Fish only to reef tank

goathead76

goathead76

New Member
I have a 100 gallon (fish only) tank with about 50 pounds of live rock. The tank has been up and runnning for about 6 months with no problems. I have a wet/dry filter with bio balls and a venturi protien skimmer inside the sump. I just bought a corallife 150 watt HGI metal hallide aqualight. I also have a powerhead inside the tank. I eventually want to start adding inverts and coral.
At my lfs I was told, I needed to add atleast another 50 pounds of live rock. They also said when I get the 50 pounds of live rock I will need to ditch the bio balls because it will become a nitrate farm. Does this sound right and is there anything else I should get before I start adding inverts (ie. bubblet tip anenome, purple urchin, orange linkia starfish) and coral?
 
lobstergrabber

lobstergrabber

Member
You have a good start. I would definitely add the rock first and get your tank to stabilize again. Describe the light set you have. If only one hqi then going to be a little on the small side. Other than that you have a good start. You might need a little more water flow but it depends on the exact corals you decide you want to keep and such.
Rich
 
goathead76

goathead76

New Member
This is the description from the corallife web site. A lot of it is greek to me but I got a pretty good deal on it from a friend of mine.
One 150 watt 10,000K HQI, double-ended, metal halide lamp
Two 65 watt True Actinic 03 Blue square-pin compact fluorescent lamps
Two 1 watt Lunar Blue-Moon-Glow 470nm LED lamps
One external electronic HQI metal halide ballast with on/off switch, 12-foot lamp cord and 6-foot power cord
Two on/off switches and two 12-foot power cords (one for two True Actinic 03 Blue compact fluorescent lamps and one for two Lunar Blue-Moon-Glow 470nm LED lamps)
Sleek, anodized black-aluminum housing
Highly-polished reflectors
Built-in cooling fan
Acrylic compact fluorescent and glass lens covers
Mounting Legs included
One thing I am worried about is the light is going to heat up my water. My house has a pretty good central air unit. However the tempature in my tank has been creeping up to about 78 degrees and thats just from one fluorescent light. I am pretty sure its the light because the heater is not running.
Josh
 
lobstergrabber

lobstergrabber

Member
The only thing I worry about this light set up is the dimensions on your tank. Typically the rule of thumb is one halide per two feet of tank. I think the 175 would be fine, but with only one bulb I question how much you could keep and how well it will light the actual tank.
Rich
 
saltn00b

saltn00b

Active Member
i agree with the lighting concerns here, you will likely need to 2 150w MHs at the very least.
also what is your current fish stocking list?
they might not be coral friendly
you will also need a few PHs in there to make sure all areas are getting water movement.
also, you want at least 1 lbs / gallon LR , likely more
 
goathead76

goathead76

New Member
Originally Posted by saltn00b
i agree with the lighting concerns here, you will likely need to 2 150w MHs at the very least.
also what is your current fish stocking list?
they might not be coral friendly
you will also need a few PHs in there to make sure all areas are getting water movement.
also, you want at least 1 lbs / gallon LR , likely more

Yeah I figured I would need a few more powerheads. I don't know if the fixture I have will support another MH... I have a friend that is an electrician so maybe he can Jerry rig something for me. The problem I have is the tank is only 42 inches wide. It is a custom tank that was built tall and deep. So I am running out of space for anymore lighting.
I currently have a Marine Betta, Yellow Tang, Percula Clown, Pajama Cardinal, Grey goby, two damsels, and 5 green chromis. I also have two cleaner shrimp and a couple of blue and red hermit crabs.
 
mikeyjer

mikeyjer

Active Member
Originally Posted by goathead76
I thought I would post a picture of my tank because I know a picture is worth a thousand words.
How tall is that tank??? It looks pretty tall to me in the picture, IMO I would suggest in 2-250 MH's and you might have to ditch that canopy cause it doesn't look tall enough. When I had my canopy special made, I made it taller so I would have a safe distance between the lighting and water surface. Any splashing from your tank, you can say bye bye to your bulbs. But there are those enclosed fixtures as well or use uv shields. Just make sure you get enough air movement with fans cause those lighting runs really hot!!! :happyfish
 
goathead76

goathead76

New Member
My tank is 32 inches tall. The light fixture I have is enclosed to protect it from splashing. The picture of my tank does not show the light fixture I have because it was just recieved yesterday and I installed it today. I was worried about the heat it generated so I raised the hood about 3 inches to creat more distance between the light and the water. The lid is partially open to allow more air flow. I'll see what I can do to add another Hallide. How do most people install their MH?
Would the light I have now be enough for anemomes and not enough for coral? Or is it not enough light for anything?
I attached a picture of my light fixture and the specs are listed above.
 
mikeyjer

mikeyjer

Active Member
As deep as it is, depending where your putting the corals at, some areas just doesn't work. Those PC's aren't gonna cut it for such a deep tank. The ways some people do it is by retrofitting the lights and built right into canopy or fixture. IF you want to place corals all around, your best bet is to look for another lighting source.... :happyfish
 
lobstergrabber

lobstergrabber

Member
Unfortunately with that tank I don't think your lights are going to work at all. Like someone else said 2 250 watt halides maybe even 400 watts. I don't think you will be able to keep a whole lot with what you have unless you build the rock up a lot and keep everything in the center of the tank toward the top. Might want to try and get your money back out of that one if you are serious about a reef and start looking for a retrofit. You can find them reasonably priced and scour the classifieds and auction site as well. I have seen some great deals lately.
Rich
 
saltn00b

saltn00b

Active Member
yes you will need some more wattage, because wattage can be most easily related to how well the the light penetrates the water, so deeper tanks = higher wattage needed.
you really should consider building a taller custom hood that matches your stand, that canopy just wasnt built for serious lighting. my canopy is built the same way, and it is a tight fit for even my VHOs, which get splashed all the time... if i ever upgraded to MHs on that tank it would quite the project, starting with a new hood altogether.
as for temperature concerns, just cracking it a little wont cause flow, if your temp is high, and probably higher when you get 2 MHs, then consider putting one fan blowing in on one end, and another blowing out on the other, creating a channel of air, this will help immensly.
 
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