90 gal finally up and running!

[Wasga]

Well, I finally got my 90 gallon up and running. I decided to go with the Caribsand instead of the "Play sand". The play sand looked a little too yellow for my taste.i got a 40# bag of the Caribsand for $32, so I didn't think that it was enough of a savings to risk the unknown of play sand. I am planning on just a FOWLR for now. Can someone give me input on the lighting? I was thinking of going with just a 2 bulb flouresent fixture. One anctic and one daylight. Would that work? Is lighting a big issue when cycling a tank? i have no lights on it now but my desk lamp is near the tank. i can move it so it shines right in the tank if needed.
I also got an All-Glass Aquarium 300 watt submersable heater. Any coments on that?
I have the Emporer 400 powerfilter running and I have to say, its a bit loud. but it does move a lot of water.
Throw me some input.
Thanks.

 

[Bobindy1]

The only thing I would do differently than what you plan (and I by no Means pretend that I know what is the "right" thing to do) is use 2 - same or lower wattage heaters spaced a little apart. I am doing this in my first just getting started 46gal (I'm a total newb). I live in Michigan too and winters here are coooold. If one heater fails in the middle of the night, my fish would be ice-skating by morning LOL just a back-up precaution cause I'm a worry-wort. Yes, I'm the same person who was complaining the other day about not being able to keep my temp LOW enough!!! I can't think of any reason how this could be detrimental (though someone may correct me) , if the thermostats on both function well, each will have less work to do.

Good LUCK!!!! Keep us posted on your progress.

 

[butterflylove]

i have a 55 gal that has been up and running since feb, and i also have 2 heaters in it, one at each end. i have livebearers, and their fry in there, so i like to keep it kind of warm for their growth and so they will drop the babies. i keep both of them set at a low temp of about 72, and my thermoniter says it just a little over 78. but be very careful when adjusting them. my water got a little too cool for me, so i tried to turn it up only 2 degrees, and then a few days later the water was almost at 90 degrees. i would wait to put fish in until you have a good constant temp going.

 

[mogurnda]

For a FOWLR, I wouldn't worry too much about lights because there will be few, if any photosynthetic animals. A dual fluorescent strip light will be fine, and the 50/50 daylight/actinic will show the fish off nicely.

I'd keep lights off during the cycle. It will just encourage algae growth. When you add the live rock, the light will be good for the coralline algae.

 

[Wasga]

Thanks for the advice. I plan on adding another heater when I setup my refugium. I thought about the Fulham Workhorse 7 ballast running 2 110 watt bulbs. Does this sound right? I can allways buy another to add 2 more bulbs. if I feel the need for inverts. The tank is cycling now. hopefully in a few weeks I can add about 50# of liverock.
The nice thing about cycling a tank is, you ahve a month to decide what to do. No need to rush things.

 

[Wasga]

Ok, Update time. I am going to buy some kind of lighting this weekend. I say some kind because i havent decided what to do yet. I might just get a cheap 4 bulb flourescent fixture from Home Depot and a ton of liverock, or get an Icecap 660 and all of the fixings with a small amount of live rock. If I do go with the cheap lighting, I will eventually replace it with the latter. So what should I do? Cheap lights and a lot of liverock or good lights and a little liverock? Input welcome.