help

A

adam2013

Reefing newb
im planning on changing my 5 foot long 2 foot high. 18inch back to front tropical tank to marine.
ive done some research and am going to run a sump under the tank a 90litre sump with a protien skimmer. 3 parts the first being wool foam sponges and bio balls for heavy waste the second being live sand and live rock and the third being that plant/moss stuff still need some research on that. i plan on having some coral the easyer types to keep for the fish to have a place to hide i was wondering what lights im going to need as im going to have to build a decent lid. if some one serious can tell me the perks and bad points on the sump and help with the light. also if you could provide a email i can contact you on if i need to know anything this will be great. is there anything ive missed out
 
I'd skip the bioballs and stick with all live rock.

There's loads of information on this site... check out the stickies.

Welcome!
 
First off, welcome aboard.
Ok, i seen you wanna run corals, so honestly stay away from the bio balls. They are good for catching detrius and letting it rot slowly giving you spikes in trates.

The sump is one of the best things you can do. You can store everything in there instead of in your dt(display tank). This will include heaters protein skimmer, more lr(live rock) and more added volumn of water which keepw your parameters stable.

Led lighting is far above anything else out there imho. You can control them to what you want and have any coral in your tank. So the sky is the limit. Check out rapidled,reefbreeders, radions, and kessil lighting to get you started. These are all trusted led lighting here.

You can pm anyone you want to on the fourm, giving out email address and phone #'s isnt a common practice but people here are more than happy to assist you with your questions. Good luck
 
welcome aboard, I agree with ditching bioballs but otherwise sounds like a good plan. The filter floss will need to be changed rather frequently just FYI. Do you have any plans for a cover? You don't want something too tight fitting that impedes gas exchange at the surface.

As far as lights go you will get 100 different answers. Until the cost of LEDs come down I stick with T5 and MH. That's the tried and true method for me
 
Welcome aboard!
I prefer LED lighting because of how often you have to replace bulbs on Metal Halide and T5 fixtures. LED also produce much less heat. My tank is a nice constant 78 without having to use a chiller. Good stuff. :)
 
Ok great thanks for the answers. I see people here have a lot of knowledge Also what lights do people think ill need for corals? To keep them healthy also to start a tank up my tanks all ready mature could I use the water that's in it now and get my sump up and running and add salt? I'm a serious novice to marine and I see this site is very helpful. I've seen a 4 foot light on ebay with twin t5 lights by the looks of it there's 3 white tubes and 1 blue. How often do these bulbs need replacing and prices? Also are leds really expencive don't suppose you could send me a link perhaps thanks again people
 
+1 chichi, i use the kessil a360w fully programmable. I like that i can walk away and know what is happening in my tank, but that is a different post.
Expect 120 bucks on a 4 bulb every 6 months, a year tops. Yes led light (the right ones) are expensive, but they are good for 10yrs+.
I loved the t5 lighting until i ran the kessils, i didnt know it would get better but it does.
 
Here's a good general run down of lighting for you https://www.livingreefs.com/lighting-101-a-t41427.html

For bulbs, the better quality T5 will last you 8-12 months and MH about 12 months.

The "heat" issue with MH is really debatable, I had the nano cube with 150w MH and with the fully sealed lid never had temp swings nor did my tank run higher then 79. Also I've been trying to read up on the LEDs and fixtures running improper heat syncs or ones that are too small can get just as hot as an MH fixture. As far as life life span claims, those are numbers from the actual LED manufacturer. Those lifespan numbers aren't as long depending on the wattage they're actually run at, whether they're over driven, and the driver used. Not to mention, there are no studies out yet to show just how long the LED will last, when or if the diodes lose their intensity, and whether the diodes shift spectrum as they age.

This probably gets too into the weeds and I'm not saying LEDs aren't viable at this point in time but, they are still plenty of things that are over looked with them simply because the manufacturer puts out claims of 10,000-50,000 hours.
 
I love my LEDs and for years I had full love for my MH/T5....If it weren't for the cost of the bulbs and the reduced pricing available for the LEDs I would still use them, the MH/T5s are amazing lights....If not for the bulbs and the heat I would never have changed...I know my bulb / light combination that always grew amazing SPS with freak colors....
 
No doubt all three (MH, T5, LED) are proven to grow coral. I had great growth under my Metal Halide. It was just like having a heater going in the room. It was either invest in a chiller or go LED.
 

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