55 gallon build

[Steve silbernagel]

How well am I gonna do with the 8 65w power compacts I'm running

 

[Fredyyanez]

So I'm starting my tank. I bought dead sand as well as live sand. I don't have a filter yet. But I do have power heads , they told me I could star my cycle with out filtration ( I'm getting my filter in like a week) I added all the dead sand can I add the live one as I cycle or do I wait til I have my filtration ? Thanks

 

[kdpuffer]

You don't filtration period as your rock is the biological filtration. The filter is just for mechanical and chemical filtration which isn't necessary, just helpful. You can easily have a happy health tank with just rock, sand and powerheads.

 

[Steve silbernagel]

Definitely put the sand in first then your mixed sw. Bc I made that mistake and my water was cloudy for a week

 

[kdpuffer]

And use a plate set on the sand to fill it without kicking it up, also if you use live sand make sure the water is premixed before adding it in. If its dry sand you could get away with mixing it in the tank.

 

[Paxdaddy]

For lights you could check out the fixtures at fishneedit.com. Good price on fixtures.

 

[Fredyyanez]

Thanks ,I added the sand , drinking water( with conditioner) a long with the salt water mix . Here's a picture.
Unbeknownst to that, One of my 4th and 5th grade teachers told me her husband has saltwater tanks , and that he would like to help me. I'm going over Monday .

 

[Fredyyanez]

Here's a close up. Of cloudy water if anyone wants to see it lol.

 

[Steve silbernagel]

Dude it's gonna take a week to clear up

 

[Fredyyanez]

I did put the sand in first though

 

[Fredyyanez]

I'm having trouble with lighting for My reef tank.
Will this one work ? That would be over 4 watts per gallon.

 

[jose7878]

Is that a powerhead near the bottom of the tank?If so you should move it up higher up to circulate the water so it doesn't disturb the sand and cause sandstorms.

 

[Fredyyanez]

Yeah it was like 3 inches above the sand to make sure the salt dissolved quickly and efficiently . But I will move it now thanks .

 

[jose7878]

I'm having trouble with lighting for My reef tank.
Will this one work ? That would be over 4 watts per gallon.

Personally I would keep away from PC lighting. I had them when i started in the hobby and frankly i could only keep low lighting corals. My preference is either T5's or MH.
My suggestion is to buy the right equipment the first time. So your not wasting your money , by replacing it down the line.

 

[Steve silbernagel]

Have u looked into LED. I'm running 8 of those bulbs in my hood only bc I did a horse trade with a buddy of mine for me to work on his boat trailer. Plus it came with like 2 dozen bulbs. If I wouldn't have got the whole system for almost nothing I would have gone with LED.

 

[jose7878]

Here's a led system that a lot of us reefers use.
http://www.ebay.com/itm/New-2012-Pr...970?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_0&hash=item4d02f31192

 

[Fredyyanez]

How big is it ? Will I need more than one

 

[Fredyyanez]

And what color does your aquarium look like? I want mine to look natural and white. While in the morning blue ( simulating dusk)

 

[jose7878]

You will need 2. One for each side.
I believe they have two switches one for the Whites and the other for the Blues.
So if they were in a timer u could have them turn on and off in what ever time you want them.
Color wise it would be a blueish color.

 

[Fredyyanez]

45 lns of Fiji love rock for 20 bucks !