Getting back into the hobby.

[Dansin]

I'm getting back into the hobby. I'm looking to start my 46 gal. back up again. I want to get into corols again sps and need to have some help in set up. Lighting i have 96 watt. compac's,or 2 400 metal halide,or ice cap vho's i would like to stay with compacs on this tank. I also have protien skimmer,cal reator. I was planning on live sand and live rock with a 20 gal. sump. I guess that is about it. I have been out of hobby for about 8 to 10 years so, Looking for sugestions. Also i am interested in your club meetings. Thank's Dan.

[ahuxman58]

Helo where is Mokena?how far from Rockford area?cool that your getting back into the hobby

[BenjieC]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=7983294#post7983294 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by Dansin
I'm getting back into the hobby. I'm looking to start my 46 gal. back up again. I want to get into corols again sps and need to have some help in set up. Lighting i have 96 watt. compac's,or 2 400 metal halide,or ice cap vho's i would like to stay with compacs on this tank. I also have protien skimmer,cal reator. I was planning on live sand and live rock with a 20 gal. sump. I guess that is about it. I have been out of hobby for about 8 to 10 years so, Looking for sugestions. Also i am interested in your club meetings. Thank's Dan.


I don't think PC lighting will cut it for SPS, unless you only want to have SPS corals in the top 1/4 of your tank. One 400 watt MH would be ok, but a little overkill, especially if you end up wanting to put softies and lps corals into your tank. You might want to look into t5 lighting with individual reflectors. You could use your IC ballast to drive them. The cheapest route would be to use 1 400 watt MH with a good reflector. You could also use your PC or VHO's for actinic supplementation.

Also you want to keep in mind that SPS corals require a lot of DIFFUSED flow. Somewhere in the range of 40-60 times the volume of your tank. Also they like pristine water conditions, so an excellent skimmer is a must. you also want to keep the bioload down.

I hope all of this helps. It will at least give you something to think about. Good Luck :)

[Bryan89]

IME you could get by on less than 400W on that tank for SPS. I had 2 175W AB 10k on my 55 gallon tank and SPS did fine but I was unable to keep mushrooms, etc because the lgiths were too intense. I did originally have PC lighting on that tank and could grow hardly anything, especially SPS.

On my new 40 gallon setup I am using 6 39W 36" long T5 bulbs and I am impressed so far with them. But, one of the brand new bulbs doesn't work...yada yada yada...so I guess the jury is still out on them.

So the question is, what are you trying to raise? If SPS, go with the 400W halides and get a Radium or equivalent bulb to not fry your SPS. If mushrooms and zoos, probably the PC's.

Bryan

[Dansin]

I am going to do sps corols. I was out of town until today. Thank's for taking the time to answer my questions. I also was thinking 1-400 metal halide also. What k- bulb would you go with? I also have a Ice Cap 660 i talked to Champion Lighting and they said i can use that with the t5 lighting. What are t5s are they like atinics? Thanks again. Dan.

[Bryan89]

The T5 I just bought are actinic from the former URI. If you are really planning on using the 400W with T5, i would recommend the Reeflux 10k with superblue actinic from UR, here is a link:

http://www.premiumaquatics.com/Merchant2/merchant.mvc?Screen=CTGY&Category_Code=UVT5

I received m replacement T5 bulb today and I am very impressed with m 6 bulb setup. Ont thing about the T5 bulbs, the reflector is the key to making them work. Spend the $ and buy a good reflector or the lights will suck. The SLS T5 reflectors are expensive but make the T5 work very well.

The Reeflux 10k burns a very clean white on HQI ballasts and the T5 actinic gives a nice pop to the green and red colors. If you use an electronic ballast with the Reeflux 10k, it is a very blue light and does not need the actinic supplementation IMO.

For your sand bed, are you planning on a DSB or a plenum setup?

[Dansin]

Thank's im going to purchase light blubs this week. I will go with the 1- 400 watt metal and the t5 lights. Should i use 4-t5s and what should they be all atinic or ????? From what i have been reading out there also 10 ks are the way to go for the 400 watt.? Faster corol growth? I also have to send out for new cartridges for my ro/di unit before i can start the system up. It is a 4 stage spectipure. I'm in the process of building walls in the basement so that everything is out of the way. It will be about a couple of weeks before i start it up.

2 twenty gal sumps. Filter live rock and sand, E.T.S. skimmer,and a calcium reactor. I am looking for a chiller for the tank but i want to buy somthing that i can transfer over to a 120gal. or a 150 if this all works out for me. Thanks for everyones help.

[RobTop]

Basement set up...no need for a chiller IMO. I've run a 220 with lost of other set ups in basements for the past 3 years and have to heat the set up in the summer. Even with 1200+w of light. That is if you have the AC going. This year even with the AC at 75 I've been good. I think Bryan also goes no chiller

[Dansin]

Thanks RobTop. It has been so long i can't remember what the temp. of my 90 gal. stayed at down there. I used two 400 watt. i think they were 14 ks or 20k blubs. and 2- atinics and 2- daylight vhos with a 660 ice cap. I had all kinds of problems with that 90 gal.tank. I LOST EVEYTHING. Heart breaker. I had all kinds of problems with it. Thats when i got out of it. I gave the tank and stand away. I said i would never try a 90 again.

[firefishbrain]

I would say go with the vho's and just do lps and softies, and then maybe a bunch of diff kinds of monti's!!!!!! 400 is some overkill, maybe trade it at a lfs for a lower wattage light like a 250 or 175, that would be a bit safer, or just put the 400 way up high above the tank if you do a topless...

[Dansin]

Thanks for the info. I was setting up the system two weeks ago and the frame that goes around the top part of the glass with the strap in the middle of it broke. Still waiting for the local pet store to get the new frame in. I also have the filters for the r/o di unit in and the waste water won't shut off waiting for 1 lb. check valve to come in from spectupure. Almost wonder if this is a sign not to start a reef up again. I did sps corals years ago in this tank but never used 400 watt. metal, we are going to try it, and i will put the metal higher and start from there. I hope that i can get the frame next week all glass is only in mil. wi. Thanks for the reply.