Budget SPS without buyers remorse??

[Mark75]

I am mentally preparing to build my third reef tank and want to avoid making the same errors that frustrated me to the point of selling everything and getting out of the hobby.

Some of my previous errors involved using "cheap" lighting that never produced the right growth or colors, small rubble sized live rock that was terrible to keep stable and attach frags to, reusing an undersized hang on the back protein skimmer and sump that required daily adjustment and still never worked, and finally not being picky about what went in my tank if I liked it I bought it!!:lmao:

This time around I am going to take it much slower! Lots more planning and less buying. My build revolves around a rimless "cubish" tank, less than 100 gallons, more than 70 gallons. I am thinking about a 36"x24"x24", is this a good sized tank?

Seeing as I have a very expensive teenage family to provide for I still have to be very cost effective in how I purchase my equipment, so i would like some advise on saving money and having an SPS tank, ....I know cheap and SPS is an oxymoron but I am sure there are some ways to help with cost when designing your tank such as certain tank sizes are easier to light.

So lets here your advice on doing SPS on the cheap!:thumbsup:

Thanks

 

[phenom5]

Shallower is easier to light. The 36x24 footprint is great, but I would consider 18-21" tall...if it were me.

With a 36x24 footprint, there are a couple of reflectors out there that would give you enough coverage. Lumenmax, Lumenbright, or a Lumenarc reflector should be enough to use a single 250W. (I think...someone please correct me if I'm wrong) 250W MH setups can be had for cheap if you look for used equipment.


There are plenty of relatively inexpensive, but good quality skimmers for that sized tank. This is one area that I would not skimp.

SPS on a tight budget can be tough, but it's not impossible.

 

[Mark75]

I am still torn between a 6 bulb Tek fixture or a single 250w halide in a good reflector, anyone care to give some pros and cons to either set-up? My biggest concern with a single bulb halide set-up is getting the right "look".

Seeing that I sold everything, I am going to try to buy used as much as possible.

 

[Joel A]

I am still torn between a 6 bulb Tek fixture or a single 250w halide in a good reflector, anyone care to give some pros and cons to either set-up? My biggest concern with a single bulb halide set-up is getting the right "look".

Seeing that I sold everything, I am going to try to buy used as much as possible.

i think in the case of that tank in particular, a single 250 or 400 watt metal halide, in a nice lumenarc or similar reflector would light the tank very well, and be a pretty cheap set-up. You could buy a 400 watt used metal halide ballast, (or 250 if heat is a concern), a used reflector in good shape, and a brand new radium bulb (awesome crisp white with just a smidge of blue color) for somewhere in the ballpark of 300 dollars i would think.. to get the same light output from a quality t5 set-up, you're looking at 6-8 bulb set-ups, and you're looking at 36" length... so a 36" sunpower with 6 bulbs, if bought new, is over 500 dollars.

So the metal halide IMO is much easier to find used, and if you go the used metal halide route it's typically much cheaper. I personally favor t5 lighting over metal halide lighting, but metal halide is cheaper to set-up, and still throws a ton of light....

if you're worried about the look of the bulb, and want to be able to play with the color of the tank more, you could easily rig up a few t5 bulbs to go with it, that you could run as actinics or whatever you desire.. that would probably only add about 100 dollars to the total cost..

 

[Joel A]

it's also worth noting that although you might be able to get enough spread out of a good reflector raised high off the surface of the water for a 36"24" footprint, 2 metal halide bulbs would certainly be more ideal than 1.... 2x 250 watt metal halides would serve you very well light wise over that tank.

 

[ksc]

If you are setting up a predominantly sps tank one halide won't be enough for total coverage on a 36" tank. Go with 2 250's or a 8-10 bulb t5. You could start off with a single 250, then add one more later as the tank fills in.

 

[Mark75]

If you are setting up a predominantly sps tank one halide won't be enough for total coverage on a 36" tank. Go with 2 250's or a 8-10 bulb t5. You could start off with a single 250, then add one more later as the tank fills in.

What about a single 400w Halide? I am going for a very clean minimal look and don't want a huge fixture hanging from the ceiling.

 

[CMcNeil]

i think a 6 bulb 39w t5 will be your best bet for lighting.it actually uses less watts than a single 250w halide will(the t5 will draw 234w compared to 250w for the halide).the t5 will also allow you to go ahead and get the 24" deep tank you wanted instead of going shallower like 18-20".

 

[Joel A]

a single 400 would stand a little better shot, but not all that much... it's really the reflector that controls how the light spreads, and not so much the wattage.

If you're really set on using 1 bulb, you could always put it right in the center, raise it off the surface a solid 12" or more, get as much spread as you can.. and accept the fact that the light wont be as strong in the corners of the tank. I've seen a lot of tanks pull this off successfully, and basically just have a big rock structure in the center of the tank, and open swimming area on all the surrounding sides where the light isn't as strong.. on the surrounding sides you could keep lower light zoas/rics/lps etc.

it's kind of got a cool effect when you do that on a tank IMO, it gives it like a spotlight look over the main rock structure in the middle of the tank..

