Converting FOWLR to REEF

I'm soon planning on converting my 40 gallon to a reef tank, The only reef i've ever had is a 24 gal nano cube which did wonderfully, but i'm shutting that tank down and converting the FOWLR to a REEF. Currently i am looking at a 30" t5 lighting unit for around $170, Is that a good price? Or a decent light? honestly i have no idea what i should go for in terms of lighting so please help me out.

Also, my coral list is still growing, however i have decided on a fish list and i need some advice as far as compatibility and suggestions.

My fish list:
mated pair of true percula clowns
Six line wrasse
Mandarin draggonet
Rusy angel (not likely, although i have had great success with angels in a reef tank in the past).

Any suggestions for better lighting or better fish and coral are highly appreciated! thanks!

 

Lighting depends on what you want to keep. The price largely depends on the quality, reflectors and ballasts the fixture comes with. If you post a link to a specific fixture, then it will be much more helpful to look at it. If you want to go T5, I would say a good 4 bulb fixture or 6 bulb fixture will do you right. If MH is the way you want to go, then I would suggest 1 250w pendant.

 

My understanding of the Mandarin is that if they are not in a well established tank they can starve to death in short order. I was once told on these forums they are not for tanks under 75 gallons (not sure if this is correct but I avoided on the advice). Good luck on the transfer just confirm when the tank was FOWLR you did not treat with anything that could be reef unfriendly?

 

Yes, Mandarins are best kept in established tanks that have a healthy supply of copepods, as that is their main diet. It's not impossible to get one eating normal frozen foods, but it's risky unless you've seen them consistently eat those foods. I would not get a Mandarin unless you know you can support it's diet.

T5 is fine for a reef, how many bulbs & total watts is the fixture you're looking at? You can keep an assortment of corals under T5.

On your fish list, the Percs are cool, the 6-line wrasse is a gorgeous fish, just remember you will not be able to get another wrasse if you had the 6-line. I would look into a nice flame angel, coral beauty, bi-color angel, any of those will do nicely in there. Just keep one dwarf angel to a tank. Be advised that dwarfs can be coral nippers, my flame has been fine so far though.

Also check out Banggai cardinals, royal gramma, Allen's damsels, those are all nice fish IMO. They will stay smaller and be ok for your tank.

Let us know what your final stocklist is & post pics of your tank of course!

good luck!

 

if you have a mandarin in a 40 g make sure you have a tank established for over a year you have a well established refugium and have the mandarin on some sort of frozen food


heres some information that ivve collected over a few yearshttp://www.3reef.com/forums/tropical-fish/information-mandarin-dragonets-81663.html

 

Check out my video in my sig. You'll see my Rusty Angel. It may be hard to find one as nice but they are AWESOME! I have only had it about 2 months but have had no coral nipping problems yet. It constantly grazes on and green algea in the tank.

 

I've had bangaii cardinals and royal gramma's in the past. I love the bangaii, but they just sit there, and the gramma tends to get territorial. I'll reconsider the mandarin, and as far as the angel goes, i currently have a midnight/nox angel that i may just transfer if i dont go with the rusty. Most of the corals i plan on keeping are all currently in my nano cube that will be shut down. these include severel variances of mushrooms, a gigantic frogspawn, and a few zoas here and there. I plan on getting a brain and a few hard corals.

Here is a link to the light i was considering.

Coralife Aqualight High Output T5 Dual Lamp Light Fixture - Double Light Fixtures

 

I was looking at that Coralife light for my 29 gallon FOWLR tank, to convert it to a pseudo-reef tank (its hard to build a true reef tank in Hawaii). I decided that line of lights wasn't powerful enough. My tank is 30" long, and that light would only provide about 62 watts of actinic and T5 lighting, which, in my opinion, was not enough for even my modest requirements. But it is certainly not enough for a 40g full-on reef tank. I would look for a 175-200 watt light.

If you are interested in buying that Coralife light, it is a lot cheaper on Amazon (the 30" light was only $100 on Amazon, vs. $165 on that site). The really nice thing about lights in this class is that most are only 48 watts, so, in that sense, it is a good deal. Plus, its good looking.

 

I had a mandarin in a 30gal for a bit over 6 months or so it did well and only died after the tank got poisoned from outside sources.
I think the key to it though is just to make sure and establish a good pod culture and maintain good supply by keeping some LR in your sump or refugium.

Also, for small tanks, I like firefish but they tend to be jumpers. Six line wrasse is a good addy too;D

 

So if that light isn't substantial for my tank what would be? some suggestions and links would be awesome. (trying to keep price under $250)