New to Club-My 265 Build Starts

[mattiej]

Even though I have several tanks, including a very large shark lagoon, I have decided to move up in the reef keeping aspect of this hobby. While I do enjoy my 120, it is time for a change. The tank was originally set up dedicated to raising coral cat sharks but I have gone another way with the sharks so here it goes.

I do have question or two, but to begin let me ask this. Since the tank is going to be mainly sps with clams (I know very typical but hey it works) and is 30 inches deep should I go with 250 watt or 400 watt halides? I will be using lumen max 2 reflectors with SE lamps. I perfer SE due to the wider variety of lamps available. I will aslo be using Galaxy e ballasts. I am leaning toward XM lamps but I thought I read somewhere that they perform better on mag ballasts, am I correct on that point?

I am still in the early stages of planning the set up but atleast I have ordered the Marco rocks and will be gettiong those in early next week. I'll post some pics when I get home later today. Again I would appreciate any input as to flow and et. al.

 

[mattiej]

Marco rock came in and went into tank. The equipment has been ordered except for the lighting. I am almost thoroughly confused as to which direction to go. I will defintely be using 250W SE halides and was leaning toward Radiums but I have read that they are really only designed to be run on M80 HQI ballasts. I was hoping to get away from mag ballasts and go electronic. Any opinions as to a comparable lamp that will work on electronic ballasts? I have the opportunity to pick up three Ice Cap 250W ballats. While I understand the company is no longer around, I still have two 440's that are in great working order almost six years later. Just wondering if I should buy the IC ballasts or go another route.

List of what has been ordered:
Reef Octopus 4000INT skimmer
4 Vertex mp40
Koralia 4 way controller with 2 #6 and 2 #7 pumps
Dolphin snapper for closed loop
Ocean motions 4 way
Enough plumbing to fill a couple trucks

Still looking into Ca reactors but have some time before I need one.

 

[mattiej]

Now much going on as tank cycles. Started to receive most of the equipment and had a few returns/exchanges to make. Here are a couple of pics just to keep things moving.

http://i1222.photobucket.com/albums/dd499/mattiej13/265 Reef/IMG_1348.jpg

http://i1222.photobucket.com/albums/dd499/mattiej13/265 Reef/IMG_1346.jpg

 

[cubsare1]

This might be a little late for your lighting help: http://www.manhattanreefs.com/lighting

 

[mattiej]

Thanks for the link but I went with Reeflux 14K 400 watts on corlvue e ballasts and lumen bright mini pendants. Still tossing around if I want to add T5 or LED accent lighting.