New 281 galon tank

[Hristaky]

Ok
I am king of new here but i wish to ask for some advice.
I never looked at saltwater/reef aquariums but rescently i got realy interested in them. I have gotten together some money. Atm 450USD
I want to make a 5' long by 3' tall by 2.5' wide reef aquarium. I will make everything myself. So far i figured out i need 12mm glass since the tank will wigh app 1 ton when full (281usg)

Here is my idea for lighting
2 separate canopies each holding 2 coralife 50/50 24"VHOs and 10 white LEDs + 4 blue leds to make moon lighting.

For filtering i think 2 x emperor 400 biowheels and a seaclone 150 protein skimmer will do.

any ideas on the lighting will help as I am not sure if that will be enough light for corals??? please note im a big n00b (this is my 1st saltware aq) in saltwater and know next to nothing so any advice is appreciated
thanks
chris

 

[greenmaji]

WELCOME TO AQUARIUM ADVICE!!!

just a few things...

garf.org recomends .5 inch glass for that size tank.. that would be about 12.7 mm.

a seaclone 150 is very undersized for a 150 gallon tank.. I would recomend looking into a DIY protein skimmer (one suffecent enough for that size tank would be pricy)

a good skimmer, LR (LR+baserock), sand, 15-20 total cycles per hour of water flow and possibly the addition of a refugium is what is recomended for SW filtration

low light coarls.. such as mushrooms and softys usually need at least 3-4 watts per gallon.. high light coarls need 6 watts per gallon + of lighting.. MH has it own set of rules if your intrested in setting that up....

 

[greenmaji]

btw.. the above advice was keeping a relitivly low budget in mind.. if you have some spare $$$ I could suggest pre-fab equipment that would be sutible for that size tank..