As of now I just have a plain old 55 gallon tank im using prime water and a protein skimmer and Hob filter .
I have a few easy corals and 4 fish and some inverts.
I’m planning on starting 75 gallon tank soon just so I have that extra width it’s gonna be reef ready and I wanted to talk about my system and see if anyone else could give me suggestions on if they think my ideas would work out ok.
So I’m planning on using a sump with maybe a small refugium and a protein skimmer in it. I might get the proflex 65-110 gallon sump does anyone know if its very good or not. I want to use a corallife protein skimmer. I’m gonna use a 550 GPH pump and have an extra pump on hand .i will use caribsea live crushed coral gravel. I’m gonna use a green turtle heater. I will use mostly base rock and a little live rock. Not many rocks though just enough for the corals to grow on. (I’m all about the coral , it’s my favorite ) . I’m gonna use 2 finnex ray2 LED lights one half blue and white one just blue . I made a custom canopy type thing. I will use wemo switches for my lights and I’m gonna get a lacrosse alerts leak system alerterter. I wanna get a battery backup back I don’t know what kind to get though. I’m gonna use about 3 nano koralia pumps on a special controller. I’m using rodi water
That’s about all the stuff I think I’ll be using
I wanna stock with
My falco hawkfish
Kole tang and fancy clown
My dottyback if he holds on he’s not felling well.
I wanna get
Pearly Jawfish
Cherub angel or a brazillian flameback angel.
I want have
LOTS of fancy zoanthids
Some ricordias
Some mushrooms
A few other softies
A bunch of cool Lps like hammers and candycanes
And maybe one or 2 sps.
I want some feather duster and Christmas worms and shrimps and lots of other inverts.
I have a 75g rr tank for sale when your ready,it’s drilled for several closed loops if you wanna use them. I would also check in that hawk fish,I think they will eat snails and shrimp so he might be a bad idea but I’m not completely sure
I have had my hawkfish for a while and I love him like family that’s why he’s as my profile picture . They do eat inverts sometimes but unless its a tiny shrimp there usually pretty good . I had other hawkfish that never touched any inverts but the one I have now is good but eats pepermint shrimp with relish . I also forgot to mention I use kent reef salt for my system. I only want a 75 rr if its intake is in the corner
Am I correct in assuming that your current tank has no live rock in it? Or just not very much?
If the former, you should cycle as much of your rocks before transferring livestock over.
I remember reading something about jawfish and tankmates, I think it was this article:
http://www.reefkeeping.com/issues/2002-03/hcs3/
It says fast swimming fish like tangs and angels may cause the jawfish to hide or die or something. I had mine with a yellow tang in a 90g and they didn’t bother eachother much.
Also jawfish are jumpers so you need a tight lid (mine jumped :()
I’m not familiar with those lights, but i checked them out online, They might be ok for softies as you have planned but i dunno, they look weak.
That sump will work, but it’s pretty expensive, you might be better off with a DIY sump.
I have a corallife 125 protein skimmer for sale, if you are a interested shoot me a PM.
Jawfish are generally only jumpy during the beginning of there time in the tank . I have a good but of live rock but more dead and base rocks that are sitting in a spare basket waiting to be used. I don’t really want a DIY sump I want a nice special one . U think the lights I have are weak?
Do u think those lights will grow hammers, And candy canes and Duncan’s ? If not i might be :-(" lol
Dunno, they show pics of the lights on a reef tank but they don’'t look reef capable based on the specs. For $75 or whatever they are I am highly skeptical of their capabilities.
For what it’'s worth, my jaw fish jumped out of the tank after 6 months or so.
Mine were the 175 dollar ones on amazon . Finnex lights is the company .
The only ones that I can find that are that expensive are the finnex monster ray and even that is just a “highlight” strip. Maybe send me a PM with a link to the amazon page?
I think the monster ray is only 37W or something like that, if you look at the reefbreeders full spectrum or taotronics or whatever, they use 55 3W bulbs and consume 65-115W depending on dimming settings.
Edit: The finnex website says it grows and maintains all types of lps and sps, i’'m still skeptical but the manufacturer says it does.
You get what you pay for. This isn’'t the hobby to be cheap on things like lights. There are enough people selling led fixtures that will grow what you want,so it would be in the best interest of the live stock and you to consider that as an option.
What strip led lights do you guys recommend
Get the most light for your budget,the most options for now and for the future.if that means saving for an extra month it’'s worth the wait. But with that said you want full spectrum and preferably dimmable, optics option would vary depending on the depth of your tank. Reef breeders,reefradiance,I think there is an eBay version also, or build your own from rapid led or aquastyles
I like my finnex lights , but now that u guys mention it there no where near as bright as my tao Tronics light . The finnex still get good growth and are nice , but do u think it would help grow Lps zoas and shrooms in the long run if I had a bright ,fancy and dimmable led strip?
The hard thing is to find a good light as a strip light .
I also don’‘t mind an expensive light I just don’'t want the price to be outrageous .
Not too sure about strip lights. Unless you DIY most of the ones I’‘ve seen are more rectangular. They probably do exist. Since you already own the lights and you claim good growth I wouldn’'t change it unless you stop seeing growth or something.
I have had good growth but I never have had Lps . Only zoas and other softies . And if I can get better growth than I might switch. Also I haven’’’'t used RODI water yet and that might help them grow.
When I say a strip I just mean somthing that 48 inches long I don’'t care how skinny or fat it is.
I see that Coral Mania has a nice 48" T5 with LED setup at the swap
I would buy that light but its not full LED , i don’'t want to deal with light bulbs.
LED fixtures don’'t last indefinitely and will have to be replaced eventually, but you will save money on bulbs in the meantime.
Chinese led fixtures are the best bang for your buck IMO. Check out ebay for lots of options