50/50 idea

For filtration would a protein skimmer rated for 100g with a magnum 350 and another big canister i find on ebay work? instead of a $500 turf scrubber and a power filter?
 
all_or_nothin said:
would this be good? are blue LEDs really neccary?
Click to expand...

Here is the photosynthetic spectrum chart. Corals utilize the Chlorophyll B area more efficiently than any other. 400-500nm wavelength is in the blue spectrum, where the Chlorophyll B peak is... so short answer, yes, Blues are VERY important for corals.
absorbance-wavelength.png


A protein skimmer rated for 100G most of the time is really rated for around 50G. Then on top of that, 50G usually means light-medium bio-load. If you put any type of predator in the tank, the bio-load goes up to "heavy" (they poop a lot).

Canister filters are more of a pain than they are worth in SW. They require at least weekly cleaning, meaning tearing them all down and scrubbing them clean, and rinsing out sponges really good. Media Rectors work much better, don't require constant cleaning, and don't become waste traps like canisters do.
 
Alright so what wattage/lumens (or whatever you measure leds in) would i need for this tank? i saw a thing with 225 led's white and blue for around 40 on ebay and a link is in my marine diy forum and the thread is named; Reccommended?
 
Those LEDs are only 1/4 watt LEDs. Those are used for moonlights (although not that many LEDs for moonlights) but they can not be used as a main light for corals. They simply do not put out enough intensity for corals. The bare minimum you want on an LED light is 1w LEDs, although most people, myself included, use 3w LEDs.

That light states it uses 13.8w of power. As a comparison, my 24 LED light on my 29G tank, using 3w LEDs, takes about 120w of power. Big difference between 13.8w and 120w.

All that said.. what you could do is buy the Aquatraders MH light you first looked at for the "coral side" of your tank, and get one of those cheap LED lights for the other side. That sounds like a pretty good plan to me.
 
alright i already got the other side with the standard lights that came with it. i ordered some big al stuff
160g bucket of salt mix-instant ocean
some marine food pellets
a 600gph maxi jet pump
a 1200gph maxi jet pump
and some phosphate,nitrate, and nitrite filter media

Im gonna order live rock from live rock ranch after i get the water in it and all that good stuff. I think im gonna hold off on the light until im about to put coral in it and i think im just gonna go with T5 stuff then maybe Led's after a while. So what im thinkin is a hob protein skimmer from the LFS, the magnum 350 i already have, and a fx5? maybe if i can find one. ill look into that media reactor but not right now probaly. I looked on big als and i couldnt find one.. Do you have a resource for media reactors?
 
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