Originally Posted by maxalmon
How much fun is this going to be!.....I just go the quote back on a custom 360 with pretty much the same equipment and design, thought about it and decided to wait a little because the jump to a 600 wasn't going to cost much more. What salt do you plan on using (TMPRO?) and whats the initial live stock list? Do you already have the corals in a prop system or are you looking to purchase as you go? Have you decided on k ratings on bulbs? I've been working on a concept of using a timed sytem of 6500k to mimic midday and then following up with 10k or 14k to colorup. I have no idea if this would work but from what I've read the 6500k is great for growth and I figure they could run while I'm at work and then have the 10k or greater fire up later in the day as this may create a natural intense/fade of natural lighting?
Remeber the old saying, "Bigger is Better", I hope it turns out to be true, right now, I'm feeling "Bigger is Bigger Headaches". Hopefully a month or two from now, I will be able to say the first is more acurate saying.
For this tank, I am going to start using Red Sea Pro Coral salt. I've not used it before in any of my other tanks, but have read good things about it, so am going to give it a shot. I've been using Instant Ocean Reef Crystals in my other reef tanks, but thought that I would give Red Sea a try.
I've given the project of stocking the tank with SPS corals to a local aquarium society member whose has been doing it right for a number of years. He is going to supply all of the frags from his tanks and place them in my tank for me. If my tank turns out to look half as good as his, I will be happy!
For lighting, I have decided to go with 2 Coralife Aqualight Pro fixtures accross the back portion of the tank, and 3 Lumen Max 2 pendants in front above the openings in the tank. The Coralife fixtures have 250 W 10K MH bulbs in them and the Lumen Max pendants will have 400 W 14K Ushio bulbs.
I think this combination should work out for the corals, and give an appearance and color that I like.