will need input from everyone.. please help..

[MarvinsReef]

hello, I'm setting up a 32g breeder zoas dominated tank and so far, here's the plan.. any other inputs or suggestion will be appreciated..

32g Breeder (24L x 18W x 20H)

Lighting
- 250w MH (PFO magnetic ballast)
- 250w Blueline bulb SE
- 1 blue LED for night time viewing

Filtration
- overflow box
- mag 7 return pump w/ split LocLine return
- Seio 820 for additional flow
- wet/dry box for mechanical filtration only
- HOB Prizm skimmer
- ~10 lbs LR from 12g

Corals currently kept
- zoas
- blasto wellsi's
- acan Lords
- FL & Yuma rics
- neon green candy canes
- neon green tipped toadstool
- echinos


Thanks
Marvin

 

[MarvinsReef]

btw.. I plan on going BB if this is a good idea... if not, I'll probably go with 1" LS...

Marvin

 

[ecotoxlady]

Sounds great Marvin!

 

[Azurel]

IT all sounds good so far Marvin....I am in the process of setting up a 30g frag tank myself....I won't have the lightning that you will though, I think your plan will be a great success.

 

[MarvinsReef]

so BB will work or should I consider the 1" sand bed?

Thanks
Marvin

 

[Azurel]

BB will work as far as making it easy to clean detritus....But you won't have the large biological filtration without more live rock to make up for the lack of a sand bed. If you had more live rock I would say it will be perfectly fine, sand bed do more then just atheistically pleasing. I know there is much debate over it.....Me myself I would add some sand or more live rock....Sometimes if you don't have enough sand you can create more problems then if you didn't have any. I had that problem in my main display I had about an 1'' of sand that seemed to lead to algae problems because it wasn't deep enough to denitrate anything and was to shallow that it just became a detritus trap....I would say do a little more then an 1'' of sand like 2-3'' or add more live rock and no sand. Either way you will be fine.....I have a 3-4 inch sand bed in my up coming frag tank along with a Aqua-C Remora skimmer and a simple HOB power filter and that will be it as far as filtration.

 

[MarvinsReef]

I plan on adding more LR for sure.. slowly but surely.. probably 5-10 lbs/month..

I think I'll go with BB.. I'm only keeping the Black Nemos for fishes.. later on, maybe add one more fish but that's it for bio load..

will this work?

Marvin

 

[Azurel]

Yea I think you will be good to go with that....

 

[ficklefins]

Sounds good. I know that LFS near me has a barebottom setup and their zoas are doing great!

where are you gonna find that 32g breeder? That foot print would be perfect for my next tank.

Thanks

 

[MarvinsReef]

Sounds good. I know that LFS near me has a barebottom setup and their zoas are doing great!

where are you gonna find that 32g breeder? That foot print would be perfect for my next tank.

Thanks

Thanks again... the 32g breeder was special ordered by my younger bro when he worked for a LFS... I don't see this tank very often...

It'll be a great project.. A friend of mine have made some awesome plugs for zoas and I get to test them in this new tank.. they're like a hill design, perfect for zoas..

what would you guys recommend for a faster cycle? I plan on getting everything situated and do 10% water change every 5 or so days til parameters stable... then I'll move some corals from the 12g slowly in a month's time... sounds like a plan?

Marvin

 

[ecotoxlady]

I've actually heard it's better and faster to let the tank go through the cycle prior to doing any water changes. From what I've heard, doing a water change during the cycle can actually prolong it.

 

[Azurel]

I agree with ecotoxlady with that one....What you might want to do Marvin is see if your LFS has any live rock that has been cooked or cured which ever you deem the terminology.... Add a little bit more of this live rock and your live rock from you 12g this in itself will speed up the cycle to almost the point where you won't have one....The reason most people see a cycle is there is die off from rot of freshly added live rock that hasn't been cured. I did this in my main display when I moved into the house I live at now. I had no cycle what so ever and all corals and fish were in place within a week. I waited a week to add coral and fish just to let the water parameters stabilize....I say if you start out with 20-25lbs to start you can have corals within the first week and fish a week later....The nitrobacter bacteria will be stabilized on the liver rock and be ready for any additions of ammonia or nitrites. I would start your filters now so they have a good amount of bacteria on them and ready to breakdown any ammonia and nitrites and nitrates...

 

[MarvinsReef]

ah.. right on... I'll look into getting more LR... I'll set everything up first, then I'll be on my way to LFS or local reefers first to get some LR...

so here's the plan:

1. week of 07-01-06: set up and run the filters...
2. week of 07-08-06: add first 10-15lbs LR...
3. week of 07-15-06: add another 10 lbs LR...
4. week of 07-22-06: add first test corals...
5. week of 07-29-06: add fishes...
6. week of 08-05-06: do 10% water change
7. week of 08-12-06: move everything on 12g to 32g.. and start 5 screen acclimation process...

sounds good or anything I need to change?

