[Lowej82]

Originally Posted by wesley6610

This is the same fixture I almost brought, well I did buy it and then i cancelled the order honestly. I would say to get this one ONLY IF you know that all you want is perhaps FOWLR. If you are thinking about more than that, I would consider a retro like you talked about earlier.

are you serious? lol for fowlr only?

[wesley6610]

Not saying that you can't keep more than that with the Nova fixture, I'm sure you can keep a good amount of beautiful corals and more, but as far as upgradability for future changes and improvements limits you. So if you can build a retro due to space and opportunity, along with wood skills, why tie yourself down to a fixture at all?

[Lowej82]

Originally Posted by wesley6610

Not saying that you can't keep more than that with the Nova fixture, I'm sure you can keep a good amount of beautiful corals and more, but as far as upgradability for future changes and improvements limits you. So if you can build a retro due to space and opportunity, along with wood skills, why tie yourself down to a fixture at all?

ok thats better put, lol Thanks

[orestes19832003]

hey have you looked on aquatraders.com they have alot of lights that are pretty decently priced.

[wesley6610]

Originally Posted by Lowej82

ok thats better put, lol Thanks

Duely noted!

[wesley6610]

Originally Posted by orestes19832003

hey have you looked on aquatraders.com they have alot of lights that are pretty decently priced.

I looked at aquatraders too, but if I don't know the company or someone can really vouch for it, I would shy away. Sometimes deals are really too good to be true. Now, if you know an electrician and he tells you that the ballast are just as good or the same as the name brand ones, I would go for it. Otherwise, spend wisely and ask lots of questions, almost everyone has or knows someone that has use a particular product with both good and bad input for you.

[map95003]

Wes, to answer your questions...my display tank will be a 75g (48x21x18) and I plan on using my old 55 to build my sump, there is room should I decide in the future to get a taller, deeper tank but the max width would be ~50". I plan on keeping fish and softies (to start) but I want the flexibility to keep more corals down the road as I learn more about the hobby.

I plan on starting a thread of my build as I get further along but you guys been extremely helpful to me so I'll give you a sneak peak of my progress...as you can see I'm not
buying fish this wknd, I'm not just setting up a tank, I'm finishing my entire basement...on my own when I get free time on some wknds....a couple of my buddies tried to help me a few weeks ago but we ended up drinking a few cases of beer and installing 1 bag of insulation

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[wesley6610]

Looks good so far and that is the exact tank that I am about to purchase so that I can get rid of the overflow box in the rear of my tank. Keep me posted.

[dori9941]

Originally Posted by wesley6610

Seeing is believing and I am a believer of the individual reflector system that I purchased from Aquactinics.

I love pics

[dori9941]

Originally Posted by map95003

Wes, to answer your questions...my display tank will be a 75g (48x21x18) and I plan on using my old 55 to build my sump, there is room should I decide in the future to get a taller, deeper tank but the max width would be ~50". I plan on keeping fish and softies (to start) but I want the flexibility to keep more corals down the road as I learn more about the hobby.

I plan on starting a thread of my build as I get further along but you guys been extremely helpful to me so I'll give you a sneak peak of my progress...as you can see I'm not
buying fish this wknd, I'm not just setting up a tank, I'm finishing my entire basement...on my own when I get free time on some wknds....a couple of my buddies tried to help me a few weeks ago but we ended up drinking a few cases of beer and installing 1 bag of insulation

Attachment 825

Attachment 826

Attachment 827

nice, thank for showing

[map95003]

What do you guys think of this T5 retro kit from Nova Extreme? I'm thinking of getting 2 of these for a total of 216W (for mushroomes/softies), they have individual reflectors. That would give roughly 2.9 watts/gal (hopefully more with the individual reflectors)

Nova Extreme Retrofit Kit - 2 x 54W - 10,000k & 460nm - 48 in. | Compact Fluorescent | Lighting Systems | Aquarium - ThatPetPlace.com

[wesley6610]

I would say get 6 bulbs total, 216 watts even with individual reflectors is a little low.

[mbhershk]

couple pics of my 75g with 55 gallon sump

[map95003]

I like that in-wall setup...can't wait to get there, construction is taking much longer than I expected. Well summer is over, hopefully I'll get more time now to work on it.

Looks like it's a new setup, how long has the tank been up and running?
How many lbs of fiji rock is that?
What kind of sand and how many lbs?

thanx

[dori9941]

very nice, thanks for sharing