Need some advice, thanks

[smoke20ster]

thanks for posting.

The fluval was going to be used for chemicals....ie(carbon, those noodle things they send with the kit, and whatever else will help.)
As for a sump? I never gave it any thought. I did at one time want a wet/dry filter...Im hoping this is the same type of sump your refering to?

As for lights...Ive read, that 6watts is good lighting for each gallon of the aquarium. And with HO I havent seen a high enough wattage in hoods to attain that in a 2-4 bulb fixture. That was the only reason for going to vho. Even the power compats just dont put out that much wattage. Unless Im not seeing something in plain sight, how would this work out? the tank dimensions are 25longx18deepx25high. The tang is a open item, I like the look of them but its not needed :P

Deffiently going to have a few soft corals the choices I have looked at were:
Yellow Fiji Finger Leather, Flourescent Green Rasta Leather, Neon Green tree coral(leather), Colt Coral, Yellow tree Gorgonian, Red Sea Pink/white pumping Xenia, short tentacle plate coral.

As for all the fish I looked at:
Randall's Gobie, Golden head sleeper gobie, watchman bluespotted goby, scooter blennie, 8 line wrasse, starry lawnmower blenny.
Later on, Id like to get that blue hippo tang(dora-finding nemo?) and a Black tang. This of course will be in a 90 gallon I might do in a few years.....right after I get a house bought or built.

[Slick Fork]

The Watts per gallon rule is almost useless in a sw tank. a 4 or 6 bulb High Output T5 unit will be tons of light for the tank you're planning. A single 150 watt Halide pendant would do the trick just as nicely as well

[Shipwreck]

Watts per gallon is no longer used in marine aquariums. More important is the spectrum of the lights and the PAR of the light. Normal output fluorescents, VHO and Power compacts are all old technology and I would not wast money on buying any fixtures for those. On a tank your size a T5HO fixture would work great or a MH if you really want, or if you have money a LED system.

Here is an example of the Sunlight Supply wave T5HO fixture (a cheaper fixture) and here is an example of a more expensive Tek fixture just to give you some ideas.

[Matt]

First, welcome to Canreef, and welcome back to the hobby!

Adding in on the lights issue, speaking from experience. An organism that uses light for photosynthesis has no idea how many gallons of water it is in. It only 'knows' how bright the light is. In a 25" deep tank, you have a lighting challenge if you want to keep light-loving corals or clams near the bottom. Eventually, it will become a trade-off between light and heat.

Tank might also be too small for a scooter blennie. They have roughly the same requirements for live rock volume, healthy pod populations and tank stability as a Mandarin.

The final note I'll make on the 45 tall is that you're minimizing surface-area to volume with that setup (again, this is my experience with a not-too-different effort). That leads to dificulties with aquascaping, access (how long are your arms?), water flow, heat control and oxygen exchange. If I were doing it again, I'd be looking to reverse the ratio, and go for a longer, shallower tank.

Cheers,
Matt

[smoke20ster]

Originally Posted by Matt

First, welcome to Canreef, and welcome back to the hobby!

Adding in on the lights issue, speaking from experience. An organism that uses light for photosynthesis has no idea how many gallons of water it is in. It only 'knows' how bright the light is. In a 25" deep tank, you have a lighting challenge if you want to keep light-loving corals or clams near the bottom. Eventually, it will become a trade-off between light and heat.

Tank might also be too small for a scooter blennie. They have roughly the same requirements for live rock volume, healthy pod populations and tank stability as a Mandarin.

The final note I'll make on the 45 tall is that you're minimizing surface-area to volume with that setup (again, this is my experience with a not-too-different effort). That leads to dificulties with aquascaping, access (how long are your arms?), water flow, heat control and oxygen exchange. If I were doing it again, I'd be looking to reverse the ratio, and go for a longer, shallower tank.

Cheers,
Matt

I can just touch the bottom of the tank as the stand is only 29" tall. Had to be that way for me to reach. worst case, I go with a different tank.....Ive got 36" length for where the aquarium goes, so its leaving a few options......thanks for the reply !