Lighting or Filtration

[hnf2k]

im setting up a new 65 gallon tank...all i have is a single standard 36" fluorescent bulb for lighting...and for my filtration i have an amiracle sl-5 hang on wet/dry and a penguin 330 biowheel...i know my filtration is lacking as is my lighting...well i got money for one or the other right now. should i put my money into power compacts? or into better filtration? i feel that my filtration will be adequate for at least hte first few months while my bioload is realtively low.. can anyone else give me any input?

 

[gregvabch]

how much live rock do you have? that's where your money should go; with enough live rock you don't really need extra bio filtration. your lighting can wait until after your cycle is finished.

 

[belothsurf]

Got to agree with Greg,....you shouldn't even use a wet/dry if you have enough live rock. You can eliminate the bio wheel also. Like you said, no rush, but if you want a reef, you need at least 1lb per gal of live rock. That will take care of all your bio-filtration. Then you just need circulation ( powerheads) and a good protien skimmer. After that, get some good lighting, pc's at least for a reef. I got a nice pc setup with moonlights (260W) for under 300 bucks. If you want hard corals, you will need metal halides, but pc's will support most other corals. But don't worry about the lighting till your tank is at least several months older, cause you need an established tank for any corals. HTH:happyfish

 

[hnf2k]

yeah, i got about 60 pounds of rock. i wasnt planning on keeping many corals as they gave me way too much stress in my 180. the lights were more or less to get more growth out of my rock.
im planning on putting in 2 aquaclear 402 powerheads and 1 aquaclear 201(being that that is what i have available right now).
which light setup do you have?
i found one on ---- 3x96 pcs for 230, was planning on taking that one when the time comes, any suggestions?

 

[belothsurf]

Mine is the Customsealife...they went out of business right as I bought the setup. But other companies picked up the plans....anyway...mine is 260 watts, 4 65w pc bulbs, with moonlights. I've got a colt coral, a toadstool leather, and ricordias that are doing awesome. I got the toadstool and rics at the same time, 3 months ago. The toad is an easy foot long when fully open) about 7 inches when I first got him), and I got 5 ric polyps, I now have 12. Also have some GSP that are awesome. I got a red open brain from SWF 2 weeks ago, and it hasn't opened yet, but it probably didn't make the trip. Anyway, I paid right around 280 for the lights. HTH:happyfish

 

[hnf2k]

i dont really plan on having too many corals. they always gave my problems on my old tank.
what lighting would be sufficient for a fowlr with a few pieces of coral if any at all?

 

[gregvabch]

it depends on what types of corals you would like to have. what kinds of corals do you like? that's what is going to decide what kind of lighting you'll need.

 

[jlem]

Originally posted by belothsurf
You can eliminate the bio wheel also. Like you said, no rush, but if you want a reef, you need at least 1lb per gal of live rock. That will take care of all your bio-filtration.
Amount of live rock totally depends on bioload and has nothing to do with lbs per gallon. It does not take much rock to support biological filtration so as long as you have some rock and substrate and your ammonia and nitrite are at zero then you have enough live rock. The rock, sand and even your glass that is not cleaned is occupied by beneficial bacteria. The bacteria is not pickie as to where it will grow. If you kept your biowheels which are not hurting your tank what so ever then you could litterally go with no rock and be just fine ( ugly tank but making a point ). I would keep your biowheels on because all they can do is help.

 

[hnf2k]

jlem, exactly the response i was looking for...thanks
now another question...im loaded with em...
i got 60 pounds of all live sand in my tank now cause i couldnt find southdown...now i found it, can i pour the southdown on top of the live sand?

 

[jlem]

How deep do you want your sand bed. I have about half an inch and really like that it takes up hardly any space like a DSB does and still looks great. I have read that people will slowly add a little bit of sand at a time ( every couple days or so ) to thicken up the sand bed into a DSB.