lighting question, and others

[ray fdny]

hello again, my lighting question is this. i am an electrition( as well as a fireman) and am working with metal halides all the time.. i was wondering are they the same type you would use on a tank or woult the commercially available lamps and ballests be too hot for a reef tank?
i now have a coralife 2x96watt pc fixture in a 50 breeder fowlr and was thinking of toying with a few soft corals. what do you guys think? also if you could suggest some begginer corals that would be great
ohh the tank is about two months old 65lbs of L/R, an a-miricle wet dry, corlife uv strilizer, as well as a skimmer two powerheads and two returns from the sump(one big one small-for the uv)
stock
one clown
one yellow belly damsel
5 hermit crabs
5 turbo snailt
i know it is a little early for corals but want to do my research first....also how long do you think i should wate?
peramiters are amonia-0 nitrite-0 nitrate-10 sg-1.025 ph-8-2
any feedback would be appreciated

 

[team2jndd]

Originally Posted by ray fdny
hello again, my lighting question is this. i am an electrition( as well as a fireman) and am working with metal halides all the time.. i was wondering are they the same type you would use on a tank or woult the commercially available lamps and ballests be too hot for a reef tank?
i now have a coralife 2x96watt pc fixture in a 50 breeder fowlr and was thinking of toying with a few soft corals. what do you guys think? also if you could suggest some begginer corals that would be great
ohh the tank is about two months old 65lbs of L/R, an a-miricle wet dry, corlife uv strilizer, as well as a skimmer two powerheads and two returns from the sump(one big one small-for the uv)
stock
one clown
one yellow belly damsel
5 hermit crabs
5 turbo snailt
i know it is a little early for corals but want to do my research first....also how long do you think i should wate?
peramiters are amonia-0 nitrite-0 nitrate-10 sg-1.025 ph-8-2
any feedback would be appreciated
Ok first of all... the halides. The kelvin rating is what oyu need to look at. 10,000 to 20,000 is recomended for marine tanks. I am not sure if they will emit the same spectrum or not so somebody else will need to clarify that. As for your lights, there are plenty of softies you can keep under that. For a starter I would recommend xenia, clove polyps, gsps, yellow polyps, most shrooms, colts,kenyas, etc. If it is going to be a reef, remove the media from the wet dry because it will cause too many nutrients with the bioballs/filterpads. Also, remove the UV sterilizer unless you have a freefloating algae issue because it will also kill beneficial bacteria/microfauna that the reef needs. Everything else lookds good. Hope this helped.

 

[ray fdny]

yes a big help.... but should i put live rock or somehting els in the filter other than the bio ball? and the filter pad?... what is going to filter the water?... what is the difference between the sump with nothing in it and a power head?.... also i would hate to remove the uv because i was suckered into buying it about a week ago a friend claiming it would help keep the fish from getting sick is removing it neccesary?

 

[farslayer]

I just had a lovely experience with commercial/industrial halides: end note, they stink. Almost no PAR and not a decent CRI. So, if I were you, I'd stick with the aquarium bulbs just to be safe.
I also would not remove the UV, I've run them on a reef for years with no problems. Yes, they will kill out bacteria and other items in the water column, but your beneficial bacteria is mostly on your rocks and in the sand, so it's not a problem. It will help prevent the spread of pathogens in the water column. UV light damages DNA, it doesn't actually kill anything. Hospitals employ these in the air systems (I have them in my home HVAC as well).

 

[team2jndd]

Originally Posted by Farslayer
I just had a lovely experience with commercial/industrial halides: end note, they stink. Almost no PAR and not a decent CRI. So, if I were you, I'd stick with the aquarium bulbs just to be safe.
I also would not remove the UV, I've run them on a reef for years with no problems. Yes, they will kill out bacteria and other items in the water column, but your beneficial bacteria is mostly on your rocks and in the sand, so it's not a problem. It will help prevent the spread of pathogens in the water column. UV light damages DNA, it doesn't actually kill anything. Hospitals employ these in the air systems (I have them in my home HVAC as well).
It will kill the freefloating microfauna and organisms that are beneficial to the reef. As long as you quarentine everything before putting it in the tank, pathogens generally aren't an issue. If you want to run the UV until your tank is established just in case than that is fine but in the long run you do not need it. I would replace the bioballs with liverock because liverock is a much better filter. The liverock filters the water as does a skimmer so filterpads are not necessary. ALOT of beneficial bacteria is found in the water. More is found in the sand and rock but the water also carries a very large amount. This is why it is quicker to cycle your tank with water from an established aquarium.

 

[ray fdny]

now when i put more live rock in the wet dry(in place of the balls) do i put more water in there so it is fully sobmerged or let it trickle(wet dry or wet?)

 

[ray fdny]

thanks farslayer i did not want to let the uv be a wasted buy... i will try it and if it gives me a problem i will put it in my freshwater tank

 

[farslayer]

I have UV on both my salt and fresh water tanks. Yes, it will damage free floating organisms which are beneficial, but the trade off IMO is worth it. Why risk pathogens and bacteria? I've never had any issues with the UV in about 8 years of running them, but I'm only a case study I can say that when I put UV in my air system, the pet odors were basically eliminated (we have two disgusting dogs and a ferret) and my wife's allergies improved (she didn't know I had installed anything).