New Tank Equipment question

fishy7

fishy7

Active Member

Hello,
I'm new and wanted to get the professionals opinion for my quesitons. So here it goes...
What I am looking to do, after extensive research: I want to keep soft corals, live rock & sand, anemones and clams(not sure). Fish: Percula Clown are the only fish I have selected so far(open for suggestions)
Question: Do I have the right equipment?
Oceanic 215 72X24X29
Oceanic glass lids
200 lbs of live sand
2 Coralife P/C's 36"
SLS prem 200
Super Mag 1200
Not sure how much life rock yet.
Sea Life Proteine Skimmer
Ebo Jage heater
Timer
surge protector(do I need if I have a 30amp dedicated circuit?) sorry do not know electric.
42" stand
I bought this as a reef package so I may have missed one or more of the components
Does anyone have any experience with this tank size?
Any suggestions are greatly appreciated!!!!!
 
jasenhicks

jasenhicks

Member
Depending on the wattage of your P/C lights, you will need bright lights for that tank, esp for anenome and corals. You will probably want to go to a Metal Halide setup and use the P/C for actinic bulbs.
 
fishy7

fishy7

Active Member
Jason,
Thanks for the information. The lights are by Coralife and it puts out 384 watts of light. They are 36 inch pc 4 bulbs at 96 watts each. Think it's sufficient? The LFS says no prob.
He did mention a MH set up but, did not think it was necessary.
 
jasenhicks

jasenhicks

Member
384W is a good amount of light, and should work fine. I may have misread when i saw only 2 lights. I would try an inexpensive clam at the bottom of your tank for a month or so after cycling to see if it does ok, if it does then pretty much anything else would be good to go. Clams like a lot of light, and need to be at the bottom of the tank.. this will tell you two things really if the light is bright enough with the right spectrum and if it penetratest to the bottom of the tank. What looks bright to us can be very dim to corals and anenomes!
 
fishy7

fishy7

Active Member
Cool, thanks for the insight. I will try a cheap clam and see how he does. I was unaware that clams require a large amount of light.
Will the clam give me a warning sign that he is not happy? or does he just croak.
 
jasenhicks

jasenhicks

Member
the brighter the color clam, the more light thats required. So.. if he starts to loose color, or close up... then lights arent bright enough, or you arent feeding him correctly... make sure you keep chemistry and food a constant and let the light be the guide.... if hes ok after a month, then your lights will be good.. again, i think 384W is good i saw a 400w metal halide today... so 16w less should be good to go.
 
fishy7

fishy7

Active Member
Jason
I went to the LFS and did some additional research on lighting to see the difference between the 2(MH/PC). The MH set up makes it look "real", not to mention better lighting overall. I am going with a MH system. :joy:
I need to do some additional research to see what is out there. I am not in the mood to buy a chiller.

I am thinking this will be a few extra dollars..... :thinking:
Stay tuned.
 
nomad

nomad

Member
To lose some of the heat from the MH, lose the glass top and make an eggcrate top. Then get a small fan to blow across the surface of the water. A lot a times these two items will keep temperatures in line without a chiller. :yes:
 
f1shman

f1shman

Active Member
If your tank is 210 gallons, then i don't think you will hardly be able to keep anything with 384 watts. My 40 gallon needs 280 watts to hold anemones, SPS, clams. Since that is correct your 210 gallon would need around 1500 watts
 
f1shman

f1shman

Active Member
Also the wattage is not what matters 100%, metal halides are much better and give out a much higher intensity rate as well as penetrate the water better.
 
jasenhicks

jasenhicks

Member
IF you get hallides you may need a chiller if u keep the tops on, or a good ro/di unit that helps keep level in your sump level due to evaporation.... if you go hallides it will cause some sort of headache somewhere, but will be good in long run due to good lighting.
 
fishy7

fishy7

Active Member
Thanks guys for the helpful information. I spoke with the LFS, that is selling me the setup and he still says that PC's will work just fine for inhabitants of the tank(all but stony corals and clams with a lot of color) I guess time will tell.
I am not sure that I am ready to deal with a chiller just yet.....
 
cmack

cmack

Member
If you can afford it, definately go with MH lighting, I had 2x250W on my 90Gal, and will have 3x250W on my 180Gal plus two 6' VHO actinics. You will want alot of light for nice colorful clams (who want's ugly brown ones?), and anenomes. The MH will give you the option of putting them anywhere in the tank rather than just the upper levels.
Plus MH gives that nice shimmering effect that looks sooo cool in the tank.
 
fishy7

fishy7

Active Member
cmack,
I have been going back and forth on lighting. The best place to spend money is on lighting and lr, so I have been told.
I know what I want to do but, my questions is this..... A chiller is another piece of equipment that I need to worry about. I'm not sure I can handle what I have..... :scared:
ha ha ha
 
cmack

cmack

Member
you may not need a chiller, if your house is kept cool, and you have good air circulation over/around your lighting and top of tank, it may stay at a good temp range. set-up the tank and lighting first, and see how the temp is before you put anything live in it.
Do it right the first time, fewer problems later.
 
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