Greetings,
While I have been reading these boards for nearly 6 months now, this is my first post. Before I go any further, I'll quickly introduce myself.
I am new to this hobby, all in all. As of now, I do not even have a tank up and running, but I intend to... soon. For the past 8 months, I've been reading books, asking questions at multiple LFS, reading many (many) posts here, and basically doing as much research as possible before I go into this headstong & uneducated... setting myself up for failure. I'm a biologist, by degree, but not currently employed in the bio field. As such, once I have a great amount of experience under me, I hope to indulge myself in the experimental side of marine aquaria (i.e. setting up two identical tanks with identical equipment & testing some of the more interesting ideas/theories proposed here and elsewhere). That however is going to have to wait until I am comfortable... and until I get myself out of that post-college debt (yikes!) -- so, it will likely be a while.
Anyway, I've been researching for a good long time now and I feel that I am ready to start setting up a tank. I currently own a 75g tank and a CPR BakPak 2 skimmer. Well, no one needs to tell me that skimmer won't cut it for a tank that size... I just happened to come across it used, for a price I couldn't pass up! I've been planning on setting up the 75g (with a sump underneath), but with all new equipment that would be more than enough for it's size. Unfortunatly, due to other sudden unforseen financial circumstances (not to mention the size of my apartment), I'm not going to have the ~ $1500-$2100 I would like to do things the right way I would like to for quite some time.
Not willing to give up, I've been mulling over ways that I could still get into this hobby and get myself some experience. After countless ideas, I remembered that I had that CPR and dug it out of storage to see if it was still functional, and it is. So, my new plan is to compromise and put together a smaller tank, as it will be a smaller start-up investment and I'll actually have more than adequte space for it in my apartment. It may also be beneficial for me to start out slow on, and work my way up as I gain new knowlege.
This is what I've decided on:
20g tank 24"L x 12"W x 16"H
Between 35-40 lbs of LR
CPR BakBak 2r Protein Skimmer
(no sump, as much as I'd like to)
RO/DI Unit
That's more than enough for an introduction though... moving on. :wink:
Now, my question is about that ever persistent subject, lighting. I've looked up as much information as I possibly could, and I have not come to any solid conclusion... but I do have some guesses. At any rate, I figured it couldn't hurt to ask for a little assistance from those who know the hobby way better than I do.
After reading for what I should/should not use/expect pertaining to lighting, I took a few days to 'shop around' on the internet for some fixtures that I thought would suite my needs. As much as I'd love to buy retrofit kits and the sort to make my own hood/fixture... I just don't have the experience or the tools, so I have decided to limit myself to pre-fabricated fixtured for my initial round of reefkeeping (i'd rather be a successful newbie than a newbie with a bunch of equipment I can't use). I really fell in love with one fixture, and have been unable to take my eyes off of it ever since.
I'm really taken with the Current USA Outer Orbit fixture. The specs for the model I am interested in are:
Dimensions --> 24"L x 15"W x 4.25"H
1x150W - Dual Daylight 10,000K HQI MH
2x65W - Dual Actinic 460nm & 420nm PCs
"Moon White" Lunar Lights
Microprocessor based driving system - 15% more output (if that is something more than a marketing device???)
-- 280 total watts
Each type of light is on it's own switch & power cord (for use with their own timers), a cooling fan is built into the unit, and the fixture can either mount onto the tank or be suspended above with it's included suspension system. View it here at:
http://www.current-usa.com/products/outerorbit.html
Now here is where the real question begins... will that be enough light? From what I understand, a 150w - 175w MH should be good to light approximately the first 18" of a tank's depth, with an emphasis on placing your more 'light demanding' species within the first 12". Since my planned tank would only be 16" deep (before substrate), I was hoping that this would not be a problem... but it is on the lower end of those two bulbs.
Of course, you'll say that it depends on what I plan to keep. Well, I'd like to go about this all slow with patience, so I'd be starting with just Live Rock and seeding the sand (with unknown depth as of yet). After all that is done with, however many weeks it may take, I'd like to add a pair of ocellaris (two juveniles added at the same time) as the only fish (probably). As I gain experience, and as my tank matures, I'd love to keep some soft corals or zoa's. I know that as I become more and more confident I'll want to try my hand at something else... MAYBE some SPS or clams would come into the picture (even if it is far down the line) or maybe i'll have a larger tank setup by that time with some heavy-dudy MHs running. Basically, what I'm saying is that I really don't want my lighting to limit what I can keep, only the tank's size, bioload, and my experience. Of course I'll have some kind of clean-up crew too.
That said... do you all think that will be enought light, or should I aim towards something a little better. Remember, I am slightly on a budget... but if you do suggest something else, I'm more than happy to listen. Browsing through the member tanks, I did find someone who just recently purchased a larger version of this fixture, so I do plan on getting in touch with them to see what they think too.
Thank you very much to everyone in advance for your input and your hospitality (and for putting up with all my above rambling :lol: ). I look forward to becoming a fellow reefkeeper and a contributing member of this forum and can hardly wait!
Now I'm off to research a little bit more...
