new to this

i am new to this site, also new to this hobby. i used to keep fresh water, however due to the ice storm last yr, i lost all my stocks, so i decided to keep salt. currently have a 55g, i want to upgrade to a 75g($540) or 90g($890) cant decide, i want to do a mixed reef. also what size of sump would i need, what do you guys think of teklight t5-ho? better than MH? i need as much info as you guy can provide so any thing will help thanks.

 

For a 75 my opinion is the T5HO over the halides for a few reasons. I know this is debatable, and MH are good too and I currently run MH on my system. But for a 4' tank, that has the 21" depth, the T5's will save you $$ over 2 x 250's and $ over 2 175 or 150's even. Your savings will be in electrical, and the T5HO bulbs last around 18months as well. But you have to make your own decision. But you HAVE to get SLR reflectors for each bulb, and overdriving the bulbs with an ice cap ballast is even better.
My points:

Both are capable of even the most demanding corals or clams
T5's use less power to do it with a 4 bulb fixture being 216 watts, vs a two bulb MH being 430-730 watts if you have actinic lighting.
MH give you the caustic network lines (glitter lines) caused by the lensing of a point source bulb
T5's give you far better control of you lighting color temp (i.e. you want a blue light, add a blue bulb, you want a whiter light, add a warmer bulb)
MH gives you heat -a problem in warmer climes
I don't think that T5's will reach the bottom of a 90 as effectively as MH (so no SPS coral on the sand )

My suggestion is decide which tank first, then worry about lighting it. But the prices you listed seem high... Where did you get those quotes?

What are you planning on doing for flow, filtration etc?

 

Sorry I missed in your post that you were looking at the teklight. YES! They are a great light. There are plenty that are better, but they rival any MH IME.

 

i got the quote at my lfs where would i be able to find better price? you said that there are better light can you give me some name? i want to do a sump with some sort of LS and LR with some marco algae in there so what size?

 

Welcome to 3Reef>>>>>>

 

To 3Reef!!! ​

Salutations! Glad to see you found way here! ;D ​

The Tao of Marine Aquaria
Tips for Our Hobby and Life

© 1997 Adam H. Whitlock
Edited By Elizabeth M. Lukan 11/25/00 ​

 

Just to expand on what JasonSquared pointed out about lights... in addition to the size of the tank coinciding with the lighting, so must the types of coral you want to keep be entered into the equation regarding lights and wattage etc.
As for the sump, the bigger the better along with the size of the tank. More water volume, surface area, room for equipment, place to add a refugium to it as well are all pluses to a larger sump!

 

Welcome to 3reef!
If you are looking for a tank make sure you check out flee-bay and your local reef club forums because there is always someone wanting to get out of the hobby and selling everything.

 

what i wanted to do is to set a skimmer in the sump and have plenty of room to work with, i was planning to put some sort of LR in the center of the sump and have some marcoalgae, would i have enough room to work with using a 20L? what is a good brand of light?