Quote:
Originally Posted by
Old Hickory http:///forum/thread/385938/help-needed-game-plan-for-new-tank#post_3387117
TommieLynn, love reading your posts and advice. Much of my knowledge--as limited as it is--has come from you. I'm very glad to have you reply. To be honest, I don't know much about lighting, other than the fact it is probably the most important investment for the tank. For the 55, I trusted the advice from the LFS, and ended up with a decent fixture but probably overpriced for what I got. Still learning and don't want to make a huge mistake by purchasing lights that will need to be replaced later because I went too cheap. After reading your post, I did a little research on LEDs. As you may suspect, I know even less about them than I do T5s. I found some ecoxotic 23 1/2" running for $750 each at a site. According to the site, a 72" tank would require three of these. I read in another thread that you use LEDs. Are these good/great/average lights? Would the light provided by these be comparable to the set I mentioned above? Would the money saved on the electric bill be worth the extra initial expense? Are these overkill also? Do you have a particular brand/set you would recommend? Again, I'd rather err on the side of too much than not enough.
Currently, I use an Aqua C Remora skimmer on the 55. I've had no problems with this unit and really like its simplicity. Is there a better brand/unit out there for the 180?
I really, really could use some help from my friends on here with the calcium reactor. All I know is I don't want anything that will require a whole lot of my attention.
Is there anything that I will need for corals that I'm not mentioning?
Although I addressed certain posters in this post, all advice/input is welcome!
~Old Hickory
Honestly, going with a new tank is almost worth the extra money on a larger build. I bought a used tank, from someone I knew, and cleaning it after it was in storage for the past 9 months was a NIGHTMARE! Granted, I saved a lot (got a 180 with stand and canopy and sump for $650), but the cleaning process was NOT fun. If you have the money to spare on the new tank, with a bigger build, go that route. It is worth looking into GlassCages.com tanks. Some people have complaints, but it seems that the larger tanks (more than 125) are built better than the smaller ones. Acrylic51 has bought a few tanks from them and has no complaints other than that silicone can be a little sloppy, but with a razor blade and 15minutes to spare, that can be fixed.
As for the LED's, I don't know much about Ecoxotic's line, other than that they are very expensive. If you're going with units already made, I swear by AcanLighting. We know the owner of this company and have seen these lights on many, many tanks (their based out of Long Island NY). Our reef club monthly meeting is actually hosted at their warehouse, so we all got to see the newest stuff on tanks before it became available. We have a DIY unit, that will eventually need different drivers, as the ones we have on it are not very safe for long term use. If we hadn't found this unit, we were going to be putting 3 A-102AC 12B (12" pendents) over our 180 mixed reef. They are dimmable so you can get different colors/Kelvin rating looks out of the lights. You also don't have to run them at full intensity, so if you don't want as much SPS, you can run them at 70% or so instead of a full 90% or more. Honestly, now that I have the LEDs, you couldn't pay me to go back to halides. We're currently working on LEDs for the rest of our tanks. I already have replaced my refugium and fish only tanks with LEDs. It instantly brought our electric bill down about $60 a month. We have no need for a chiller since they produce almost no heat. We also don't have to have our AC on yet since they produce no heat. We were having some HUGE temperature swings with our halides, even running an AC into October/November and a chiller wasn't keeping it as controlled as just switching to LEDs. They really make colors on corals and fish pop and still have the amazing shimmer that you get with halides. Trust me, 3 12" units is enough.
IMO, you'd need 3 250 watt halides on your tank to really have enough lighting for all types of corals/anemones/clams. We were running a Coralife AquaLight Pro with 2 250's and 1 150 HQI's along with 4 96 watt PC actinics over our 155, and it can't even compare to the growth and colors we're getting now with the LEDs. We had modded this light, originally it came with 3 150watts, and it just was not enough, so I don't think you'd be happy with 3 150's on the 180 unless you were planning on softies and moderate light requirement corals. I'm assuming that since you want a Ca Reactor, that ultimately you'd like some SPS or clams in this tank, which require higher lighting.
If you want to go the DIY route, my husband could guide you in the right direction. Just PM him. His username is Mr Btldreef.
As for a skimmer, I think I mentioned above that I'm very happy with the ASM G3. The Reef Octopus skimmers are very good as well, I've just never used one personally. Ultimately it depends on what kind of bioload you're planning on having in this tank.
All Calcium Reactors are a PITA when you first set them up. You will not need one right away, so you have some time with that. We have MRC Ca1 reactor and I really have no complaints with it.
The only other consideration I'd suggest is looking into a PhosBan reactor. I swear by them. I run one with phosphate remover and one with carbon in it, much more effective than just placing a bag of this stuff in your sump.
What are your plans for your current tank once you upgrade?
Took my wife out for an expensive dinner last night--and spent half the time talking about the tank upgrade. For the record, the 180-gallon tank is a bit of a compromise. I really wanted a 250 and she wanted the upgrade to be a 125. She does love me, however--don't have a clue why. I'll be sure to create a thread on the progress of the tank upgrade when I get past the planning stages, since you all are major contributors to this process. I figure it will take about 10 months to get it up and running. Yes, I'm aware that I will need live sand and rock and power heads.