Finally pulled the trigger....

A

aresgod

Superstar Fish
#21
Jan 14, 2004
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#21
no, actinic is a certain spectrum of light which is extremely blue, you can get blue light from Metal halide, depending on which K you choose, 10K= white
20K= more blue, 14K = somewhere in the middle, on my reef I usually use 14K or 20K depending on what I have.
 

A

aresgod

Superstar Fish
#23
Jan 14, 2004
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#23
while the 36" 300Watt fixture certainly would work, due to the depth, if you are able you might want to purchase the 500Watt 36" Pro fixture as you will be able to keep anything you want anywhere in the tank.
 

A

aresgod

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#25
Jan 14, 2004
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#25
I would get the hanging kit too, these lights produce an awful lot of heat, and having them suspended rather than directly above the water will help, In the summer I think I am going to have to purchase a chiller just to off set them.
 

Rush07

Rush07

Large Fish
#26
Mar 1, 2006
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Oneida, NY
#26
I am a little concerned with the heat that would be put off with the halide fixtures. My basement temp stays pretty cool in the summer since it is underground (I guess most basements are!) Anyway, thanks for the advice.
 

Rush07

Rush07

Large Fish
#28
Mar 1, 2006
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#28
OK. More rookie questions.

How often should I be topping of the tank with DI water to compensate for evaporation? I have nothing in the tank at this point and it has been running for about a week. There has been no noticeable drop in the water level and the salinity is holding steady at about 1.023. My question is do you add water based on the salinity, water level, or just X amount every couple of days.

Finally, what do you all think is the best book to help guide me though this? Which one is most complete?
 

YahooFishKeeper

YahooFishKeeper

Superstar Fish
#29
Jan 14, 2006
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#29
it all depends... some people may life somewhere warm, and not have the drying effects of house heaters, and therefor not need to top off as much, or someone may have a dehumidifier running in their house... it all depends. i have a little line near the corner of my "sump area" on my 30 gallon tank, and when it gets below the line, i add water. about 1/3 gallon a day for me.
 

A

aresgod

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#31
Jan 14, 2004
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#31
sump, yea, I add about 1 gallon every other day...lots of evaporation from the MH, if your in a basement you might be ok, also if you hang them it makes a big difference in heat exchange, the timer is a separate timer, just like the grasslin ones.
 

Rush07

Rush07

Large Fish
#33
Mar 1, 2006
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Oneida, NY
#33
OK. I let the tank run a week or so and everything has remained stable at:
Temp - 79F
pH - 8.4
Salinity - 1.023

Got 100 lbs. of Live Rock today. Found a LFS with a nice selection of fully cured rock and spent a while hand picking it piece by piece.

Here it is in the box before it went into the tank:



Here it is in the tank:



From what little I know it looks like pretty good stuff. Most of it has been in the tank at the LFS for 8 weeks, but a couple of pieces only 3 weeks but I liked the shape. So I may have a little "curing" to go. I will give it a couple of weeks and see how long it takes to get the ammonia and nitrites down to
0. I will test tomorrow since I just put it in tonight. Also added 2 250 GPH powerheads after I took the photos. I am running a Mag Drive 12 and at about 4 feet of rise it should be pumping about 1000 GPH for a total of 1500 GPH or 23X volume. I know that is on the low end but it should get me started.

Should be getting the lighting on Friday. I think I am going with either 2 150 MH with 2 blue CF or 1 250 MH with 2 blue CF.
 

Rush07

Rush07

Large Fish
#35
Mar 1, 2006
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Oneida, NY
#35
Yea, I will get some full shots. My wife is the photographer in the family and she had a different lense on the camera. I don't dare try and change it as I am sure I would break something. I will get better pics with a normal lense tomorrow.
 

Rush07

Rush07

Large Fish
#38
Mar 1, 2006
252
1
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Oneida, NY
#38
I did some research and I think it may be a Peanut Worm, but not really sure. As long as it is not something that I need to get out I am not too worried about it.
 

Rush07

Rush07

Large Fish
#40
Mar 1, 2006
252
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Oneida, NY
#40
Great. Thanks.

OK. Tested the water tonight with the live rock in the tank for 24 hours.

pH - 8.2
Ammonia - 1.5
NitrIte - .5
NitrAte - 20
GH - 180
Phosphate - 0
Temp - 79
Salinity - 1.025

I am used to freshwater fishless cycles where I don't do a water change until the tank has cycled, but with the critters living in the live rock do I need to do water changes while the rock is cycling the tank? At what level of Ammonia, Nitrites or Nitrates should I do a water change?
 

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