New tank setup

fishboy · #1 03-12-2005, 11:40 AM

Hi, I'm setting up a new tank and need some ideas on lighting/skimmer.

Tank will be 72X30X30, viewed on three sides, deep sand bed and sump. Mostly soft corals as sps are hard to find in my area.

I'm thinking of 3 250w mh run off electronic ballasts and 4 36" vho actinic's. Would this be enough metal halide for the tank depth? Any comments on the XM bulbs as opposed to Hamilton/Ushio? I'm think 10K spectrum.

Looking at the AquaC EV-240 as a skimmer. Anyone have any experiance with AquaC skimmers?

Aquattro · #2 03-12-2005, 01:54 PM

That lighting sounds fine for softies. Sorry, no experience with that skimmer.

Dale D · #3 03-12-2005, 06:41 PM

Hey, Dwayne good to hear from you. Welcome back.

What's it like living in Thailand?

The lighting should be fine. The tank I maintain for Barton's Insurance is 29" deep and has 330w of PC over it and the soft corals do great in it. So, do the LPS. 3X250 MH should be more than enough.

Jaws · #4 03-12-2005, 06:46 PM

If in fact you ever decide that you want to go with sps then you'll almost definitely need 400W bulbs to account for the depth. Just a thought in case you ever decide to take the plunge. It's nice to have the option if you can, plus there's very little cost difference between 250W and 400W. JMO. Good Luck. Keep us updated with your progress and pics.

fishboy · #5 03-13-2005, 05:14 AM

Hi Dale,

Living in Thailand is great except I've missed having a reef tank. It was a terrible feeling when I took my tank in Aldergrove down. Now that we are re-established and our new house is finished I'm ready to setup a new tank.

I have found a source for most of the equipment but finding decent lighting for a reef tank is a problem. I plan on ordering it from the US.

It seems that sps are hard to find in Thailand but not impossable.

One concern I have is the depth/width of the tank that I plan. Everyone talks about depth with the metal halide bulbs. What about the width of the tank? My tank will be 30"x30" with a 4" sand bed. If I can find sps down the road i do plan on having some which could be placed hi up in the tank.

Matt · #6 03-13-2005, 11:58 PM

Ah, lovely Hua Hin. I have very fond memories of that beach, and some fine friends living there -- I'm a bit jealous.

Are there any rules about local collection? I have some very fond memories of some of the reefs in the gulf. Koh Tao was a great two weeks of my life!

Best,
Matthew

Tarolisol · #7 03-14-2005, 03:26 AM

There was a guy on reefcentral with an enormous tank in thailand, its just Fish only because he said it was illegal to import corals into thailand. Is this not true?

fishboy · #8 03-14-2005, 11:38 AM

Most of the Thai's that I have spoken too say that selling sps is illegal. That being said, softies are easy to find and I have seen lps for sale in Bangkok. Also after a long conversation with one merchant she said that they do get sps once and a while and would call me when she had some if I was interested.

I think the main thing is that the Thai government doesn't want the reef's in Thailand to be plundered so have made it illegal to remove the coral from them. Most Thai's wouldn't think of importing coral as they have it at their doorstep.

Overall I need to do more research into the legal end of it and see if it's worth it (or even possable) to import sps.

I have found a shop that brings in live rock from Indonesia 3 times a month. They also have clams and a good selection of softies and fish.