What Would You Pick

[HeavyHittah]

for this fish list...

1.Black Ocerllaris clown -Pair(or b/w false percs, doesnt really matter)
2." " "
3.Leopard wrasse
4.Midas blenny
5.Royal gramma
6.Rusty Angelfish
7.Vanderbilt Chromis-3
8."""
9."""

a 75gal or 90gal?? Could it be done with a 75??
i think i know what you guys are going to say but i need to hear it anyway.

 

[Bifferwine]

It can be done in a 75. But you'd have to be careful. I had 13 fish in my old 55 gallon tank, but had high nitrates constantly, which eventually led to bad algae problems.

 

[HeavyHittah]

13...damn, in a 55?? how much LR did you have?

 

[cthegame]

90 gal

 

[dustin_P74]

if you can afford it then why would you not go bigger?

 

[HeavyHittah]

im not quite sure if i can afford it yet, but im trying to figure out if i should wait on purchasing a 75 in order to buy a 90 so i can save myself a headache. what are the average dimensions of a 90?

 

[Rcpilot]

90g- no question about it.
Whats the advantage? Uhhhhhhhhh, it's bigger. :^: It's a well known condition among reefers. It's called "gallonitus"

Bigger is always better. If it's fish tanks or airplanes--bigger always flies better. :mrgreen:

 

[RyanG]

The dimension of a standard 90 are the same as a 75 except taller if Im not mistaken.

 

[Hornet]

75 gal = 48x18x21
90 gal = 48x18x24

Footprint is same on both tanks. Bigger everything is always better :bounce: . But that means more $ :frustrat:. I'd go with the 90 but you've gotta work with your budget.

 

[Rcpilot]

When I do my 90g tank, I will probably use a couple 175w MH lights in 10k color. I'll have HO T5 lights for actinics. I think I'd like 8 HO 54w bulbs in actinic and assorted colors. That would give me 350w of MH and about 200w of T5 HO.

I plan to use a 29g tank (30long x 12wide x 18tall) for the sump/refugium. I'm going to drill this tank with big bulkheads (1.5" or 2") and run separate lines to opposite ends of the sump. Skimmer on the left. Refugium on the right. Return in the middle.

Also planning to do a closed loop. Minimum 1800gph. Probably closer to 2700--3000GPH max. I'd like to be able to dial it up and down. I'm not much of an electrician though. I have no idea how to do that. I'm sure it's possible, I just don't know how to do it.

I am hooked on LPS, exotic mushrooms, palys and some zoas. Maybe an encrusting monti if it was a cool red, purple, orange color. But I don't care much for softies and SPS acro type stuff.

I think how you set it up should be in line with what you plan to keep. If I was going to do a 100% SPS tank, it would have dual/triple 250w MH and more HO T5 as well. Not to mention about 4000GPH flow and a skimmer the size of a cannon barrel.

 

[simpleman]

I like the way you think RC!

 

[Doc]

If there is ever an option to go larger when planning a tank, you simply have to go larger. more stable parameters, more room for fish to swim, and of course, more room for the fish you want - like tangs or even a big angelfish

-Doc

 

[dustin_P74]

of course doc promotes the angels, but him doing that got me to like them almost as much as i love the tangs

 

[HeavyHittah]

ah damn, i knew it was going to happen. i first started learning about SW i dec 07. Back then i wanted a 55. Then i found livingreefs and you guys led me to the 75 gallon. Now its a 90! i havent even started yet and feel like i need to slow my roll. The bad thing is, i just found one on craigslist in my area for $125 and its RR, but i dont have the money at the moment (damn mall jobs and their two week pay periods:grumble:) You guys just continue to pray for me

 

[dustin_P74]

well once you start stocking your tank your just gonna want to go bigger so get used to the feeling

 

[simpleman]

Bigger is better! I'm still trying to hit the lottery so I can get my 1000 gal. The biggest drawback to a big tank is the lighting gets expensive real quick.

 

[HeavyHittah]

48" t5's wouldnt work?? is a 90 too deep for 6x54w t5's??

 

[HeavyHittah]

i plan on it being a mixed reef setup, nothing really dominating. Unless it grows that way

 

[simpleman]

as long as you don't try to keep any of the strong light loving creatues (clams and sps) you should be ok

 

[Rcpilot]

I wouldn't go less than 8 HO T5 lights @ 54w each on a 90g tank. Thats only 400w on a 90g tank. I tend to think people are too conservative with lighting. I prefer to go more than the "standard"

(my math was wrong in my first post about T5 wattage. 8 @ 54w = 432. I said 200w at first)

Even 400w on a 90 is not all that much. 4.8w per gallon. I know everyone says "watts per gallon doesn't count anymore because lights are so much brighter today" I still think it's a good baseline to go off of. So I use it in comparisons.

I have 144w of HO T5 on my 30g right now. Thats 4.8w per gallon in a 24" deep tank with a 5" DSB. It's okay, but it's not all that bright. Compare that depth to a 90g tank thats 24" deep and 400w just happens to give you 4.8w per gallon. It's going to be about as bright as my 30g tank. I'd like more than that. 350w of MH and 300w of HO T5 would give you 650w and about 7.2w per gallon. You could build a nice retrofit hood for about $1000 and have KILLER lights on a 90g tank.

I've looked at a TON of retrofit kits on the net. Seams most of the MH combo kits come with power compacts. There's no way I'd ever run PC lights again, so I will have to purchase the MH retro and the T5 retro separately.

I also want a controller. I saw a guy had temp probes in his sump and if the water got too hot, it would shut down his MH lights in the canopy. Well, first it would turn on the canopy fans based on temps in the hood. If the fans in the canopy worked, then the MH lights stayed on. If the sump temp ever gets too hot, his fans all go on and the MH lights go off until the temp drops back down to normal. I think they were set to reset overnight, so if they ever did actually shut down they wouldn't come back on until the next morning. (next lighting cycle)

I'd just love to NOT cook a tank on a long weekend.