Reef HELP

[Matt K.]

I just adopted a 90 gal. tank with the bottom drilled(with tubes, & overflowin the corner), under it is a 30 gal. with a Kent Bio rocker, protein skimmer, heaters, etc. I've always used U.G. filters in my fish only tanks. Should I use the U.G. in this tank, or not. I want this to work, and I don't mind spending a little money(key word "little") to make this work. The hood has 4 twin tube straight pin bulbs(2 of them are actinic, and 2 are 10,000k daylight. What do I need to do to do this right?
PLEASE HELP ME.
Matt

 

[DaveM]

Try going to the website garf. Org and read up on their plenum idea. I am about to do this to my 90 gallon. Check everything out it is a great website

 

[mr_X]

you don't need to use an undergravel filter. all you need is about 100 pounds of live rock and a decent protein skimmer. you might want to upgrade that lighting though. 4 lamps over a 90 is going to limit you.

 

[Matt K.]

It's a total of 8 bulbs. That's still not enough?

 

[Matt K.]

Does anybody know anything about this Kent Biorocker?

 

[mr_X]

oh..4 twin tubes..yep..8 lamps is plenty.
i never heard of a bio rocker. i think it used to be something used for fish only systems, without live rock. if you are going reef, you'll want the live rock and won't have much use for that.
i don't think they make it any more.

 

[kdogg85]

4 twin tubes, that sounds like a power compact fixture. That bio rocker thing looks like a fancy version of a bio ball wet/dry setup. Apparently it takes the place of thousands of bio balls, and under it you put a denitrater pad. The few things I read said it was great for a FO system but not really needed for a reef. Like Doug said, live rock and a skimmer will do the same.

 

[mr_X]

ahh...your right! again i screwed up. well, you might need to upgrade your lighting after all. depending on what you want to keep, of course.

 

[kdogg85]

Unless there is a t5ho twin tube we have all not been exposed to yet. Now that would be a slick idea. Think about how fast you could change lamps. If you are a diy type and have some spare cash, an led retofit would be cool.