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Tank Journal : Converting Fresh water to a Saltwater Tank

Boils down to what do you need the lights to do.

Or to put it in another way. What do you foresee the tank housing ultimately?

Let’s not go the ‘for now’ route. What do you see yourself going for a year down the road.


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That's a tough question. To be honest, I'm not sure and I think I'll be changing my mind quite a bit in the future. I guess what I'm looking for is more of a safe bet that would cover the majority of corals. You are right though, I wouldn't want to get a lighting system today and 6 months later say "oh crap", wrong one. If I were to guess where I would be a year from now, it would be a mixed reef with a few SPS & LPS and Zoa colonies. :)

thanks!
 
If you want to be able to cover most things except maybe a full on sps tank, I think 3 A360 over a 4 foot tank would be good. If you go used, you should be well within your budget, and there are lots of them floating around.


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I would go for a single AP700. You may have to mount it a little higher than you’d like to cover the full 48” but if you are careful with rock placement. It will be fine. And if you decide to expand to include more corals and into more SPS, a 2nd AP700 can be added easily.

You should check out the lps tank at Neptune. 48” tank on 1 AP700.


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I think either of the two options mentioned would work for you. The ap700 puts out a lot of light and unless your rock scape is right up to the glass on the sides you’ll probably be fine. The 3 360’s will probably give you better coverage but they aren’t as powerful (although 3 will likely be powerful enough for quite a while).
 
Radions are a great option too. You could start off with 2 xr15w Pro G4s and always add a third later on for more light demanding coral.
 
Found an interesting article testing PAR reading on the AP700.
https://www.advancedaquarist.com/20...ider&utm_medium=slider&utm_campaign=clickthru


Light Intensity at Depth "snipplet from the link"
Again, the almost infinite number of user selected options make reporting of light intensity at various depths a daunting task. It was decided to report those settings that generated the most, and least, PAR (and as it turned out - PUR as well) at depths of 17", 13", 7.5", and 3". The least amount of PAR (and PUR) were generated at the 'whitest' (least blue) setting while the most was produced at the #2 setting (#1 being bluest.)

The fixture was mounted 6" above the water surface. See Figures 3 through 10."

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Maybe I'm reading it wrong, but I don't think the color represent the color of light but a representation of the PAR reading. Ex. yellow meaning 400-500 par reading and not the yellow light color?

What I gather from the readings. If I used one AP 700 on my tank, 6 "inches above the water, I would need to keep the corals somewhere in the middle. Corals that need more Par level most in the center, but referencing the depth chart according to my rock scape.

Looked at the PAR readings again, and yeah..I'm totally confused now. 13" depth and 17" depth should be switched or something. :)
 
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Got a chance to do another water test.

API Test Kit
Salinity: 1.027
PH: 8.0
Nitrite: 0
Ammonia: 0
Nitrate: 5

New Test (Salifert)
P04 :0 (I have phosguard in the reactor)
Calcium: 450
Magnesium: 1500 ( test vial water stayed purple, never changed to blue or gray)

Since this is my first test using salifert, I could be doing it wrong :). Also my Salinity is 1.027 and temp is 78-79F.

Assay of Ocean Potion at 1.026 S.G. at 77°F *
  • Ca 415 - 445 ppm.
  • Mg 1340 - 1410 ppm.
  • K 390 - 410 ppm.
  • SO4 2700 ppm.
  • Sr 9 - 9.25 ppm.
  • B 4.85 ppm.
  • pH 8.3 - 8.4
  • Alkalinity 8.35 - 8.75
 
Nice! Some tips:
If I remember correctly, algae and bacteria uptake carbon, nitrate, and phosphate in a specific ratio, so you don’t want to have lots of nitrate and 0 phos, or 0 nitrate and lots of phos. 5 nitrate and 0 phos will be fine. If I’m wrong please correct me.

Magnesium keeps calcium from precipitating. If you ever dose mag, raise it slowly. I heard it acts like a muscle relaxant for the fish, so it can harm the fish if it raises too quick. I think the rule is you want mag to be 3x calcium. If you have 450 cal, you probably want around 1400 mag, more is fine. I believe inverts lock up and really slow down above 1600 mag. I’ve also heard hair algae dies off with high mag, 1700+. Never tried it, just heard.
 
I’ve always been more concerned with po4 than no3. My old tank would run with nitrates in the 40s all the time and things seemed pretty happy. I had a time where phosphates were in the 0.3 range though and things were dying off.
 
Skims mbr 157 was delivered today. Didn't realize how big this thing was. :)

There are soo many options for nutrient export but I finally settled on an Algae Reactor. Can't wait to see it in action.

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It seems to fit, but was hoping there was room to tilt it so I can remove the caddy but guess not. :)

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