60 gallon starfire cube.

[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

[Aysha]

this is urchie now


updated photos of tank

I found a video I made of the biocube before all the coral died I'll have to add it to the other thread

[Aysha]

on closer inspection the urchin didn't make it into the new tank the temp spike must have injured him.

the feather duster looked healthy until I moved his rock. he was wound all the way around it without a casing. I think the same spike and the tank move did him in as I found him an hour ago.....

The only invert to survive the spike officially seems to be the sexy shrimp. lets hope he was stable enough to switch tanks.

urf reef keeping can be SO ANNOYING.

[fishoholic]

Originally Posted by Aysha

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.

Urchins need really established tanks to survive, IMO they are more sensitive then even anemone's. Doug had his 260g running for 2 months (everything was cycled but still a new system) before putting adding his 2 urchins and both died. Odds are there wasn't enough food on the rocks (due to being out of water while moving, even if it was only for a short period of time) to sustain the urchin.

[Aysha]

He died in the old tank I just didn't clue in. He was only in the new tank for half an hour before I realized something was up. I had him for about 6 months in the old tank.

[fishoholic]

Originally Posted by Aysha

He died in the old tank I just didn't clue in. He was only in the new tank for half an hour before I realized something was up. I had him for about 6 months in the old tank.

Oh sorry I thought he died in the new tank.

Also thought I'd mention if you want led lights look into the 350 kessil http://www.ecocityhydroponics.com/ke...led-light.html and the maxspect razor led lights http://www.saltysupply.com/Maxspect-...0-p/ms1149.htm. We have them at AI if you want to see them on display to get an idea of what they look like. Both are great led lights that will work well on a 60g and are about $300 cheaper then Radions, not that Radions aren't a great light, they are just really expensive. Prices are a bit different then in the links (kessil is $140 less and maxspect is $10 more) but it gives you an idea of their spectrum etc.

[Aysha]

Yeah We were looking at ecorays.
I may hold out for a bit longer and see what's coming out.
My biocube is pending sale to a friend and I'm going to be purchasing a skimmer and a reef keeper with what comes out of it.

I figure I want the best hardwear I can afford in order to make my fishes happy.
The fancy corals can be on the back burner if I don't have a pristine set up.
also I have discovered a few things:

BAYU magnet cleaners (cheapo off brand) work wonders on half inch glass. both the mag floats and the aquion would disconnect.(the next choice was the hammerhead)

FILTER SOCKS ARE EVIL that is all.

My glass is too thick for my maxijet 1200 back to the koralia drawing board.

I've got a sink trap on my emergency drain! amazing!
http://www.yinshan.com.sg/Products/M...s/image002.jpg

[fishoholic]

The ecorays are nice too. A 60DX would be good for your 60g. Get the DX because those ones are dimmable. I have the 112DX ecorays over my 230g reef tank and I like them