A New Beginning

reeffreak

reeffreak

Reef pro
Hello to all,
Not exactly a newbie to reefkeeping,but I feel theirs still alot to learn.Let me start off by saying.Several years ago my company moved,at the time I couldn't bring my 72 bowfront with me.I sold everything I could and what I couldn"t went to the LFS.(damn I regret that...ah well)

So here I am ready to get my feet wet again...went to the LFS and purchase
a 75Gal.I wanted to go bigger but I remember all to well how expensive this hobby can be.I'm planning on keeping softies and some LPS coral so here is my question to anybody who can help me.

1.Lighting...which is better 4x65w Pc's or 4x54w T-5's

2.Anybody uses the Marineland Tidepool wet/dry filter...how is it...any input would help

3.Anybody purchase live rock from liveaquaria.com..wanted to know if anyone purchase their Lalo live rock(kinda tired of the Fiji stuff).Are they as beautiful as the picture make them out to be.

THANxs everyone
 
1. Go t5 PC's just don't have the penetration that a quality t5 fixture will provide.

2. instead of the wet dry why not go for a refugium style sump.

3. never gotten rock from live aquaria but have been happy with the corals that i have purchased from them. nothing like picking your own pieces at the LFS though IMO. the lalo rock looks nice though. I personaly like the hatian live rock but caribean rock is notorious for hitch hikers.

4. good luck with the new tank.
 
who makes quality T-5 fixtures?

I was thinking of the Tidepool because it seems like easier mantenience than a typical wet/dry..no bio-balls just pullout trays.A refugium huh..maybe a hang on
later down the road.........still deciding though
 
I seen those NovaEtreme at Thatpetplace even cheaper so maybe I will go with those.Those are the only ones I've seen..who else sells T-5 fixtures besides
Current?

Bifferwine are they as bright as Pc's and thanks for the response.Even after all these years I still get confused:frustrat:
 
I've never had PCs, but from what I've seen in stores, I'd say the T5s are brighter. I have my tank in my dining room, and the wall, windows and front door are opposite it, about 15 feet away. If you leave the blinds open and drive up to my house at night, my whole front yard is lit up blue... So yeah, they're pretty bright. The next gift for my tank is a set of reflectors for the bulbs...
 
make sure that you get a quality reflector. T5's bulbs need them to effectively penetrate the water. w/out them you get less than 50% of the useable light into the tank.
 
Welcome to the site. T-5's will do it for you as long as your water collum is not over apprx. 18" deep. The t5's allow you to put more bulbs over the tank. just a thought. welcome and good luck. keep us posted and some pics when you get some progress.
 
Andy those Tek lights look stylish...but they didn't seem any option for mounting except hanging

I went ahead and ordered the Current and Ice cap reflectors
sure can't wait to set it up this weekend because I'm too broke to do anything else...I just enough money for saltwater and sand to set up the tank this weekend...probabably ordering live rock on Monday(recommendations be appreciated):^:

...and thanks again everyone who responded

oh and by the way the LFS store has terrible live rock here
 
When I set up a new tank..in the past I would use tapwater(declorinated of course)to makeup saltwater,let it run for a couple days,put in my liverock and let it cycle for 2 to 3 weeks.When ammonia and nitrite is near zero I do a 50% waterchange with water from A not so local fishstore(Its in Nashville..around 50 miles away or so.)

...is this a good idea?
 
You can get ro/di water at wally world for around 33 cents a gallon.Or get the distilled water ( which is what I use ) . Kinda a pain to but better than driving from Clarksville to Nashville for it.
 
I don't see a big problem with starting with tap water... Make sure you treat it and then change a lot of it and use RO from then on.
 
Yote I do the same thing kinda,I used their RO/distilled water but for evaporation purpose only.I hate making up saltwater figure once every other month make a run to Aquatic Critter(Nashville)and purchase enough saltwater for waterchanges a couple of months.I guess that why Refugium seems to be the IN thing to do to reduce nitates these days.

What ever happen to The plenum system?
Oh The Aquatic Critter in Nashville has excellent water by the way
 
Hello nice to meet you, welcome to the reefs keep us updated on your progress if you have any concerns dont hesitate to ask. :Buds:
 
Update:Tank is up and running
Wasn't able to order that Lalo liverock from Liveaquaria,they didn't have any and couldn't give me any time frame on when they would get more.Instead I ordered 50lbs of Ualiva rock from Saltycritter and if they look good I'll order more.Back with pics in a few days.
 
Worst week ever!!!!!!!!!

Where do I start...MY rocks arrived earlier last week and FedEx totally screwed them up.They called me Wednesday morning informing me that the box had broken somewhere in transit and ask me what I wanted to do with them.I went to there office and the only thing I saw was my rocks in a plastic bag....it didn't look good kids.I called Saltycritter and told to go ahead and accept it and if the rocks don't survive they would refund my money.Two days later the rocks turned completely white.

they did refund my money and I'm greatful for that.

Also....
My lights shipped damaged and I didn't notice it at first..so I had to return those
went ahead and gotten the 8x54w fixture instead...maybe overkiill I don't know...I could always take a couple of them out right?

Back to square one...sigh!!!
 
Yeah, my T5s shipped broken the first time too. Sorry to hear about your rock. Things will work out, it'll just take longer than you planned :).
 

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