Hello to all and thank you for taking the time to read this and reply. I tried my best to search the message boards to answer my ?'s but i've just got too many. I'm not entirely new to the FW community. I've always maintained smaller tanks with decent success. I even worked in the aquatic section of Petsmart as a teenager. I just moved from TX to AL. Instead of moving my 55g setup I decided to sell it and save myself the hassel. Now that my family and I are estalished in AL I have been looking for a new setup. Looking online at fish tank suppliers I came accross OCEA tank Mfg which is less than an hour from my house. (Any feedback about OCEA tanks?) Since it is the actual mfg plant-wholesale prices apply. I fell in love with a very nice 240g but don't have the space for it right now. Instead I was very satisfied with a 150g. It's 60 long 24 high and I think maybe 24 wide. I'm starting from complete scratch and I'm willing to spend the money to do it right. I'm intending on building a sump within the cabinet, this is something new to me but seems pretty easy. I've found in the past that I've had entirely insufficient lighting. I always opted to just buy new plants every so often than to spend the money to get a proper lighting assembly. Now, with such a large tank, there seems to be so many options. I am considering purchasing a CF set up with actinic bulbs and the moon lights at:
http://marineandreef.com/shoppro/power_HoodsMoon.
I found it by looking through these msg boards. I want to get this particular set up because in the future I wish to build a reef tank and wish to spend the $ now. If I get this set up will it be detrimental to a well planted fresh water aquarium? Do the actinic bulbs add to the overall wattage of the system? I've never owned a protein skimmer. The guy from the LFS explained the whole concept to me and I thought it was pretty amazing and would really like to get one- I have no clue which is a decent skimmer for my needs- any help? Lastly, in my 55 I had sand as the substrate- I loved it. I want to use sand again. I bought my last tank used and it already had the sand in it so I don't know what kind to get. I've read on the net that you can use HomeDepot play sand just fine- is this true? Should I buy organic sand for a freshwater tank or is it only required for salt water setups. As you can see, I have lots of ?'s. Thank you for all of your help. I just want to do it right.
http://marineandreef.com/shoppro/power_HoodsMoon.
I found it by looking through these msg boards. I want to get this particular set up because in the future I wish to build a reef tank and wish to spend the $ now. If I get this set up will it be detrimental to a well planted fresh water aquarium? Do the actinic bulbs add to the overall wattage of the system? I've never owned a protein skimmer. The guy from the LFS explained the whole concept to me and I thought it was pretty amazing and would really like to get one- I have no clue which is a decent skimmer for my needs- any help? Lastly, in my 55 I had sand as the substrate- I loved it. I want to use sand again. I bought my last tank used and it already had the sand in it so I don't know what kind to get. I've read on the net that you can use HomeDepot play sand just fine- is this true? Should I buy organic sand for a freshwater tank or is it only required for salt water setups. As you can see, I have lots of ?'s. Thank you for all of your help. I just want to do it right.
