A couple of quick questions reg. SW tanks and lighting.
Hi guys, just found this great place. Looks to be a great source of info and haven't stopped reading on here for almost 2 hrs. now !!
I have a couple of questions reg. my new SW tank I'm about to setup. First, my dad has always been a SW lover and ever since I can remember, he's had them, but he's always used undergravel filtration and that's it. Knowing that most of my LFS's have said that it's "old school" to do so and not as stable as the new systems, I've purchased a few things.. here's my setup list.
40g glass tank with stand, but no big hood, just a simple 36" long single NO tube setup for lighting.
1 ViaAqua 263gph Canister filter with bio media and a charcoal unit.
1 ViaAqua Skimmer with the UV setup.
1 Rio 200 and 1 Rio600 for circulation
1 150w Titanium heater.
about 50lbs of #5 coral and about 20lbs. of live sand.
40lbs. of lace-rock to use as a base to build my little empire of enimees and some live coral etc..
enough RO and Instant Ocean to set it all up..
From the above setup, you probably guess what my 2 questions are going to be.. LIGHTING and FILTRATION..
FILTRATION: I have enough GPH, but my question is, out of the 4 LFS, 2 told me not to use the charcoal section, and 2 told me to use the charcoal section.
My thoughts were that I've heard that charcoal takes out the hard minerals but also the trace elements as well..2 said it's not needed...2 said yes...
What do you guys think about using the charcoal all the time?
LIGHTING:Yes, my lighting sucks, just 1 T8 or T12 bulb... so I want to go PC on my setup... I don't mind cutting some wood and making a simple hood and since I'm a computer/electronics engineer, I don't mind doing a DIY setup..but my question is this..
How much should I use and where to buy??? 3 of the LFS's said to use 2x55's and 1lfs said to use 4x36 units !!!
The only place I could find for DIY units is.. http://www.ahsupply.com/
Are their prices resonable ???
Thanks for all your help everyone.
Jason
Hi guys, just found this great place. Looks to be a great source of info and haven't stopped reading on here for almost 2 hrs. now !!
I have a couple of questions reg. my new SW tank I'm about to setup. First, my dad has always been a SW lover and ever since I can remember, he's had them, but he's always used undergravel filtration and that's it. Knowing that most of my LFS's have said that it's "old school" to do so and not as stable as the new systems, I've purchased a few things.. here's my setup list.
40g glass tank with stand, but no big hood, just a simple 36" long single NO tube setup for lighting.
1 ViaAqua 263gph Canister filter with bio media and a charcoal unit.
1 ViaAqua Skimmer with the UV setup.
1 Rio 200 and 1 Rio600 for circulation
1 150w Titanium heater.
about 50lbs of #5 coral and about 20lbs. of live sand.
40lbs. of lace-rock to use as a base to build my little empire of enimees and some live coral etc..
enough RO and Instant Ocean to set it all up..
From the above setup, you probably guess what my 2 questions are going to be.. LIGHTING and FILTRATION..
FILTRATION: I have enough GPH, but my question is, out of the 4 LFS, 2 told me not to use the charcoal section, and 2 told me to use the charcoal section.
My thoughts were that I've heard that charcoal takes out the hard minerals but also the trace elements as well..2 said it's not needed...2 said yes...
What do you guys think about using the charcoal all the time?
LIGHTING:Yes, my lighting sucks, just 1 T8 or T12 bulb... so I want to go PC on my setup... I don't mind cutting some wood and making a simple hood and since I'm a computer/electronics engineer, I don't mind doing a DIY setup..but my question is this..
How much should I use and where to buy??? 3 of the LFS's said to use 2x55's and 1lfs said to use 4x36 units !!!
The only place I could find for DIY units is.. http://www.ahsupply.com/
Are their prices resonable ???
Thanks for all your help everyone.
Jason
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