New to Saltwater, 70g build

SaltyDwarfAngel

Detritus
M.A.S.C Club Member
#1
Hello all! New to the saltwater realm but have had freshwater for a while. Excited for this new adventure!
Finally got my tank cycled and added the first fish. This is my new eshoppes 70g with sump. Thanks to @Stithe for some great setup items! Looking forward to adding more in a few weeks. Planning on a mixed reef. I will eventually need some lights if you have any recos. Thanks!

 

SynDen

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#3
Welcome to the real addiction! Looks like you got a great start there. Look forward to seeing it all grow in!
 

rajah

Clown Fish
M.A.S.C Club Member
#4
Nice start! Are you thinking about keeping SPS and acros? That might determine what lighting you go for, as will the dimensions of your tank, and your budget. I've had good luck with cheap black box LEDs for most coral, but recently have been using T5s and Reefbreeders LEDs. Lots of options for sure.
 

SaltyDwarfAngel

Detritus
M.A.S.C Club Member
#5
Just started looking into corals to start with. I came up with these:
Zoanthids
Sinularia leather
Toadstool
Xenia
Duncan
Candy cane
Bubble
List can certainly change depending upon lighting needs and budget :) the tank is 36 x 21 x 21
Thanks for all the comments!
 

rajah

Clown Fish
M.A.S.C Club Member
#6
You won't need crazy high light for those corals. You have plenty of options but I might look at something like this LED which you can manually control the blue vs white combination, and can turn the output up or down as high or low as you want. It would need to be mounted fairly high above the tank to have decent spread. You could also do 36" T5s but that might be overkill depending on the number of bulbs. You can also go far more spendy of course with the LED options and get a light with an app and lots of features. Just depends what you want to spend and if you're into the techy stuff. Two 36" LED bars could also be pretty good (Quanta or Reefbrite, for instance).

I started with fairly cheap LEDs and don't regret it... I've since upgraded to nicer lighting but the cheap LEDs grew everything including acros. My two cents is that health of the corals is more about water chemistry, flow and stability, especially when you are just starting out. Light probably won't be a limiting factor until you get into demanding SPS.
 

TheRealChrisBrown

Reef Shark
M.A.S.C Club Member
ex-officio
#8
I really liked the reefbreeders lights, I think they were on bulk reef supply last time I checked. They are sleek and not bulky looking and can future proof yourself a little bit since they can grow everything. If budget is a concern you can pick up metal halide/t5 combos cheap, and again will grow anything.

Your setup looks nice so far. I always like minimalist rock, but height is important too. Maybe see if you can find a couple pieces of Tonga branch rock and expanding everything up a bit?
 
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