40 Gallon - Input

[rbaby]

Hi guys,
I'm starting to look into slowly setting up a 40 gallon to upgrade my 12 gallon. I'm just having difficulty finding lighting options for the inhabitants that I want with this 12 so I wanted to ask for your opinion.
Are those sea-clear with the built-in wet/dry filters any good? I noticed that the top only has a slight opening and isn't fully open...is this going to be a problem for me when I look for lighting fixtures, if not, any suggestions as to what would go there perfectly?
40 Gallon tank...what would be a good lighting option for it...and is it still too small for an anemone?
If you could please e-mail me with good 40 gallon tank options that would be great...I'm really more concerned about it having an open top (but I realize that I won'ot have much of a choice unless I get a canopy with most retrofitting light fixtures)...I have a VERY curious cat.
Any help would be greatly appreciated, thank you.
e-mail: rbaby@softhome.net

 

[aggie05]

If I had the money to properly setup a 40 gallon right now to replace my 20 hands down I would go with a 40 breeder. The dimensions are spectacular for lighting. It is 36" x 18" X 16" I think. Very deep tank from front to back, but shallow from bottom to top. Which gives you a huge footprint to work with for lighting and shallow water to penetrate. Also makes front to back aquascaping easy. And if you aren't happy with that shallow of a tank, look into Oceanics 58 gallon. Same footprint, just deeper tank. If I were setting up a 40 breeder right now, I would either go with 6 36" VHOs, or two 36" VHOs, and two 150 watt MH.

 

[rbaby]

Thanks Aggie,
What are good light brands for VHO or MH? I'd like to get a range from the BEST to REALLY GOOD light manufacturers.

 

[aggie05]

URI if you are going with VHO. MH, I really can't tell you, I have never owned MH so as far as bulbs go I have no clue. Ballast are also something that I don't know much about. Icecap is good, workhorse is good, and I use an ARO, which I like.

 

[rbaby]

Okay I'm confused, I see many Metal Halide lamps...some for industrial, some for agriculture...some for aquarium, what's the difference???
How many watts should I look into if I plan on getting an anemone in there (just bubble tip or rose) in a 35-40 gallon?

 

[clown_nut]

hehe i see a 36" Metal halide hood with actinic suppl. for $700 at Hellolights...by the way I've read that XM Halides are one of the best.

 

[aggie05]

a nice MH hood can be put together for around 300-400.

 

[rbaby]

Does anybody have that Seaclear II Aquarium system? Are there any good protein skimmers to go in the back-end of that? The protein skimmer for Seaclear is like 40 bucks so it makes me wonder if it's any good. Hmmmmmmmmmmm...

 

[footbag]

If I were you I would try to install a refugium instead of a wet/dry filter. A wet/dry is very expensive and doesn't do much more then a 10g sump. Bioballs can be nitrate factories unless requently maintained.
Refugiums offer more benefits too. Nitrate reduction, increased water volume and bio-diversity.

 

[rbaby]

Thanks footbag, but I'm not very good with the whole setup thing so I was hoping to make my life easier.
I don't know how to drill holes or to make the water circulate through a refugium/sump so I was hoping that they had those that had built-in ones. Any suggestions? I was planning on taking out the bio balls anyway as I have read the fact that you had stated and since I didn't know how the back chambers worked, I was hoping of just putting my heater back there as well.