General Idea, half reef, half open water.

[xkenneth]

So i've got my 10 gallon cycling for my first saltwater experience. But in the meantime, as hooked on saltwater as I am, I'm contemplating what to do with my 75. One hangup i've had with the 75 is that once i'm more experienced, i'll want to do a few anenomes and corals. Now the lighting i've looked at for the 75 to get me above 5 wpg is going to run me 300 and up, which is money I really don't have to spend on lighting. Now, i'd still like to do this as a saltwater tank, but i'd be pretty depressed with a fish only. What I was contemplating was perhaps having about one third of the tank be a bit of reef. For example, pile all the live rock into a reef shape structure on one of the sides. This would leave me with a sort of reef and open swimming space structure. Now the question is, if i did that, and stuck a proper 250W Metal halide or equivalent above the reef area and regular lighting over the swimming area is it going to cut? Thanks for your thoughts.

Regards,
Ken

 

[BillyZ]

It would "work" but I think you might not be as happy with how it looks. The difference in the brightness between the two halves of the tank may be drastic enough that the side without the MH would just look "dark" and may detract from the other half of the tank. But I do like your idea for aquascaping the rocks that way!

 

[ryguy]

agreed....it would look "off" and I think you'd find yourself constantly answering the question of whether the light bulb on the other side burned out.

 

[xkenneth]

Hrm, that's a good point. I'll have to expirement with it when I get to that point. Really can't wait to get this 75 up and running.

 

[BillyZ]

But! ... that doesn't mean you couldn't try it. If it looks ok then you're set. If it doesn't you have two options: 1) sell the MH unit to someone else and readjust. Or 2) "Deal" with how it looks until you save up enough cash to buy another MH unit to balance the other side.

just my $.02

 

[ryguy]

My buddy has 2 180G tanks side by side. One is a fullblown reef with MH lighting and the other is a fish only with NO lighting. Even that looks off, although they're separate tanks, they're beside each other and the fish only tank looks dark and dim and like it's got burned out bulbs rather than a separate and deliberate lighting scheme.

 

[xkenneth]

That....is alot of tank.

 

[ryguy]

That....is alot of tank.

That's what I thought, until I met the guy that I now buy my livestock from. His double garage is devoted entirely to fish tanks.

His main display is 550G, then he has four 75G's... a 55G and a 30G...plus two 10g freshwaters. (something like that anyway, never asked the exact tank size on all the smaller ones, but around there).

It's AWESOME!!! it's like going to the aquarium but only a smaller scale. Big tank envy hits you hard when you go there. I just always wonder what his electric bill tips the scales at. One day, I'll remember to ask him.