Enough lighting? and a few other questions.

[Bifferwine]

What's the link of the website?

 

[playeryhm]

Live Rock - Buy Live Rock For Sale At $2 Per Pound At Just Live Rock

 

[VAreef]

quick question, has anyone used just live rock? its a webstite for live rock. is it any good?

Not sure what you mean by just live rock. If you mean as the only filter choice then no I doubt anyone only uses LR. If you mean as a method of seeding your tank and starting it then yes. I would say lots have used just LR.

EDIT: I dunno about that site. I get iffy when they say we bring our boat out and dump new dry rock in the ocean before we remove all the live rock. You can do that in your tank. No need to involve a boat to do it for you in the ocean. Getting some dry rock and seeding with a smal amount of LR rubble etc from a LFS will do the same thing. No need to invlove the ocean.

 

[playeryhm]

ok i have one more question lol sorry, the water things at walmart where you buy a jug then you fill it up for like 30c a gallon, is that the kind of water i need to use?

 

[Bifferwine]

Yep. Just look at the label. You want to use the water that says "Prepared using reverse osmosis" or something like that.

Some people have had problems with Walmart water -- they don't seem to change their filters as often as they should, so you could be buying bad water and not know it. It would be wise to buy a TDS meter just so you know for sure. You can get a TDS meter off of Ebay for $10 to $20.

 

[playeryhm]

where would you personaly recomend getting water at?

 

[VAreef]

You can also buy Distilled water from walmart. It's pretty much the same quality as RO water. Only way to get better water is to get DI water. Be ready to pay as much as .80 a gallon for water though.

 

[Bifferwine]

With a larger tank, it's usually the best idea to just buy your own RODI unit. They can be installed under the kitchen sink, and you can get a decent one for around $100. That way you can make your own water. If you don't want to buy an RODI unit, buying at Walmart is not a bad idea -- you just need to test it. You can also buy RODI water at some grocery stores from machines. All grocery stores and Walmarts will also sell it in 1 gallon and 5 gallon jugs. Also, fish stores will sell it.

 

[bjohanson1234]

Ok, but doesn't 1 130w light put out more lumens than 1 65w light? So even if you muliply the 65w by a factor of 2 it's still lower than 1 130w bulb.

I'm more than happy to concede this point. I just want to know for sure...It's been driving me crazy and google is NOT my friend.

Honestly, I dont know the lumen output of either of the two bulbs. My quick search didnt turn up anything. The current USA site doesnt list it. Atleast I couldnt find it. I wanted to compair two of the same identical lights to see. But, I would think that it would be pretty darn close to equal.

Also, I believe that a 130w PC bulb is 4 foot and a 65 is 2 foot. So, if you think about folding the 130watter in half, it would be the same as putting 2 65 watters next to each other.

I did find this though that compares PC to t5 to MH. I believe that the guy just took some measurements. Not very scientific, but it might shed some light(:mrgreen:) on the situation

More Lumens (pc vs t5) - Reef Builders Forums

I found it interesting that 2x54 watt t5HO put out almost the same lumens as the 150 watt MH

 

[playeryhm]

do you think you could get me a link for a 100dollar ro system ive only seen ones for 190ish

 

[VAreef]

I don't have the link but search for filter direct on ebay. they have a 100gpd RO/DI unit for around 132 bucks. Not to bad considering how much water you can make with that thing and dont have to carry home from walmart.

 

[PRC]

Here's my RO/DI unit. I got mine on craigslist for $75. This is also the cheapest place I've found to buy replacement filters.

75 GPD RO/DI 4 Stage Standard System - English