My tank...any suggetions?

[brian.julia07]

Ive had this tank set up for about 3 months. its 29 gallons it has a 10 gallon sump that contains roughly 5 gallons of water, skimmer, diy cheap phosban reactor(which only has carbon in it right now), it has a 300gph return, a Koralia 400gph powerhead, 1-24" T12 10,000k and 1-T12 super actinic. I'm always looking for something to do to it or add. If you have any suggestions please let me know, Im open to criticism as well, thats just another way to learn.(the algae is going away pretty fast now)

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[bsagecko]

upgrade lights to t5's it would only cost you about $100~$250 used.............

lil more rock?

 

[alfani]

could use another powerhead, one on each opposite side of tank and consider change to a 4x HO T5

 

[stuccodude]

definitly a background, little more rock, looks good though.

 

[crvz]

New lights would be a good idea if you're interested in adding different corals.

 

[ACBlinky]

Cute tank! It's a nice little setup, looks like it's coming along well. You could do a lot if you upgraded the lighting to T5s, but with what you've got you might get away with some of the hardier, less light-demanding corals (or even non-photosynthetics like a sun coral).

One suggestion, a black background would give you more depth, and help to hide a lot of the equipment/pipes. It also tends to make the colours of fish and corals 'pop'.

 

[brian.julia07]

what if I added one metal halide light? and what watt would be good or should i just go to t5?

 

[aastretch64]

One 75watt - 150watt MH would cost you the same as a set of 3-4 t5's (if you even need that many) however you would have to concern yourself with heat if you go with a MH.

Plus when you just use 1 MH you can't alter the color to much even if you try different bulbs. 2-4 t5's can give you the option of changing out one bulb (for only $15) to alter the color.

Alex

 

[brian.julia07]

thanks for the help

 

[ernestlives]

BACKGROUND!

 

[Nano Chris]

Looks good, i would try to cover up the pvc piping though.

 

[ACBlinky]

You could make either MH or T5s work, your choice - both are great. I use MH myself and have NO heat issues whatsoever even now in mid-summer (fan takes care of things). If you were to run only MH, I'd go with a bluer bulb, 14K or 20K; if you supplement with actinics, you could use a 10-12K bulb and achieve a nice balance.

 

[trapper125]

Looks like everything is pretty decent minus the lights. If anything I would get a new light fixture PC or T5 would be cheap, doesn't look like you would need/want to go MH at this point. Lights are money well spent though.

 

[smoothlarryhughes]

i would paint the back dark blue or black

 

[chineseknife]

If you do trade out lights, try locating the ballast somewhere remote from the tank itself.

 

[brian.julia07]

I think im going to do the T5, i looked up retrofit kits on hellolights, and its pretty cheap so that will work, I usually have a black background on there but its not right now. thank you all for the suggetions, more are welcome.

 

[stagefright13]

Like the tank! It's cool. I would get a background right away. I used blue on mine. But black would be nice too.

As far as lighting I had a 175 watt metal halide on my 29 gallon with 2 actinics. It heated the water pretty good so I put 4 small computer fans in the hood. Then it ran cool but was loud. I switched to 65 watt pc's and turned the fans off after a few years. Also I made a custom hood for the metal halide that kept it 12 inches from the water. Your canopy may be a little close for a MH... Unless you use a lower wattage one.

I have over 500 gph after head loss on my return. That flow seems to be nice in mine with a couple small power heads. I think 300 is kinda low.

Your rock looks nice. Lotsa good coralline. You must take very good care of it. And perculas. I love them. Is that your heater in the main? You should really get a heater that has an external probe. Then you can put the heater in the sump and the probe in the main. Good if you decide on an anemone at some point.

And keep up the good work. That's a nice setup you have.

 

[brian.julia07]

Well I was moving my tank months ago and cracked it bad so it was down for a while, when i finally set the new one up I put my heater in the display why? im not sure I was still in shock from the cracked tank I used to have it in the sump thanks for reminding me stagegright13 ill be moving that for sure.

 

[brian.julia07]

I added one long tentacle anemone that was small and my clowns didnt really want to share so I added another one, so right now when the lights go out they each go bed down in separate anemones, which is pretty cool.

 

[stagefright13]

That is cool lol! But you will need more light for them so I would probably do that first thing. I just noticed the nem. I have 2 65 watt 50/50 pc's cause I got a deal on them but 4 t5's would be great. I put the pc's real close to the water. Like 5, 6 inches. My gallery pics are from 2003 I should update them...