New to saltwater, new tank...need some advice.

oldgreyphalen

oldgreyphalen

New Member
I've had freshwater tanks for years, but I'm at a loss when it comes to saltwater setups. I just recently purchased a brand new 110 gallon Dutch Aquarium Custom Corner tank. It has a built-in DAS H99 Marine Filter and Protein Skimmer. Sounds fancy but I'm still trying to figure out how it works. Anyway, my main problem is that it didn't come with any type of lighting system. I've decided that I would like to keep live rock, several anenomes, a batch of tomato clownfish, a flame angel and maybe a tang or butterfly fish in this tank. I'm very dedicated to my tanks so I'm not worried about jumping ahead into the harder-to-keep setups. So I'm asking for advice on what types of anenome tomato clownfish like and what type of lighting will I need. I've heard alot about VHO lighting and would like to hear more about this. Now due to the shape of this corner tank and the built-in filter I think I will only be able to have 2, maybe 3 bulbs in this tank. One 48", one 36" and possibly one additional 36" or 24" depending on how much room is left in the canopy. (Halides are out of the question due to the 5" canopy). The tank is 28" deep. How much wattage will be sufficient? What type of ballast would you recommend? Any and all advice will be most appreciated! Thank you!
Jeremy Warren:)
 
entice59

entice59

Active Member
VHO lights are great for reefs, considering the price... if you can afford it go for it, i can get extremely hot and might overheat your tank, then you might need to buy a chilller for your tank
PowerCompacts or PC's are good for your tank but the light intensitity doesnt even compare to VHO's but its cheaper if you want to go that route, a good brand i suggest is Sealife custom, dont go cheap on the lights, it comes back and bites you in the end, Jbjs are alright, its from taiwan(im chinese so dont use that race card thing as a reason why not to get it) and was known for burning out bulbs(happend to my friend actually, lost 5 bulbs), my jbjs are fine, problem with jbs that i read now that they dont last as long... Sealife custom IMO is better if you want to go with PC unless theres another brand i dont know of
never heard of such a tank, got a picture?
First thing i would buy is a book and do some reading before buying anything, the internet is a great resource but id rather have a good book sometimes as a backup, the conscientious marine aquarist is a good beginners book, but its a little outdated for me
 
entice59

entice59

Active Member
one thing that you must know, dont trust all local fish stores, they might say its fine but its far from the truth, DO NOT TRUST *****. Becareful when taking advice from LFS, use the messageboard
 
oldgreyphalen

oldgreyphalen

New Member
So with the space available above my tank I should be able to use three VHO bulbs. One 110 watt 48" and two 95 watt 36". Thats 300 watts for a 110 gallon tank. Is this sufficient for the anenomes and fish I hope to have in the tank? I can't add any more bulbs! Just picture a triangular shaped corner tank with a overflow box in the back corner and a 5" canopy. It leaves very little surface area for bulb placement. If anyone has a idea or advice how to make this work please let me know. Oh and what types of bulbs should I use? One actinic blue and two white or visa versa?
Thanks for the website link. Very informative!:)
Jeremy
 
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