250w MH on 32g breeder...

[MarvinsReef]

Okay.. here's another idea...

I had a frag tank before.. the dimensions are 24L x 18W x 18H... what if I make this my main tank at home... I also have a PFO 250w x 2 magnetic ballast sitting around.. and the DIY canopy is 250w SE w/ 10K BlueLine... then I have a Seio 820 & Mag 7 for return... sounds to me that this will be a decent set up... lastly, I can use either a wet/dry (minus bioballs) or 10g for sump...

watcha think of this set up?

only thing I would probably change is get a 20K XM bulb so I will not bleach any corals... and do a 5 screen acclimation...

any other inputs will be appreciated..

Thanks
Marvin

 

[surfn]

wow, thats a great set up. i was going to do a similar set up with a 50g breeder tank. but go with 2x175w 14k/15k bulbs on a magnetic ballast, w/ some T5's or VHOs

IMO, 2x250w on magnetic ballasts are WAAAAAAAY overkill for a tank that is only ~33g. i think you will have major heat issues, even if the ambient room temp is ~75deg.

i was told that running 2x250w on a 65g tank, having fans is a must even w/ the ambient room temp around 79deg.

i think a single 250w bulb, 20k (for obvious reasons) would be plenty for that tank. things on the bottom will do fine, just be careful with introducing stuff to the top.

IMO the wet/dry stuff is "old school", and has lost favor big time. seems to produce more nitrates if not maintained perfectly.

also, I'm not a big fan of running a huge return pump. large return pumps seem to cause microbubble problems when blasting water through such a small sump.

also, if you are running a skimmer that is feeding off of a sump, water is rushing through it too fast for the skimmer to really work its magic.

but, all that stuff is personal preference from trial and error really. theres no *right* way to do anything.

 

[MarvinsReef]

oh yeah.. I forgot to tell you that I will be using only 1 of the (2) x 250w... the DIY canopy is set up with only 1 bulb...

I plan on using 2"-3" sandbed and about 20-30 lbs of LR to start off...

the wet/dry will not have the bioballs in it.. it will just act as a holding room for the return pump and mechanical filtration coz I can put sponge in it..

Marvin

 

[MarvinsReef]

anybody else have anything to chime in this set up?

Marvin

 

[ecotoxlady]

I agree with surfn that wet/dry is a bad idea. I'd recommend going with the 10G sump instead. Other than that, the set-up sounds sweet

 

[minibowmatt]

I think a 250 in a pendant to let some heat escape would be ok, keeping it in a canopy may be too much for that small of a tank.
I would do the 10G sump also, maybe do a fuge of some sort?

 

[MarvinsReef]

I think a 250 in a pendant to let some heat escape would be ok, keeping it in a canopy may be too much for that small of a tank.
I would do the 10G sump also, maybe do a fuge of some sort?

thanks for the response Matt.. and welcome to club-zoa...

my bro ran a 10g sump/refuge but it didn't hold enough water for the return.. we had to top off everyday and I don't want to do it this way again coz sometimes, I got out of town for a couple of days and I don't want to worry about topping of for atleast 2-3 days...

if everything goes well, my friend that's helping me build this set up is going to build a new stand so we can hold a 20g-29g for sump/refuge... he's also building a canopy with 2 fans if need be... and couple of hold across the fans for the air to come out...

you guys think this will work?

Marvin

 

[JGoslee]

I think with enough air flow running thru your canopy you wont have any heat issues with the 250watt. I use 2 4" fans in my canopy for my 58gal. I have no problems with heat. My lighting is 2-250watt de 14k phoenix. Good luck with the new tank!