Several Newbie Questions

I will be going with a 75g tank, just because of space issues in my house. So thats decided!

So does anyone know about the protein skimmer if I should just use the Sea Clone 150 for both FOWLR and Reef build

 

If I owned a Seaclone 150 and someone offered me $60 for it, I'd take it. I'd then find a used AquaC Remora and buy it. They usually go for around $90 shipped and will blow away the Seaclone. The AquaC will also be much quieter. I have an AquaC Remora on my 38g and a Seaclone 100 on my 20g. The Seaclone is less efficient and waaaaaaaaay louder.

 

Sounds good to me. A Question back to the Lightings. With the MH's. Are those the ones that give off the bluish light? If so, doesn't that mean that I will need other lights in there. I'm still kind of confused on the way the lighting works.

 

Metal halides, along with T5's come in many different light spectrums, with 6500k being very yellow, a 10,00k is really white, & 20,00k is very blue. 12,000k & 14,00k are mainly white with a slight blueish tint. Obviously the larger the number the more blue.

 

So the 20k is more for reef and coral and such, if I have that correct. And 10k is more for FOWLR. But you can mix the two, correct. Thats what 50/50 actinics mean?

 

It's more of personal preference. Most people go with 12 or 14k for reefs...Enough light to see good with a tad bit of blue, not too much.

The lower the number kelvin, the higher the growth rate. The higher the number, the more color you will get.

50/50 actnics means the actnics(or moons lights) are 50% blue & 50% white. In a way, you could compare this to say a 16k bulb.

The more blues are often times used for moon/night lighting so simulate, well, the moon. A variety of choices can be made here depending on what you want it to look like. Some will cause corals to "flouresce" or glow more than others.

 

Alright guys, Thanks for all the information so far. I have ordered my 75g tank from the LFS. Should be here in a week or so. I have started building the tank stand(Which is going well, btw). I have ordered my 2 Koralia 1400's. Next this is the lighting. I've done some research and still don't fully understand it.

I have read horror stories about MH's starting fires and what not, and how they need fans and such to cool. I'm still not understanding what Actinics are. Are they a special bulb? Will I need them? I have also read that LED lights are coming into play. Like I stated before, I am starting with a FOWLR tank then going to a reef tank, but would like to get lighting now that can be used for when I start my reef.

Can I get some suggestions on what I need to do, and what some good brands and such are?

Thanks everyone!

 

All I would say is 2 weeks is nothing when it comes to this hobby for a reef tank, for a FOWLR I think you may be ok but I urge you to study as many facets as you can. Knowledge is helpful with refugiums because the flow through it is important. You don't want heavy flow through a fuge(refugium) or it won't denitrate properly. A softball size bunch of cheato will grow fast. Lighting is also important as I run a plant light on the oppisite time of the daylights. For about $15 you can get a clip on light with a plant bulb at Home Depot.
55 gal is a tough size for an eventual reef because some corals grow rapidly and would overwhelm your fishes ability to swim. Depth is very important on a fish tank so a 75 gal is a much better option and I would wait until you have the money to do it right from the start. I've spent a lot of money learning that. I went from a 65g to a 120g to a 210g in less than a year until my fish and corals had enough room. I have a toadstool leather coral that was 3" across when I bought it and now it's over 15" across in a little over a year.
Checking water parameters is fairly simple although some people get really caught up on it but in a nutshell in the early goings you'll check ammonia and nitites until they are 0, then check nitrates and ph until they are reasonable. Nitrates under 15 and ph over 8.0 preferably 8.2 - 8.4. PH hardly ever changes but nitrates and then phosphates are important. I always kept my nitrates under 20 and my phosphates are always 0 because I use a product called phoslock but phosguard is also good. I'm just a little crazy about the phosphates so I spend more to keep it at 0. Another good idea is if you use any frozen food rinse them out with running water and a brine net. There is phosphates in the liquid so I've heard. I'm going to shut up now as I always get carried away. If you want any help send me a private message and I'll gladly help if I can. PS:Also make darn sure the stand your building is sturdy and absolutely level!

 

Sounds good. Here is a picture of the stand so far.



Got to do some sanding now

 

I'll try to give you a brief into to lighting. There are four main types of lighting used for aquariums. Power Compacts (PCs), T5 (Flourescent tubes, the T5 just means the diameter of the buld, you can have T6, T8, T12 etc.), Metal Halides and LEDs.

Basically, you can use any bulb you want, the main difference is the spectrum of light it put out or the Kelvin temperature (K). A low K bulb will be yellow, like daylight at noon. A 10K is considered by most to be a standard daylight bulb. You get good PAR values, which means faster growth, but don't get as good color as with higher K bulbs. A 14K is in-between a blue bulb and daylight bulb. It has more blue, but also produces more wavelengths in the red/green spectrum. They are a good multipurpose bulb. Then there are actinic or blue bulbs. A true actinic is actually violet or purple while a blue bulb is blue. These are used to replicate deeper water conditions and give color to corals. They shouldnt' be use alone, but should be used in conjunction with daylight bulbs. For MH, these are 20K bulbs generally.

My advice, don't get PCs, they are getting more and more antiquated, the bulbs are relatively expensive and don't last long and they have poor light distribution mainly due to the shape of the bulb and the fact you really can't build a good reflector for it.

T5s are good. They are reliable, run fairly cool, are efficient and you can customize your spectrum and look of the tank to your personal liking.

MH are initially more expensive, but have been a mainstay of aquarium lighting. They get very hot, so heat may be an issue. They come in different wattages and generally, the higher the wattage, the deeper they can penetrate, so you can more easily grow corals on the bottom of your tank. They best mimic the sun and produce a "shimmer" effect. Bulbs come in many different temperatures and varieties so that can get confusing.

LEDs are relatively new and IMO, untested long term. They are very expensive right now, but run very cool, are very efficient, can have some cool effects and the bulbs rarely, if ever need to be replaced.

For your application, if you want to do it right the first time. I would get a good T5 or Mh fixture. I would use a 6x54w (4') T5 HO fixture over a 75. I like Tek, but ATI are really good and Nova Extremes aren't too bad either. If you go MH, I would use a 2x250w MH system with T5 actinic supplementation (for dawn/dusk effect) but that is not required if you use a higher K bulb. If you have a hood/canopy, you can do a retro fit kit which basically means you get all the parts and install it yourself. These are generally cheaper then a stand alone fixture.