Finnex M-Tanks

C

Cshradr7

New member
I have 5 freshwater tanks and am looking to try saltwater now. I'm looking at getting the finnex m tank 22g but i need help selecting which lights to get. i am planning on doing a small reef with live rock and a couple fish. since this is my first attempt at saltwater, ill probably be getting fairly easy to keep coral and a couple of clown fish. which light will i need to do what i want? they have the following choices

36Wx2 power compact with LED
36Wx3 power compact w/o LED
150W HQI + 18Wx2 power compact with LED

also i want to make sure that i'm not forgetting anything major that i need to buy other than the tank and what comes with it
heater
live rock (is it okay to buy online?)
sand (any opinions on type)
cleanup crew

and then my fish and corals

OR...would you recommend going completely custom with like a 30 gal cube?
-What all would i need for this?

OR...What have you heard about the new finnex 30G setups? When are we going to be able to get them and where?

Thanks for the Help
Colin
 
For a newbie, go as big as you can, finnex are probaly the best all in ones, I think premiumaquatics.com or nanotuners.com has a 30gallon cube refugiam model, which I would get. On lighting, you dont need MH if your doing softies, which you should only be doing for a newbie too, but I would still go for the most PC lighting. I believe their coming out with a 30 gallon cube w/refugiam but its not out yet, so I would wait. Live Rock is fine to buy online, ask around and fine some good stuff, but if any of your Local Fish Stores have nice fair priced LR, why not hand pick the stuff yourself.
 
Thanks for you help Henry! Do you have any idea about when the 30G cube is coming out? I'd like to get the largest all in one tank possible to help keep water conditions stable.

Thanks
Colin
 
I'd get the Finnex with the 150 halides. Becuase, I was in the same position as you when I first started. The I wanted this coral or that coral and I didn't have the proper lighting. I bought the JBJ which was a mistake. Its affordable but I find myself looking to buy a sunpod 150 mh or the finnex 150 mh.

But if you go with the halides you'll probably have to buy a chiller too. Which is about $400 if you get a 1/10th ( I did ).

Yah you should spend the $30 and get a heater.

Live rock online, if your not picky then its fine. I'm very picky so I cherry pick mine.

I got live sand, forgot which brand. LFS will advise you.

Hermits and snails. Man they're like women can't live with em, can't live without em'. LOL. Hermits will knock over frags. Snails will do the same. Snails will just go over the entire coral. But you need them. In my 24 jbj I currently have 2 hermits and 1 snail. Started with 10 hermits and 5 snails.
 
T5 HO. T5 HO put out a PAR rating close to metal halides, but run at a much much cooler temp. Defiantly the 30 gallon cube, you really cant go wrong. I would defiantly make sure its glass though, I cant stand acrylics.
 
Alright yeah i was thinking the same thing. What kinds of things would i be able to keep with MH that i wont be able to keep with t5 HO?

Thanks
Colin
 
Not only do the T5's not put out the heat of MH, the bulbs cost much less.

About what you can and can't keep, that is debatable. I for one was convinced that you could do anything with T5's after the tank of the month a couple of months back (sorry can't remember the month) but the tank was amazing.
 
alright so it sounds like to me that i can keep basically anything other than possibly extremely difficult corals under the T5 lights.

The ones i'm looking at would go on the finnex 30G cube that isnt out yet that has dimentions of 24Lx 18Wx 17H and the T5 lights are 24Wx4
 
the only thing I see that may be a deciding factor in what you can or can't keep is the wattage. 4x24 W gives you 96W total or 3.2 W/g.... you may want more wattage. I am not sure what the exact rule of thumb is but what I have gone by after some research and talking with a lot of people is ~6 W/g.... This of course is just my opinion.
 
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