New 90 gallon Tank.

[BORNTOFLY]

OK I am going to try to condense this in to a single thread an not spam the group. I have had a nano tank for the last 4 years but a couple of weeks ago I found a deal on a 90 gallon reef tank (48 X 18 X 24) 130watts of PC and return pump. Since then I have purchased and RO/DI system and Sand. I built a small 20 gallong refuigium which I will probably upgrade as the tank gets more stuff in it. Currentlly I have the Refugeum / Sump plumbed and water in the tank. I let the water mix with salt in the empty for several days using the return pump to create current. After a week I added sand and used a couple of clean buckets (these are only use for my tanks never washed) to mix up 20 more gallons to top off the sump and start the tank circulating in to the sump. This week I started doing water change outs on my nano using the water in the 90 gallon. My Coral in refugium has already started developing coraline on it. Yes my nano has high nitrates as my girl likes to over feed needless to say there is plenty of food for the coraline. My nano currently has 3 pieces of live Rock. Some nasty Aptasia which I am trying to kill. I managed to get rid of the big one unfortuanately that was after I changed the light and it had a chance to spawn at least five little ones in to my nano tank. Livestock wise I have two clowns, a snail, about 6 crabs and a serpant star fish. I have had several shrimp until I figured out the star fish was eating them. No more 30 dollar meals for him. I would like to move all of that to the new tank plus do some additions.

So here are the things I need and some questions.

I need to build a canopy so I can build out a good lighting system. Does anyone have any good DIY plans that would allow
for installation of MH lighting. From what I have read MH should be at least 6 inches above the water so I am going to need a pretty tail canopy

I am thinking about adding 260 more watts of Power Compacts to get me by until I can afford MH. I would have a total of 390 Watts of light on a 24" deep tank. Would this be enough light to support some corals at the top of the tank? If so what would you recomend?

I need to add bunches of rock unfortunately if I buy it locally that will be like 540 to 810 bucks for 90 pounds depending on weather I am selective. I was thinking about buying 50-100 pounds or Caribsea Almost Live Rock. It sounds like it might be a good compromise. Put 50-75 pounds in the tank with additional live rock and let it get populated with microbes over time. Since I am going to have a very low population initially and have slow growth I thought this might be a good option. I can probably afford 25 to 50 pounds of live rock if I take this route.

I have read all of the setup portions in "The Conscientious Marine Aquarist" I will be reading some more over the weekend to see they have corals in the back sections of the book. I would still enjoy hearing people thoughts as there is usually really good information shared on here.

Thanks for the help

Rick

[bertoni]

To Reef Central

Okay, the DIY forum is probably your best shot for canopy plans.

260 W of PC should support a lot of soft corals, just about any of the zooxanthellate (photosynthetically-enabled) species.

Using some of the "almost live rock" sounds fine. Lots of people do that. You could add live rock as you can afford it, but that risks an ammonia spike, etc, so I think your current idea is the better approach.

[PatMayo]

I agree with Jonathan. But whichever way you choose be cognizant of possible ammonia spikes.

Regards,

Pat

[BORNTOFLY]

Well my login has been updated so I can search the DIY forum this weekend. It is well worth the 24.00 ti support the board. Thanks guys

Rick

[Black Mammoth]

If you can't afford MH lights, you might want to check in to T-5 lights. I didn't want MH lights for several reasons. I found that T-5 lights were cheaper, more efficient, and support everything I needed. I'm not saying T-5s are better...I don't want that thread to get started I'm keep Softies, LPS, SPS, Clams, and Anenomes under this lighting. I have a 75g with 4x54 T-5 lighting. I got it from ReefGeek for $300 shipped to my door. That's even with the upgraded IceCap reflectors. I just got a 90g and I'm thinking about adding 2 more bulbs.

BTW, canopies are really easy to build. I just built a solid cherry canopy. I'm very pleased on how it turned out. Just design it yourself. IMHO the canopy designs in the DIY are pretty crappy. But that might be just me since I had something else in mind. I'm starting on a new cherry stand Oh let me say that there are some nice canopies that you will see in the DIY section, but there are no plans...just pictures

[BORNTOFLY]

I like the T-5's and the reduced cost of operation would be great. My only concern is that my tank is 24 inches deep and most say T-5's and Power Compacts don't have enough penetration power to keep things alive at the bottom of the tank. Hopefully I'll get some more input on the T-5s as they do sound good.


Rick

[bertoni]

I prefer metal halide lighting. With a good setup, it's probably as efficient as T5, if not more efficient. I haven't priced out T5 setups, though, since I haven't liked the colors. The MH might give more penetration, at a cost of less lighting in some parts of the top of the tank.