Anyone have or had a hex tank

[thekid55]

i plan to start a hex tank, after being out of the hobby for 5 months. if any one has one or had one and has advice or pictures. i think the tank is 24 inches tall so i need good lights to get to the bottom but i cant run MH because of not enough power on the breakers. so im thinking T-5 but so where can i get a good fixture. also i want to go sumpless but i also dont want hang on skimmer. so i was thinking of running a red sea berlin skimmer under the tank. i am going to run pvc through the tank to get good flow for claims and other corals . so any advice will help


thanks matt
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[cameron]

Best setup I have seen on one of these was a guy on the forums. He used Tonga branch exclusively which allowed him to put corals all over the tank on various levels. It was incredibly functional and quite beautiful.

 

[jaandgc]

I'm confused how do you plan on running a skimmer under the tank with out a sump. I don't see how that could be possible.
Jerry

 

[thekid55]

the red sea skimmer has an inlet and outlet and both can connect to a pipe. drill the tank and have water pumped down into the skimmer and pumped back up to the tank.

 

[george]

That's a risky way to set that up. You're essentially using the skimmer as a miniature sump which means that under power failure, you run the risk of making a pretty big mess since there will almost certainly be more water in the tubes than the extra room in the skimmer.

The output of the skimmer is not flooded, so your return pump will spend much of its time cavitating and probably burn out.

 

[kwl1763]

Agreed. You better at least pt it in a bucket so it can handle the flood! Even then when it does restart thought the pump will run dry and burn up!

Best to find something to use as a real sump. Even if it's a 5G bucket or rubbermaid or something like that. Either that or just use a HOT skimmer.

 

[cameron]

You can also run a sumpless skimmer. The Terminator II from DnD Marine has a sumpless kit:

http://www.danddmarine.com/Sumpless2kitpage.html">http://www.danddmarine.com/Sumpless2kitpage.html</a>

Don't know anybody who runs it though so can't vouch for its design.

 

[thekid55]

i like the 5 gal bucket idea it can fit under the stand and can handle the water. what about light i was thinking the viper HQI clamp lamp with with PCs i was thinking a 70 watt bulb with with a 50 50 96 watt PC bulb i want to get some light to the bottom.

 

[thekid55]

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[jaandgc]

I have owned a red sea skimmer so I under stand that you can hard plum it but I would think the water would just come out of the riser tube. I don't know I guess I'm missing something.
Jerry

 

[thekid55]

i dont know maybe its a really bad idea.

 

[wbholwell]

Thekid55;33849 wrote: i like the 5 gal bucket idea it can fit under the stand and can handle the water. what about light i was thinking the viper HQI clamp lamp with with PCs i was thinking a 70 watt bulb with with a 50 50 96 watt PC bulb i want to get some light to the bottom.

I've heard some very bad things about the Vipers. Do some research and read some reviews before buying this light, please.

 

[thekid55]

havent heard anything bad yet