wade

Phosphates interact with the calcium deposition (acretion) - that is why it causes burns when in higher concentrations. As to lower K lights causing brown - I highly disagree. Sunlight is approximately 5500K (filtered to higher with depth of course). If you have a full spectrum 6500k bulb, you will often get far better colors in a wider variety of corals. What causes browning is either low PAR (often from poor output low K bulbs) or variability in light (like you get with higher latitudes using sunlight or irregular schedules). Higher K bulbs reflect those higher colors giving the illusion that you have "brighter" corals in the green and blue range - but its just reflection of the ambient light. Check out Dana Riddle's work on coloration and intensity per spectra.

Another point - high phosphates (higher than used in the article) cause "burning" of the tips in fast growing sps species. It also causes more competitive algae to begin to dominate a system which is never good. From what I've seen, plenty of P is brought in via food if you feed a balanced diet from which most species can benefit.

One thing I noticed back when I helped and serviced a lot of tanks was that people overlooked their water source. I highly recommend you make certain that you aren't adding in nitrogen/phosphate via your water. If you have an RO/DI - the membrane and resins need to be replaced regularly. Accidents can also cause membranes to fail, basically letting you put unfiltered water into your tank as well. Secondarily, check your foods. Many prepared foods are very high in nitrogen. Limit your feeding or feed something you know the content of and see how the system performs. Significant water flow is also necessary to keep enough gaseous exchange at the interface with the substrate. Turnover (or intercolation) into the sand is controlled more by water flow at the surface of the substrate. Smaller (eg araganite sand as listed above) is far better because you need less depth. Rob Toonen published some on required depths a while back. Adding animals that "stir" is generally not a good idea because you are causing oxygen to penetrate in large areas very quickly, which provides you with more ammonia to nitrite to nitrate conversion, but does not eliminate nitrate as deep beds or internal rock pores do.

Yay videos! Thanks for those links, very handy. Skimmer tech has certainly shifted over time as well - it looks like various companies have tried to really reduce the bubble emissions from the needlewheels. I bookmarked Avast as well. They are new by me too.

Thanks Tom! Someone else just clued me into those pumps as well. I hadn't seen them before. Any idea what people are saying about their longevity? (seals, etc)

Smallreef - thanks for the input. I'll look into the evergrow lights. My old reef (this was around 2005) cost me around $50 in power a month - in NC where rates were about 40% lower than up here (and the power was nuclear, not 100% coal like it is here). I imagine running the same setup here that I had there would probably burn around 1500kwh a month. My solar panels only currently cover around 30% of my operating needs, adding a huge drawing tank would plummet that even more. I know there's a better way to do it with more modern equipment.

I must have written that poorly - I am choosing not to use my large tank as a reef again. It was one for years. The reason is because to move that much water volume, and light that much surface, requires immense amounts of power - I used to run 4x400W halides+4x VHO, 5000gph return pump, 2x external circulating pumps, and a 3500gph pump on the skimmer, plus a small pump on the reactor. The tank was gorgeous.... for years. http://www.flickr.com/photos/68956031@N08/sets/72157632830881336/ Jon - this is on the main floor of a 2-story, so that won't work even without considering the problems inherent in our latitude. I'm really looking for what people have used that is efficient - what pumps draw the least, but hold up and work well? What lighting is worth it on a cost basis that draws low power? What type of skimmer does a great job for ~150-200g of water, but draws low power? Thanks all!

After a significant hiatus from the hobby, I am seriously considering getting back into it. However, the condition I set upon myself is that I have to design the most power-efficient tank possible - including lights, pumps, etc. So I have questions for folks based on my desire to set up a 60g cube (or near that - under 100 gallons): 1) What skimmer is rated to work really well for ~150g AND is very efficient on the electricity? My old 4 foot tall Beckett driven.. is not. 2) What about lighting? Obviously LEDs are the most efficient on power, but are they sufficient or worthwhile for a 2'x2' cube? - if so, which have people used? Is it more worthwhile to use a set of T5s? I still have my old 4x400W halide hood, but we won't even talk about that power consumption. 3) What about water flow inside the tank? What burns the least power, but moves a lot of water? The ecotech pumps? 4) What about return pump? What is a good one that works well for a 6' rise? Any thoughts from people will be gladly accepted. Also, if anyone has or knows of someone looking to offload a GLASS cube tank - let me know! I will also consider other sizes. My current tank is 7' long (~250g) which is just too big to be efficiently run as a reef. Cheers, Wade

I see they have it for $1200 - no lights. Does Jason still run Premium? Maybe I should just give him a call.

Has anyone seen any local fish places/pet stores that sell the Solana XL60 (the 60g cube) for a decent price? I found the 34 cube locally here in Mont Cty MD, but not the 60. If you have seen one let me know where!

Like the kind a few WAMAS folks have as water holding containers? They are usually about 50g worth. like this: PS - Floating in the Potomac, while a valid answer, is not going to work for use in the house!

Does anyone have any PAR readings on these lamps? I'm really curious about them, but until I see either a spectral output graph, PAR counts, or both, I certainly won't be ready to move on one. I asked Sanjay if he has tested one, but he hasn't been given one to test as of yet.

elos... got a link?

No idea just yet as far as stocking. My un-thought-through brain impulse at the moment would be to stock with SPS (frags or small colonies)and probably a few small fish. I wouldn't mind having a goby+shrimp or other odd little fish. But fairly low fish loading with heavier coral loading. Hence the desire for major skimming capacity. I know what I would never stock: E. quads, corallimorphia, xenia, caulerpa, valonia (ya right)...

Thanks for the responses. If I can, I am going to go sumpless on this system. I understand the utility, but I also understand that keeping that flow of water in that small a compartment is both noisy and a real mess. I worked with Ken Stockman years ago when he was designing the original standpipes (prior to the design being hijacked by a nameless major tank manufacturer), so if I had to do a sump (eg, if a good skimmer doesn't exist without one yet) I would go with an integrated standpipe isolated with a custom overflow to reduce air intake, I can both drill and cut those. Recommendations for specific manufacturers would be excellent. I know some of the newest impeller designs are great for small gear. ____ And since I totally forgot to do so, as a way of introduction... I have been involved directly in reefkeeping since 1997 - I'm also a co-owner of Pomecanthus Publications, Inc (reefs.org/advanced aquarist). Thanks for the welcome!

After having moved to this area from NC, where I had a very large and stable reef, I have finally decided (now that the basement is finished) to look into starting up a new aquarium. However, the monster acrylic tank (7'x 28" x 20") is just too much for a reef right now. So, having never really searched for the ideal equipment for a smaller tank, I am posing a question to all of you: What would be your ideal equipment and setup for an sps tank using a cube or smaller design? (Thinking ~60g cube size or so) Some specific requirements would be: very quiet (low sump, pump, fan, and flow noises) & "clean" looking (ie- it sits in a prominent place and needs to be pretty, tank and stand as focus). Sump (yes or no)? Water movement? Skimmer? Lighting? Dosing? Topoff? I have ideas in mind already, but would love to hear what people think these days. Don't worry about costs and such, since this is an ideal system. This is a brainstorming and planning idea. Cheers! Wade