Advice on my tank

[Rhinecanthus]

Well, it has come down to selecting a tank size.

The finalists are: 75g and 90g.

I am limited to 48" long and about 20" wide...this took care of the 120g

Anyway...I am interested in a Picasso trigger. I plan on keeping this a fish only setup (FOWLR is the term if my reading is correct!).

I plan to have a sump of at least 30 gallons and a skimmer...leaning towards an ASM (2 or 3 I think) but I have an Urchin Pro that a friend sold me quite cheap that I have considered as well.

SO...here is what I need advice on:

Lighting: Considering just an easy 2 bulb VHO kit to put in the canopy. But I have been reading around here that T5s are also popular. I was also thinking of one 150 watt halide in the center just to add some shimmer effect to the tank as well. Will that look bad? I have heard that a single metal halide on a 4 foot tank can leave the ends of the tank shadowy.?

Filtration: As above...sump, refugium (where I plan on keeping inverts for feeding) and the Urchin Pro. (with a mag 3 pump)

Water movement: Return pump from the overflow - I guess around 800 gallons an hour or so. Dont know if I will need more seeing as I wont have corals.

Fish: Picasso trigger, Anything else that can go with him???

I would also love an eel...I really like Zebra morays and tessalata eels...also other members of the gymnothorax group.

What about a porcupine puffer or other puffer fish?

Any advice would be great. I only want to set this up once!

 

[aquaman67]

I'd get the 90.

As for lights, normal fluoresent would work. VHOs and MH are for corals. All you'll do in a FO tank is encourage algae with that much light. I do like the shimmer of MH too, but it might not be worth the algae battle.

I'd use the Urchin Pro just because I already had it. I have an ASM G-2 on my 70 FO tank and it's awesome

I have a Picasso and a Snowflake eel in that tank.

I'd have to look it up but I think those eels you mentioned get pretty big.

I'm using a mag 9.5 for a return pump. It's not as much water movement as you'd think.

I have no idea about puffers.

 

[syndrome]

Zebra eel yes tessaleta eel no. ( they grow 8 ft) Golden tail moray or a jueweld moray are cool eels too

 

[Rhinecanthus]

Thanks for the replies!

Considering the zebra and some of the other smaller morays.

 

[stevebydac]

Realize that the Picasso will eventually need a bigger tank. But you can keep one in your tank for 2-4 years before a bigger tank is necessary.

Skip the porcupine and arothron family of puffers. They will get too big. The smaller puffers might be good fits for you. Re: morays, a snowflake is always a good choice and stays 30" tops. A zebra is great, but gets too big for your tank. If you like the more "toothy" morays, a great fit for you is the jewel moray. Only gets 24" but looks like the typical fish-eating moray. Just watch the size of the fish you put in with him.

If you are not going to have any light-loving inverts, stay modest with your light wattage. Remember that hair algae loves light, so the more light you have the more likely it will grow hair algae in a FOWLR with predatory fish and their usual high(er) nitrate and phosphate levels. If you put a MH on your tank, you will increase the risk. I was given good advice years ago (and stupidly ignored it) about this, and I paid the price. I learned to keep minimal lighting on the tank -- just enough so it looked ok to my eyes, and limited the hours of light on the tank. It cut the hair algae in my tank to a standstill. Something to think about...

 

[techigirl78]

90/75 typically have center braces if you are going with glass, that won't work with a center MH.

I'd go with T5s over NO. When I added T5s to my 90 the fish looked much more spectacular without much added enery costs.

 

[Rhinecanthus]

Just found a decent 3 bulb VHO retrofit. Any comments or thoughts on bulb colour?

Thanks!

 

[techigirl78]

Do you like actinics? Maybe two daylights and one actinic. I like my daylights in the 10K-14K range, but I never had VHO, only T5s, PCs, and MHs. Then you could use the actinic only for the dawn/dusk effect.