38 gallon Reef

[Mopar32985]

Hello everyone. Well i havent posted on here in a while due to selling off all my old tanks and buying my first house. Now that im getting settled in the new house its time to start up another reef tank. My good friend was nice enough to give me his old 38 gallon tank with a DIY 20 sump. So far all i have is the tank sump, and yesterday i bought the lights for it. I got a very slightly used Current Extreme Pro T5 fixture. Its 6x39 watt, just need to get some new bulbs for it. With good parameters what types of corals do you think i could keep with this fixture. The tank measures 36 long, 12 deep, 20 tall. Any input on this would be greatly appreciated.

 

Next question im looking at two protein skimmers and wanted to get some input on them as well. The two im looking at are the Super Reef Octopus 1000,and Octopus Needlewheel 110. I know that the super reef is better than the NW110. My real question is will i get that much better of performance with the bubble blaster pump compared to the 4" needlewheel. Im trying to keep cost down but i am try to get descent equipment at the same time. Thanks for any help or suggestion will post a few pics up tomorrow. Not really much at all to see now but i would like to start a build log of my tank so i can have something to go back to and look at.

 

-Chance-

[zygote2k]

If you want a good skimmer that has a good price, comes with excellent customer service, and has easy to find parts- go with an AVAST skimmer. I've installed 3 of them this year and I have to say that they perform exceptionally well and are easy to dial in.

[Mopar32985]

Thanks man for your suggestion i did take a look at that skimmer and it looks very nice. I had to tell my wife and mom what i wanted for xmas last night so i didnt get to research it before telling them what i wanted. I did decide to go with the super reef skimmer by octopus. I hope that i will be happy with it i herd great review about the bubble blaster pump. Also i should be getting a RO/DI set up from bulk reef supply, and a nice magnet called the Piranha has replaceable pads and it floats. Then from Premium Aquatics a Finnex titanium heater with a inline display and temp prob, and to top it off a refractometer. Well this is if i get what i asked for hahaha.

 

This weekend i plan on building a stand for the tank. Its only a 36" tank but im going to build a stand that is 48". Im doing this because i want to be able to fit everything under the stand. Such as the sump, dual Reactors, and a maybe 15 gallon tank for frags that will be hooked into my sump. I guess we will see what happens. Any suggestions are welcomed thanks.

 

-Chance-

[epleeds]

if you get good bulbs...ATI...then you should be able to grow pretty much anything in your tank.

 

i like 3 blue +, 2 aquablue special, 1 fiji purple.

 

haven't tried the pink bulb yet but that is also an option.

[Mopar32985]

Thanks man for the suggestion i also like the blue color for the tank. Whatever will help those colors. Do you think you might be able to post up a pic of what your tank looks like with your bulbs thanks again.

 

-Chance-

[Mopar32985]

Well today I got a great deal on some rock I got 100 lbs of dry rock for $100 and a half bucket of salt. Mow I just half to wait for Xmas to get the rest so I can start the build. Also o need to get or build a stand for my tank. If any of you could build me one for some cash or keep an eye out for me on a used stand that would be great.