37 gallon build (697 day update)

No prob. Love to share, it's a fun hobby. My buddy put a small PC fixture on that same tank and did well with easier sps and LPS did great. Love bow front looks!

 

congratz on your first build thats always exciting, go with the advise many suggest, take the lfs advise with a grain of salt, that guy has prolly killed as many fish as all of us on the forum combined( ok mabe a little exaderated), i think you are off to a great start, between the sand and crushed coral, i like the sand better, if it is to fine it does blow, but iv never had a problem with it getting in my pumps, as for liverock and dry rock, its one of those never ending debates to be honest, its a personal thing more or less, some like the things u get on them some dont, im one that dont like them so i would go with dry rock, plus they are only charging u for the rock weight itsself live rock is usually wet so the water puts more weight to it. if your params are good and every thing is stable, dry rock only takes a few months before things take off, just get a small piece of lr with lots of coraline cover on it (mabe 2pound rock and place it in the tank to help seed it, and make sure thier is no aptasia on it that stuff sux to get rid off if u dont catch it right away. The way i was explained to by many people on here the watts per gallon thing is a bad judgement and here is why , 75watts of power compact lighting is way different than 75watts of t5 lighting. T5 lighting has a higher par ( i think it is ) than the pc bulbs making it more intense( par also depends on what color of bulb you get). as for mh, thats the best light out thier imho, you get the shimmer effect, and i like the crispt white/blue it gives off. t5s are also real good, you can change the color combination an, but t5s do not have the shimmer effect like mh, mh run hotter then t5s because of the radiation it gives off in one particular cone type zone, a good fan can keep the temps down though. as stated before do NOT go cheap on a light you will regret it in the long run. skimmers, if u do a sump u dont need a hob you could fit an insump skimmer in a sump, if you plan the sump accordingly( and the sump is big enough). octopus skimmers are decent skimmers they are the ones i like. i think i covered about everything, gl with your tank though ima tag along with this thread.

 

I started out with a pc 65w in the newbie days. I added a 2bulb t5. It still isn't quite enough ...my ricordia and zoas are stretching upward no matter where I place them. A 4 bulb t5 would offer more PAR than my existing. I'm intrigued by the 30" mh fixture. I wish it was less than 15" deep.

I love the bf look too ...gives a smaller tank like this more depth and character. I'll check out your profile for pics of your tank.

 

More light is better. My buddie had dual 65w PCs and did pretty good. I'm sure 4 T5s will be nive

 

I hope so. I'm doing the combo for now ....a dual pc and a dual t5 ....enough to maintain but I get very minimal growth ...except my elephant ear. Did you see the mh fixture posted earlier? What's your opinion of that vs a t5, considering a center brace and a 3 inch overhang of the front PC? Now I'm undecided.

 

I like the fixture, I think the front PC may be useless, however the MH will get light through, a big reflector can help that, but you would need a canopy. You can always use a pennant light?

 

I would prefer a pendant light, but it's not an option in the house right now. I could go with a canopy... And a few laptop fans. I haven't attempted an aquarium diy project yet...

 

Canopy for BF may be a good project...

 

You're right... This could be a good project... Hmmmm

 

Something else showed up on my doorstep this morning from Marco Rocks... 50 pounds of Key Largo Rock for $119.00 with free shipping...
Here's some photos of the rock pieces that they sent me.. The marble slab there sitting on is 48x20 to get an idea of how big they are.