60 gallon starfire cube.

[Aysha]

it is clearly a siamese fighting fish.

[SeaHorse_Fanatic]

I think Marco needs his eyes checked. Clearly a Siamese fighting [cat]fish.

[Ginu]

Grats on the purchase, the cube looks really good.

Aaah, the LED's vs MHI debate... I don't have LED's and I'm currently shopping for a Radion then will have to get a second as my new tank which is 48" in length... there are a few very good and viable options for LED's out there and I have a feeling ecotech will drop their prices in the next few months as they are coming up to a year since release and other companies are coming up and releasing their LED's (not as customizable though)

The reasons for LED's are:
- lower power consumption (way lower than a equivalent light output MHI)
- LEDs produce very little heat compared to a MHI
- in most cases a Chiller is not needed
- LED's are very customizable in terms of color/intensity depending on the fixture and the better companies will offer different upgrades as the technology evolves
- no need to replace bulbs as the leds are rated for 5+ years(some say it should last 10+ years)... in my opinion this is a big advantage as a good MHI bulb is 50-75$... On my 75 i have a fixture running 2*50w T12 atinics and 2*175 SE bulbs and to replace all bulbs a year I'm looking at about 200$ including taxes...
Now if I add the power consumption in the equation I think every few years I can purchase a new LED fixture

I did a small calculation to run a Radion for 10hours a day @121W is roughly $40/year
Vs. a MHI 250w + 2*50W atinics for the same amount of time @ $90/year + $100(cost of bulbs) + $30/year(chiller power usage) = approx $220

To run a Radion in BC costs $40/year vs $220 to run a MHI + two atinics

On a 60gallon cube, I think you might be able to get away by using one good LED fixture and save yourself some money down the road as you will not have to upgrade to LED's and get rid of the MHI+ Chiller and lets not forget the heat which those produce.

If you dont have a fixture, I vote to save a bit and get a LED coral capable fixture and honestly I'd opt for a higher end fixture over the Coralife and other cheaper LED's or if you already have a light, then run with that and save for a good LED fixture once again. Just cant beat the low maintenance cost, power cost and most important the customization... if setup right some fixtures can be controlled from a smartphone


Here is an informative vid comparing the Radion VS MHI

[Aysha]

I've got a 250 watt halide sitting here.
I figure we'll rock the cycling and setup and if all goes well we will pick up a radion in the next few months.

I'll either dive in with both feet and spend lots or decide salt is not for me.
so we will see.

thanks for that imput Ginu it's very helpful esp the calculations.
PS the chiller debate again. I think that alone makes the answer clear.

[Ginu]

Originally Posted by Aysha

I've got a 250 watt halide sitting here.
I figure we'll rock the cycling and setup and if all goes well we will pick up a radion in the next few months.

I'll either dive in with both feet and spend lots or decide salt is not for me.
so we will see.

thanks for that imput Ginu it's very helpful esp the calculations.
PS the chiller debate again. I think that alone makes the answer clear.

You're set then, just use the MHI until upgrading to a led of some sort. I have a 34g cube running a single 150w MHI 20k bulb and I have to say its very nice, however I've supplemented it with two ecoxotic 453 stunner strips and that makes a huge difference in terms of color pop. I wish I was good enough with my slr to take good pics showing to color pop.

I'll take a pic of it today and post it for you to see the diff of just MHI and MHI and stunner strips.

Keep in mind that one radion fixture = 250w of power in a MHI.

[Aysha]

So now I need a new pump.
I was told when I bought the tank the pump would do what I needed. Well it doesn't it's currently moving 100gallons an hour (so nothing)
the pump has got to move the water up just over 4 ft.

the pump I have is a Mag Drive model 2
we are looking at a Marineland NJ-3000 submersible utility pump

It's obnoxious when we just bought the tank and filled it with salt after inspecting it for leaks.

*siiiigggggggggghhhhhhh

[Aysha]

So it's up and running and done cycling. i added a new pump and 50ish lbs of live rock in addition to the 30lbs I had. I added the rock from my old tank slowly over the course of a week and a half.
I moved everyone over today !
hope for no lossses but I noticed "urchie" my short spined urchin of 6 months was missing a lot of his spines. I'm guessing it was from the temp spike a few weeks back that knocked out a ton of my inverts. Because of that I lost a few shrimp,crabs,and SNAILS so the inverts weren't pleased with me. I also lost 2/3 of my coral which led me to get a BIGGER tank lol.
Photos to follow soon.
most of the rock work


my darling urchie