sapper577
New Member
Not really new to the hobby. This will be my third build. I have been watching these forums for quite some time and thought I would share what I have going on. The one thing I have learned about saltwater setups is that you must take your time or you will end up with too many, " I wished I would have done this ", scenarios going on in your head. This is definitely going to be a slow build.
The first item I bought for this build was the light. Retro-fit was the initial plan until I found clearance/sale price with free shipping. It's a Cora life Elite with 2 x 175w,10,000 k MH and 2 x 96w Actinic. I searched and waited forever for the right price and that itself influenced me to go with this fixture. I believe I will be pleased with it. All though I plan to switch one of the actinic bulbs to a 10,000 k daylight and eventually upgrade the remote ballast that came with it. I do plan to retro-fit moonlights and a couple of cooling fans in the hood.
The tank was bought locally at our LFS. The size purchased was based on how much room we have in our home. A 90 I was interested in would have had the same footprint, but I didn't want to deal with the extra depth of reaching in during maintenance.
I'm a DIY person and built the stand myself. The past 2 stands that were purchased with my past setups do not allow for enough room for accessories and ease of maintaining a neat and clean appearance. The strength of the construction of factory stands seems weak and shoddy to me, and kinda freaks me out.
My next step in this build is to hard wire all electrical switches, timers etc.. Then I will get on with filtration and plumbing.
I have enjoyed reading this forum and see it as a great tool for all of us !!
Let me know what you think. Thanks !!
The first item I bought for this build was the light. Retro-fit was the initial plan until I found clearance/sale price with free shipping. It's a Cora life Elite with 2 x 175w,10,000 k MH and 2 x 96w Actinic. I searched and waited forever for the right price and that itself influenced me to go with this fixture. I believe I will be pleased with it. All though I plan to switch one of the actinic bulbs to a 10,000 k daylight and eventually upgrade the remote ballast that came with it. I do plan to retro-fit moonlights and a couple of cooling fans in the hood.
The tank was bought locally at our LFS. The size purchased was based on how much room we have in our home. A 90 I was interested in would have had the same footprint, but I didn't want to deal with the extra depth of reaching in during maintenance.
I'm a DIY person and built the stand myself. The past 2 stands that were purchased with my past setups do not allow for enough room for accessories and ease of maintaining a neat and clean appearance. The strength of the construction of factory stands seems weak and shoddy to me, and kinda freaks me out.
My next step in this build is to hard wire all electrical switches, timers etc.. Then I will get on with filtration and plumbing.
I have enjoyed reading this forum and see it as a great tool for all of us !!
Let me know what you think. Thanks !!