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Starting over with my tank!

My 75g RR Tank / questions!

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5 Comments
by
Hat39406
, 06-16-2010 at 10:03 AM (2614 Views)
The weekend is coming soon and I will need to go ang get some supplies soon, so some quick questions.

1). VHO- I have 4 VHO's on the system. I need to by two ballast and the seller said he buys them from the builder store. (Home Depot, etc.) the question is: What can y'all tell me about VHO lighting. I never used then before? And, do y'all get ya lighting from HD or where? VHO parts, endcaps, etc.? Should I mount the ballast and such under in stand are on back of canopy, what y'all think? I'm thinking in stand.

2). Plumbing- on the drain bulkhead ... With the flex hose to sump.. Do I use clamps or what? Looking at others setups it doesn't look like but I'm thinking yes. Any tips on all the plumbing would be appreciated. Also on the return it looks like I have some type of flex tubing???

3. Sand- should I get the live sand or dry sand. I don't think the LFS carried live sand, where can I get it from online? About how much?
Should I go deep or shallow bed? Pros and cons please!

4) hmmm... How can I add the water and my corals and livestock by this weekend?? Get saltwater from LFS? Please tell me how?

I have my own ideas on all the questions I asked but I want to hear your ideas. Most of y'all have a lot more experience Ghana me when it come to marine tanks. I believe there are no stupid question, just stupid people who don't ask questions!

Thanks for all ya help,

HAT

p.S. I will post pics on all these subject when I'm actually to that point in the project...LOL.. Which will happen fast. I would like to have water in tank with coral and things by Sunday evening. Hood and lights and stand door may not be completed yet though.

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Categories
‎ Electrical , ‎ Plumbing , ‎ Lighting , ‎ DIY projects

Comments

  1. agsansoo's Avatar
    1) How many bulbs are you planning to run. They do sell a four bulb ballast. http://www.hellolights.com/index.asp...ROD&ProdID=360

    3) Run a bare bottom tank. save your $.

    4) Are you starting a whole new tank ? Or are you moving liverock from old tank to new setup ?
  2. melev's Avatar
    1) The IceCap 660 ballast will light 16' of VHO bulbs, or 4 x 4' bulbs. The IceCap 430 only lights 12' of bulbs (or 3 x 4' bulbs). You can purchase the ballast online at MarineDepot.com, ChampionLighting.com, or PremiumAquatics.com to name a few. The IceCap ballast overdrives them to get the bright light our tanks need. ARO is the house-brand sold by HelloLights.com

    2) Yes, you want plastic hose clamps, sold online and possibly available at your LFS. Metal ones rust and drop bits of metal into the sump. We can't answer your question about the return tubing because only you have seen it. Pictures help.

    3) You can buy dry sand and live sand from your LFS. I prefer a DSB, but you may only want to see a shallow sandbed of 1.5-2" deep. It's a preference thing now-a-days, although a DSB does help with denitrification.

    4) Get the tank set up, make sure there are no leaks, stabilize the water for a day or two, then move your livestock. If you had a few year's experience under your belt, you could probably move the livestock into the tank the same day, but being new I would suggest you verify that all is well before risking the livestock's health.
  3. Hat39406's Avatar
    Thanks AgSansoo and Marc for all the info. Been checking prices of ballast at the sites y'all gave me, don't know what I'm going to get yet. I like the IceCap and it's only a little more than the ATO one.

    I' moving my liverock and things to a new tank.

    Darn, I really don't know DSB or bare! I do want some sand and since I'm spending a lot of money getting this set up, I believe I'll go with 1 1/2 to 2 inch sand bed.

    I will show pics of what I have for plumbing hopefully tomorrow. We went to Lowes t
    tonight and picked up some wood to fix the canopy, paint, hardware and some silicone, oh yeah some of them tie-strap to tidy all my electrical wires. Will start painting tomorrow. :-)
  4. agsansoo's Avatar
    Hat, There's a podcast http://www.reefcast.com/downloads29.php that Marc did with Steve Weast you should listen to. Steve talks about using only enough sand to cover the bottom. He just vacuums the sand at least once a week to keep waste from building up.
  5. Hat39406's Avatar
    Thanks man, I will listen to it. ;-)