Future Tank Setup

[Nano_Steve]

OK gang, here's something i thought would be best to get everyone's opinion on and then make my decisions.

i just recently bought a 20 gallon hex off of vinh(looks awesome and was a bargain, thanks vinh!!!) and i am beginning to plan an equipment list for it(lighting, filtration, rock, sand, coral, fish, heater, the works) and i want to know what any of y'all would buy for it. i plan on researching and buying each piece of equipment separately and possibly even making a few things myself if at all possible.

here's the task. tell me your perfect setup for this tank whether it be completely store bought products, completely self made diy, or a harmonious mix of both.

looking forward to hearing what y'all think!!! :D steve

[MikeP]

Steve, hex tanks are hard to light for reef. For fish you can go with standard flourescents. If you want to keep corals a single metal halide pendant would work well just have to raise it up a bit so it doesn't warp/bow the acrylic. I have a 20 hex that my mantis lives in currently and I'd love to put a better light on it and find some corals to keep in there.

You might be able to build a small overflow for the tank but not sure how well it would work on a tank that's tall like that.

[Nano_Steve]

thats a great idea about the pendant!!! i forgot that they made those, so many members use the ballast systems for their metal halides and i have yet to see anyones tank that uses pendants. i agree about the warping, id have to mount the light at least 6inches to a foot away from the top of the tank.

id prefer to be able to house some pretty colorful corals so i guess the add on question about lighting is what is the shortest and smallest vho available? like you said, technoshaman, it is going to be hard to fit this type of tank with good lighting because it is so tall but i hope that taking it slow and researching each piece of equipment before purchase will add to my success in the long run of my tank to come! :P

[TexasState]

http://www.petsmart.com/fish/shopping/aquariums%5F%5F%5Fbowls/medium%5F%5F%5Flarge%5Facrylic%5Ftanks/products/product%5F24389.shtml

Xien's hex tank used to have 36Watts CSL Smartlamp retro. It used to house poisnous octopus & haitian anemone. You can try either the Quad-Power Compact, or 150W pendant 8 inches or more above the tank. That was my lightning plan until Joshua traded out my HQI in the above pictures.

[Tim Marvin]

A single 250w DE/HQI will do a perfect job. I have been buying all of Vihn's sunlight supply lights off him and they work great! And half the cost of those Geissmans. The best thing I ever did was switch to 250w instead of the 150w. The geissman was too expensive and didn't do as good a job keeping color.

[Nano_Steve]

great suggestions all!!! i plan on looking into a 250 watt metal halide pendant after reading everyone's high marks concerning them. do you have any suggestions about heaters or filtering??? sump, refugium, bak pak, overflow, powerheads???

[TexasState]

I would just keep it simple and use Power Quad PC to grow simple corals & sea horse in that Hex. If you plan on getting 250W HQI, skimmer, sump, might as well buy a 29 or 45 gallons breeder setup.

[Nano_Steve]

if i were to make this into a seahorse tank what types of corals could i have and not have, i know things like anemones are out of the question but sps, lps, soft, leathers, shrooms???

i originally had it planned to set up as a sea horse tank and getting some low flow filtering so i could keep hippocampus zosterae(i think they are dwark seahorses not quite for sure) but i know they are extremely small.

what about a bunch of gorgonian or cabbage coral, maybe even starburst??? i just dont know the toxicity or stinging capabilities of each if they possess such.

if i wanted very low but very even flow throughout the tank what would i use. i thought about maybe having a system that runs a tube with holes in it down the side to even out flow a bit all the way to the bottom, would this idea work or no???

[Nano_Steve]

if i am going to use a metal halide will i need to get some vho to enhance the color of coral or will the bulb itself be enough?

vinh, i want to use a quad smartlamp because i have a dual ballast but i dont think that it will fit in the hood of the tank so i figured i would just leave the hood off and have a pendant hanging above it, i am desparately trying to look for a way that i can make the quad lamp work since i paid the extra cash to get a dual but i just dont know how to make it work. suggestion???