New 90G

[claudiabkr]

Hi, I'm upgrading from a sucky 15g Eclipse with only 40w of PCs to a rockin' 90 gal with a 40g sump/fuge, 2x 250w 20k MH, a skimmer, and a motorized ball valve wave maker. I'm going through the diatom stage now, but it's already gone through it's cycle. Now I'm just waiting for the money fairy to drop off a cuppla bags of loot to start filling it up! Question is, when will it be safe to transfer the fish and corals from the Eclipse and should I have the lights off for longer periods because of the huge difference in wattage? I've included pics taken on day 2. Tell me what you think!

 

[Krish]

Welcome to RF Claudia!!! Tank looks great! Congrats on the upgrade As for transferring over, you may need to acclimate the corals to the new lighting. Going from pc's to MH's will be a drastic change in lighting and so you may need to put something like egg crate over the top of the tank to cut down the lighting some and slowly adjust them over time to the full spectrum. Not sure what corals you have now, but in any event, just to be safe, it may be in your best interest to not blast them with the full wattage right away. As for transferring the fish and corals, I'd move over the hardiest fish first and see how well they do and see how your tank reacts to the increased bioload. If all goes well, then I'll just continue slowly moving along the line until you get all transferred.

Just a few thoughts on what I personally feel is the safest way to go about it. Definately not the only way as you may be able to toss all in and have no problems, but just my opinion on what I think is a safe bet. Good luck and keep us posted

 

[Reefdaddy1]

Where did you get that Skimmer Claudia? Very nice setup for sure and cudos again for the upgrade. And to 2nd the welcome From Krish.

 

[coil1002]

Welcome

LOL sucky 15 gal

Looks like you are going to have a great time with that tank. As for the lights no matter what corals you have in the sucky eclipse you will want to acclimate them to the MH some people use a shorter photoperiod some put the corals in the bottom and slowly move up some use screens over the top of the aquarium and slowly remove them one by one allowing more light day by day to get through. Hell some do all the above how ever what you are trying to achieve is a slow and steady increase in the light duration and intensity so the corals are not shocked by the change in par.

Good luck and post lots of pictures

 

[claudiabkr]

Bob, It's a used Top Fathom with a Rio 2100 that the LFS had. I also got the Blue Wave ballast and lights used from the same store. I've been really happy with its performance and have been emptying the smelly "cup of death" about once a day after a few days of fiddling with it to get it just right. The major problem I've had is that the flow of water is so fast that it's pulling in alot of air, so much that it bubbles and sprays onto the wall behind the tank (and electral supply) and my family room sounds like there's a jacuzzi in it. I put the filter sock there to slow the water down and let the air escape without disturbing the sand bed in the next chamber. It works, but I need to come up with another system since the sock is a pain to get on and off to clean.