hey everyone. its been a while. need some opinions

kevin34

kevin34

Active Member
hey guys. havnt been on here a in a looooong time. still got the 125 with only 4 fish haha. I have been very busy, short on money, and will be gone basically all summer so all that has kinda added to losing interest in my tank. However I am still interested in corals. What i am thinking of doing is downsizing to a 55 gallon easy to maintain frag tank. I just want to get into aquaculturing. kinda tired of fish. and the 55g will be less expensive. I have to drill the tank, install an overflow and return line but i already have lighting, live rock, sand, heating, sump, powerheads. I can pretty much still use all the equipment i have. only concerns are lighting and water flow. i have 2 250w MH lights with mini lumenarc reflectors which reflect A TON of light. just those 2 bulbs light my entire 125. the problem is i think 1 bulb wont be enough for a 55 but 2 will be too much light. any thoughts? also do you guys think a 700gph overflow with 1 or 2 return lines will be able to handle a mag18 return pump? any other tips on downsizing or thoughts on this situation are welcome
 
tru conch

tru conch

Active Member
the lights would be money for a frag tank. you can mount them however high you want so if you feel its too much light, just raise the light fixtures. you will see good growth with the 250w MH with sps/lps/softies.
the plumping question... i think a mag18 will be overkill, unless you throttle it down. alot. personally i would use the mag18 on a closed loop (since you are already drilling the tank) and get a mag7/8/9 for the return.
hth and good luck with the 55!
 
kevin34

kevin34

Active Member
im really trying to spend as little money as possible on this. since I already have a mag18 on the 125 I was hoping just to use that.
 
kevin34

kevin34

Active Member
anyone else have thoughts on the mag18? Would I have to go with a 1500gph overflow and two returns?
 
kevin34

kevin34

Active Member
oh ya like a ball valve right? and how will I know if the flow is too much? will the overflow box overflow?
 
greenreefer

greenreefer

Active Member
You can use those lights but mount them high or put them up on R C, sell them and buy some 150s and put some cash :)
 
kevin34

kevin34

Active Member
haha i spent sooooo much on those lights and went through sooooo much crap to get them wired and working. theyre going over that 55 haha. they are a retro fit so would you reccommend hanging them? or building some kind of frame to hold them up. does it matter? i dont have a canopy for the 55
 
greenreefer

greenreefer

Active Member
thats more a question of looks and what you can live with. Obviously the simplest thing is to mount them to a peice of plywood and to hand then from the ceiling with some chain and hooks, but it won't be pretty. You should probably build some kind of box to hide the fixtures and wiring and hang it from above.
 
kevin34

kevin34

Active Member
ok what about this...the mag18 with a 1200gph overflow and a megaflow model 4 sump. thats what im running on the 125 and i dont see how it could be a problem on the 55. i'll just need fewer powerheads. right?
 
windlasher

windlasher

Member
Originally Posted by Kevin34
http:///forum/post/3078549
oh ya like a ball valve right? and how will I know if the flow is too much? will the overflow box overflow?
put a ball valve on the return line and adjust until the level is where you want it. it wont hurt the pump at all.
 
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