Marvin

 

[Azurel]

That really sounds good to me Marvin....I think your test corals will be the most indicitive of how fast you can go....If they show signs of stress you will know to slow it down if not then full speed ahead.....

 

[MarvinsReef]

That really sounds good to me Marvin....I think your test corals will be the most indicitive of how fast you can go....If they show signs of stress you will know to slow it down if not then full speed ahead.....

great... later on.. I plan on adding a HOB refugium... good idea or not?

Marvin

 

[Azurel]

I would have to say good idea... I would like to add one to my main display but I don't have room.....I might be getting a new 55g cube later this fall though then I would have room....But that's for another thread. I would add one in a minute if I could. I have thought about making me one, I have a little expieracne with acrylic and have built a tank or 2.

 

[MarvinsReef]

I would have to say good idea... I would like to add one to my main display but I don't have room.....I might be getting a new 55g cube later this fall though then I would have room....But that's for another thread. I would add one in a minute if I could. I have thought about making me one, I have a little expieracne with acrylic and have built a tank or 2.

awesome.. I'll be doing some homework with the HOB refugium.. It'll probably be couple of month before I add one.. I hope I will have room..

thanks again for all the input..

Marvin

 

[MarvinsReef]

alright, update..

a friend of mine will help me incorporate a NO T-5 for dusk/dawn effect only.. I don't think I will need the wattage from the T-5's since I'm already running 250w on a 32g tank..

now, here's another question:

what is the best brand of 250w SE bulb you can recommend to me... please give me pro's and con's... I will be looking for great coloration and decent growth..

I've heard good things about Phoenix 14K but I had them on my old 75g but only 150w HQI and wasn't very impressed.. also, I've heard good things about 15K XM's...

Thanks
Marvin

 

[surfn]

alright, update..

a friend of mine will help me incorporate a NO T-5 for dusk/dawn effect only.. I don't think I will need the wattage from the T-5's since I'm already running 250w on a 32g tank..

now, here's another question:

what is the best brand of 250w SE bulb you can recommend to me... please give me pro's and con's... I will be looking for great coloration and decent growth..

I've heard good things about Phoenix 14K but I had them on my old 75g but only 150w HQI and wasn't very impressed.. also, I've heard good things about 15K XM's...

Thanks
Marvin

they dont make a pheonix bulb in SE that I am aware of.

you cant run a radium on magnetic ballasts, so thats out. dont get the new 14k Iwasaki, absolutely blows for zoas.

i LOVED the XM15k's, only downside when i had these bulbs a year ago, was they were dimmer than the XM20k's. I've heard rumors they fixed this problem. Also, no one buys these bulbs b/c of the "PAR", so alot of stores have marked the prices down alot.

I'm not convinced by the whole PAR data. And I've yet to see anyone difinitively come forward that can say zoas grow faster with one bulb (like 10k) than another bulb (like 20k).

With that said, I always go for color over growth. Can't go wrong with the XM 20k, but it may be too blue for your tastes.

OH! Twon8 runs the 250w SE 14k AquaConnects, they have a HIGH price tag of over $100/bulb. But are so worth it, amazing color. I have no idea who sells them though. And I think he runs his on electronic ballasts, not sure how much of a difference it would make on a magnetic ballast. probably a little less blue.

As far as the barebottom thing. I wouldn't do it for a zoa mostly tank. All of the sps guys I know locally, are going back to having a sand bed from having a BB tank for the last year. They had issues with getting refugiums to work (they seemed to cause more harm than good), couldn't control random algae outbreaks in the tank. BB only works if you constantly siphon up deterius. Cant get those special nasarius and fighting conch snails if you go BB since they need the sand to burrow through and live.

Also, BB tank would be very low nutrient, which we know zoas dont like, and seem to struggle growing in conditions when there arent much nutrients in the water.

A local reefer to me, has a 850g BB tank, with zoas all over the bottom. He said he wishes he went with a sand bed. B/c once the zoas start spreading onto the starboard, he has not figured out a good way from them running into eachother and taking over everything along the floor. Which means your favorite frag may get over taken in a matter of weeks by 1 morph that seems to be growing like weeds all over the tank and destroying your other morphs.

Anyways, hope some of this helps.

 

[Azurel]

I really like my Hamilton 14k 250...I have been told they aren't that good for par but I really like the icy bright white/blue color and all of my zoanthids look good and I have had great growth.....You guy's have seen some of my pictures....I think I would go with Hamilton again when I get a new bulb. Just my opinion though.