Looking to join yall reefers

[Esbyrd]

Hey guys I'm got an itch to have a beautiful bold reef tank after having a 100 gal cichlid tank for many years and I figured after reading on alot of forums that this one was the right one for me, so here I am.

To get started I'll let yall know what what route I'm leaning towards but please treat me like a drunk buddy heading to the bathroom and kinda give me some gentle nudges in the right direction lol.

First I'm wanting a 96L x 30W x 30H with lps and softies. Fish wise I'm into small things like gobies, blennies, and invertebrates. For my lights I would like to go led and from a little researching I'm thinking I would like cree led in 56 royal blue xte 14 blue xte and 28 4000k white.

OK guys let me have some of the nudges and thanks in advance

 

[thegrun]

As nice as a 30" tall looks, you almost have to co swimming to clean the bottom of the tank, I almost have to go to my armpit to get to the bottom of my 24" tall tank.

 

[Coelli]

As nice as a 30" tall looks, you almost have to co swimming to clean the bottom of the tank, I almost have to go to my armpit to get to the bottom of my 24" tall tank.

Yes, absolutely agree! You'll find yourself mucking around in your reef tank much more than in a freshwater tank. I'm 5'2" and have correspondingly short arms and my tank is 24" tall. I can just barely touch the sandbed (which is only about an inch deep). I have a pair of 24" hemostats that are my best friends but still, there are times you need to go deep with your hands. It also makes it harder to spot feed some things that live on the sandbed, like acans - I wind up just shooting food all over them with a sea squirt and hoping some sticks. My next tank will not be as deep, no matter how long it is.

 

[Esbyrd]

Lol yeah yall have a good point and I'm only 5'9 but I have a reach of 6'1 1/2 so I have me some monkey arms. I'll make sure to do a reach test before my final purchase

 

[johnike]

Good morning.
Greetings new drunk buddy!



Goby, Blenny, and invert fan here as well.

 

[Maritimer]

That will make for a _spectacular_ display!

You're going to need some backbone in those LEDs to get penetration to the sandbed, I think - and it's going to be very bright at the top of your reef.

Welcome aboard!!
~Bruce, who loves a great diversity of smaller marine life . . .

 

[kmbyrnes]

I agree 30" is quite deep, especially trying to reach across 30" as well. And that will require some hefty lighting for corals.
So much for the downside.
The upside is a big tank full of beautiful creatures to watch and enjoy. Looking forward to pictures.

 

[Esbyrd]

Thanks for the response guys and I can't wait to start it but I wanna have all my plans laid out before I start the process so I don't look back and say "man why didn't I do that". As far as lighting I was thinking of the 84"-100 steve led setup with the 14000k full spectrum upgrade so it would be 56 royal blue 14 cool blue and 28 4000k white. but I don't like that it's not cree so any other suggestions would be appreciated

 

[Sk8r]

The Radion Pro can reach to the bottom of a 30 deep. I have a 30x30x30 bowfront 105 gallon, taller than I am because of the stand, and I use a ladder and a net to reach the bottom. It's a bit of a struggle getting through the algae period, but once you do, the need to reach the bottom at all is rare. I'm very pleased with my tank now that I've gotten it de-phosphated and algae-free. Because I have a bow, I can get by with one LED light kit, which is nice. I have my rock arranged in a pyramid against the downflow at the apex of the wedge-shape, and it affords all light ranges. The Radion can be programmed via my laptop---I leave the USB plugged in for convenience; and I like its preset programs. Haven't messed with doing my own, but could. I arranged major structural rocks in a triangle to have bases sticking up through the sand, then piled the rock atop those 'piers' in a system of arches and caves. Since I have predominantly damsels with some gobies and blennies, I expected the gobies would do the digging, but those 'piers' would stand firm. They have. Except my major excavator is a domino damsel with attitude, who periodically cleans out the sand in a massive pile. Thank goodness those bottom rocks can't be moved.
My present fish list is very small because we had an 8 day power-out in a snow storm, but there will be gobies and blennies again.

 

[Esbyrd]

I know what you mean with the rocks tumbling, my cichlids were massive diggers and I had to have all my rocks glued together