looking for help

[newbiebob]

ok guys looking at starting 3 tanks one is 37 wide 34 deep 30 high all centimeters here approx 8 gallons will have 3x 24 watt compact flouresent next tank is 44 wide 44 deep and 41 high approx 17 gallons will have 3 x 36 watt compact flourecent the third is 120 long 50 deep water level 60 but tank is 70 high and is 79 gallons which will have 2 x 250 metal halid plus 2 x blue moon which i persume is for night time ??? what sort f flow do i need for these tanks the largest could have 2 fluvel 304 on as i have them i also have 2 x 402 power heads all 3 tanks i want as live rock live sand filtration only ant pointers let me know please

[Avi]

Let's start off with the 79-gallon tank. I'd recommend that you have at least 100-pounds of live rock in there. The flow should be somewhere in the neighborhood of 30X the 79-gallons. So, figure out the gph of the sump/tank circulation. It's most likely going to be about 600gph, so you can put a Seio 820 on either end and you should be fine. There are other ways to get to that kind of flow, but the Seios should do fine.

As for the smaller tank, vis-s-vis an 8-gallon tank, you can use some smaller powerheads of about 150gph each and for the 17-gallon tank, maybe two Maxijet 900s. Putting Hydor water deflectors on them would be a bit unsightly but that would give you excellent flow quality.

[newbiebob]

thanx avi posed same on a uk site never got an answer im really sh**ing my pants on this lot done freshwater for years but im told this is the big boy stuff and its hard to get info in the uk in my area shops are so busy my halide unit is second hand works ok but no idea on hieght from surface or wot times to use it and it has 2 blue moons on it timed seperate from halides so do i use them at night ?? or just leave those on
im hoping by doing all 3 tanks together i can get smaller bits of rock from my order for them

[Avi]

Originally posted by newbiebob
thanx avi posed same on a uk site never got an answer im really sh**ing my pants on this lot done freshwater for years but im told this is the big boy stuff and its hard to get info in the uk in my area shops are so busy

I, too, have had freshwater for a very long time. But, reefs aren't all that daunting. You just have learn the basics before moving into it. After that there's still tons to learn but you can do that while you have the reef up and going...in your case, three. Bob, you can do a little bathroom reading here:

http://www.reefcentral.com/modules.p...showpage&pid=1
so you don’t ***t your pants.

Originally posted by newbiebob
my halide unit is second hand works ok but no idea on hieght from surface or wot times to use it and it has 2 blue moons on it timed seperate from halides so do i use them at night ?? or just leave those on
im hoping by doing all 3 tanks together i can get smaller bits of rock from my order for them

Well, there are a lot of possibilities. I have a metal halide fixture on my tank. I keep a glass cover on my reef so that the jumpers don’t get out. The fixture is raised above on 2.5 inch legs. I’d elevate it a bit off the top of the tank and have a fan blow across the top of the tank if you don’t want to use glass. That’d prevent a good deal of heat transfer. I assume you are talking about lunar lights…very dim blue LEDs. I have them on my tank and I keep them lit overnight, when the other lights are off. Some people recommend that you keep metal halides on only six hours or so. I keep mine on for ten hours a day. I think there’s a lot of play on that. Three reefs…you dawg.