-- Jamison
While I have been reading these boards for nearly 6 months now, this is my first post. Before I go any further, I'll quickly introduce myself.
I am new to this hobby, all in all. As of now, I do not even have a tank up and running, but I intend to... soon. For the past 8 months, I've been reading books, asking questions at multiple LFS, reading many (many) posts here, and basically doing as much research as possible before I go into this headstong & uneducated... setting myself up for failure. I'm a biologist, by degree, but not currently employed in the bio field. As such, once I have a great amount of experience under me, I hope to indulge myself in the experimental side of marine aquaria (i.e. setting up two identical tanks with identical equipment & testing some of the more interesting ideas/theories proposed here and elsewhere). That however is going to have to wait until I am comfortable... and until I get myself out of that post-college debt (yikes!) -- so, it will likely be a while.
Anyway, I've been researching for a good long time now and I feel that I am ready to start setting up a tank. I currently own a 75g tank and a CPR BakPak 2 skimmer. Well, no one needs to tell me that skimmer won't cut it for a tank that size... I just happened to come across it used, for a price I couldn't pass up! I've been planning on setting up the 75g (with a sump underneath), but with all new equipment that would be more than enough for it's size. Unfortunatly, due to other sudden unforseen financial circumstances (not to mention the size of my apartment), I'm not going to have the ~ $1500-$2100 I would like to do things the right way I would like to for quite some time.
Not willing to give up, I've been mulling over ways that I could still get into this hobby and get myself some experience. After countless ideas, I remembered that I had that CPR and dug it out of storage to see if it was still functional, and it is. So, my new plan is to compromise and put together a smaller tank, as it will be a smaller start-up investment and I'll actually have more than adequte space for it in my apartment. It may also be beneficial for me to start out slow on, and work my way up as I gain new knowlege.
This is what I've decided on:
20g tank 24"L x 12"W x 16"H
Between 35-40 lbs of LR
CPR BakBak 2r Protein Skimmer
(no sump, as much as I'd like to)
RO/DI Unit
That's more than enough for an introduction though... moving on. :wink:
Now, my question is about that ever persistent subject, lighting. I've looked up as much information as I possibly could, and I have not come to any solid conclusion... but I do have some guesses. At any rate, I figured it couldn't hurt to ask for a little assistance from those who know the hobby way better than I do.
After reading for what I should/should not use/expect pertaining to lighting, I took a few days to 'shop around' on the internet for some fixtures that I thought would suite my needs. As much as I'd love to buy retrofit kits and the sort to make my own hood/fixture... I just don't have the experience or the tools, so I have decided to limit myself to pre-fabricated fixtured for my initial round of reefkeeping (i'd rather be a successful newbie than a newbie with a bunch of equipment I can't use). I really fell in love with one fixture, and have been unable to take my eyes off of it ever since.
I'm really taken with the Current USA Outer Orbit fixture. The specs for the model I am interested in are:
Dimensions --> 24"L x 15"W x 4.25"H
1x150W - Dual Daylight 10,000K HQI MH
2x65W - Dual Actinic 460nm & 420nm PCs
"Moon White" Lunar Lights
Microprocessor based driving system - 15% more output (if that is something more than a marketing device???)
-- 280 total watts
Each type of light is on it's own switch & power cord (for use with their own timers), a cooling fan is built into the unit, and the fixture can either mount onto the tank or be suspended above with it's included suspension system. View it here at:
http://www.current-usa.com/products/outerorbit.html
Now here is where the real question begins... will that be enough light? From what I understand, a 150w - 175w MH should be good to light approximately the first 18" of a tank's depth, with an emphasis on placing your more 'light demanding' species within the first 12". Since my planned tank would only be 16" deep (before substrate), I was hoping that this would not be a problem... but it is on the lower end of those two bulbs.
Of course, you'll say that it depends on what I plan to keep. Well, I'd like to go about this all slow with patience, so I'd be starting with just Live Rock and seeding the sand (with unknown depth as of yet). After all that is done with, however many weeks it may take, I'd like to add a pair of ocellaris (two juveniles added at the same time) as the only fish (probably). As I gain experience, and as my tank matures, I'd love to keep some soft corals or zoa's. I know that as I become more and more confident I'll want to try my hand at something else... MAYBE some SPS or clams would come into the picture (even if it is far down the line) or maybe i'll have a larger tank setup by that time with some heavy-dudy MHs running. Basically, what I'm saying is that I really don't want my lighting to limit what I can keep, only the tank's size, bioload, and my experience. Of course I'll have some kind of clean-up crew too.
That said... do you all think that will be enought light, or should I aim towards something a little better. Remember, I am slightly on a budget... but if you do suggest something else, I'm more than happy to listen. Browsing through the member tanks, I did find someone who just recently purchased a larger version of this fixture, so I do plan on getting in touch with them to see what they think too.
Thank you very much to everyone in advance for your input and your hospitality (and for putting up with all my above rambling :lol: ). I look forward to becoming a fellow reefkeeper and a contributing member of this forum and can hardly wait!
Now I'm off to research a little bit more...
-- Jamison
