PENEJANE Posted January 3, 2007 Report Share Posted January 3, 2007 So now I am using this chance for an upgrade. Going from 27ltrs to 60 ltrs. Hopefully this will work better than the first one which was still neat to have but this one allows me to have fish Thanks to njd who is helping me through out this process and has helped me out soo much already I am hoping to have it up and running shortly. The tank is 2.5ft long 1ft x 1ft. I have added a piece of glass in one corner to allow for the over flow. I will take more pictures as things progress. Not to sure about lighting as of yet as to go with fluros or the budget saver bulbs which I am currently using. Cheers PeneJane Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
evilknieval69 Posted January 3, 2007 Report Share Posted January 3, 2007 mmm so did mine 2.5 x 1 x 1 foot is a bit more than 60L's isnt it? Whats the overflow for? You going sump??? Keep the pics coming. Put a 150W halide over it pene, you know you want too Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cookie extreme Posted January 3, 2007 Report Share Posted January 3, 2007 67 liter give or take one. Put a 150W halide over it pene, you know you want too do what? cook fish soup in it? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
evilknieval69 Posted January 3, 2007 Report Share Posted January 3, 2007 I was gunna do it over a 50L, and steve s did it over a 30 :lol: :lol: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PENEJANE Posted January 3, 2007 Author Report Share Posted January 3, 2007 Yeah it is about 67 ltrs but I measured up to 1/2 a cm above the over flow. So it works out to be 58 ltrs but I rounded up to 60 to be safe The over flow is more for the surface of the water. To allow it to draw away so I don't get any scum on top. Will also allow me to do a sump later if I need to. I was thinking of a halide but I don't know if I can afford the power for that yet hehe and I don't think I have enough knowledge yet to look after the corals that require this light. One question on lighting though. With the budget energy saver bulbs that are the only ones that do 6400K how can I make one blue to work as the blue light? I have heard that it can be painted blue or put a blue covering over it. How would that work? Cheers. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wasp Posted January 3, 2007 Report Share Posted January 3, 2007 One question on lighting though. With the budget energy saver bulbs that are the only ones that do 6400K how can I make one blue to work as the blue light? I have heard that it can be painted blue or put a blue covering over it. How would that work? Cheers. I know you can get a standard type bulb you use in the house & paint it, seen it done in student flats. Just how efficient it would be over a fish tank i don't know. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PENEJANE Posted January 3, 2007 Author Report Share Posted January 3, 2007 Hmmm well any other ideas then apart from LED's or Fluro? How about clipping a piece of blue perspex under one of the lights? I have also been looking on trademe and was wondering if these would be any good. http://www.trademe.co.nz/Trade-Me-Motor ... 237757.htm How would it go if I was to buy a light from Dr Foster & Smith? Is it worth it for the 50/50 bulb? Cheers Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
evilknieval69 Posted January 3, 2007 Report Share Posted January 3, 2007 Personally, i wouldnt try skimp on lighting now aye. I would either go metal halide (shaneo has a 150W DE bulb, 14000K that he needs rid of only $30 ) Or use t8 tubes. You can get 6500K 2ft t8 tubes pretty easy and can get blue tubes aswell from somewhere.... If it was me, I would use 2 6500K tubes and 2 blue tubes over that tank. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wasp Posted January 3, 2007 Report Share Posted January 3, 2007 Agree with that. Also, must say that there is a tendency for people moving to salt from freshwater ( I know cos I was one ), to attempt it on an impossibly small budget, leading to eventual failure. I'm wondering if we should really tell anyone who cannot spend 2 grand to even attempt a marine. I'm not being unkind either I've been there, when I started my first reef I told my wife it would cost 300 bucks. That's what i thought at the time. Ended up costing even more than it should have due to first up buying a lot of el cheapo equipment that had to be replaced. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PENEJANE Posted January 3, 2007 Author Report Share Posted January 3, 2007 OK I can get (cheap) two dbl T8 holders which I just have to add wire and plug to and bulbs. I thought that 2 white and 2 blue wouldn't be enough and was going for the 3 white and 1 blue. But if 2 of each is enough then I can use them on different timers or something. For the K rating. What number should I be aiming at for the blue tubes? I have read 10000k 14000k and 17000k. With running 2 blues what one would I need more? Cheers again. I think I will go with T8. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
evilknieval69 Posted January 3, 2007 Report Share Posted January 3, 2007 Agree with that. Also, must say that there is a tendency for people moving to salt from freshwater ( I know cos I was one ), to attempt it on an impossibly small budget, leading to eventual failure. :oops: :oops: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
reef Posted January 3, 2007 Report Share Posted January 3, 2007 I'm wondering if we should really tell anyone who cannot spend 2 grand to even attempt a marine. I'm not being unkind either I've been there, when I started my first reef I told my wife it would cost 300 bucks. That's what i thought at the time. Ended up costing even more than it should have due to first up buying a lot of el cheapo equipment that had to be replaced. I would add even if you can’t spend $3-$4k than marines should not be attempted as at the end of the day the livestock suffers. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wasp Posted January 3, 2007 Report Share Posted January 3, 2007 That lighting will be OK Penejane, for about a couple of years I ran a 60 litre tank with 4 t8's, 2 white & 2 actinic. Kept many types of corals happily, no sps though. Some people will not believe this but also had a heteractus malu anemone in it, who started off real small but after about a year I was forced to sell him cos he had grown & filled most of the tank. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
