jbaker's 25g Lagoon Tank

[shortcake]

Hey guys, I'm still somewhat new to the forum. I'm starting my second reef aquarium. My room was getting redone and I was tired of the old/ugly 20g rimmed petco tank. I wanted something nicer and cleaner so I opted for innovative marine's new 25g lagoon tank. I love the clean rimless look it has as well as its shallow depth! I will say this though, if you are looking into purchasing the stand...it is a pain in the butt to put together! I came close to returning it but because of the odd dimensions of the tank and because I liked the look of the stand I chose to keep it and I think I made a good choice.

My current 20 gallon mixed reef (mostly sps) is currently sitting in the middle of room, so I'm going to try and move the process along as quickly as possible. I'm going to be going for a minimalist setup thats mostly sps dominated, but I definitely plan on throwing an anemone as well as a few softies/LPS in there. I just finished building the stand and set the tank on top, so hopefully this weekend, I'll go get some rock and start aquascaping. Meanwhile here's some pics from my current tank/the new one...

 

[sixpackgarage]

nice tank! love the dimensions. What lighting are you going to use?

 

[shortcake]

I'm currently using a 250w metal halide in a Luminarc III reflector with 20k radium bulb and my corals are doing superb! So I'm building a light hanger with electrical conduit and I'm gonna use that for the tank. I'll post more photos once i'm done!

 

[sixpackgarage]

I'm currently using a 250w metal halide in a Luminarc III reflector with 20k radium bulb and my corals are doing superb! So I'm building a light hanger with electrical conduit and I'm gonna use that for the tank. I'll post more photos once i'm done!

Nice. I kind of wish I could use MH, but here in PHX heat is a big factor. I used MH in the 80's and 90's and loved them, but back then I lived in Michigan :lol2:

 

[shortcake]

I completely understand. The reason I chose Halide was because I like the look (to me it most closely emulates the sun) and cost. I got a good deal on a halide reflector, ballast, and bulb and I didn't want to spend the $400-$500 on an ATI fixture plus the bulbs and the cost of replacing them every 6 months. I've used T5 before with much success but for me halides were just cheaper and simpler. As for heating I just run one or two fans on the top of the tank and the temp is usually kept at 79-80 F.

 

[shortcake]

UPDATE** Tank is fully setup!

UPDATE** Tank is fully setup!

So after a LONG weekend of transferring, carrying buckets, buying rock, etc...the tank is finally setup and running...here are some sneak photos...

 

[shortcake]

I could use some advice as to what metal halide bulb to run (SE). I have the radium SE 20k 250w and it's nice but just too blue for me. I prefer the natural reef look. So I'm contemplating doing the phoenix 14K or a XM 10k. What would you guys recommend? My only concern is the 10k might be too yellow, but I'm not sure. And i don't plan on supplementing at the moment...

 

[Forced 2 Farm]

no experience with halides but I have my my LED fixture set to 12.5K and I really like it, I to am not a big fan for the blue lights either. hope that helps

 

[sixpackgarage]

back when I had MH many years ago, I used a Coralife 10K bulb.. not sure if they make those anymore, but it was perfect, pretty much no blue in it.

 

[Deftones2015]

http://cnidarianreef.com/G180/lamps.php

they have comparisons of brand and looks of various kelvin bulbs like 15k 20k etc. hope that helps!