90 Gallon Reef Setup... Update April 22, 2009...Oceanic Corals with Pics!

[Trigger Man]

The lights in that thread were bought in the States if I remember right (you can google the brand and the shop that sells them will come up, in the thread it also mentions the shop if I'm right). They are great lights but will cost you a little more. How long is your tank (I am assuming 4 foot)? A decent alternative is going with the Tek lighting system, it produces good light, is priced well and will suffice with what you listed as wanting to put in the tank. Salinity is good but can be raised to 1.025 and a lot of people including myself keep our tanks around 79 F. Remember to be patient in the process and cycle the tank properly to avoid issues later on.

[Rbacchiega]

Thanks Trigger

I'll raise it up to 79* gradually, and see how that goes. I thought that 1.025 would be a little too high in salinity for airation? Or am I wrong on that aspect?

The tank is 48" long, 24" tall and 18" back to front.

I've taken a look at the Tek lights, and I think I'm sold LOL

I'm prepaired to wait as long as necessary for this tank to come together. I've had some poor experiences from hurrying my Discus setup once...so I'm ready to wait.

[Trigger Man]

I have had my salinity at a tonne of different levels throughout the years. When I was running fowlr tanks I kept the tanks around 1.018, and then when I started to just have softies and zoas I ran it at 1.023. I did find that a lot of the places that I purchase my coral from (lfs and fellow reefers) had it at around 1.025, so in order to possibley have less shock my corals (as well as new fish) I decided to gradually raise it to the higher level. As long as you have decent waterflow you will be alright, if you are worried you can point one of your ph in a upward angle in order to agitate the water surface a little
more.
If you have any other questions post and you will find may friendly reefers more then willing to find you answers.
Good luck and enjoy!

[Rbacchiega]

Had a little bit of an issue with the bulkheads leaking, but figured that out and have everything back up and running...

Ended up just going back to the old output nozzle..the black connector thingers...I still think I'll get enough circulation through there and have a few extra koralia's kicking around if need be.

In doing some more cleaning I found two 48" Hagen 2 Bulb T5 Units, but will replace the bulbs with ones similar to those found in the thread that I quoted earlier...and I'll mount those on the tank when the time comes...no need for lights quite yet from what I read, so there's no rush there.

Thanks again for all your help!

[Rbacchiega]

....so need the Hagen Glo's for another tank...I forgot that I originally bought those for the 8 foot gar/ray tank....duh.

And cruising around here found an amazing link to Bulk Reef Supply..so I'll be putting in an order in the new year for a 6 Bulb 48" Tek Light T5 Fixture with suspension and brackets just incase. I've decided to go with 3 Pure Actinics and 3 Aqua Blue+ bulbs (info can be found on Bulk Reef Supply Website) I figure that will be damn near enough to allow me to grow whatever I'd like in there...

As soon as I find my USB cable I guess I better start posting pictures...

[Trigger Man]

Getting a KZ fiji purple bulb may also be an idea, it brings out certain colors that the others you listed don't.

[Rbacchiega]

I'm starting to wonder (mainly as I look at the prices of these units) if I could use a 4 bulb unit instead. By looking at your signature, Trigger, it appears that you are using a 4 bulb unit and growing corals well. Is there anyway you could show me a FTS so I can get an idea as to how well the light is getting down into the tank and what your corals are looking like?

The way I figure is the less money a quality, suffiecient lighting unit is going to cost me, the more I can eventually spend on corals and the likes...