They won't both fit over my tank. Now I've got three options:

1. Buy a PC or VHO retrofit kit to put in the hood for more actinics... More $$$ :mad:

2. Take apart that beautiful PC fixture ($225) and make a retrofit out of it... :eek: wasted $$$ 'cause a retrofit ($150) would have been cheaper initially.

3. Buy a bigger tank so they both fit... Hmmmmm... :rolleyes:

If I had it to do over, I would have bought/built a canopy and put a PC retrofit kit in it. The when I got the halides, I could just add them to the canopy.

So what does this mean to you? A 20 gal. long is 30" wide... right? You're not gonna find too many "bigger tanks" with that width, so plan your lighting for 48"(55/75/90/110/125 gal.) or 60"(110/120/125/150 gal.) width. You don't have to buy lighting to light those tanks, just buy lighting which can eventually be converted and used with those tanks. A 2x65 or 2x96 watt PC retrofit kit (1x10k + 1x actinic) would be good for your 20 gallon long. Say you upgrade to a 55 gallon with canopy. You can mount those PC's in the canopy and add a Halide retrofit. Less wasted money in the long run.

Sorry for the long post guys. Hope that helps...

Rahn

[Grimstein]

thank you nixnutz. I am taking into consideration of a bigger tank,so the upgrading probably would be as you said. the "retrofitting" would be easy for I will build all my stands\canopys