92gal AGA Corner Bow front setup...

The friendliest place on the web for anyone with an interest in aquariums or fish keeping!
If you have answers, please help by responding to the unanswered posts.

asnatlas

Aquarium Advice Apprentice
Joined
Jan 31, 2005
Messages
23
Location
Ohio
I just picked up a used 92gal setup. It has about 70# of LR and also came with a Lg Lionfish, Lg Purple Tang, and a Puffer. I am looking to upgrade / expand on the system a little. The setup came with a dual 65w PC lighting setup (which is not working right now) and I am thinking about replacing it with a higher WPG with Deep Blue Actinic or Bright Blue and maybe even with a PC / MH setup. I am looking at doing a reef setup in this tank down the road and was wondering what lighting setup would be ideal for a 92gal reef setup ??

I also wanted to get 2 powerheads and was wondering what GPH (per PH) would be ideal as I have a Mag 7 (which I am looking to upgrading to a Mag 9.5) for the sump return and a Eheim Professionel II Canister Filter.

Down the road I am looking to add some more LR to my setup from LR.com. If I order it and its shipped over night, would I be able to place it into the tank as soon as I get it, or would I have to cure it before placing it in the tank with the existing LR / Fish ??

I am sorry for all the questions, I am new to SW (as I am not to FW). I have been wanting a SW setup and I found a deal on a tank locally that was hard to pass up. Now that I have the tank I would like to maintain it right and make sure everything is up to par so that it does not suffer and something bad happens. That is why I am looking to get the lighting replaced ASAP, and adding the powerheads. The live rock is later down the road along with the reef setup. I just want to make sure I am on the right track as to save money for the future...

Shawn
 
For reef lighting on a 92 gal bow front I would suggest dual 250W MH's with VHO actinics in front and back of the MH's. If you drop the VHO's use higher kelvin MH bulbs to give more blue light.

As far as powerheads if you wanted just two I would go with the Hagen 802 poweheads. These are fairly large but powerful and will give you just under 400GPH output each. Put these on a wavemaker timer if you want aswell as the output from your Mag9.5 for good random reef currents.

Personally I always avocate QTing the rock for at least 24 hours to see if its producing ammona. If you get smaller quanties of LR shipped in you could add it direct to the tank and just keep an eye on ammonia.

Just a word of warning about the lion. Be very careful when working in the tank as to know where the lion is. They can pack quite a punch and if you do get stung imerse or run HOT water over the area for several minutes as soon as possible.
 
fishfreek said:
For reef lighting on a 92 gal bow front I would suggest dual 250W MH's with VHO actinics in front and back of the MH's. If you drop the VHO's use higher kelvin MH bulbs to give more blue light.

Dual 250 MH ? WHOA, that is like 5.5wpg just in MH, (wouldn't I have an algea problem ??) I was looking at getting a MH / PC setup, Since I want to go PC over VHO, I should look into some 14k or 20k MH bulbs, and stay away from the 10k ??

As far as powerheads if you wanted just two I would go with the Hagen 802 poweheads. These are fairly large but powerful and will give you just under 400GPH output each. Put these on a wavemaker timer if you want aswell as the output from your Mag9.5 for good random reef currents.

I was thinking about 2, but what would you recommend ? I wanted to try to hide them behind the live rock and what not...

And are you saying to put the Mag 9.5 on with the wavemaker with the powerheads ?? Wouldn't I need the sump return to be on all the time ??

Personally I always avocate QTing the rock for at least 24 hours to see if its producing ammona. If you get smaller quanties of LR shipped in you could add it direct to the tank and just keep an eye on ammonia.

I have a large 40gal trash can that I use for mixing salt water. So when I get the LR I can just place it in the trash can for 24+ hrs with some lighting over it and I should be good to go as far as a temp QT ??

Just a word of warning about the lion. Be very careful when working in the tank as to know where the lion is. They can pack quite a punch and if you do get stung imerse or run HOT water over the area for several minutes as soon as possible.

I know all about the lionfish, when I get rdy to work in the tank, I will have my GF use a net to keep him at bay...

Another question... With this setup, it does have a very small amount of crushed coral along the bottem (so little that it only covers like a 1/4 of it and you can see bare bottem), I was looking to add more substrate, should I go with more crusted coral, or live sand ??

Thanks for all your help
Shawn
 
The WPG calculation is useless when it comes to MH lighting. Its ok for florecent but MH is an entierly different picture. Since MH really only lights the area thats 2' square from the bulb anything outside that doent get the benifits of the light so the MH bulb thats on the left of the tank isnt affecting the right side and vice versa.

Personally I like VHO better than PC now that I have experenced both. Either way you would most likly use the PC or VHO as actinic supplmentation or as a dusk/dawn type lighting setup and the MH as 'high noon and afternoon' lighting.

I was trying to describe putting the two Hagen 802's on a wave timmer and use them in conjunction with a mag 9.5 thats on all the time from the sump.

The method you describe for QTing the rock is fine as long as you also have a heater and powerhead in that mixing tank. After your done QTing the tank it would be good to let that tank air out real well and wipe it down good before your next batch of saltwater is mixed up.

I prefer a sandy bottom myself but thats me. The thin substrate bottom you have would be good to syphon during water changes to get fish waste and other detrius out. Once you put in a sandy bottom you wouldnt be doing this.
 
fishfreek said:
The WPG calculation is useless when it comes to MH lighting. Its ok for florecent but MH is an entierly different picture. Since MH really only lights the area thats 2' square from the bulb anything outside that doent get the benifits of the light so the MH bulb thats on the left of the tank isnt affecting the right side and vice versa.

Personally I like VHO better than PC now that I have experenced both. Either way you would most likly use the PC or VHO as actinic supplmentation or as a dusk/dawn type lighting setup and the MH as 'high noon and afternoon' lighting.

I ordered a dual 250w HQI 14k with dual 96w actinic blue PC setup from Hamilton Technology, I can't wait to get it...

The method you describe for QTing the rock is fine as long as you also have a heater and powerhead in that mixing tank. After your done QTing the tank it would be good to let that tank air out real well and wipe it down good before your next batch of saltwater is mixed up..

I prefer a sandy bottom myself but thats me. The thin substrate bottom you have would be good to syphon during water changes to get fish waste and other detrius out. Once you put in a sandy bottom you wouldnt be doing this.

I think when I get my LR and dry sand, I am going to place it in my water changing trash can, to make sure that the LRF is ok for a few days to a week, ALso to cycle my sand so that when I place it in the tank it will settle faster since I have fish in the tank at the moment...

Thanks for your time
Shawn
 
Back
Top Bottom