When to use 50/50 white and superactinic lights

Hello everyone, i am new to the site but not entirely new to saltwater aquariums. I ran a 55 gallon successfully for 2 years about 4 years ago. I have been out of the loop for a while and have a few questions. I recently purchased a 100 gallon used tank that we transformed from this mess http://i200.photobucket.com/albums/aa274/rustynutzz/Fishtank009.jpg to this http://i200.photobucket.com/albums/aa274/rustynutzz/Fishtank015.jpg


It also came with two super actinic R 160w vho lamps and 2 actinic white 160w vho lamps seen here UV Lighting Co

Now my question is when to run these lights. I plan a fowlr tank with a few anenomes. Also, I am in the cycling period and notice these lamps are pushing my temps up to around 83-84 degrees from 79. Should I install some fans in the hood, I really don't want to buy a chiller if I don't have to.

Thanks in advance.

 

Welcome to 3Reef>>>>>>>

 

Welcome to 3reef. thats enough light to do a reef IMO. anenomes would benefit from it so i would leave it running. Do you have a sump? you could put fans blowing on the sump to cool it.

 

WELCOME I would add a computer fan just wire it in to a old cordless phone powerpack or something similar most are like 9 volts. Thats the cheap way to do it less then 20.

 

Really? just take an old phone pluggy thing and wire it to fan? hmmm that will help when i try to DIY a MH canopy for my 55gal.

 

I'd not waste my money on L/R in any type tank especially a fish only system.. The URI is the best brand on the market and the combo of 2 white and 2 03 actinic is the best I ran them for more years then I can recall. Now when you set the tank up I'd just use base rock and seed the tank with a good source of a few ponds of L/sand to establish the fauna and coral-lines

Then just run the super actinic 03 for the time you are cycling the system no skimmer no nothing except a single little yellow tailed blue damsel to start and keep cycling bio load level and steady. And give it about 10 weeks before adding the first better fish. Just leave the little damsel in there you'll seldom see it .

As for the heat go here and get a fan 120 V and as high a cfm rating that you want I like the ball bearing fans better then the sleeve fans

Grainger Industrial Supply\

If you need good large coraline covered L/R I have a ton or more of it and sand and rubble But I'd not use good L/R as I said for this fish tank.

 

Thanks for the info. Gotta go turn off that skimmer;D. You are probably right about the L/R, i'll just get base rock and seed with one L/R. As far as the sand goes I used 50/50 live/regular aragonite and have one damsel cycling it for two weeks now. I also have a wet/dry with mag drive 980gph for filtration/circulation, kind of overkill but good water movement. I'll definitely hook up those fans also. I'm sure i'll be back with more questions, i'll keep you updated on the progress, thanks again.

 

Yes no skimmer and get the water parameter's up to
DKH 12 to 15
Ca 450 to 500
Mag. 1400 to 1500
If the L/S you seeded with was good quality and full of coralline spores then after you get the water stable and with only The strong Actinic lighting and no skimming as theres nothing to skim anyways You will avoid the FOWLR algal nightmare you most often seen in F/O systems..

You are on the right track with the cycling just give it the time it needs I suggest 12 weeks myself and you will avoid a lot of the pitfalls many jump into.. Also after about 4 to 5 months you can start the skimmer and then look at a refugium also.. a simple 10 gallon tank fed with water from the tank and draining into your sump/wetdry ..

Are the actinic and the white bulbs controllable separately ? or all on the same ballast ):

 

The bulbs are on 2 seperate ice cap ballasts with timers. This is the sand I chose 60lbs of this Marine Substrates: Ocean Direct Caribbean Live Sand at Drs. Foster & Smith and 60lbs of this caribsea your aragonite source and more!

I kind of srewed up though. I filled the tank with ro/di water from culligan and didn't plan on evaporation so quickly, so I refilled the tank with approximately 2 gallons of tap water conditioned with this Aquarium Pharmaceuticals Stress Coat 16oz (Saltwater Aquarium Supplies > Additives > Water Treatments/Conditioners > Tap Water Treatments > Chlorine & Chloramine Removers ) and now I have a bit of a diatom problem (never do that again). I hear it's common with new tanks but can't help but think I contributed to the problem.

I plan on giving it 10 - 12 weeks, after lurking around the forum that's all I read. I have never ran a refugium but will look into it. By the way this is the wet/dry I have http://www.myfishtank.com/ProductImages/197.jpg, except with a couple of layers of polyester batting before the bioballs. My overflow spout in the tank also has a filter on it before it gets to the tank (I hear the bioballs can collect detritus). My skimmer is a seaclown 150 Modded and it works fairly well, lots of scum when i had it on my 55. Just so you know what i'm working with.

Oh, one more thing, I have some filter floss with this in it because of the tap water usage Black Diamond Carbon 36oz Should I leave it in there during cycling?

 

Welcome to 3Reef