Blog Comments

Thanks for the feedback, the reason I'm asking is because I have about 40 lbs of rock that has been sitting in a covered container in my garage, in saltwater with no heater for about a year. I just about have everything to setup my tank and will be getting the 90 gal package from Tampa Bay Saltwater, with only about 120 lbs of rock, I want to use the 40 to 50 lbs I have as base rock on the bottom of my 3 islands I plan on creating in my 60" long tank. Thanks again for the feedback.

You would be surprised how near impossible it is to kill everything on the rock. I've left rocks out in trash bags in a garage for months and still had stuff regrow. Your best bet is to boil it a few times, and let it sun dry. Avoid chemicals as much as possible if you plan on putting the rock back in any tank. Porous rock will absorb chemicals, and release them back into your water over time.

So I would just put the rocks in a vat of fresh water with a pump to move the water around. The fresh water will kill off anything in the rock. I wouldn't use any type of chemicals because of the pouress nature of live rock. Do these soaks a few times and make sure to scrub the rocks with a toothbrush to get the surface algea off. Let them dry out in the sun as long as you can. You should be good. Just a thought why are you trying to kill the rocks???

Hey there Air Force....
Hanging them will give you the ability to raise and lower them to your tanks needs. And that lighting fixture can be exposed without it being an eye sore. So at least you have that option.

I don't know about my wood working skills , I'll see how the stand turns out before I decide lol, I'm thinking about building a rack out of tubing instead of hanging the light from the ceiling, jury is still out.

pendant hanging from the ceiling will give you the best cooling if that's a concern. but if you have the wood working skills an enclosed canopy has a very nice finished look.

Everytime ive needed start fresh with rock or anything that was questionable ive boiled them in large stock. Do it outside because the stink is unruly. Just make sure to cover the rock completely and bring to a boil long enough to get the core temp of the rock close to 210. After you boil you add some chlorine to the water, it will help eat any trash out of the pores of the rock, and let them soak then rinse well and leave of the completely dry.

I found a thread online about this, and as I am new and unused to the formal decorum to this blog, I will send you the link, and you can decide to post it here or not.

Thanks for the advice I appreciate it.

My husband boiled ours in a turkey fryer. Boiled each batch 15 - 20 minutes. (Do it outside because it stinks!) Then we set them out in the sun to dry, etc.

Or you could just dry out the rock then cure it.

Here's the link: http://www.dfwmas.org/Forums/viewtop...=109759#109759

Thanks everyone for the input, I really apprreciate it.

the 60" kits will run almost exactly 60 inches ( bulbs would be 58"), a 36 or 48 inch bulb is about 2 inches shorter to allow for the standoffs so you should be ok.

As for how many you can fit, the Icecap reflectors are 2" wide each, so you could easily fit a 6 lamp kit. But 4 would probably be plenty for all but the most light demanding corals.

Which ever you do decide check out this site. www. Hellolights.com :-)

Dread - where ya been my friend?

I would go with the 60" kit and just step your canopy out a bit if need be.

i have the same type of tank, its 60x18x18. its a great tank, i will try to post some pics of it soon, been working outside lately and my calcium dipped way low. I had not taken parms in the last 6 weeks and with new sps corals being added in the calcium must have been sucked up

Thanks Steve, good point, to be truthfull I probably wouldn't have thought about it up front by myself. I was thinking about using the flex pipe and probably would have been beating my head against the wall for a while trying to figure out the surge issue. Thanks again.

Yes, a sloped drain with no low points is important. This prevents surging, burping, or even backflow on rare occasions.