Our mission

Looking for thoughts on substrate/ canopies

MichaelB

MichaelB

Supporting Member
BARcard
As the title implies not any issue on this subject more just looking for personal experiences or thoughts on the following to subjects.

To be clear I haven't commited to any decision as of yet.

Subject #1 Substrate.

I was planning crushed coral. Just because I have it in my 32biocube and 65gallon tank currently. I would take what’s in the 65 and add to the 200g beyond that I have probably 1 5 gallon bucket of it beyond that. I would estimate only enough to cover between 1/2- 1/3 of the 200g tank at about 3 inches.

I'm not against sand but if I did I would most likely want the special grade that doesn't blow around. Ideally I want something that will be good to last for several years. To help this be a stable and true display tank.

Looking for general thoughts and experiences with various Substrates even if I didn't bring them up especially in a larger tank thank I'm to short to reach the bottom of lmao???

Subject #2 canopy or no canopy?

20241110_143742.jpg20241208_192320.jpg

I have a canopy or cover on all my other tanks mainly because they came with the tanks. A second reason is having 5 cats who regularly sleep on top of the various tanks.

This new tank even without the hood is much taller than even the 65 gallon with the hood on. So I wouldn't be as worried of the cats easily getting on top of this one.

This tank has a hood Pictured.

My request here is any experiences or thoughts of canopy or now canopy beyond easier mounting of lights? I don't think hood plays any part in limiting evaporation as it's not sealed up on the back.

So far I haven't decided if I want to use the hood or not. ?

Thanks again just looking for thoughts, experiences, or prospectives on the two subjects in general. It's fine even if it's not something I directly mentioned all feedback is welcome.
 
I’ve seen a lot of comments lately about how Special grade doesn’t blow around - but it absolutely does with enough flow.

I have it in my tank and it’s mostly bare bottom in certain spots. Something to consider if you are planning a high flow SPS tank.
 
derek_SR said:
I’ve seen a lot of comments lately about how Special grade doesn’t blow around - but it absolutely does with enough flow.

I have it in my tank and it’s mostly bare bottom in certain spots. Something to consider if you are planning a high flow SPS tank.
Click to expand...
I would probably have sps either higher in the tank or on one side of the tank with lights/ flow set higher specific for them. It will definitely be a mix reefer but more fore thought ahead of time as to where to place what corals.
 
well think your decision on canopy or cover is up to the 5 cats!! How active are they and do they climb Christmas trees lol? Mine routinely jumped 6 feet without a sweat and had to forfeit xmass tree for several years..Substrate do whatever you like! But crushed coral fingers can be a detritus sump compared to special grade sand etc
 
I personally don’t like the look of canopies but they definitely have their pros helping with light spill and obviously your cats. That wood is really nice though. Funny story- I had a 75 gallon freshwater tank that had glass lids and my cat used to always jump on top of it, he was able to clear the jump from the floor. Well one day I had the lid off to do maintenance and he jumped not knowing the lid was off, and he plunged right into the tank. I got him out immediately and dried him up so no damage was done lol but interestingly enough he never jumped onto that tank after that. Not saying let your cats take a swim haha
 
PjFish said:
well think your decision on canopy or cover is up to the 5 cats!! How active are they and do they climb Christmas trees lol? Mine routinely jumped 6 feet without a sweat and had to forfeit xmass tree for several years..Substrate do whatever you like! But crushed coral fingers can be a detritus sump compared to special grade sand etc
Click to expand...
They younger ones have actually slept inside Christmas tree last year and one chews on them fake or real makes no difference. Right now they ignore the top of the tank since it’s open prefering to camp inside the stand instead, I imagine If put the hood on it becomes the highest perch in the house meaning prime real estate and they will fight over it.
 
Definitely take a look at the CaribSea 'Oceans Direct' sand. They have a coarse option that supposed to be similar to Special grade grain size. It has a much more diverse microbiology from my understanding on the tests BRS performed. I mixed in a few bags with Fiji Pink and we really like the mix.

It is a nice hood. And I agree with Marcos, that it will keep the light spill contained and focused into the tank. Without high powered lights, it's going to be a tough task to get decent par to the bottom of that I assume. How tall is the tank?

I do like the look of a modernized setup without the hood and hanging lights. If that is something you can pull off, I'd give it a try. Because of the cats though, you'd definitely want to source some decent glass covers.
 
ReyDeFarts said:
Definitely take a look at the CaribSea 'Oceans Direct' sand. They have a coarse option that supposed to be similar to Special grade grain size. It has a much more diverse microbiology from my understanding on the tests BRS performed. I mixed in a few bags with Fiji Pink and we really like the mix.

It is a nice hood. And I agree with Marcos, that it will keep the light spill contained and focused into the tank. Without high powered lights, it's going to be a tough task to get decent par to the bottom of that I assume. How tall is the tank?

I do like the look of a modernized setup without the hood and hanging lights. If that is something you can pull off, I'd give it a try. Because of the cats though, you'd definitely want to source some decent glass covers.
Click to expand...
Screenshot_20241210_143353_Chrome.jpg


It came with 3 kessil 360we tuna blues not sure if thats adquate or not. But thinking of looking for different lights at some point.

