• Light and skimmer for 220 liters

  • Shawn

Good afternoon. I'm tired of freshwater tanks, I want to convert one of them into a marine aquarium. It's a 220L M0 glass tank 80*50*55cm (L*W*H). I won't be installing a sump. The current lighting is 4*24w T5, plus a 150w metal halide. I'm planning to replace the MH with a 250w one. Will this lighting be sufficient (4*24w + 250w)? Which MH bulb would you recommend? 14000K or 20000K? And which T5 bulbs would be best to install? Considering there's no sump, I ordered a Red Sea Prism Deluxe on eBay. But now I'm doubting if it will be enough? The actual internal volume of the aquarium, accounting for water fill up to the braces, is about 195L, plus live rock, dry reef rock, and sand (I want black sand), so I think there will be about 150L of water. And which powerheads would be best to install here? Thank you very much for your attention

Ryan7682

You could say that you answered most of the questions yourself. The 4x24 (blue) lights and 250W MH will be enough, even if 150W will do. A night light will also be needed, preferably, but it can wait until the fish appear. I don't have MH, so I can't say which one. (I have 6x54W, 3 white and 3 blue). At least give a link for the skimmer. Streams depend only on desire and budget; you can choose whatever you want. If it's cheap, then SANSAN 101x2 or 101x1 and 102x1.

Kyle

Yes, regarding the T5 light, I think the actinics/whites ratio should be 1 to 1 or something else, considering there will also be MH? And here is the link to the skimmer:

Kevin

I understand that I can leave the MG at 150 watts? Won't that be too little? In the future, I would like to set up SPS.

Megan

I don't know about sps, but it will be enough for softness. They need a more stable and computerized system.

Caleb6320

The softness doesn't really "excite" me anymore; LPS are more unpretentious than SPS (as a rule), so I will probably focus on them...

Joseph6461

Then the equipment requirements are higher. For streams with a controller, calcium reactor, and auto top-off, you need to set it to 250.

Jessica5016

Are there any more opinions on the light and the foam?

Veronica

Thank you! I understand that all the lights are on during the day? If it's not too much trouble, could you provide an hourly breakdown of how you organized the lighting? And what type of MH do you use? What fillers do you have in the canister? And is the foam already on its way from the States?

Cheryl

And if it's not a secret, why did you decide to go without a sample?

Mark

Due to the noise, I had to turn it off in the evening before going to bed, the water was draining, and I constantly had to adjust the flow pumps to prevent splashing in the aquarium, extra 80 liters of water, extra evaporation, etc. I believe that for my volume, it is possible to do without a sump by using a canister filter with appropriate media. In the morning, the pH is 7.8, 7.9, and during the day it gradually levels out to 8.1, 8.2.

John

How often do you change the fillers in the external filter? I also want to keep the external filter, but I'm afraid I'll have to dig in there every 3 weeks...