Lighting and Skimmer advice please

[jlh]

I am working on getting my 75g FOWLR going. This is my first saltwater tank, so I'm kind of on edge with making sure everything is done right. I've been doing a lot of reading / research on skimmers and after reading threads here and reviews around the net I've somewhat settled on the ETSS reef devil deluxe. I haven't found anyone that has had anything really negative to say about it. I'm just wondering if it might be overkill on my little 75g since it won't be a reef tank. The main reason I'm leaning toward it is because of the ease of maintenance/cleaning associated with it. I'm deploying in october and my wife will be the one taking care of the tank. I want to make it as easy on her as possible.
Also, I am a little confused on the lighting. I am going to build the canopy myself, and I'm not 100% clear on how I'm supposed to incorporate the lighting into it. I'm pretty sure once I'm more confident in this hobby, I'll want to do a reef tank later on down the road. With that in mind I was thinking of just doing T5HO now instead of doing something cheap and having to spend extra money later on to upgrade.
Here is my question: How exactly do you integrate the lighting into the canopy? Do I need to buy the ballast/bulbs/reflectors and assemble the entire lighting system myself or do I buy a set that's all together and build a support system inside the canopy? Would it be necessary to get the icecap ballasts for the VHO (I think I understand this correctly), or would normal ballasts be suitable for my FOWLR and a reef later on?
I apologize for such a long post, but after reading through all these forums I haven't quite gained an understanding of how this is accomplished. If I have looked over information that is right under my nose please point me in the right direction. Thanks Everyone!
If you are interested in following my progress the link to the thread is: https://forums.saltwaterfish.com/vb/s...d.php?t=374795

 

[gill again68]

Originally Posted by JLH
http:///forum/post/3246776
I am working on getting my 75g FOWLR going. This is my first saltwater tank, so I'm kind of on edge with making sure everything is done right. I've been doing a lot of reading / research on skimmers and after reading threads here and reviews around the net I've somewhat settled on the ETSS reef devil deluxe. I haven't found anyone that has had anything really negative to say about it. I'm just wondering if it might be overkill on my little 75g since it won't be a reef tank. The main reason I'm leaning toward it is because of the ease of maintenance/cleaning associated with it. I'm deploying in october and my wife will be the one taking care of the tank. I want to make it as easy on her as possible.
Also, I am a little confused on the lighting. I am going to build the canopy myself, and I'm not 100% clear on how I'm supposed to incorporate the lighting into it. I'm pretty sure once I'm more confident in this hobby, I'll want to do a reef tank later on down the road. With that in mind I was thinking of just doing T5HO now instead of doing something cheap and having to spend extra money later on to upgrade.
Here is my question: How exactly do you integrate the lighting into the canopy? Do I need to buy the ballast/bulbs/reflectors and assemble the entire lighting system myself or do I buy a set that's all together and build a support system inside the canopy? Would it be necessary to get the icecap ballasts for the VHO (I think I understand this correctly), or would normal ballasts be suitable for my FOWLR and a reef later on?
I apologize for such a long post, but after reading through all these forums I haven't quite gained an understanding of how this is accomplished. If I have looked over information that is right under my nose please point me in the right direction. Thanks Everyone!
If you are interested in following my progress the link to the thread is: https://forums.saltwaterfish.com/vb/s...d.php?t=374795
Sorry I dont have an opinion on the skimmer. The lighting as far as far as the retro kits go. I bought the retro you build all yourself. If. I have the icecap 660 that is dimmable with VHO T12s. I am running T-5s on it which allow for an overdrive of the bulbs. Gives me more watts. If you are considering a reef later then yes buy the fixture you want in the future. How to incorporate the lighting. Make sure you get your inside dimensions correct. If you use retro then you can get 46.5 or 48 or 36 and so on. I almost made a big mistake when I built my canopy not considering the inside dimension. As far as how to attach the retros I just made 2 "skids" to mount the lights to and then attached the "skids" to the top of the canopy. This allows for quick removal of the lights.
Hope that points you in a better direction.

 

[jlh]

Thanks for the reply. I have found some reasonably priced 48" kits. Since the tank won't have any coral will I be ok with 2 10,000k 54w bulbs and 2 actinic 03 54w bulbs? The kit I found has t5 vho ballast with 15% overdrive and parabolic clip on reflectors. Thanks again for your help
If anyone has any info on the skimmer in my op and would care to share some insight on it; it would be greatly appreciated.

 

[reefraff]

I would stick with a standard 4 lamp retro for the lighting, forget that hokey 15% overdrive crap. Even if you want a few easy corals you don't need to overdrive the lamps. Check reefgeek for kits, you pay a little more but get quality lamps included. Forget actinics. Use good Blues like ATI Blue Plus, Giesemann Actinic Plus (not pure actinic) or the UVL 454 or Ice Cap Twilight.
I would do 2 Blues, one Aquablue which is a more white lamp and one GE 6500K Daylight which is a yellow/green tinted lamp. The combination will give you a slightly blue light that will bring out all your colors nice. The blue lamps will also fluoresce any coral you do put in the tank as well as look cool for dusk/dawn.

 

[jlh]

Awesome, you may have saved me a couple hundred $. If I am able to post brands/items let me know and I'll show you what I'm considering now. Correct me if I'm wrong but I want to get a 4 bulb kit with 2 separate ballasts on timers so I can do (hopefully) a proper day/night cycle with the lights. Thanks a lot for the input guys.

 

[reefraff]

Originally Posted by JLH
http:///forum/post/3247110
Awesome, you may have saved me a couple hundred $. If I am able to post brands/items let me know and I'll show you what I'm considering now. Correct me if I'm wrong but I want to get a 4 bulb kit with 2 separate ballasts on timers so I can do (hopefully) a proper day/night cycle with the lights. Thanks a lot for the input guys.
You can post brands, just not links to commercial sites. Most of the kits will come with 2 ballasts for 4 lamps. The Tek kits might have 1 Workhorse ballast. I personally wouldn't use those simply because you don't get a dusk/dawn control. I think the geek sells the Tek reflectors with triad ballasts so shouldn't be a concern.

 

[jlh]

Ok good, the one I was looking at was a 48" 4x54 with two triad ballasts. It also says it comes with whatever bulbs I want, that they carry. Its a tek 2 retro kit from reefgeek for $299. Would this be suitable now and later on for simple corals and such?

 

[jlh]

I was thinking of just getting a 2x54 t5ho retro kit for now while it's fowlr. Later on when I decide to do corals I can pick up another 2x54/MH kit. Is there any reason this would be a bad idea? I want to order my lights tonight, so if someone could provide some input real quick that would be great.

 

[reefraff]

The 2x54 would work. I'd get the Ice Cap reflectors with Triad ballasts, better deal in the long run. The TekII reflectors are so wide you would only be able to fit 4 or so in the canopy and when you get into corals you really want 6 lamps.

 

[jlh]

Thanks for the reply Reef. I'll order a 2x54 icecap retro tonight then. I've seen some retro kits that have 2 t5ho lamps and 2 MH lamps together so that with the original 2x54 will hopefully provide plenty of light. Thanks again!