72 Gallon Bow Lighting

[nano_reefer92]

:yay:I just got a 72 gallon bow!!! :yay:
i am trying to figure out the best lighting i could get if i should go with metal halide, t5, pc's or a combination of any two

the tank is 48x 12.5 and 18 for the bow(these are ruff estimates)

i got it for 400$ it came with some rock(>30lb) sand (>20lb) and a aquaclear aquatics wet dry and a skimmer. and stand and canpy.

it is a good price right?

if anybody has experence with lighting even IMO's are welcome to make coments i am looking to keep sps in the near future(when i get a better job)

 

[FutureInterest]

See Bryan's post in that thread. He's got some insane amount of t5's shoved in there.

 

[wbholwell]

Here's my thread w/ pics:

 

[mizah00]

I have a coralife PC that was on a 72 bow until march. send e mail for pics.Its for sale now.I have pics of it on a 72 bow front.

 

[xyzpdq0121]

The price is not bad for what you got... That wet dry should find its way as a sump if anything IMHO. Wet Drys are pretty useless when paired with other better methods of filtration.

As for the lights what do you want to keep in the future and what is your budget? Thos are two questions you need to ask yourself. Pros and cons to any lighting package and it is hard to help you weigh them without knowing what direction you want the tank to go.

 

[nano_reefer92]

as for lighting i am going to go with 2-250 retros and 4-24w t5(i will be getting a good amount of fans)
but for filtration can you head me in the right direction?

 

[showtime305]

When I had my 72 Bow 2 fans were enought to keep the temp in check while running 2-250w halides plus 2-96w PC. Once fan came on with the halides and the other was on a temp controller. For filtration I ran a Turboflotor and phosoban reactor. I also had a small refugium since there isn't much room below the tank.

 

[nano_reefer92]

thanks for the info! where you get the sump?

 

[showtime305]

I used a 29 gallon and added baffles to create 2 sections. If you have a 72 bow stand then the footprint only allows you to use a 29 gallon tank underneath. It's difficult to fit anything else below the tank.

 

[nano_reefer92]

would this be an ok option for better filtration

 

[showtime305]

That wouldn't be bad but at a width of 12" you shoudl be able to get a 30" long sump under there. Is you got with the sump in the link you may have to use some type of hang on tank skimmer or something narrow enought to fit in the chamber with the bio balls. You won't need to and shouldn't run that sump with bio balls.

 

[nano_reefer92]

so then i should just get this then the 30" size

 

[showtime305]

That looks good.