[jrayrizzo]

I fianaly won the battle with the Fiancée i had to give her either a yellow tang or dori and the "pretty corals"(sps) but my budget before corals and fish is 2000 so i came up with this list off of https://www.drsfostersmith.com/

Aquarium Systems Synthetic Sea Salt Instant Ocean 160 gallon mix

Stealth Heater 100W
Stealth Heater 150W
(i didn't want any 1 heater to be able to cook my tank)

Pure-Flo II RO Units 50 gpd 4-stage
Super Skimmer Needle Wheel Protein Skimmer 125 gallon
80 lbs of Caribbean Live Sand

90lbs of DFS Select Fiji Premium Rock

Aquactinics TX5 Series 48 inch T5HO Fixture five 54W lamps

75 gal tank from the lfs and the stand

all of this with the shiping included is $1617.35

so my question are, what would a good power head setup (considering i have to stay under 2k) and are there any problems with what i picked

thanks for the advice

[jrayrizzo]

after some looking around i think i'll go with 2 power heads on the sides and one on the back with a rotating head attachement. i'm thinking the rotating head will cut into the flow of the other 2 and make it more turblant or i could put rotating heads on all 3 if thats better. i'll post the name of the head when i go back to the lfs.

[glampka]

Don't forget a refractometer/hydrometer & your test kits. Be sure to get the T-5 set up that has the individual reflectors rather than the single big reflector. If you plan on using the Hydor Koralia Flow Deflector on the ph, remember they do cut down the flow somewhat. Should also consider getting a grounding wire - it eliminates any induced current that may be generated by ph & heaters. GFCI outlet is a must.

[NATIVEVAMAN]

You are going to love that light fixture.It has individual reflectors.

[lynnvangsnes]

Concerning your powerheads, I have been happy with my Hydor Koralias..I have a 1 and a 3.

[jrayrizzo]

i think i'm going with 4 Maxi-Jet 1200's with eiter 2 or 4 rotating heads to mix up the flow some, so without the skimmer it's around 1180 gph of flow. Although i will loose some due to the rotating heads, but that is 13x flow so i think i'm ok now for the most part. as for the lights i want to keep sps and the light fixture can hold 5 lights an advice on types (50/50 10k acents...etc) or any light brands or are the all the same.

thanks

[NATIVEVAMAN]

When it comes to t 5 a lot of people like to shuffle them like a deck of cards,sort of like a one of each approach. I am not sure they know what they have in the end.I would follow the kiss theory,keep it simple stupid.since there is more than a fair amount of evedence to prove that the best coral growth occurs in the 6500k range and symbiotic algea's need light in the blue range I would put one actinic blue and one 6500k on one switch and one 6500k,and two 10000k on the other switch.The one actinic and one 6500k would be the dawn to dusk lights and the rest the daylights.Dawn to dusk lights on for 12 hours and the rest for 10 hours.Duting the cycle just cut everything back to about two hours a day and increase gradually over about three weeks to the full schedule.

[Tonz of fun]

those 1200s are only good for 300 gph. I would go with 2 1600s at least. Does anyone else have a problem with the skimmer he went with? And in regards to the lights. I believe it the blue or purple hue. Some corals will hate that white or yello light. On my set up I have 4 t5s. 420nm and 460nm. Blue and purple...

[glampka]

Word of caution with the MJ 1200s - while they are work horse ph & work well with wavemakers they can put a lot of heat in your tank. They use 20 watts of power each. In comparison the MJ 900 only uses 8 watts. You might want to look at the Hydor Koralia & Seio ph as well. Hydor Koralia's are known to chatter when hooked up to wavemakers each time they power up.

[jrayrizzo]

do the seio and the korella provide good turblant flow, or would i need to add something else to get the flow to be turblant.

thanks

[e_baer]

I have 2 SEIO m620's in my 55, and it is not the type of flow i had wanted, so if you go wiht SEIO, get the largest one you can get!

I should have gotten the 1100 for my 55.

[jrayrizzo]

i have noticed something with my freshwater tank that will be an issue for the salt water once i get it. the first is how i get my water from the source to the tank are there any good cheap pumps i can use to get the water from the ground to the tank it's 54" to the top of the one i have now. the other is how to get the tank to be level my place is a bit old and unlevel so whats the best way to level out my new tank and how would i level out a tank that is filled.

[jrayrizzo]

one thing i forgot i want to get a predrilled tank so i can add a sump at a later date, but since i don't plan to use it at first what is the best way to keep water from going down and flooding the floor but be able to add a sump in the future.

[NATIVEVAMAN]

I suppose you could put a valve on the pipes as they come out of the tank,but i wouldnt do it.its an invitation to a leak.Just wait a while and do it all right the first time.Hang around here for a while.Everything you learn here will do nothing but save you money.

[Cela Vie]

I agree with the VA man. Wait and do it right the first time. It is very very disappointing and depressing having to re-do something purely due to rushing the process. Check out some of the builds people have posted, you can learn a lot from them. I did.

[e_baer]

one thing you can always do, is to get the plumbing set up for the most part, and then add end caps, along with valves. but then again, as VA man said, it is just asking for a leek.