[mobius88]

Hi everyone

Very new to this hobby, about 3 weeks researching it and addicted already. Doc suggested i needed a hobby to stop my valves bursting from stress, but i might have picked the wrong one for that

Planning a 150 FOWLR, roughly 4.5 (l) 2.5 (w) and 2.0 (d). Going to be built into a room partitioning book case and viewable from three sides. Driving my G/F nuts already.

I think i have the basics with respect to filtration (20 G sump/ refuge/ skimmer and heater(s)) cycling and water. Not so hot with lighting- guessing that its going to take most of my cash. Hoping to have a clam in the tank, and also a bubble or carpet anemone to keep the Clowns happy- so i'm going to need a 250W MH. Heres the thing- what other lighting do i need to keep the LR and livestock happy (and shiny!!)? As far as my LFS goes they reckon NO strips- but i want the colours vibrant because i want it showy.

My LFS are a bit rubbish and seem to want to sell me the priciest goods, without the explanations why.

Also, how high from the surface should they be- i'm thinking of making it 6 inches, and adding a cooling fan if things heat up. And do i need a splash screen? All those fittings and all that salt-water cant be good.

Thats all for now, except this- i wont have an overflow box, just a 1-1/2 inch bulkhead drilled in bottom with standpipe to within 4 inches of the top. Sump return will be the same, except about 3" from top. All in clear acrylic so it will be mostly invisible under water. G/F isnt too keen on clutter. I know it will be noisy, but i kind of like that. Adds aesthetics, to a point. What do i do if it gets too noisy- without ripping it all out and putting a box in with a Durst. A 'curvy' or zig-zag design should stop the noise, but are there options i could use if i wanted to keep the pipe straight down- would a flow valve near the sump do the job- if i set the flow to equalise the flow in the pipe to about half-way? Hope that makes sense

Anyway, enough from me now.

P.S love reading everyones posts, some brilliant DIY stuff here and some good pics. Brilliant Site

[salttanker]

Welcome to the RAG! I think you will find this forum has a lot of useful information that will help you find the answers you are looking for. This is a wonderful hobby, and as most people will tell you: Take your time, and be patient.

I have a FO 90G with the standard equipment, so I don't qualify to answer your questions sufficently, so I will let the experts here suggest what you will need. It sounds like you have been doing your homework though, which will be benficial to your hobby. Good luck, and send some pics!

Mike

[Reefland]

Originally Posted by salttanker

Welcome to the RAG! I think you will find this forum has a lot of useful information that will help you find the answers you are looking for. This is a wonderful hobby, and as most people will tell you: Take your time, and be patient.

I have a FO 90G with the standard equipment, so I don't qualify to answer your questions sufficently, so I will let the experts here suggest what you will need. It sounds like you have been doing your homework though, which will be benficial to your hobby. Good luck, and send some pics!

Mike

RAG? You've got to be joking right?

Welcome to Reefland is more fitting.

[OCSREEFER]

Welcome to reefland, enjoy your new hobby.

Nick

[salttanker]

Originally Posted by Reefland

RAG? You've got to be joking right?

Welcome to Reefland is more fitting.

Doh! My bad Reefland. That's what I get for trying to multi-task..lol

[the_blue_tuna]

Hi Mobius ,
Lets try to answer some of your questions . Live rock and livestock ( fish ) will do just fine with NO lighting . They dont require lots of light and most light a FISH tank to what looks pleasing to thier eye. Clams , Anemones and the like are a different story and for them you will need MH lighting . Even with the MH , you should add a VHO Actinic supplement . That will get you your neon colors . I prefer VHO to PC for actinic just for that reason.
A cover may be needed , depending on what your livestock ends up being. If you stock alot of jumpers then you will most definately need covers , either glass or egg crate .
You will want your standpipe in the tank to be at your desired water level . If you have it 4 inches low , your tank will never fill to the top and if you were to lose power it would drain down to that level. I am not really sure why you would want a standpipe in the sump . One thing to help noise a bit is to have the tank overflow dump into the sump under water , so you dont get any splashing . You can run your skimmer in the sump with a submersible pump and that will also help with the noise level a bit. You could also run a submersible pump for the tank return to help with noise , but they do make some fairly nice , quiet externals .
Well I hope that answers some of your questions. Welcome to REEFLAND .

[mobius88]

Hi All

Thanks for the welcome and thanks for the lighting info Blue_Tuna. Very handy.

I must have confused you with my overflow set-up... i meant 4 inches below the top of the tank, at water level. How close to the top of the tank do you have the water level?

With a 150G, i presumably need about 1500G/hour overflow and return- will a 1 1/2 inch hole cope with that, and will i need quite a large diameter standpipe for that. I am kind of confused because i thought i 1.5 inch hole would cope and ultimately, flow is controlled by how much you pump back in. I was hoping a 1.5" hole with 1.5" standpipe would be okay...

My LFS said that a clear (read "underwater-invisible") would be a waste because i will get algae and corraline growth on it- making it very visible, ruining the point. Is there anything i can do to prevent this, other than having a few backup tubes and replacing now and again?

I was actually wondering about a submerged inlet for my sump, i'll give that a go. Alternatively, i was thinking about having the overflow direct to the Skimmer, external to the sump/fuge, with the skimmer output going into the sump/fuge. Or am i better having the skimmer 'wet' in the sump area?

All these questions, and i thought i had covered the basics

Any tips and hints are very much appreciated.

Cheers

Neil