840 watts, what to do?

bbb

bbb

Member
Yesterday I bought my uncle's 75 gallon acryllic tank (60"x18"x16"). It came with 440 watts of VHO and a 400 watt MH.
1. What can I keep under the MH's range and what can I keep out of the MH's range? (more specifically than what ever I want please)
2. What are some good hardy/begginer corals?
3. What types of corals/anemones might host a maroon clown?
4. How long should I let my tank mature before I start adding corals?
 
murph145

murph145

Active Member
well as far as lighting goes u can keep whatever u want in that regards.... but u also are going to need good water quality and the correct flow
there are lots of hardy corals out there for begginers such as mushrooms, richordias, zoo's, gsp, some easier to care for leather corals, colt corals, and some lps corals like hammer coral brain coral fox coral.... but whatever u do make sure ur tanks up and running all finished cycling and matured for a good 4 months before adding corals IMO that will save lots of greif....
adventually u can add sps corals and clams if u want.... those are harder to care for and require a perfectly maintained tank and lots of patience....
good luck and have fun!
oh and a bubble tip anemone would be perfect for your marron clown.... id try to find a rose bubble if at all possible
 
pyro

pyro

Active Member
I agree. Shrooms/Green star polyps are a sure easy way to start. They grow quickly too and you can always trade frags in for store credit. LPS wise I'd say a candy coral would give you a nice cheap place to get the hang of them real quick... they grow fast as well and can be split easily.
I'd wait about 3 months after your tank cycles for all your levels to flatten out and the such before adding corals. The anemone should be the last thing supposedly you add. I have no expirience with them, but they are supposed to be very difficult to keep.
As far as you lighting range goes... I'm pretty sure you could put pretty much anything anywhere, even in just the VHO range. But, if you want to be sure of it, I'd keep anemones, acroporas, clams, and most other SPS under the halides. Try to get a pretty strong turbulent flow all in that range. Then under the VHO's I'd put most of your polyps/zoos, and leathers/softies. Your LPS can go pretty much everywhere.
I'd also start anything you get in under your VHO's for a bit until it opens up or at the bottom of the tank with that 400W... really easy to send stuff into pretty good light shock.
 
bbb

bbb

Member
Thanks for all of the info. For flow the tank has a 750 gph return pump in the sump and I have seven power heads I can place thoughout the tank. Hopefully we can get the halide hooked up and working. Right now the ballast is disconnected and we arn't sure which cords connect where because all the cords on the ballast are white except for one. My uncles coming over this weekend to bring a few more things he forgot to bring so maybe he'll remember how. If not my dad's a painter and he knows some electricians that can help us.
3-4 months before adding corals and how long before an anemone? I'm guessing somewhere in the range of 6 months to a year, ish.
Are button polyps the same as Zoos?
Sorry for all the questions, I'm just trying to get everything straight before getting started.
 
murph145

murph145

Active Member
good luck on the MH wiring should be easy enough....
yeah id wait around 4-6 months before u add an anemone.... bubbles and LTA seem the easiest from my experience
yeah button polyps are basically a zoo just bigger
 
bbb

bbb

Member
One more question. What all do you do before adding a coral to the display tank? I've read something about some kind of dip up here and in a magazine I read something about quarineteening them.
Hopefully we can start filling the tank up this weekend. My uncle supposed to send a diagram of how to hook the sump and all up today. He's coming over to bring the last of the stuff and help us finish setting up this Saturday.
For my first coral I think I might start with a green ricordia from this site because it's one of the cheaper ones you suggested as a good starting coral.
Thanks for all of your help.
 
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