Upgrading to a 150 Gallon

lhale4583

lhale4583

New Member
I'm still new to the whole saltwater thing. Well I have a 55 gallon saltwater aquarium that I bought from a friend about two years ago. I just bought a 150 gallon aquarium that came with alot of stuff. Some of the parts I know how they are used but some I have no clue on. My first question is how much lighting do I need to run a reef tank? My next question is what is the best base live sand, crushed coral or a mix? These are just the first of many questions that I have.........Thanks for any input
 
bpro32

bpro32

Member
On the substrate, LS is definitely the way to go.
On the lights, depending on your budget, a metal halidae/t-5 mix would work the best and you would be able to keep everything but a lot of times t-5's work fine
 
mr_x

mr_x

Active Member
don't buy live sand. buy dry, sugar sized aragonite based sand from your LFS. it will become live eventually. live sand sold in bags is just sand that has some bacteria in it. if you want to, you can seed the new sand with a cup of live sand from someone's established tank. crushed coral is not a good substrate for a reeftank. don't buy it unless you enjoy vacuuming your sand bed frequently.
the lighting would entirely depend on what corals you wanted to keep. for a 150, i would go with 3 x 250 watt halides with actinic supplement. then you would be able to keep anything- coral, anemone, clams..whatever.
 
lhale4583

lhale4583

New Member
First thanks for the quick response. I was thinking of get the metal halides but information that I have read is that they get very hot. And I'm worried about then needing a chiller to control the temp. The canopy that came with the tank has about 12 inches of room from the top of the tank to top of the canopy. Would this be enough room to install the MH? The tank size is 60'x24'x24.
 
teresaq

teresaq

Active Member
I have a 150 and run three 250s. I just clipped a small fan under the canopy and have no problems with heat.
I agree with the dry sand. Much cheaper and you can always just seed it with good live sand like they sell here. it has pods and worms and all the good things not just bacteria like the bagged stuff.
T
 
bruner54

bruner54

Member
Originally Posted by LHale4583
http:///forum/post/2747089
First thanks for the quick response. I was thinking of get the metal halides but information that I have read is that they get very hot. And I'm worried about then needing a chiller to control the temp. The canopy that came with the tank has about 12 inches of room from the top of the tank to top of the canopy. Would this be enough room to install the MH? The tank size is 60'x24'x24.

i had overheating problems then i turned my heater saves power and keeps the heat down.
 
mr_x

mr_x

Active Member
my tanks are all plumbed together.
over my system i have:
one 400 watt halide
three 250 watt halides
one nova extreme pro 6 x 39 watt t-5 fixture
and about 200 watts of power compacts
along with many pumps and powerheads.
my water never exceeds 80 degrees.
i utilize
one 12" fan over the main display
one 24" fan oscillating in the room.
 
mr_x

mr_x

Active Member
that's up to you. 10k is generally a white light, while 20k is very blue. 14 is somewhere in the middle. you might want to research the ballast you have an use the best bulb for that ballast. each bulb has a different PAR value(the important rays that corals utilize), and the short of it is that you will want the most PAR, and the nicest look.
what fixture did you decide on?
 
privatejoker

privatejoker

Member
+1 on drysand, I would go with fiji pink, looks really nice. Live sand is to much money, if you want to buy live sand get one small bag or take some from some elses tank.
 
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