new tank w/ a lot of ???'s

[familytank]

:notsure:
My family and I are new hobbyist and we are very excited about joining the this hobby and experiencing the joy that so many have for so long. We have a 75 gallon tank w/ a sump that has a wet dry filter over bio-balls?... and that flows into the other half of the sump that houses our pump, a powerhead,and a return line for our uv sterilizer. In the tank we have a heater, powerhead w/ spinning attachment, overflow box, and the head for our pump. We have four bags of live sand, 75 pounds of live rock, 3 blue chromus,1 sandsifting goby,2 emerald crabs, a couple of blue leg hermit crabs and scarlett crabs, a feather duster and 12 snails.We know that we want a reef tank ... I think? We want the beauty of the live anenome's and coral but with the added beauty of a few more fish. Someone said we needed a lot of light like metal halide lights or T5's??? What we have is i think an economy pack it has 2 65 watt bulbs that are white, 2 65 watt bulbs that are purple, and three blue led's. What do we do ?

 

[joncat24]

you can keep softies in there( zoo's , shrooms, leathers, star polyps, hammers, frogspawn) that kind of stuff.
If you want anenomes or clams you just about have to step up to metal halide.

 

[geridoc]

That is probably enough light for many of the soft corals like mushrooms, zoas, etc. Anemones, clams and many other corals will require much more intense (expensive) lighting.

 

[pontius]

if you have a generic aquarium light strip, it's not going to work for a reef tank.
the general rule of thumb is around 5 watts of light per gallon of water, so about 350 watts for a 75 gallon.
the 3 types of light to look for in saltwater are powercompact, T-5, and Metal Halide. I've had them all.
you could have some soft corals, mushrooms, etc with powercompact lights. they are the cheapest lights, but don't do well for hard corals.
T-5 generally do better (a little better, imo) than powercompact lights and they are a little more expensive. imo, you can keep a lot more stuff with t-5, but I personally wouldn't keep any anenomes other than condi's.al
with the right amount of Metal Halide, you can keep pretty much anything coral or clam that needs strong light. though some people would debate it, my opininon is that MH are FAR better than the other two. the downside is that the lighting systems and bulbs for MH are much more expensive and MH will definately add some bucks on your light bill.
my advice....determine what corals, anenomes, clams, etc that you want to keep. then, research the lighting. and of course, be sure you're in this hobby for the longhaul, because it would be a waste to get $600 worth of MH if you're not going to stick with the hobby.
also, imo, DIY a canopy with a retrofit kit is the best way to go with MH. I have a DIY canopy with 800 watts of MH and 380 watts of powercompact on my 180 gallon.

 

[anna&mike]

Good Luck! don't forget to let the tank cycle. Very important.

 

[aztec reef]

Originally Posted by familytank
:notsure:
My family and I are new hobbyist and we are very excited about joining the this hobby and experiencing the joy that so many have for so long. We have a 75 gallon tank w/ a sump that has a wet dry filter over bio-balls?... and that flows into the other half of the sump that houses our pump, a powerhead,and a return line for our uv sterilizer. In the tank we have a heater, powerhead w/ spinning attachment, overflow box, and the head for our pump. We have four bags of live sand, 75 pounds of live rock, 3 blue chromus,1 sandsifting goby,2 emerald crabs, a couple of blue leg hermit crabs and scarlett crabs, a feather duster and 12 snails.We know that we want a reef tank ... I think? We want the beauty of the live anenome's and coral but with the added beauty of a few more fish. Someone said we needed a lot of light like metal halide lights or T5's??? What we have is i think an economy pack it has 2 65 watt bulbs that are white, 2 65 watt bulbs that are purple, and three blue led's. What do we do ?

take those lights back or put them for sale, and go with 2x250w mh's, or 2x 400mh's(some people may say that's a little overkill) imo, is NOT, with that much lighting you can keep any corals you like. like liught intensity demending corals like: small polyp stony(scleractinia) & clams. :happyfish
if you get 10,000 kelving mh's you're going need those purple/blue lights to supplement, cause the 10k is just plain white bright..
or you can go a little higher in kelvin like 12k or 14k, the higher you go the bluer light it will be....

 

[familytank]

When you mean canopy you mean like the box that I see on top of some aquariums? I am already dealing with an evaporation issue. I found a really cool shop in north myrtle beach and the owner seems to know his stuff. He was very helpful the time that i went down there.I know that this will take some time to setup and get the tank where we want it. i guess we just have the fever and are anxious to get started faster than possible

 

[anna&mike]

I have 2 fans attached to my canopy (light hoods) it is metal halide. 4 x 65 for my 75 gallon. No problems with my tank yet. Just FYI...Most of the time I just have one running and it is plugged into my timer surge protector for the lights so it only comes on during that time frame.
Anna&Mike

 

[familytank]

ok what is a tide pool sump? Also what kind of lighting and how much do you recommend for a reef tank?

It sounds like everyone is pointing my tank in that direction from what i tell them i want.do you have any pointers for a new hobbyist... such as a checklist for matintenance on the tank like a weekly or daily regimen to do??? :notsure:

 

[reeffreakgeek]

Originally Posted by familytank

ok what is a tide pool sump? Also what kind of lighting and how much do you recommend for a reef tank?

It sounds like everyone is pointing my tank in that direction from what i tell them i want.do you have any pointers for a new hobbyist... such as a checklist for matintenance on the tank like a weekly or daily regimen to do??? :notsure:
Marineland sells a wet/dry called a tidepool,is this what you meant.In my personal feeling,you already have enough light(4x65w)to keep many coral but probably not anemones.Research what corals can be keep under PC lighting and you should be fine.
As far as testing,everybody does things a little differently.I test specific gravity and top off evaporation everyday.I test for ammonia,nitrite,nitrate,ph,phosphate,calcium.akalinity,iodine and do 10% water changes a week.

 

[anna&mike]

My anomies are fine with my lighting. Some even hide under the live rock. I was told it is becaise of the live sand and reflection actually magnifies. I use 50/50 4x65 in my 75 gallon tank. Maybe I will try some corals and see what happens.
Thanks
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