suphew Posted January 3, 2007 Report Share Posted January 3, 2007 OK I can get (cheap) two dbl T8 holders which I just have to add wire and plug to and bulbs. I thought that 2 white and 2 blue wouldn't be enough and was going for the 3 white and 1 blue. But if 2 of each is enough then I can use them on different timers or something. For the K rating. What number should I be aiming at for the blue tubes? I have read 10000k 14000k and 17000k. With running 2 blues what one would I need more? Cheers again. I think I will go with T8. How many watts is a 2 foot fluro? must be 18-20W times 4, your just about at the same power comsumption as a 150w Mh, but with 4 times fittings to buy and bulbs to replace. And remember a normal house bulb is 75-100w so your Mh would be no worse than leaving a couple of lights on for 8 hours a day. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
evilknieval69 Posted January 3, 2007 Report Share Posted January 3, 2007 Yer, good point. IMO, go with a 150W halide. Shaneo has a 14000K bulb he needs to sell (was gunna sell to me) so it would be a good deal. You should be able tp pick up a MH unit pretty cheap somewhere. Try a building recyclers or something?!?!?! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ira Posted January 3, 2007 Report Share Posted January 3, 2007 a 150w MH will be a little under $10/month to run at 8 hours a day. So skip a day going out to dinner, that'll pay for about a years worth. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PENEJANE Posted January 3, 2007 Author Report Share Posted January 3, 2007 Well we don't go out to dinner and very rearly get kfc of fish and chips. What sort of bulbs are they? I might be able to get one local. Does that mean I still need to run the blue light also? I am wanting to do this one better than my nano which is why I am wanting to do it right. Anyone have a cheap MH for sale. No point me spending $30 on a bulb that is useless with out the unit and the recycling centre down here doesn't deal in lights of any sort. Went to a demo yard and they are wanting to charge me the earth, $150 for just the hanging unit. Also would sunlight (via a window) affect the tank badly? I would of thought that it would make the corals happy to get true sunlight in some degree. Cheers again. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wasp Posted January 3, 2007 Report Share Posted January 3, 2007 Yes they love a bit of real sunlight Not sure if this is still available but if so an exeptionally good deal http://www.fnzas.org.nz/fishroom/150w-m ... 17593.html Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
land_lubber Posted January 3, 2007 Report Share Posted January 3, 2007 Heres a good page for you guys with nano tanks http://www.nano-reef.com/forums/ also why don't you go with power compacts? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PENEJANE Posted January 3, 2007 Author Report Share Posted January 3, 2007 Land Lubber The power compacts that I was going to go with are the same as the energy saver bulbs that I was going to go with (well so I have been told). With the twin fluro holders I could probably make up a very nice hood with it and it would be pretty simple to (always better) instead of having to wire up a heap of PC bulbs. I will take a picture of it later today with the sunlight on it (no water or anything in it yet) and you can see how its going to sit and how much sunlight its going to get. My last quote for the twin tube holder it was going to cost me $20 each + bulbs, wire and plugs. So its not to bad Cheers again. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PENEJANE Posted January 3, 2007 Author Report Share Posted January 3, 2007 I know its a halogen light but could I change the bulb to a suitable one? Or are they totaly different fittings? http://www.dse.co.nz/cgi-bin/dse.storef ... View/M9473 Would this even work? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Zev Posted January 3, 2007 Report Share Posted January 3, 2007 That fitting frome DSE is a Tungsten Halogen fitting, it is not the full spectrum and will not give you the correct light. You cannot retrofit another lamp into this as it has no ballast (control gear to start and power the lamp, which needs to be specific for the type of lamp used). By the time you buy a ballast and the correct lamp, you will probably have spent more than a complete unit to start with. This would be more suitable: http://www.trademe.co.nz/Home-living/Pe ... 900405.htm Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PENEJANE Posted January 4, 2007 Author Report Share Posted January 4, 2007 WoW!! I think I will stick with the 2 twin fluros at present. I just need to know what kelvin rating I need to get the blue colour from the tube for the marine tank. Cheers. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
suphew Posted January 4, 2007 Report Share Posted January 4, 2007 The blue coloured tubes arn't a kevin rating they are called arctinic (sp?) blue tubes Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
evilknieval69 Posted January 4, 2007 Report Share Posted January 4, 2007 Sorry just back to the first part of the thread. Your nano crashed... What happened? did all the corals die? Have any fish in there? mollys or something? Still got the rock going etc??!?!?! Good luck with the new tank. I have my rock from my crashed tank in the garage in a holding tank ATM and im going to cook them for about 6 months or so and slowly add more and more and more rock to it and VERY slowly gain equipment and eventually start a 4 foot tank or so. No skimping this time!! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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