Franco's UP Posted December 12, 2015 Share Posted December 12, 2015 I have been out of the hobby for about 10 year and am looking to get back in. That was my 55 gal back in the day. (sump, MH lighting, skimmer, the whole shabang) I built everything but the tank. I hope I'm not considered a noob but... Here is my current issue. I would like to get back but on a smaller scale. Say 10-20 gallons but with a tank that is more all in one. No sump etc. LED lighting. Mainly soft corals, 1. LED's weren't a thing when I was reefing so I have little idea to know how much I need. 2. Which tanks are worth it. I have looked at the following: JBJ - CF4 (old design I assume)- not LED and was the 28g model. Mainly looked at because I can get it cheap locally. I don't think I like the quality or the CF lighting. Why buy it only to tear it apart and dump in more money.Hood holds in heat, noisy fans from what I have read. Fluval M40 - like the design but a little pricey for what you get and there is no top. Which means I have to make something to keep fish from jumping out. Innovative Marine Fusion 10 or 20 - Like them both but dont know much about the lighting it comes with. If I went tank only which I could do, then what light should I be looking at. What other options should I consider? Here is my basic plan for this build. 10-20g tank build in rear or side chamber for equip - no sump LED lighting to softies mainly back needs room for media, heater, skimmer Budget for tank and equipment with no sand/rock/fish/etc around $500 I am thinking $200 tank $100-150 lights $100 skimmer $100 heater, pump, circ pump (if needed) Any help would be great. Like I said nano is a whole different equipment world from where I was coming from. Link to comment
Lawnman Posted December 12, 2015 Share Posted December 12, 2015 Fusion 10 with AI Prime light. That would be well under 500 dollars and a awesome little tank. You won't need a skimmer and a heater would be about 30 dollars. Check out this one. http://www.nano-reef.com/topic/353546-teenyreefs-10g-fusion-new-pics/ Link to comment
Elizabeth94 Posted December 12, 2015 Share Posted December 12, 2015 Agree with Lawn. Check out that link, Teeny really has a beautiful fusion 10 and it is a great example of what you can do in this little tank. Unless you want to go bigger, but the Fusion 20 will cost a bit more and you would need to use a larger light, like the AI Hydra 26 Edit: Love your old tank! Link to comment
Franco's UP Posted December 12, 2015 Author Share Posted December 12, 2015 Thanks Elizabeth94. It was a great tank. I miss it. Lawn your tank is amazing! I love those plates. Are there any reasonably prices LEDs that are more strip style or is the pendant style the way to go? Link to comment
Lawnman Posted December 12, 2015 Share Posted December 12, 2015 Thanks Elizabeth94. It was a great tank. I miss it. Lawn your tank is amazing! I love those plates. Are there any reasonably prices LEDs that are more strip style or is the pendant style the way to go? There are all kinds of LED lights. The Prime is 200 dollars and has built in wifi. Here is my new tank 24x20x20 and the Prime is doing a great job. Just my 2 cents plenty of great options out there. Link to comment
Hammerstone Posted December 12, 2015 Share Posted December 12, 2015 ^OMG what a beautiful tank!!!? Link to comment
Franco's UP Posted December 12, 2015 Author Share Posted December 12, 2015 What is your new tank, or is it custom? Link to comment
Lawnman Posted December 12, 2015 Share Posted December 12, 2015 And it's a softie reef right up your alley What is your new tank, or is it custom?Red Sea Reefer 170 ^OMG what a beautiful tank!!!Thanks... Link to comment
Franco's UP Posted December 12, 2015 Author Share Posted December 12, 2015 Also when looking at LED's what am I looking at for output? Lumens, watts? how much? Link to comment
Lawnman Posted December 12, 2015 Share Posted December 12, 2015 Also when looking at LED's what am I looking at for output? Lumens, watts? how much?I can't help you with all that. I recently started using LED I always used MH and T5. Sure someone else can help you with that info. Link to comment
Franco's UP Posted December 12, 2015 Author Share Posted December 12, 2015 They are so amazing, low power, high out put. I ran dual 175 MHs for years. Link to comment
Franco's UP Posted December 12, 2015 Author Share Posted December 12, 2015 What about something like this over the Fusion 20? http://www.marinedepot.com/Lifegard_Aquatics_Ultra_Slim_Blue_White_LED_Light_20_Inch_LED_Light_Fixtures-Lifegard_Aquatics-RB31582-FILTFILDTN-vi.html Link to comment
