Frag tank

[phi delt reefer]

sunpowers are the bomb - 4 bulb is fine - coral placement will optimize the smaller light. So SPS directly under the light, and low light stuff closer to the glass. You dont want a ALL HIGH light tank or you wont be able to grow other corals.

get a BRS reactor - it mounts outside of the sump and all that sits in your sump is the mj1200 pump that powers it. You can put the mj1200 in the frag tank if you want so the carbon filtration step occurs once the water cycles through the frag tank.

as for bulb combo - depends on what you want. Are u looking to setup a true frag tank (ie. optimize growth above all else) or do you want it as a "display frag tank"? If its the first than all you want is high par bulbs, if the latter, than you want to mix up the bulbs a bit to get some good colors.

[Palmer]

Originally Posted by phi delt reefer

sunpowers are the bomb - 4 bulb is fine - coral placement will optimize the smaller light. So SPS directly under the light, and low light stuff closer to the glass. You dont want a ALL HIGH light tank or you wont be able to grow other corals.

get a BRS reactor - it mounts outside of the sump and all that sits in your sump is the mj1200 pump that powers it. You can put the mj1200 in the frag tank if you want so the carbon filtration step occurs once the water cycles through the frag tank.

as for bulb combo - depends on what you want. Are u looking to setup a true frag tank (ie. optimize growth above all else) or do you want it as a "display frag tank"? If its the first than all you want is high par bulbs, if the latter, than you want to mix up the bulbs a bit to get some good colors.

Yeah thats a great question... I dont want to sacrifice growth too much but would still like to have some great visible color for photography. Looking at Grimms thread on RC I was thinking of the following-

ATI blue +
UVL actinic white
ATI aquablue
ATI blue +

[phi delt reefer]

may want to swap the uvl actinic for the ATI Purple plus or KZ fiji equivalent or at least pickup that bulb as well to give you some options as you dial in the color.

thats the great thing about a 6 bulb or more unit. Easier to dial in the perfect color. 4 bulbs limits your bulb choice but there are PLENTY of amazing 4 bulb tanks so its going to be up to you to work with what you like. color is a personal thing but all of those bulbs have good par so growth shouldnt be an issue.

[Palmer]

Will the light spill over on a 6 bulb unit be much of an issue with the tank being 12 inches? If not I would just go with the 6 bulb to give me more options

[phi delt reefer]

too much spillover with a 6 bulb unit - u'll just be wasting light. I think somebody just listed a 5 bulb aquatanics tx5 unit in calgary for 200 a few minutes ago. they are pretty good fixutres and the 5 bulbs open some combo possiblities.

[lastlight]

So long as you feed the frag tank with clean water (downstream from the filter socks etc) it should be a fairly maintenance free tank as well.