This is something I read from a sister site.
"What I just found out switching to 400 watt SE bulb is that it produces less heat than 250 DE. But the intensity is a lot more. Corals are happier. I have already noticed more growth and coloration in the two weeks i have had it. This is without any flourescent supplementation. Very simple set up. Just two 400 watt bulbs over a six foot long tank.
If you intend to keep SPS forget 250 watts. Go straight to 400 watts. You will not regret it. Double ended fixtures seem to cast more shadows due to design. SE reflectors are large and tend to have more coverage.
I had DE for a couple of years. They have hot spots and shadows."
Quote:
Originally Posted by
saxman http:///forum/thread/380932/new-build-advice-help-etc#post_3316277
For MH, DE lamps are more efficient (more lumens per Watt). For instance, a 250W DE puts out about the same light as a 400W SE without the added 200W of heat and extra cost. One thing about DE's is they lack a UV filter in their envelope and thus, require a piece of glass between the lamp and the tank to filter the excess UV out.
See above, any truth to this? So I am undecided about lighting for now. More research is needed on my part.
Supplementation depends on what your like the looks of, altho I prefer having true 03 actinic supplementation so a dawn/dusk lighting scheme can be run. I prefer a nice, crisp 10k K daylight lamp for the "mains".
Haven't had much experience with lighting. I bought a coralife pc light, which I really hated the purple color to it. It was a 24" 2x65 watt pc light. Didn't really like it. I have some GLO fixtures and I like the color of those, but have another coralife t5 which seems dimmer and the purple again. I like the crisp white with blue, no purples.
Skimmer: Eshopps cone skimmer! I prefer ours to the ER RC-180 we have on another setup.
I'll look into them, they are cheap too aren't they? I wish I would have tried out the ASM G3 before I sold it, but too late.
O/F's are up to you and how you like to plumb your setups. Personally, if I can't run an external O/F (see pic), I run central trapezoidal O/F's. On the external O/F, you'll need to use a slot or teeth in the tank back for water egress (see second pic).
Working on a glass tank here, so no way to make teeth like in your picture.
Substrate: We prefer #1 or #3 grade aragonite to "sugar-fine" or CC.
I bought a bag of the sugar fine stuff for the 30 gallon I had, and I hated it. I hate the Crushed Coral in my 65 right now, but I bought it used, and don't want to mess up the tank changing it, or kill anything.
We run chillers/heaters to keep temp swings in check.
I am having such a problem on my 65 right now. The temp will be 77 and the heaters won't be on, then later I'll look and it's 81 and the heaters are running. I came into the room today to find the tank at 85 for some reason, even though the heaters weren't on. Room temp was 84 and right outside in the hallway it was 72. Such a pain. I had an All glass brand heater in there, and a rena older one. I switched out the all glass for a rena smart heater, the new one that can hook up to a filter. After seeing the tank at 85 I put a fan, like house fan, a wind machine directly over the lights pointed down into the tank. Checked on it later and it had cooled it off to 77 degrees and the dumb heaters hadn't kicked on. I know the newer heater is a 250 watt, and the rena cal excel is a 150w. Used 2 like suggested, but I need something reliable. Also, I am running a coralife digital thermometer, along with two old time mercury thermometers, just to make sure of accuracy. One up top and one in the sump.
Pumps: I like to use external pumps, but these require that your sump be drilled. Little Giant is the brand I tend to use most so far. I do have an Iwaki running on a CL of one system, and it's a pretty nice pump too...very quiet and cool-running.
Pump wise, I have used a mag drive 18, loud as hell, on a 200 gallon I had. I am using a mag drive 3 on my 65 gallon, which doesn't really bug me, the skimmer is louder, but doesn't bug me. I ran a Eheim 1250 on the 30 gallon I had and it was DEAD silent.
As for ATO's, I'm partial to the Tsunami.
Quote:
Originally Posted by
WangoTango http:///forum/thread/380932/new-build-advice-help-etc#post_3316289
1) 250w halides would be more than enough. You're gonna need three to cover the whole length of the tank. You may also want to consider T5 or VHOs for actinic supplementation.
Could I mix and match? Put a 400 in the middle for the most demanding corals, with 250 on the side for less demanding corals? Or could I go the route of having two 400 watts and just keeping less light demanding corals towards the outside? Or would this look akward? I have to build my canopy first, so this isn't an immediate issue.
2) Octopus is a good brand.
Have heard good and bad, but mainly only about the pumps.
3) Location isn't outrageously important. Either end or the center would be fine. Do you have an overflow box? If so, what is it rated for?
The tank is just a tank, I build my own overflow boxes, and do all the drilling myself, so my options are limitless. I have a TON of glass, I picked up off a guy, and can cut it myself. I have also made overflows out of acrylic myself as well. I have both, but I would probably go with glass, and build it in there. I like to keep them high, I don't like the reef ready tanks, where it goes all the way down the inside of the tank.
4) Sand. Mix grades if you want. Depending on how much flow you have in your tank, you may not want to go with a very fine grain.
I didn't like the fine sand, and not sure about how much flow I will be needing or having.
5) Finnex for heaters.
Never heard of them, will have to look into them. What's the rule 4-5 watts per gallon of water. Better to have 2 smaller ones instead of 1 big one in case it malfunctions.
6) Depends on if your sump is drilled. If it isn't, Eheim would be my first choice, then Magdrive.
Sump isn't drilled, but I own every size, even off size hole saws, and have drilled many of tanks, even for money! So that wouldn't be an issue. The stand is 6 foot long and the sump is 4 foot long, so I could do it either way. What would be the benefits, drawbacks. Less heat if it's run external, but a better chance of leakage? Any other benefits/risks I should know about?
7) filtersock > skimmer/heaters > fuge > return section
That is how I am planning on doing it, but it's more about technical things, like baffle heights, placement, etc.
8) Just google stuff and you'll get tons of links
I don't think I can say what sites I look at, but didn't know if someone knew who was the cheapest/best, trust me I have searched tons of places. Hard to find anything used locally though, cheap that is.
9) I also use Tsunami for my ATO. Simple and pretty cheap.
Is it hooked up directly to the sump? Or how is it ran. I'll try to look it up if I have time.
