Skimmer and Lighting question

[BCReefer]

I am looking at purchasing a Sea Clone Skimmer that sits on the back of the tank. The skimmer is good up to 100G and I will be putting it on a 33G. I am also looking at getting a 36” Power Compact Oceanic light that gives out 110W.

Would this be sufficient for me to start having corals and frags? I will also have about 40 – 45 lbs of LR.

Lastly I f I purchase all this on the weekend how long do I need to run before adding corals? I will be using the water and rock from my 27 G tanks that has been running for 4 months.

I don’t have the room or stand that would allow me to have a sump.

Thanks
Patrick

[reefboy22]

hi im selling a hang on back pack skimmer i had it on my 33 but i upgaded to 135 and went all out if ure intrested im askng 125 t has newer pump ready to go let me know and about your tank 2 weeks and what are u adding for adities also selling some corals im in abbotsford u can email me at joshua22@shaw.ca

[BCReefer]

I'm interested but does the skimmer mount on the back of the tank?

[DJ88]

IMO the Seaclone is not a great skimmer.. I have two sitting in a box in a closet. I plan on doing horrible things to them. [img]images/smiles/icon_wink.gif[/img]

If you want to put corals in a 33, I would go for as much overkill as possible. Not to undercut the sale of the bakpak but I'd go for the Precision Marine HOT1. It hangs on the back. Very good skimmer. If you ever plan on taking your tank above softies you will probably end up wanting a more powerful skimmer. Buy the biggest you can get now and save the hassle of upgrading later. I did it that way and spent wayy to much money on upgrading. A good idea for researching skimmers is to go to Reef Central and runa search.. type in the skimmers you are looking for and see what comes up.. You will most likely see people recommending Remora's, HOT-1's and a few other large hang on's. I guess it will come down to waht you are willing to spend.

Once again tho do keep in mind where you hope to go with your tank. Just softies? or more later on?

With the lighting you may need to put the corals as high as possible in the tank. 110W of PC is a good start. I think you should be able to keep a few softies. I don't know enough about PC on a 33gallon tho. Hopefully someone who has used PC's will add more..

Softies should be ok.. Hard corals IMO, no. You won't have the intensity. But that is me. Once again I go for as much as possible. On my 33 I have 3 95W VHO actinics and a 250W MH.

[reefboy22]

yes it does if u want my number we can meet and u can take a look

[Silverfish]

If you are in the market for a skimmer, don't waste your money on a seaclone,JMO. I had one as my first skimmer and they suck. Darren had some good advice on the skimmers and as far as lighting goes, I have seen his 33g with the MH and VHO actinic, and it is awsome. If you are like most of us you will end up spending the money on this "addiction" sooner or later, so spend wisely. ps, good to ask first, spend later [img]images/smiles/icon_biggrin.gif[/img]

[Reefmaster]

hi patrick
there's lots of info on skimmers on the net, and i guess it comes down to what fits the budget. as for lighting, not many 33's have a 250mh and 95w of vho like darren's. i have seen a 20g with a 175w and an actinic no and it looked good. the thought i have is could you put a metal halide system on giving you more light, for less money? i have no idea what the oceanic is worth, but you might consider going to mh. its really not that expensive, especially if you put'er together yourself. lots of people here know how to do it. shane

[ 31 October 2001: Message edited by: Reefmaster ]

[reefburnaby]

Howdy,

...that $125 Bakpak sounds pretty good. Look at www.cprusa.com for details. Highly recommended and it hangs on the bak(hence, bakpak). If you are pretty good with your hands, you could build one using standard PVC for about $80. It would be better than a HOT-1 -- but the HOT-1 just looks cooler.

As for your PCs, 96W is fine for most corals except for the most demanding. Get a good shinny reflector for your 96W. See www.ahsupply.com for details. Most soft and LPS will be fine. LPS don't need tons of light as long as you feed them once a week.

However, have you considered MH or MV ? Its cheaper than you think. Something like a Iwasaki 250W setup should cost less than $250 (PFO Ballast from J&L with 6500K Iwasaki MV). You could add actinics when you save enough money -- since they are mostly for looks.

As for you last question -- how long ? As long as you are sure that everything is working....you can put them in almost immediately. The only caution is that you should acclimate your corals to the new lighting.

- Victor.

[ 31 October 2001: Message edited by: reefburnaby ]

[gboots]

I agree with DJ88, if you have the money, go big with the skimmer. You can will probably put it to full use down the road. I am in the proces of changing my 33gl from fw to sw reef. I didn't have the money fot PM Hot1. I ended up going with a Red Sea Prism. So far so good. Although I'm still just curing my rock.

As far as lights go I have no previos experience. I went with a total of 192 watts of pc lighting, a combination of 10,000k and ultra actinic. As soon as the rock is finished curing and I get some real life in the tank I'll let you know how they work out. [img]images/smiles/icon_smile.gif[/img]

[Troy F]

<BLOCKQUOTE><font size="1" face="Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif">quote

96W is fine for most corals except for the most demanding.

Hi Victor, I don't think I agree with you on that one. I would not subject most LPS to that lighting, feedings or not.

[ 01 November 2001: Message edited by: Troy F ]