I have two nicrew 150 watts on the 65 but i would use those on the lowboy frag tank. So was thinking the gen 2 200 watt nicrews for this tank. Though I'm open to all suggestions.
 
Those kessils you have are much nicer than the Nicrews and won't burn out their power supplies every year or two. Their lenses give much deeper light penetration too. I'd add some supplemental bars after taking PAR measurements for more coverage later on when you are ready. But that's months down the line.
 
Darkxerox said:
Those kessils you have are much nicer than the Nicrews and won't burn out their power supplies every year or two. Their lenses give much deeper light penetration too. I'd add some supplemental bars after taking PAR measurements for more coverage later on when you are ready. But that's months down the line.
Click to expand...
The new gen 2 200 watt ones have improved lenses and power supplies more power output and over better spectrums.

I honestly don't know anything about kessils or other light types at all. Quality par etc. I just assumed the 360s aren’t their more expensive lights @ $296 compared to the ap9x or a500x.

So I assume the 3 360s probably wasn't sufficent for a 210gallon tank?

The new nicrew g2s come in at $400.
Granted I know price means nothing. It was the only way I have to semi judge them at a glance.

I was considering using one or two of the 360s on my main biocube32 for sps.

Also I'm not decided on any path. As of yet just thoughts I had.

It's confusing as I see 200g tanks on youtube with like eight or 10 kessils or radions? Even some members here have a crap tonnof lights more than the 3 360s.

I also have 2 light bars that came with the tank but can't find any information on them they are made by ecoxotic they are 36 inches? Can't find them even on google.

20241210_151733.jpg20241210_151811.jpg
I don't really know what I need, what the current lights can do, and what would be the ideal light set up.
 
Last edited:
I’ll chime in with my two cents. I’m a big fan of Run what you got. Upgrade as you advance through the hobby. Don’t be so spendy. Don’t like it in the future. At least you tried it.
Aquariums are like Hot Rods. You’re forever changing things even tho people tell you don’t. But you do.

Kessil is a great light. Not a really wide spread.

I’m a fan of china lights. Nicrew makes a good light. Their power supply sucks. I’m stuck on AliExpress x30 right now. 165 with tax and shipping included
 
Honestly, the new Nicrews might be better on paper, but you have no idea how well a new model will fare. The Kessil A360Xs are built much better and can resist going for a swim if something happens, plus they're already paid for. Just to confirm, you have A360Xs or A160WE? The 160WE is tiny whereas the A360X/XE models are much more potent. Keep them, add some Quanta bars like @derek_SR and call it a day. If you get the new Nicrews and the power supplies burn out next year, you know I'm going to call you out on it lol.
 
Turkeysammich said:
I’ll chime in with my two cents. I’m a big fan of Run what you got. Upgrade as you advance through the hobby. Don’t be so spendy. Don’t like it in the future. At least you tried it.
Aquariums are like Hot Rods. You’re forever changing things even tho people tell you don’t. But you do.

I’m a fan of china lights. Nicrew makes a good light. Their power supply sucks. I’m stuck on AliExpress x30 right now. 165 with tax and shipping included
Click to expand...
Yea more so I just want something that will be capable of coloring up sps, sufficent to the task at least if that makes sense. I don't really understand what I have now. I will need more lights in any case I won't have enough for the tanks. So when I get more lights I would want them for the larger tanks and use what I have on the other ones.

To also be clear I don't mean to imply I plan on going out and getting everything at once or making it rain. When I
speak about lighting here it's more something to work towards aquiring or be on the look out for.

People here are always selling lights but I don't know how to rate them or know if they would be a good option for my tanks.
 
Last edited:
Darkxerox said:
Honestly, the new Nicrews might be better on paper, but you have no idea how well a new model will fare. The Kessil A360Xs are built much better and can resist going for a swim if something happens, plus they're already paid for. Just to confirm, you have A360Xs or A160WE? The 160WE is tiny whereas the A360X/XE models are much more potent. Keep them, add some Quanta bars like @derek_SR and call it a day. If you get the new Nicrews and the power supplies burn out next year, you know I'm going to call you out on it lol.
Click to expand...
A360we tuna blue they are old if I had to guess. I couldn't find any to say buy now that precise type anyway.
I will get a picture if it helps.
 
20241210_153059.jpg20241210_153057.jpg20241210_153054.jpg

@Darkxerox

I'm also not sold on nicrews by any means if it seems that way, only what I was considering because I have 2 already. Probably important to note they are the only lights I've ever had so zero knowledge in terms of other lights beyond the biocube ones and the bars i added to them.

No arguments from me at all. I have no real stance.

Probably will be like when I got the mp40/ mp10s over the cheap hyggers I had before. Can't even describe the shock i had after first turning them on.
 
Last edited:
I considered the Nicrew HyperReef 200W Gen 2 but I honestly wasn’t expecting the price to be $400 when they released it. That’s literally double the previous gen 1. At $400, I’d rather spend a little more and go with a ReeFi Uno 2.1 Pro. That’s the route I’ll be going for the 90 gallon tank when that gets setup and I’m going to use the two Nicrew HyperReef 150W Gen 1 on the 45 Gallon frag tank. I’ve actually had those for years and never had a power supply go out. Not saying it doesn’t happen, maybe I’m just lucky
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top