Thinking of setting up my first salt tank

[Ephraim]

What kind of skimmer would you reccomend? Keep in mind the space that i have available is 12"x 5", rather cramped. When you say 3x150w, is that on it's own or in conjunction with the PCs? Do you have any brands you would reccomend for this, I'd like the fixture to be no more than 7" wide so I can still reach into the tank with the light on.

I have no experience using MH lights, do they generate alot of heat? Can i sit the directly on the glass top safely. I was wanting the tank in my living room, and i'd prefer to not have it raised up and light the entire room. I could build a wood top if need be, but i'm lazy

[Midknight]

Where are you located?
lots of people are good with hands on help but we need to know how long are arms need to be.

[Pan]

Originally Posted by Ephraim

What kind of skimmer would you reccomend? Keep in mind the space that i have available is 12"x 5", rather cramped. When you say 3x150w, is that on it's own or in conjunction with the PCs? Do you have any brands you would reccomend for this, I'd like the fixture to be no more than 7" wide so I can still reach into the tank with the light on.

I have no experience using MH lights, do they generate alot of heat? Can i sit the directly on the glass top safely. I was wanting the tank in my living room, and i'd prefer to not have it raised up and light the entire room. I could build a wood top if need be, but i'm lazy

yes the generate a lot of heat, as in melting crispy skin if you touched them after they were running, i don't thinkanyone would recomend sitting them on the top of anything... Euroreefs are a nice little skimmer...

[Ephraim]

I'm located in Calgary Alberta. Would it still be ok to leave the glass top on there and lift the lights, say 1.5"-2" off the glass. The air is so dry here that w/o a top evap is a huge problem. With 150w bulbs, will small fans be needed/helpful? What's the useful lifespan on a MH?

I'll look up some specs on Euroreef, thanks.

*sigh* ...i'm gonna make myself broke on this one, aren't I? I've got about $900 to burn from selling all my freshwater fish before I moved.

[Joe Reefer]

IIRC euroreef doesn't make HOB skimmers. And you can kiss that 900 bux good-bye.

[Ephraim]

yeah I couldn't seem to find any HOB specs, that might be why. What about Bak Paks, are these a good product?

[Joe Reefer]

You could try a coralife superskimmer, I have no experience with them. Some people dont use skimmers, Bev for example is an advocate of simple systems. I think you have to be very dilagent with maintainence though.

[Buddyboy]

It's tricky to find a HOB skimmer for a tank that size. A Deltec MCE600 might do the trick though. Not cheap, but up to the job in a tank your size that has a moderate bioload. Another consideration would be a TUNZE DOC skimmer. They can be mounted in sump or inside the display tank itself. They should be able to handle your tank size as well. The Deltec skimmer might skim more aggresively though. Good luck!

[Ephraim]

This is probably a dumb question, but what exactly does a skimmer do for the tank that a canister filter won't?

When it comes to maintenance, I am very religous on getting water changes done weekly without question. Been doing water changes on Sundays for years, hell, friends and family even know not to call me on Sundays because of it.

[SeaHorse_Fanatic]

For that size tank, I don't think there are any "relatively inexpensive" HOB skimmers that will really do a good job skimming that volume. I heard Deltecs are great but $$$$$$. Might want to consider a recirculating skimmer that sits on the floor instead (since you have no sump). Yeah, a tank that size will also need approx. 100lbs of Live Rock, so that $900 isn't going to stretch to cover just the LR, better lights, and good skimmer. Really think about this decision because it will make your $$ disappear much faster than a freshwater setup.

Anthony