Wish List...best fitting aquarium

I think by three-filter types he just meant chemical, biological, and mechanical (I'm hoping those are the words he used).

Another question:
I'm trying to decide between an all-in-one unit like the oceanic biocube nano (24 g) or a piece-meal regular aquarium. My father just got the biocube and it looks great. Seems relatively low maintenance, etc. However, there are limited possibilities with upgrading parts because it is all built in. What do you all think?

I asked this one somewhere else too so sorry if you are reading it twice: Anyone used Tampa Bay Saltwater for live rock...what did you think?
 
I bought a tank in Hickory, NC this weekend. A 25 gallon tall (24'' length, 12'' deep, and 20'' tall). I had hoped to get something bigger but I realized that the size of my house makes that impossible! So, I'm happy that this size tank will at least limit my spending on LR and other things to fill it! Less room = less stuff = less expense!

So, here is my conundrum. I'm looking for a light set up - I want corals requiring at least medium light. I'll have fish and live rock too. I'd prefer not to get metal halides...what T5s (HOs?) do you think would be best...would I get one lamp or two? How much wattage do I need? I'd also like a moonlight...any ideas about what you would like?

Thanks for all of the help. Plan to start cycling in late March when we get back from vacation...hoping to have all the materials gathered beforehand.

Amber is EXCITED!
 
As far as the light, This One is the one I just bought, in addition to a nova extreme. That gives me 6x24w of T5HO's on my 29G. Only difference is my tank is 30" instead of 24, but the bulbs are the same size.

Just the 4x24w T5HO should be plenty for just about anything you would want in that tank. You could always add another 2x24w T5HO fixture down the road if you wanted to give some SPS corals really good light.
 
Well a challenge is the fact that you have a tall versus a long tank. Stronger lights will be required to reach the bottom half. I'd personally go with a single MH but if you don't want that as you mentioned than I'd look at the T5 HOs but I'd be certain to get individual reflectors such as Ice Caps for them. Are you using a canopy?
 
I've gone back and forth about the canopy. My husband can make really nice furniture and is making the stand...so it wouldn't be a big deal to make a canopy too. I'm worried about trapping heat and reducing oxygenation though. I'd rather have a pretty and functioning tank than pretty furniture, ya know?

Does the canopy choice affect the bulb selection in some way? I've heard that if you use the MH lights, you have to get a fan too...the tank is in my bedroom so I'd prefer to keep the noise down. Then again, it would only be on in the day time...hmmm....
 
Ace25 said:
As far as the light, This One is the one I just bought, in addition to a nova extreme. That gives me 6x24w of T5HO's on my 29G. Only difference is my tank is 30" instead of 24, but the bulbs are the same size.

Just the 4x24w T5HO should be plenty for just about anything you would want in that tank. You could always add another 2x24w T5HO fixture down the road if you wanted to give some SPS corals really good light.
Click to expand...

thanks Ace...I'm on my way to price them online right now.
 
They are not cheap. If you can have a canopy built, and can wire electrical stuff like ballasts (not hard at all) then going the DIY route with T5HOs would be much better and cheaper. Or at least the same price but better quality parts.

You can put in 4 T5HO's on Icecap ballasts/reflectors and that would just be awesome. IMO better than a MH because it would be a lot less power and heat, which can be an issue in smaller tanks during hot summers. You may have an issue with your depth though if you were to try and keep a clam, but I wouldn't recommend that anyway. MH give you deeper penetration, but T5HOs give you just as good of light in less than 18" of tank for a lot less power and heat.
 
Yup, not cheap...just priced them around 250.00 for entire set up. Hopefully, once you dropped that initial payment, replacing the bulbs every 6 months or so is lots cheaper. How often are you all having to replace the whole shebang?
 
With T5HO you only have to replace the bulbs once every 2 years on the daylight (18 months ideally), every year on the Actinic. Good bulbs like ATI or UV cost around $25 per bulb. They are not like PC bulbs, they last longer.

Hopefully this is the last light fixture for my tank, I have gone PCs for the first couple years, then last year added a 2x24w T5HO fixture to my PCs, now I just replaced my PCs with the fixture I showed you. I may change out the ballast to icecaps in a year or so, but for now, even my first SPS is growing fine under this light.

Also, I only paid $220 for my 30" at marine depot last month when they were 10% off.
 
I have a canopy with MHs, to work against heat issues the canopy is mostly open at the top (just the skelton and a mounting piece for the lights makes up the top. The back is also mostly open. We have fans that we wired into the canopy and they are set to come on automatically when the MHs start up. However, on a few really cold days this winter we turned them off completely. The benefits of a canopy in my mind is that you can do some DIY on the lights and get more bang for your buck. It also has allowed some protection for jumpers, and it looks nicer to me.
 
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