more noob questions..

[mysslyss06]

im reading alot and so im going to have a ton of ?? for you guys.. im going to post up wha i ave now and will add to this thread as i go

1. when you do a water change how much and how many times a month.. im asking you what you do not what i should do.. jst tring to get a idea.

2. if i have t5's o a 40breeder will it be good for softies and maybe lps? its a two bulb fixture and its a 36"

3. im wanting alot or gobies and blennies can tis work?

 

[sprinklerman500]

I would do a 15 to 20 percent water change every week.If your fixture is a 4 or 6 bulb fixture it will be fine as long as you keep your bulbs new!You dont want to overstock your tank,maybe a couple of each,if you do water changes every week 3 or 4 of each might work but you will have a heavy bioload.Happy Reefing.

 

[mysslyss06]

barry_keith;764212 wrote: 1. I do a 10% weekly water change.

2. Does the fixture have individual reflectors? Also any idea on what type of bulbs or their spectrum? I don't think you would have a problem with growing softies and LPS. 40b are wide and a 4 bulb fixture would be better but I think you can pull it off. You may just need to play with the placement of the corals at first.

3. They're both cool but some can be territorially. Find a few you're interested in a do some research to see how they do together and other peoples experience with them

tank you for not telling me what ou would do or what i should do.. what size tank do you have? we will upgrade when we can.. its hard to pick a few lol.. guess ill just have to set up both tanks!!!!

Edit:

sprinklerman500;764203 wrote: I would do a 15 to 20 percent water change every week.If your fixture is a 4 or 6 bulb fixture it will be fine as long as you keep your bulbs new!You dont want to overstock your tank,maybe a couple of each,if you do water changes every week 3 or 4 of each might work but you will have a heavy bioload.Happy Reefing.

thank you for your reply

 

[rdnelson]

Good advice above. What I should do and what I actually do are pretty close. I should do a 10% water change every week. I try do stick to that but once in a while I miss a week. Because I know my habits, I pretty much make myself do once a week. If I start to think I can get away with 2 weeks all the time, pretty soon it will be 3 weeks, then 4 weeks, then......

As for the light, they are the easiest thing to change after the fact but they are also the most expensive. In most cases, people think "I just want a couple of simple, easy to care for coral". Then they hook is set and now they want everything including anemones for their clowns. For that reason, I would be prepared to look at new lighting down the road a bit.

 

[mysslyss06]

rdnelson99;764234 wrote:
As for the light, they are the easiest thing to change after the fact but they are also the most expensive. In most cases, people think "I just want a couple of simple, easy to care for coral". Then they hook is set and now they want everything including anemones for their clowns. For that reason, I would be prepared to look at new lighting down the road a bit.

would t5 lightig be ok tho?

 

[johniii]

T5 will be great but 2 bulbs mau not be enough

 

[mysslyss06]

JohnIII;764246 wrote: T5 will be great but 2 bulbs mau not be enough

would it be ok to start off with?

 

[eagle9252]

10% +/- a week here. I did 10gal on my 75 and 15gal on my 120.

as for the lights. u dont need them for FOWLR. save up and get the fixture you need as most of the time you dont get the money back that you spent.

 

[mysslyss06]

eagle9252;764254 wrote: 10% +/- a week here. I did 10gal on my 75 and 15gal on my 120.

as for the lights. u dont need them for FOWLR. save up and get the fixture you need as most of the time you dont get the money back that you spent.

its not going to be a fowlr it will be a reef tank..

Edit: can any one point me in the way to become a member?

 

[elfloyd]

http://www.atlantareefclub.org/forums/arcsignup.php">http://www.atlantareefclub.org/forums/arcsignup.php</a>


Welcome!!!!

 

[johniii]

If you are gonna do a reef and need a better fixture go with led.

