New guy starting up.

[Flyride95]

Hello everyone! First I would like to thank everyone that posts on these forums. They are very useful to people that are new more then you know. I have read many things on here are it has increase my knowledge about saltwater tanks 10 fold. Anyway I just wanted to share my new aquarium. It is simply a 55gal with a 30gal sump. I have a magnificent protein skimmer but it is to tall for my stand so I have to keep my eye out for a new one. I need to know how you guys would lite the aquarium. I have a 2 bulb t5 that is 48" and i think it will be fine but I wanted to know what you guys would use with 150$ limit. Anyway thank you again and keep posting!

Here is my aquarium with 40lbs of live rock.
http://i48.tinypic.com/2pzjgx5.jpg

And here is my sump which flows first into bioballs then into the rubble rock. After that it flows into the refugium which I planned to put cheato in, let me know if im wrong =)
http://i47.tinypic.com/2eea9lz.jpg

[Big_Pun]

welcome to MAAST !! i think that's my old sump. if it is I had the water run into first chamber where skimmer was and a filter sock holder and over flowed into first baffle where I had cheato then last
chamber held my reactors. as for light just watch this forsale forum and snag one up. I would do atleast 4 bulb t5 ho

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[Flyride95]

Yea I'm just learning that bioballs under water is bad. Is that right?

[allan]

Yeah, two bulbs won't be enough. T5s will prevent a lot of the heat issues that you would encounter with metal halide.

LEDs are way more than $150.

I don't know about the bio balls. But I thought they were supposed to be rained upon but not submerged. If your wallet can spare the diet I'd recommend replacing with rubble rock. Established rubble rock being choice.

[Scutterborn]

The main purpose of bio-balls is to develop colonies of nitrifying bacteria on as much of the surface, hence their shape/design. When they are submerged it greatly reduced the gas exchange that makes them beneficial at all. Most reefers do not use bio-balls though. If not maintained properly, they can become "nitrate factories". Most folks prefer all live rock in place of the bio balls. Robert Fenner has quite a few good articles on wetwebmedia.com.


- Ben -

[Noob]

What kind of system do you want?
Fish and Live Rock
Soft Coral
SPS and LPS
Figuring that out will help determine what kind of lighting you need. I believe the light you have now should work for a Fish and Live Rock tank and while your system is cycling. You are probably going to get the most bang for you buck going with MHs, I'd suggest at least 2x175watt bulbs and you will be able to keep all kind of corals.

[hobogato]

or, you could keep the lights you have and add to it. maybe two more t5 bulbs, or maybe get a diy led kit? the kit i got for the 29 gallon i just set up has 21 - 3W emitters with two drivers, and came with wiring, silicon thermal paste, wiring, and individual heat sinks for about $150 plus tax. feel free to come by to get an idea of what is involved in putting it together and how bright it is.

[rrasco]

Did you get a kit from rapid Ace?

I have bioballs submerged in a FW sump, but it's not a wet-dry system and I don't rely on them for bio, they're just extra. As Ben said, they are most efficient in a wet-dry. Likewise, not many experienced reefers use bioballs anymore.

[hobogato]

no, i got the supplies at reefs2u

[rrasco]

Ah, that's right. I heard Paul had some DIY kits.

[Flyride95]

yea im not really using them either. Honestly there just there to slow down the overflow. Then it goes into the liverock and then chaeto. Let me know if this is wrong.

[Big_Pun]

yea im not really using them either. Honestly there just there to slow down the overflow. Then it goes into the liverock and then chaeto. Let me know if this is wrong.

the way I had that sump setup worked really well and a seaside aquatics skimmer fit perfectly in first chamber. you could also put egg crate to protect the pump and add cheato in last chamber