What Would You Pick

[Doc]

T-5 lighting is perfect for a 90 gallon. They only penetrate intensely down about 20 inches or so which means that the lowest point on the tank should not have light sensitive corals, but clams are great on the sand bed of a 90. I keep SPS quite happy with my T-5s. A bank of 8 lights is perfect. Make sure you get individual reflectors with the lights - that intensifies the effect on the coral.

I am not a fan of MH lights personally as they are super expensive to keep, run and replace. Unless your tank is really deep, they are not needed to keep coral. They do give off the really cool shimmering light effect in the water though, which is nifty, but not worth the difference in price to me. Just my :twocents: Others will have their own opinion

-Doc

 

[HeavyHittah]

so for a 90 gallon 8 bulbs would work great and on a 75 6 would be good also. What kind of bulbs are you running on your tank??

PS. does anyone know a article on the purpose of certain bulbs and whats the bases of how you should set them up?? or is it just go with what you like? i know the actinics are blue, is this because the light in deeper water is mostly blue??

 

[Doc]

I don't think color matters for growth, just preference. I like the true blue over the purplish hue of other bulbs. 54w is just fine if you have 8 bulbs. I would go with 8 bulbs with a 75 or a 90.

-Doc

 

[ZOOT098]

i have a 90 gallon RR with a 30 gallon sump
the water parameters have been very easy so far to maintain
the only complaint i have with the RR is it will only drain about 450 gph
i have 9 fish
i think i may be done with fish for now as i have been concentrating on coral
90 lbs of live rock
60lbs of live sand
and for lighting i went with the nova extreme pro

 

[HeavyHittah]

me personally, i dont really care for RR tanks. i mean i guess there ok, but thats it there just ok. I think you can do more with a custom drilled tank. The only reason i pointed out that 90 RR tank earlier was because it was only $125. what bulbs are you using on the NEP, in what order??

 

[ZOOT098]

48" Nova Extreme Pro 6x54wattT5HO 3-10k/3-460nm actinics
bulbs are alternating
duel cooling fans
324 total watts

 

[Bifferwine]

Color of bulbs does impact coral growth. The lower the K rating, the faster corals (supposedly) grow under them, BUT the less the colors of the corals pop. For example, corals will grow faster under a 10K bulb than a 20K bulb, but they tend to look more yellowish and washed out under the 10K bulb.

This is why LFS usually keep their livestock under 14K or 20K bulbs -- they're not interested in growing the corals, they want them to look great and colorful in the store so people will buy them. As hobbyists, we try to find something in the middle -- a bulb that will make our tanks look nice, but will also quicken growth.

I used to run 10K halide bulbs, but hated the colors in my tank. I recently switched to 14K and am digging it much more, although I'm aware that there's a trade off in coral growth because of it.

 

[Doc]

biff... You is soooo smart. LOL

-Doc

 

[Bifferwine]

You're getting there, Doc ;).

 

[HeavyHittah]

thanx biff, that was informative. Im really leaning towards a 90 now, but the bad part is i built the stand already for the 75. Its nothing but a frame though, no skin. I dont really care because i was planning on building another one anyway (felt like i could make a better one) besides the wood was free. This time ill have to pay for the wood. Do any of you guys think a 90 is too much for a beginner??

 

[dustin_P74]

the bigger the tank the better for a beginner, so if you make a mistake it takes more to pollute the tank

 

[kimoy]

I would go to a 120. more room for scaping.

 

[lightcs4]

I would go for the largest tank that comfortably fits your budget, the space you want to use, and the time you want to put into it. Keep in mind the tank itself is the "cheap" part. The additional live rock, sand, and lights really add to the cost. And regarding the space, keep in mind the support that is needed with a larger tank. Many people seem to keep large tanks in their basement for this reason.

 

[HeavyHittah]

i wonder how much weight most floors can hold without problems, anyone know? its only a one story house and i think the crawl space is like 4 ft. high.

 

[RyanG]

If you have any question about the floors its very easy to shore them up especially in a crawl space. Crawl under the house and drag several cinder blocks. Get 12" heaviyweight ones if you can they are only like 2 bucks a piece in NY Stack them up under the tank and shim the rest of the way with lumber and a hammer. Easy as fishing. Try to put the tank perpendicular to the floor joists and not parallel that will help too.

 

[HeavyHittah]

its been years since i been under that house. i dont know whats waiting for me under there. And i hope the joists are running the right way cuz i can only put the tank against one wall in my bedroom, after rearranging it like 4 times

 

[RyanG]

If you reinforce the floor the joist direction wont matter nearly as much.

 

[Australis]

Get a bigger tank...I've got a tendency to overbuy stuff :mrgreen:
So now i have a 1000L with a 320L sump along with a 320L quarantine...which i intend to fill up later :mrgreen:

 

[fatman]

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.
quote]
:bounce:Typically the choking, throttling or dialing down is just done with a ball valve or gate valve. The gate valve is less flow restricting and much more adjustable, but much more expensive.
Depending on the pump design idling the pump down will either cause a larger electrical usage or a lesser usage. With pumps such as Sequence pumps (shaft drive) they are cheaper (less wattage used) to run when throttled back. With most magnetic pumps the pump uses more wattage and puts out more heat due to increased inefficiency (more energy producing less power).

I would suggest either a Reeflo Snapper or Reeflo Dart. Reeflo is the Sequence marine pump division.
:^:

 

[Hornet]

If you have any question about the floors its very easy to shore them up especially in a crawl space. Crawl under the house and drag several cinder blocks. Get 12" heaviyweight ones if you can they are only like 2 bucks a piece in NY Stack them up under the tank and shim the rest of the way with lumber and a hammer. Easy as fishing.

Great idea RyanG! I was already planning to put some cinder blocks in the crawl space below my tank but I've been wondering how I was going to get them close to the joist to help with bearing the weight of the tank. Since I'm building my stand I have a few pieces of lumber that I can bang into place. :^: