Mouse

Hi,

Does anyone here own a Hagen tank? I am thinking about getting a hagen osaka from gallery of pets in North Austin. The tank comes with T5 light, heater, Hagen filter, stand for about $800... 70 gallon.

Anyone have any experience with gallery of pets? Can I trust what they tell me or are they salesmen?

Are those Hagen tanks good? What about the filters?

Mind you I am setting up a freshwater tank.

Also on their tanks they have rounded corners.. I heard was reading that rounded corners are bad and that the slightest touch could cause them to fracture. Is this something I should be worrying about or have they fixed this problem?

Thanks,

Aaron

Thanks

Hi,

Looking to create LED lighting system for my tank. I only need between 175 and 200 watts of T5 or MH.

I calculated the lumen's of this to be 17500 to 20000... that would be 100 lumen's per watt.

I was wondering if the total output lumen's for the LED lighting system would also need to be in that range or if you can get the same intensity with fewer lumen's?

Mind you I simplified this down so save you from all the math work that. So if I am missing any important info please let me know and ill address it.

Thanks,

Aaron

thanks!

Hi guys

I'm trying to locate a good glass, acrylic and wood supplier here in Austin. If any of you know of one of these companies please let me know.

Thanks,

Aaron

as for your sump i think it really depends on what you want to keep in your tank. It can be something as simple as just a skimmer and a fuge or a lot more complex. You have any idea what types of coral you would like to keep?

I have a 6x39 t-5 over a 25" tall tank and all my coral at the bottom seem to get a good amount of light, they are growing. But you will just have to see what you like the best, maybe ask to visit to locals tanks to get an idea of how they have there tanks set up.

Not really... I guess a variety. I dont want to be limited to just one type if that is possible. I was thinking about a 30 gallon sump. I think I have the basic flow of things now... thou I am unsure of where to put a calcium reactor if I should get one or add one on later. I would really like to have all my bases covered before I start building.

So you only have a total of 234 watts of light for a 75 gallon tank. You make me wonder if I really need 650 watts for a 70 gallon tank... I was going off the idea of about 9 to 10 watts per gallon. Maybe I should have closer to 7 w/g....

Prof = Dave = Epic Reef listed as a sponsor of the forums near the bottom of the topics page.

I'd choose a minimum of 1 250w halide over the center of the tank with T5 accent bulbs. Use the halide to cut through your want of a 24" tank. Most fluorescent bulbs are considered good for up to a 18" deep tank. By using a halide as the central light then you will considerably cut down on the cost of bulb replacement as you'd need about 6 T5 bulbs that are recommended for change out every 8 months. My general rule is that 5wpg is about the minimum of light to be considered for a general purpose tank. Your soft corals and most LPS will thrive under that amount of light and SPS should be kept under 8-10wpg. Of course that opens the battle to whether PAR or wattage is more important. That's why I said x amount of watts is a good start, not the final answer.

It is possible to burn your reef, but it is generally looked at more from a heat issue then from to much light. The heat generated from excessive lighting can raise the temps up over 80F and can keep them there slowly cooking, aka "bleaching", your corals. They can handle small fluctuations up to about 83F but it's not considered good to keep them there for long periods. I've known several people that kept their tanks near 13-15 wpg of halide lighting on their reef tanks but they also countered this with large chillers, excessive calcium dosing, and other measures to artificially induce speedy growth. The only real problem I've heard of from us reef keepers using high powered lighting is that over a period of years it can cause our fish to go blind.

Unless there is a better way to determine PAR rather than buying a $200+ meter I am going with the w/g method. About 650 watts of light will get me about 9.6 w/g. Would it be ok to run 1 400 watt MH and 1 250 watt MH? Or is better to get 250 watts of T5 lighting?