gus6464 Posted December 12, 2015 Share Posted December 12, 2015 What about something like this over the Fusion 20? http://www.marinedepot.com/Lifegard_Aquatics_Ultra_Slim_Blue_White_LED_Light_20_Inch_LED_Light_Fixtures-Lifegard_Aquatics-RB31582-FILTFILDTN-vi.html Nope, that's basically an ambient light. Go for the AI Prime if you get a Fusion 10. Link to comment
Franco's UP Posted December 13, 2015 Author Share Posted December 13, 2015 Hmmm here is the marine edge for under $100. Thoughts? http://premiumaquatics.com/products/aquaticlife-edge-led-aquarium-light-fixture-24-inch.html Link to comment
heifinator Posted December 13, 2015 Share Posted December 13, 2015 +1 for a nuvo. While you could fit under $500 I would budget for some upgrades in the future. A really nice Nuvo 20 setup will run around $1,000. Something I learned a while back is save and buy the equipment you want the first time around. Buying stop-gap stuff that you aren't going to be happy with long term gets expensive fast! Link to comment
jolee0722 Posted December 13, 2015 Share Posted December 13, 2015 Fusion 10 w/ ai prime or nanobox tide (a little more pricey but worth it imo) and an intank media basket is a must upgrade. For go the skimmer and spend some more money on a heater. Neotherm heaters are really good though pricey. Bulk reef supply did a review on heaters and the neotherm didn't fluctuate in temperature at all. Link to comment
Franco's UP Posted December 13, 2015 Author Share Posted December 13, 2015 Also thoughts on this light bar http://www.marinedepot.com/Current_USA_Orbit_Marine_LED_Aquarium_Light_20_Inch_LED_Light_Fixtures-Current_USA-CU04100-FILTFILDTN-vi.html Thanks heif. I am not trying to cheap out but I'm also not one to need the best of everything to make it work. I do like a little value. Taking leaning 20g which is why I am thinking light bar plus I don't like the look of hanging lights Link to comment
righttirefire Posted December 13, 2015 Share Posted December 13, 2015 I have a nuvo 8. And the Im Skyye 14k led kept a birdsnest, plating monti, and RFA for weeks while I waited for my nanobox led. Link to comment
Franco's UP Posted December 13, 2015 Author Share Posted December 13, 2015 I have a nuvo 8. And the Im Skyye 14k led kept a birdsnest, plating monti, and RFA for weeks while I waited for my nanobox led. Discontinued Link to comment
ajmckay Posted December 13, 2015 Share Posted December 13, 2015 Also thoughts on this light bar http://www.marinedepot.com/Current_USA_Orbit_Marine_LED_Aquarium_Light_20_Inch_LED_Light_Fixtures-Current_USA-CU04100-FILTFILDTN-vi.html Thanks heif. I am not trying to cheap out but I'm also not one to need the best of everything to make it work. I do like a little value. Taking leaning 20g which is why I am thinking light bar plus I don't like the look of hanging lights Before you get too deep into researching lighting decide on a tank. You've decided to keep lower light corals - this is a plus in that it allows you to stick to a pretty low budget for lighting. The other important factor is aquarium depth. If you keep the tank 12" deep or so then you'll have better luck with a less powerful lighting setup. You would need a better light to penetrate to a 24" depth for example. The current light doesn't seem too bad. I've usually liked their stuff. I told this to a guy a few days ago, but try to resist just posting a bunch of links in your thread. You'll get too many opinions and you haven't decided on other important equipment choices yet. Most important equipment: 1) Tank 2) Flow (get a circulation pump) 3) Lighting - LED is awesome. Make sure you get a spectrum you like. Since you were an MH guy I would strongly recommend going with a popular name brand fixture. The cheap Chinese ones one ebay and amazon usually use very low quality white LEDs which result in horrible color rendition compared to what you're used to. The popular ones (like AI Prime and many others) have known good coloration. The actual PAR output is important, but less so the shallower your tank gets. 4) Heater (don't cheap out here - get a quality heater or use a heater controller) If you stick with a smaller tank and can keep up on water changes you can probably get away without a skimmer. The options aren't very good for smaller tanks anyways. So if you remove the skimmer you can put a little more into lighting and flow. For tanks check out Oceanbox designs (acrylic) - he does custom too and might be able to get something in your price or make an AIO insert for a standard all-glass tank. http://www.nano-reef.com/topic/365598-oceanbox-10g-aio-build-your-dream-aio-tank/ CADLights - This one is cool - low iron glass and you can put together a package https://www.cadlights.com/index.php?main_page=product_info&cPath=61_63&products_id=303&zenid=872dedd1dfda87ed2502e0dc407acfc8 The Mr. Aqua 12 long is always popular, there are some really great examples of this tank in the members forum. Oceanbox may even be able to build an AIO insert, or just use a larger Aquaclear filter with a media basket (get a larger one and you can put a heater in there too!) http://www.marinedepot.com/Mr._Aqua_Bookshelf_Long_Frameless_Glass_Aquarium_Tank_Saltwater_Aquariums_Nano_Cube-Mr._Aqua-AZ11665-FIAQNC-vi.html My favorite, about $300 over your budget but it'll keep you from getting the upgrade itch for a long time and you'll love your tank so much it will always look great because you'll always be doing maintenance on it and making it better. For this tank a pendant style light would probably be best. http://www.marinedepot.com/Innovative_Marine_25_Gallon_Fusion_Lagoon_Aquarium_w_High_Gloss_Stand_Saltwater_Fish_Coral_Reef_Aquariums-Innovative_Marine-0I052531-FIAQ-vi.html Link to comment
reefernanoman Posted December 14, 2015 Share Posted December 14, 2015 I have been out of the hobby for about 10 year and am looking to get back in. That was my 55 gal back in the day. (sump, MH lighting, skimmer, the whole shabang) I built everything but the tank. I hope I'm not considered a noob but... Here is my current issue. I would like to get back but on a smaller scale. Say 10-20 gallons but with a tank that is more all in one. No sump etc. LED lighting. Mainly soft corals, 1. LED's weren't a thing when I was reefing so I have little idea to know how much I need. 2. Which tanks are worth it. I have looked at the following: JBJ - CF4 (old design I assume)- not LED and was the 28g model. Mainly looked at because I can get it cheap locally. I don't think I like the quality or the CF lighting. Why buy it only to tear it apart and dump in more money.Hood holds in heat, noisy fans from what I have read. Fluval M40 - like the design but a little pricey for what you get and there is no top. Which means I have to make something to keep fish from jumping out. Innovative Marine Fusion 10 or 20 - Like them both but dont know much about the lighting it comes with. If I went tank only which I could do, then what light should I be looking at. What other options should I consider? Here is my basic plan for this build. 10-20g tank build in rear or side chamber for equip - no sump LED lighting to softies mainly back needs room for media, heater, skimmer Budget for tank and equipment with no sand/rock/fish/etc around $500 I am thinking $200 tank $100-150 lights $100 skimmer $100 heater, pump, circ pump (if needed) Any help would be great. Like I said nano is a whole different equipment world from where I was coming from. Fusion 10G would fit the bill nicely. I love mine after more than 1 year. Mine has a Kessil A160we on top of it. Good luck. Link to comment
charnelhouse Posted December 14, 2015 Share Posted December 14, 2015 My .02, most of the "decent" strips that are sufficient for keeping softies (Current Orbit, etc.) have a minimum dimension of 18". For the Fusion 10 you are better off going with a spot as mentioned. Link to comment
reefist Posted December 14, 2015 Share Posted December 14, 2015 Check out ArtFully Acrylic's AIOs. The Signature AIOs have very generous sump areas for equipment and come with a return/circulation pump. They also include a really nice recessed mesh top to keep your fish from carpet surfing. Their Reef Crest drop off tanks are worth looking into if you want to have high and low light corals. They have a sponsored forum here. Link to comment
Jsp Posted December 14, 2015 Share Posted December 14, 2015 Nuvo lagoon 25 gallon they are the hottest right now I would say Link to comment
Franco's UP Posted December 17, 2015 Author Share Posted December 17, 2015 I went with the Fusion 20. I am currently gathering all my parts and pieces and will make a build thread next week. Last night I added a breaker and ran 2 new outlets to my new fish corner. One at normal ground level and one up high on the wall to plug in the lights to. Tank is shipped, going to get stand Monday. I live 40 minutes from a major saltwater wholesaler so I can pick up live rock and sand next week. Probably Tuesday. I am pretty sure I am going with a some branch and shelf rock with a mainly. A few chunks of regular. I have a few ideas on how I want to aquascape it. Link to comment
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