The member modifieds get good reviews as do the eshines

 

[dine]

if it is a reef tank we need to know a few things.

what types of corals are you wanting to keep? that will help us answer your question

my general feeling is 2 bulbs will not be enough. your going to need more light then that for most coral and a lot more light then that for sps and clams.

that being said t5, halide, and led are all viable options. dont let anyone tell you one is significantly better then the other. they all have their pros and cons. if there was one best option we wouldnt have so many choices

 

[rdnelson]

I had a 35 gal (36" long) and used 6 T5 lamps. I had great growth on all of my coral. I just moved up to that 125 gal tank so rather than try to find some combination of T5 lamps that would work on a 6' tank, I opted to go with LED. It isn't cheap but, considering you will need to change T5 lamps every 6-12 months it doesn't take long before the LED lights pay for themselves.

 

[eagle9252]

mysslyss06;764258 wrote: its not going to be a fowlr it will be a reef tank..

Edit: can any one point me in the way to become a member?

remember take it SLOW...

The reason I said treat it as a FOWLR is that you need to cycle the tank first. This can/should be done without lights. Lights on while doing this will grow GHA, trust me I know. Oh and it needs to be in the correct spectrum. After it cycles you can add a couple of reef safe fishes. Fish don’t need lights but it makes them and the tank LQQK much better. Now after you have had time to think of what you want and have gotten them add the lights that you have chosen and slowly add a couple of corals.

I know you did not ask for this but….

Also don’t take a short cut and get dry sand use NEW live sand. Its 40.00 for 40 pounds dry or 25 for 20 pounds of live sand. With dry it’s so dusty and takes forever to clean and it seems to get a diatom bloom worse and faster than the live. Also if you get used IMO don’t. It will be full of nitrates and will take forever to clean. Been there done that had the nasty sand storm to prove it.

Now for the kind of sand. Everybody sales the Fiji pink but I think it’s too fine. In my upgrade I went with the special reef grade sand. That’s the dry type’s name. I can’t remember the live sand name. Marine design and Sea Atlanta are the only 2 places that I found that stocked it. The latter was cheaper but I found that out later after I had bought 120lbs of live sand.

 

[mysslyss06]

Dine;764269 wrote: if it is a reef tank we need to know a few things.

what types of corals are you wanting to keep? that will help us answer your question

my general feeling is 2 bulbs will not be enough. your going to need more light then that for most coral and a lot more light then that for sps and clams.

that being said t5, halide, and led are all viable options. dont let anyone tell you one is significantly better then the other. they all have their pros and cons. if there was one best option we wouldnt have so many choices

did you not see it in my first post lol. just zoas and mushrooms and some lps

Edit:

rdnelson99;764270 wrote: I had a 35 gal (36" long) and used 6 T5 lamps. I had great growth on all of my coral. I just moved up to that 125 gal tank so rather than try to find some combination of T5 lamps that would work on a 6' tank, I opted to go with LED. It isn't cheap but, considering you will need to change T5 lamps every 6-12 months it doesn't take long before the LED lights pay for themselves.

well the reason i ask is i have a t5 lamp here.. but that is somethig to think about

 

[frantz]

You could always run the t5's and also get a smaller strip of LEDs, a hybrid lighting setup that can be a cheaper way into the world of coral. Lighting is expensive for sure! but you need good stuff for more than just your viewing pleasure

 

[ralph atl]

Welcome!

 

[rdnelson]

Frantz has a good idea there. For now, the 2 lamp T5 will get you buy as long as you put low light corals at the top of the tank. Just be prepared to upgrade in the near future and take some time to think about how you want to upgrade. If you try to go too cheap up front, you will cost yourself more in the long run. While there are a lot of people on this site who seem to be able to drop a small fortune on a whim, most of us have to do this on a budget. If you were to come check out my tank and ask me how everything went together you would find I did it on a shoe string budget. Lots of home made stuff and lots of trades.

 

[sprinklerman500]

Dont buy any thing cheap!I learned the hard way!

 

[mysslyss06]

Ok do I just got my hob filters in the mail but have a problem they won't fit over the sides of the tank. The lip on the inside of the trim is in the way can we cut that out a Lil so they will fit?