Also what would be a good way to cool this setup. I am unsure of how I want to mount these lights, idk if I would want a canopy over the tank or if I want to suspend them over the tank. I guess fans is the only way to go? I would really like to keep the noise down as low as possible.

hmm... I am pretty impressionable right now... well because I know nothing. So Overflow, fug and then return? So all the water would go to overflow then then fug and then return? No % of water would bypass overflow/skimmer?

Also is there any reason why most every tank I have seen runs the solid PVC pipe? I was thinking about running the flexible pipe... is there a negative to this?

It just seems that the solid PVC is so permanent, and it would be harder to rearrange if need be.

Hi,

I have a question about how water should flow through this system.

I will have a sump (return pump in center and refugium and skimmer on opposite sides of the sump). I would also like to add a calcium reactor but i am unsure of where this will fit in the system. Approximately what % of water should flow to the refugium and what % should flow to the skimmer.

Also I am thinking about putting in a horizontal overflow. How many inches from the top of the tank should the top of the overflow box be?

Thanks,

Aaron

Hi,

I have been doing research on sumps and refugiums. All the setups I have seen, have a section for the skimmer and another one for the refugium and they flow to a central chamber where the water is then returned to the tank. Why doesn't the water first travel thought the refugium then go to the skimmer and then return to the tank?

Also I noticed that in all the tanks I have seen including sumps the water that is getting delivered to the tank is released at the top of the tank. Wouldn't be more efficient for water flow and nutrients for the entrance water to be released at the bottom of the tank, since the water is being returned at the top of the tank?

Thanks,

Aaron

How many Watts of lighting would I need. I figure it depends on the type of plants or how deep the tank is. But Idk enough about or have a clue on what I want to put in there...

I have heard that it is possible to burn your reef is this true?

Aaron,

There is quite a bit of flexibility depending upon what you want. You mentioned fish, inverts, and corals. Your list is also pretty good, I would recommend adding some powerheads or a wave box to your list for circulation. You really want to minimize spots with no or little flow. That being said don't over do it either, you can injure corals with to much direct flow.

There are some people on here that can help design or build some things for you. Prof is always great and has great prices on things like live rock (less than half of what local stores charge). And the rock looks better than the stores too.

What is the Prof you speak of?

Hi,

I'm thinking about setting up a reef tank. The tank dimensions that I would want is a 24x24x24 so 60 gallons. Besides the Tank and the Stand what equipment do I need?

Sump

Skimmer

Heater

Water Pump

Thermometer

Lights - was thinking about T5... will that be enough?

and the salt, and water testing equipment.

I do not need a calcium reactor nor wavemakers right away do I?

Do I need a pump to pump water down from the tank into the sump or will gravity take care of that for me?

Anything else I am missing besides the live rock, the fish and the coral?

I am little confused on what I need to be looking for in a sump. How many chambers does it need to have and what type of filter is best? I have heard many people talking about putting some live rock down there with a light...

My goal is to setup a very basic aquarium, with live rock to begin with and then after about a month and I see the tank is stable I will start adding the inverts, fish and coral/reef stuff at that point.

Any suggestions will be welcome... I'm very new at this and my knowledge is limited to what I could find on the net.

Thanks,

Aaron

Hi,

I'm Aaron. I found ARC earlier today and decided to join. Looks like you guys have a great little forum going.

I currently do not have an aquarium of any type. I am thinking about setting up an aquarium... I cannot decide whether to go Saltwater or Freshwater. I have some experience with saltwater aquariums... so IDK.

My question is this:

I am looking at the Neo Nano aquariums. I have had a terrible time finding reviews about them. I read on here that the company is good, but are the tanks good?

Also if you have one.. what accessories does it come with i.e. filter, light, etc..

I could setup a do-it-yourself system, but I just like the ease of these all-in-one deals. I was first thinking about getting the Biocube, but I did some research and found out they had many problems... same with the aquapod.

Pretty much I want a system that is easy to setup and relatively worry free.

If any of you have any other suggestions on what tank to get I will gladly accept the advice.

Thanks and it is a pleasure to meet all of you.

Aaron