Help with Current Cardiff Reef Setup

[JB-Carlsbad-CA]

Hi everyone!

I'm brand new to this board, and would really appreciate any help you guys can give me. I used to have a 125G thriving reef, and had to sell it when I moved across the country.

We bought a Current Cardiff due to size constraints and presentation, and I have some questions before it comes to the house.

1) Is there an easy modification I can make to include a refugium in this tank? Or any ideas on how to add a refugium externally?

2) I want to keep some SPS coral, but don't want the heat of MH. I never knew anything about LED lighting 5 years ago when I had my reef. Are there any fixtures that you recommend? in the $200 - $300 range?

3) I have seen black sand on the bottom of a Cardiff reef. Does anyone know a live sand that doesn't affect the pH? I've never used black sand but liked the way it looked.

I really appreciate the feedback, and look forward to being a part of this site.

Justin

 

[0o.Kelsey.o0]

The current cardiff looks like a really neat tank, I like them alot. I just googled the black sand idea and it doesn't look too promising. I guess it has some metal fragments which causes the sand to stick to the magnet cleaner and scratch the glass...another guy said since its black it won't reflect the light back up into the tank which means less light for the corals. Doesn't look like too many people have tried it actually, so maybe some kinds are fine.

Sorry i don't know much on the topics you asked about but i figured i would comment anyways so that maybe someone else would see the post.

Good luck Pictures are welcome once you get started...specially if you choose to do the black sand, I'd like to see that.

 

[JB-Carlsbad-CA]

So I just got the Cardiff and I'm setting it up. I will be getting my lighting in about two weeks.

I opted not to do the black sand, and didn't even think about the value of the reflection of light. Good point.

While browsing the lighting forum, someone posted this link:

120 Watt Aquarium Coral Reef Tank LED Grow Light 120W - eBay (item 190487950394 end time Feb-06-11 10:08:27 PST)

I love the fact that it has two power cords, and it seems a lot more powerful than other fixtures I've seen -- 120 watts, 50:50 20,000K/453nm:

• 2" depth - 1537 Par
• PAR reading 12" depth - 423 Par
• 24" depth - 182 Par

Has anyone ever heard of this unit?

 

[JB-Carlsbad-CA]

I'll put some pictures up after my water clears up. Cycling some live rock right now -- I found an amazing piece that has a ton of bright teal coralline on about 35% of it. I'm hoping it lasts.

I added 30 lbs of live sand. What is the ideal depth of sandbed? I appreciate any comments.

 

[JB-Carlsbad-CA]

I had a question about a specific lighting fixture I found -- and my post didn't show up?

 

[0o.Kelsey.o0]

I don't think the deepness of the sand matters too greatly. I like my tanks to be around 3 inches personally. I had some orange coralline on my rock originally but i think it all died off and the purple took over...would have been neat though. Teal would be awesome!

Did you start a new thread for the light question? It should have worked right away...maybe try again?