 

[Joel A]

i think a 6 bulb 39w t5 will be your best bet for lighting.it actually uses less watts than a single 250w halide will(the t5 will draw 234w compared to 250w for the halide).the t5 will also allow you to go ahead and get the 24" deep tank you wanted instead of going shallower like 18-20".

why would t5's allow that? They don't penetrate the water any better then a metal halide does? He could do a 24" deep with t5's or halides, it just means the light would have more water to penetrate... not a big deal, but if he's trying to get as much light in there for as cheap as possible an easy way to help accomplish that is to make the tank shorter.

a 6 bulb 36" t5 fixture would work great.. but if you go that way make sure you go with a quality fixture, and not a tek IMO...

 

[Reefphile]

I have a similar sized system (36x24x18). Although I have single SE 250W radium plus 4 T5's, the T5's are used only for dawn/dusk effect. I think a single 250W MH with a good reflecter should suffice if your tank is less than 20" in height. BTW, I really like the SE mogul over DE, IMO SE seems to spread the light more evenly over a wider area. Attached is a pic with just the MH on for your reference.

 

[Reefphile]

Also for a SPS dominated system, other than lights, a good skimmer is possibly the single best investment. There seems to be a lot of personal preference in skimmers. I would get one that is oversized for your system and has good reviews.

 

[dan223]

Part of budget or cheap to me is buying things like equip. one time instead of 2 and taking loss on the first:lol2:. If you ever resell the cheap stuff really takes a hit. I have 0 regrets on my ati sunpower fixture, everyone who sees it says its the brightest nicest t5 they have seen, yet it does not cook the bulbs and you still get 12 months out of them. A high quality USED skimmer will save you a couple hundred too, of course dry rock will save you money and problems from pests, but really as you know cheap is usually junk so I would just take your time to piece it together nicely. Dosing wise you can pickup an aquamedic dual doser for $150ish, I know several people who use them successfully and require no controller as its built in with the 2 dosing pumps. Controllers become another big ticket item that is not needed to have a nice reef but almost a must have with a calcium reactor, a ph controller at least.

 

[CMcNeil]

why would t5's allow that? They don't penetrate the water any better then a metal halide does? He could do a 24" deep with t5's or halides, it just means the light would have more water to penetrate... not a big deal, but if he's trying to get as much light in there for as cheap as possible an easy way to help accomplish that is to make the tank shorter.

a 6 bulb 36" t5 fixture would work great.. but if you go that way make sure you go with a quality fixture, and not a tek IMO...

a single 250w halide over that size tank isnt going to have the spread needed to keep sps everywhere.the 6x39w t5 will allow him the ability to keep sps anywhere in the tank.so IMO watt for watt the t5 is a better fit for the tank hes wanting to do,this is just my opinion.

 

[vegita51]

t5 fixture and talk to people in your local reef community, usually you can find cheap quality sps through them.

 

[Mark75]

Dan223 is spot on in his comments about buying right the first time, it often cost more to save money when designing a tank,...that sounds wrong??? LOL

I have had halide and T5 and know both their merits but in the interest of buying with confidence I think halides are tried and true. This is not a knock against T5's I have seen way to many spectacular T5 only tanks to go there!

I am planning a very simple 3 section sump with probably a Octopus skimmer ($250), bag of carbon, and some live rock rubble as I plan on having a very open tank with less than normal live rock (3 to 4 large pieces around 35lbs.-45lbs.) I will dose two-part and add kalk to all top off water via a simple auto top off system. Ehiem pump for return and 2 Korialla 4's for water movement

I am planning on having some time to come up with a good dosing plan as the frags should not require much in the beginning, what else am I forgetting??

O yea, a good 5 stage RO/DI, that is a must!!!!

 

[ncny21802]

Get a ATI 6 bulb T5 fixture and you won't disappointed. I have a 36"X18X24 tank and keep SPS all over. Top, bottom...doesn't matter. I use the ATI Sunpower

 

[sm fragman]

ill shed some light on the matter. i have the 36"24"24" size tank and had one 250watt over it wiht a good reflector and it did not get good coverage on the sides of the tank. i then put a 6 bulb sunpower over it and the tank looked much better and everything in it looked healthyer as well. wiht the t5 lighting you get a more even pread of light and no real hot spots

 

[PayasoDelMar]

If you want to look at the cost manner of of MH vs T5 think about this, with MH you would only need 1 bulb that would cost around $70. For a t-5 fixture, most recommended a 5 or 6 bulb setup, and those bulbs are about $25 each. You would pay about double each year just in bulbs.

I personally like MH, you get a pretty shimmer
T-5s get a more even spread out of light though

 

[mayjong]

i would have bought one of the high end frag packs listed in the selling forums. $200 for 15 frags of named SPS....sigh.....
can't fit now!