Brand new guy here

Hey everyone! Not really sure how to do this, but here it goes. I am back into the "culture"! I I just recently in the last couple of days set-up a 29 nano. Much to the chagrin of my wife I am going bigger! just ordered a 110 with an over-flow built into it. I am not sure of a few things; Is a 400 watt MH to much? 14 or 20k? What manufacturer? I am thinking of adding vho's or the new T-5's any suggestions? I heard that 400 would burn a lot of my corals,. Is that true? Two more. What is better an undergravel or a plenum? Finally, the last question, I've heard that a protein skimmer removes too much of what the corals need. Is that true? Should I have one on the tank. I am not sure what kind of corals that I want, although I'm sure that I want anemones and probably some hard corals. I don't want to limit my choices because of lighting. Help!!!! I've enclosed a few pics of my 3 day old nano.

 

Well, im sorry to inform you that a lot of what you have heard is fairly wrong! The saltwater hobby is a lot easier now aday. Skimmer is a must, and you can even setup a tank with just a skimmer for filtration(but it has to be one heck of a good skimmer!!) No need to worry of overdoing a skimmer, for a 110, i would go with a skimmer that can clean 180+ gallons. Ill let someone else talk about the lights, but its not to dificult to figure out what you gonna need, and want.

Welcome to 3reef!!
Your on the right track, asking a lot, research a lot, and then and only then start your tank. Remember, like a wise person once told me.... Take it slow, let it grow!

 

Turbo is right, the two most important pieces of equipment you can have is your protein skimmer and your lights. You should not skimp in any of these.

 

I like your true purcs!! I think 400 watts would look great!!, if you could keep it cool!! If you want an sps/clam tank, 400 watts would be great. But for your needs I would get 175 watt. That will keep anything you want happy, and you want have big heat problems. I just ordered a tek t-5 light, and so far it sounds like the best kinda lighting you can get. Very close to MH lighting, with alot less heat and power consumption.
WELCOME TO 3REFF!!!!

Michael

 

Welcome to 3reef, glad to have you aboard. I will just repeat what the others have said "don't skimp on the skimmer". You will only spend more money later on to upgrade.

 

Welcome to 3Reef. And again Skimmers and Lighting is were you want to spend your money

IMO if your 110 is 4-5 feet long you should go 2 400W MH and would could supplement with VHO or T5.

Under Gravel Filtration is dead it causes way more issues than it ever helps. Plenums are also very difficult to run. A simple LR, Skimmer set up with a remote Refugium or Deep Sand bed is the best way to go. And even then the Refugium isn't a must

J

 

Ok, first of all...WELCOME to 3reef!!!!
Now to try to assist you without getting to technical and verbose!
Before I even go into this, if I can make a suggestion for the benefit of yourself and the livestock you are going to be housing, it will be very helpful and make your life easier if you did some research and read a good book on the saltwater hobby basics. We can help you as best we can but it will seem to flow smoother if you were to read and see pictures of the various aspects of keeping a salt water tank!
First of all, you have to have a plan as to a) what you would like to have in your tank as far as fish, inverts and corals! Not every one of these is compatable with the other. B) Husbandry issues are also different as far as water flow, lighting, water chemistry, toxicity of the particular coral and nematocysts(with relation to placement in your tank neighboring other coral)!
As for lighting on a 110gallon tank, 400watts is not necessarilly that strong as you can adjust how high or low to the water you would like. You also have the option of placing the particular coral higher or lower in your tank to minimize injury to your less light demanding corals or ones that require intense light.
I wouldn't go with under 250watt bulbs and it is a general rule of thumb to have one metal halide bulb per 2 feet of tank length! Remember that corals in our reefs are under the intense lighting of the sun which is alot stronger than a 400watt bulb. Granted corals are found at various depths with many found in deeper water than our tank depths, however, again the suns rays and the lux/lumens that are generated and received ny the reefs corals is very intense to say the least!
The type of bulb is dependent on eye appeal as well as long as your bulb is full spectrum for the benefit of your inverts and coral especially.
The light spectrum contains infrared which is not detectable by the human eyethe followed by red, orange, yellow, green blue, purple and finishes off at the other end of the spectrum with ultra violet rays. With that in mind, the light bulbs are based on this spectrum by what we call kelvin which is the color temperature of the bulb. The higher the number the warmer the color and vice versa! So if you have a 6700k bulb it is closer to a red/orange/yellow color and is cooler, temperature wise, than say a 14000k bulb, which is represented with more blues and a darker color. This is not to say that because it is a darker color, that it doesn't carry the same lux intensity. The intensity is designated by the wattage in simple terms!
Ok, again i'm sorry for maybe being alittl technical and wordy as I am trying to explain in simple terms hopefully, and as short and sweet as I can, but I don't want to steer you wrong, and miss something to cause you to fail, which is why it is so important for you to research this as much as possible!!!
In simple terms, a plenum as described by Delbeek and Sprung, is a layer of water below the gravel bed that maintains a level of disolved oxygen.
Advanced Aquarist Feature Article
As for the corals and anemones are concerned, stay away from anemones til you get your feet wet, besides they aren't a good choice for the novice by any means! Corals> you will be best to start with beginner corals
Hardy Corals plusTemplate
I hope this helps you out somewhat!!!
Best of luck!
Feel free to ask questions...that is what we are here for! Their are no dumb questions!

 

Something I forgot to mention, you may also want to check out sumps, refugiums and definitely as mentioned above get a good skimmer. A nice test kit is also a valuable asset for you to have consisting of calcium, ammonia, nitrite, nitrate, pH, alkalinity and phosphate as is a reliable submersible heater. Consistent temperature is key to your tanks success in the long run IMO!

 

Hopefully someone else can shed some light for him that I may have missed or explain well enough!

 

Thanks for all the input! I feel i am getting closer. I used to own an aquarium leasing co. over 25 years ago. Man have things changed! I do understand the de-nitrification process, and the need for a protein skimmer to remove organics caused by bio-load. I did not think that a tank with mostly corals would create that much load, but I guess they are still animals living, breathing, reproducing, and eating. I have a large skimmer that I bought more than 8 yrs ago. It was for a 240 and it's never been used. Is it too outdated? It looks like a big 4" piece of black pvc about 18-20" high . I plan on putting a 40 gallon tank that i will use as a refugium. I bought the test kits already,(thanks). Will I need some sort of calcium or carbonate reactor or something to break it down for the corals? Also,I am thinking of either 1-400 or 2-250 14k halides and 2-96 watt actinics with 8-12 night led's. Finally, is there any downside to plenums? Any suggestions an any of this?