First frag!!! Broken??

[tomtoothdoc]

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you are going to need stronger light than a 2 bulb t5's....i'm guessing it's 24 watt each? the tank is fairly tall.....which means the corals are further away from the light source. the intensity drops with distance.
give us the dimensions of the tank and all the equipment you have running it at the moment and perhaps we can guesstimate what you may need.

 

[Acone15]

Ok.... My tank is 47 gallons, 36in deep. I have two t5 HO one blue one white. I'm currently building a sump, however I'm just using a hydor korilia and a hang on filter for movement. I have approximate 30 pnds of live rock in the tank, along with a cleaner shrimp and two false clowns. That's basically it. I just added a this little frag to see what happens


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[TRIGGERMAN]

Acone..you see what I was saying in the beginning about it would probably die due to insufficient light..it was not to be a dck like at 1st you thought..honestly my 1st suspicion was that usually when people start out they don't do it correctly. Most of the time it's due to an excitement to start a tank but not wanting to spend alot of cash. I knew right off the bat you would most likely not have invested in a strong light. The fact that you have such a deep tank is also a problem. I would say get a 250w halide pendant and just get another actinic bulb for that fixture and use it just as your actinic supplement. That would be the best and cheapest way to go about fixing this and you would be able to provide enough light for ANY type of coral. As I stated earlier your main concern then would be your water params keeping an eye on your calcium and magnesium. Salifert is the best test kit but they are expensive. I would say just buy salifert calcium and magnesium and get an API master saltwater kit for the rest.

 

[Acone15]

No sweat triggerman. I learn a lot everyday from this forum, I didn't take it personal. I appreciate all the help. I was looking at s metal halide pendant that clamps on the back of the tank for like 200 bucks. I prob save up for that. I'm just concerned about heat, and my electric bill.. Lol and besides how do ballast work. I don't get it. Does the ballast plug in the wall? Or do I need to hard wire into my fuze box...


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[TRIGGERMAN]

The fixture connects to a ballast which connects to a powersupply and you plug it in. Your other option as my buddy Tom mentioned which I forgot to add is T5 BUT we are talking an 8 bulb fixture since your tank is so deep. A fixture like that will most likely cost you a significant amount more and will be close to the same usage in electric..I suggested the halide pendant because you can probably get one for around 100 bucks

 

[James]

or you could go the even cheaper route and get some base rock and stack it up so that your coral frag is almost out of the water.

 

[Acone15]

Educator, it funny say that because I actually stacked my rock up and put it on top, haha well c what happens. Today it looked good.


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[TRIGGERMAN]

I pmed you all about how to build a sump did you get it?..1 more thing to keep in mind make sure you leave enough room to accomidate your skimmer if you decide to use an in sump one.

 

[Acone15]

Trigger I got the post about the 20g tank. That's what i will probably end up doing, however i will prob add a small 5g chamber for bioballs. I need to hit up petsmart to see what I can get cheap.


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[russellbravo]

bioballs are ok with lps and softies imo

but if u were to do sps, try to stay away from them.

and wut no one asked is wut kind of sps is pictured?
there are so called "beginner" sps such as montiporas that are more forgiving
than the harder to keep acroporas.

 

[tynman]

bio balls are bad for any kind of tank!!! They may work in the beging but they hold the nitrates in and then pump them back into the tank.. I would use pieces of live rock instead of bio balls... I have to agree with the other guys and say the 2 bulbs wont be good for sps even if you bring it up to the light cause you only have 1 white bulb which I dont think is enough for sps.. Look into the clip on the back LED light that might work for you better then MH cause the ele bill wont be that high cause of the uses and almost no heat from them. they my cost more at first but you dont need to replace the bulbs ever year like you do with MH and T5's. I run LED's on my tank now for about 2 months and everything is happy and growing great.. One thing before you go and spend a ton of money on this tank make sure you dont wont a bigger one cause that is the case in my house.. Started with a 29gal went to a 60 gal and now Im at a 76 gal and have no more room for a bigger one so thats it for me...

 

[knockout]

1<br>+<br> 1

 

[TRIGGERMAN]

People are going to have mixed opinions on bio balls ALWAYS so I'm not even going to get into it. BUT the most important thing is having sponges/polishing pad and a filter sock in the right places to catch the particles/detritus so they are not pumped back into your tank. Layout all depends on your skimmer whether it is in sump or hang on. In your case I would say go for a hang on like a Aqua c Remora to leave more room in your sump to work with just make sure it is rated for 100 gallons. This is what I would suggest in that scenario. A 1 micron Filter sock right underneath in the 1st chamber of your sump. A sponge inbetween 1st and second chamber. 2nd chamber 3" sand bed /live rock/ cheato. A fine sponge or fine filter polishing pad just to pick up any stray particles at the end of 2nd going into 3rd chamber. 3rd chamber just your return pump I would say something like a mag 5 would be good.

 

[TonyHNY]

I started off without a sump 10 years ago because it was so intimidiating with the plumbing....Now, after a couple of floods, i started to figure things out :splitspin It is definitely much easier running a reef tank with a sump...

Are you set on SPS? With your lighting, you could start off with some soft corals and see how that goes. On a skill level, SPS would be more like the advance people...Softies will be for beginners and lps is anywhere in between.

Your first coral may live but probably wont thrive with any colors. With low lighting, it could just go brown... if you can wait, you can check out the Marketplace and buy the items used. I bought almost 90% of my corals and equipment through the members here.

Ok.... My tank is 47 gallons, 36in deep. I have two t5 HO one blue one white. I'm currently building a sump, however I'm just using a hydor korilia and a hang on filter for movement. I have approximate 30 pnds of live rock in the tank, along with a cleaner shrimp and two false clowns. That's basically it. I just added a this little frag to see what happens


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[Acone15]

Ok I'll skip the bioballs, and get a filter sock. After doing some measurements I determined I can only fit a 10 gallon sump under my tank because the stand is so narrow. And I have to put it sideways too. Here's a pic, and ideas how to set it up, or should I go with two 5 gallon tanks which would fit a little better, however would be not a sufficiant.


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[Acone15]

I was thinking something like this


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[TRIGGERMAN]

I have given you the tools my son..now use them. lol

p.s. that sump design pic you posted totally SUCKS don't do that.