oppinions and advice needed

[JellyMan]

The worst part about it due to the fact that no one wants to take the time to be patient enough for it to fully evolve into a well managed ecosystem it does take time but in the end is well worth it keep us posted on how it is going.

[yote]

Finilly got the wife talked into ordering my lights,skimmer,heater,and powerheads. Now just have on W-2s and rapid refund

[Bifferwine]

Yay yote! Keep us updated on how it goes...

[JellyMan]

I feel your pain yote thats what Im waiting on to get my sump, lights, rock and overflow kit.

[bobby]

Sounds good. I have to agree on the canisters though other than that sounds good. Take it slow and easy. Also I have a 5 year old girl so I know how that is. LOL Good luck and keep us posted.

[AndyB4784]

make sure that the t5 fixture has individual reflectors. The reflectors are what gives the t5 the ability to penetrate the water and remain energy efficient. If you haven't already ordered i'd look into a Tek lighting fixture from sunlight supply (prob the best T5 fixture on the market). also the coralife skimmer is pretty tricky to adjust but i've heard nothing but good things about it after you get it all tuned in. oh yea and if you get the canister filter just run carbon in it as it will trap gunk and increase nitrates.

good luck with your tank.

Andy

[yote]

I'll check into the tek fixture.I already thought about the individual reflectors,I can get sone mirror polished stainless at work and roll it to make reflectors for each bulb so thats not a problem either.
I had thought about running the canister just for some extra water flow and a place to run carbon and phos-ban. But will probably end up just hiding 3 or 4 maxi-jets. I trying to keep it to where the only things you can see in tha tank are the fish and corals

[AndyB4784]

I would just be worried about the amount of space in between the bulbs will allow for the individual reflectors to be inserted in the way that you are thinking. Sunlight supply relfectors take up quite a bit of room so it will be less bulbs but more lumens per watt making it into the tank. I've already upgraded once so i've got about 300 extra dollars spent on my lighting that didn't need to be spent. just keep this in mind. i'd say that the SS tek 4bulb would be better to light your tank than the 8 bulb nova.

[AndyB4784]

oh yea, you will probably save the extra money that you spend on the tek light vs the nova in about a year with the savings on your electric bill .

[Bifferwine]

When I upgraded from a standard single-bulb flourescent strip light (when I had fish only) to the Nova T5s I did not see one bit of difference in my electric bill. In fact I was really surprised at how efficient they were (one of the reasons I picked T5s over M.H.).