new tank

[kyle]

ok so i desided to set up my first reef tank. I saw this this 55 gallon tank and stand at the store, and I really like it. So I thought if i bought it i would make a reef tank out of it.

so my plans are to use 70 pounds of live rock. 5 inch DSB, I wanna use aragonite sand any thoughts on that. I am goin to run my corallife super skimmer 24/7 for best results. I am gong to run my rena canister filter 1 day a week just to polish the water. For lights I am going to get 2 ESU Corallife 48" Aqualight t-5 double linear striplight. any thoughts on these lights,this is a link to them
http://www.aquariumadvice.com/review...owproduct.php?
product=191&cat=5&limit=recent&date=1135760375

the tank is 18"tall 48" long and I cant remember but i think its ether 12" or 14
wide
i want to be able to house nems LSP and SPS and some softys. So what are ur guys thought

oh yea i was also looking at RO units at canadian tirehttp://www.canadiantire.ca/browse/product_detail.jsp?FOLDER%3C%3Efolder_id=140847439 6674305&bmUID=1209419085073&PRODUCT%3C%3Eprd_id=84 5524442154151&assortment=primary&fromSearch=true

[Bifferwine]

The link to the lights doesn't work, but if it's a "double linear strip light", I'm guessing that's 4 T5 bulbs, which should be okay.

That's a standard 55 gallon tank size, and 4 T5 bulbs would be okay for softies and LPS, SPS would need to be placed at the top of the tank. Anemones are iffy with those lights though. I kept a BTA under 4 T5 bulbs, but that's still on the low end. In short, those lights will be fine for pretty much everything as long as your are careful about placement, but anemones usually don't do well in reef tanks anyways since they tend to move around and kill any corals they touch.

Also, the link to the RO unit doesn't work either, it doesn't bring me to any RO unit, just the homepage of the site.

[kyle]

stupid links oh well. the fixture i tryed to link has 2 bulb and i was goin to buy 2 fixture, so there is a total of 4 bulbs. ill try and get those links.

[kyle]

lights
http://www.aquariumadvice.com/review... e=1135760375 if it doesnt work copy and paste lol

[kyle]

RO unit
http://www.canadiantire.ca/browse/product_detail.jsp?FOLDER%3C%3Efolder_id=140847439 6674305&bmUID=1209419085073&PRODUCT%3C%3Eprd_id=84 5524442154151&assortment=primary&fromSearch=true

[lightcs4]

The link to the lights was just broken into two lines. I clicked on the first line, then pasted the second line to the end of the first in the browser.

I don't have *any* experience with the T5s (I'm waiting until the fall as to spread out the costs a bit), but I would suggest looking at more lighting. The one the link leads to has one 28 watt 10,000 K and one 28 watt actinic bulb. I think you will find it difficult or impossible to keep corals, although you would be fine for fish only. There are some threads here that provide some great advice on lighting for whatever you are looking to keep in your tank. Can someone else verify this?

For the record, here is the description from the site:

Corallife's new 48" T-5 dual-tube striplight for marine aquariums. The Aqualight T-5 features a power switch, a built-in electronic ballast, sleek black aluminium housing (46.25"L x 3"W x 1"H), a highly-polished reflector, acrylic lens cover and adjustable width tank mounts. Included with the light are one 28W 10,000K Daylight and one 28W True Actinic 03 Blue fluorescent tubes.

[Bifferwine]

Those bulbs are not typical 48 inch T5 bulbs at 28 watts each. I've always seen 48 inch T5 bulbs be 54 watts each. If those are only 28 watts each, then lightcs4 is right, you will need at least twice as much light as you're planning on.

[kyle]

interesting. guess i will have to look in to that thank you

[reeffreak]

Coralife only makes normal output T5 fixtures and not T5-HO fixtures the last time I checked..Those aren't much better than regular florescent bulbs that come stocked in new aquariums.

[kyle]

that proably explains why they were so cheap