Ok. I have not been on here for a bit. I want to set up my own tank and use it for breeding. But breeding question are a ways off yet. I have not bought a thing for this yet I am just doing some reading and researching so that when I get stuff and get started I will go the right direction.
Lighting: I have seen posts where people seem to relate watts per gallon and others where they say you just go off of the PAR. Well here is what I have seen up close and personal, My husband T5 settup, He is running eight bulbs that are 48 inches long. They are 54 watts each. He has four of them that are 18,000 Something (not even sure what this number is) two that are 10,000 and two that are atinics. Now this gives his tank a lot of ight and even the SPS(?) hard corals with little leaves or blossoms that fall to the sand bed thanks to his turbo snail (dozers as he calls them) even look good on the bottom. I have seen a couple tanks lit with Power Compacts and they just do not look like all the lights are on or something they just dont pop real well, Just my opinion not trying to make anyone mad, and I have seen MH lights that look like the sun got put directly over the tank and have seen mixes of them all.
My conclusion is this T5 lights are about the best way to start out. MH are really nice but the price tag is out of this world (at least for a quality setup) And any way my husbands tank is lit with T5s and he has to find shade for some of his stuff.
Moving on. What size tank? I was thinking about a 50 or a 75. I like the footprint and they are not to big. What do you think? I know a Fish store(LFS I think is the term)that is reopening after the floods last summer that has the reef club all excited( kinda like a bunch of kids that just saw a pile of free candy). I talked to the owner and he is willing to shoot me a good deal on a complete reef ready 75 gallon setup (tank, stand, sump, lights, pumps ect...) But is this the way to go or should I buy seperate/ It will be a while before I buy anything though, still a lot or research to do.
I have been helping my husband out with his and learning a LOT from him, he says he is still learning and wants to keep this as a "Family " thing and not just his tank or my tank. And it is. The kids get involved as well. Everyone piches in and now we got our own Reverse Osmosis filter so we dont have to buy water any more.
I do have another question that is probably a stupid question: My husband has a friend that he gets a lot of corals from and when we go over there to get some they look ok but when we get them home they open up more, have better color and grow faster in his tank than they did in his friends tank. Why. It does not make sense to me because his friend has been reef keeping for a while.
I think that will be it for me tonight. I just wanted to let you all know I am still around, just lurking in the posts, Becca
Lighting: I have seen posts where people seem to relate watts per gallon and others where they say you just go off of the PAR. Well here is what I have seen up close and personal, My husband T5 settup, He is running eight bulbs that are 48 inches long. They are 54 watts each. He has four of them that are 18,000 Something (not even sure what this number is) two that are 10,000 and two that are atinics. Now this gives his tank a lot of ight and even the SPS(?) hard corals with little leaves or blossoms that fall to the sand bed thanks to his turbo snail (dozers as he calls them) even look good on the bottom. I have seen a couple tanks lit with Power Compacts and they just do not look like all the lights are on or something they just dont pop real well, Just my opinion not trying to make anyone mad, and I have seen MH lights that look like the sun got put directly over the tank and have seen mixes of them all.
My conclusion is this T5 lights are about the best way to start out. MH are really nice but the price tag is out of this world (at least for a quality setup) And any way my husbands tank is lit with T5s and he has to find shade for some of his stuff.
Moving on. What size tank? I was thinking about a 50 or a 75. I like the footprint and they are not to big. What do you think? I know a Fish store(LFS I think is the term)that is reopening after the floods last summer that has the reef club all excited( kinda like a bunch of kids that just saw a pile of free candy). I talked to the owner and he is willing to shoot me a good deal on a complete reef ready 75 gallon setup (tank, stand, sump, lights, pumps ect...) But is this the way to go or should I buy seperate/ It will be a while before I buy anything though, still a lot or research to do.
I have been helping my husband out with his and learning a LOT from him, he says he is still learning and wants to keep this as a "Family " thing and not just his tank or my tank. And it is. The kids get involved as well. Everyone piches in and now we got our own Reverse Osmosis filter so we dont have to buy water any more.
I do have another question that is probably a stupid question: My husband has a friend that he gets a lot of corals from and when we go over there to get some they look ok but when we get them home they open up more, have better color and grow faster in his tank than they did in his friends tank. Why. It does not make sense to me because his friend has been reef keeping for a while.
I think that will be it for me tonight. I just wanted to let you all know I am still around, just lurking in the posts, Becca
