Raising Sps Corals

[RoyalGrammaPrincessHannah]

I just came to the realization that it would be amazingly expensive. For the metal halides, chiller, and powerheads, how much have you guys spent on this?

 

[superman]

What size tank is it? In many cases evaporative cooling (fan pointed at water in sump) and fan within the hood aimed across the water between the metal halide and the water is good enough for cooling. Metal halides are not a must either, you can use VHO or T5 fluorescents (run them off of an ICE CAP ballast to get peak efficiency and lifespan)

 

[RoyalGrammaPrincessHannah]

What size tank is it? In many cases evaporative cooling (fan pointed at water in sump) and fan within the hood aimed across the water between the metal halide and the water is good enough for cooling. Metal halides are not a must either, you can use VHO or T5 fluorescents (run them off of an ICE CAP ballast to get peak efficiency and lifespan)

Its a 75 gallon. Right now I have 2 65 watt PCs and 2 65 watt actinics. How many more watts should I have of the VHO or T5s to be sufficient?

 

[amstar15]

i paid 700 for 2 175 watt 10k halides, and 2 40 watt blue actinics. each have their own ballast and it is a retro-fit kit. i paid 325 for my 1/4 (or maybe 1/10 hp) chiller. i also have a 75 gallon tank. as far as powerheads say i have 6 at 20-25 dollars a piece. over 25 corals in the tank, 175 pounds of live rock... and yes i am still married LOL. hope this helps. if you are in the states look at petsolutions.com or drfosters for great deals.

 

[RoyalGrammaPrincessHannah]

Wow anyway I look at it, ill be saving 4 a while.

 

[superman]

i paid 700 for 2 175 watt 10k halides, and 2 40 watt blue actinics. each have their own ballast and it is a retro-fit kit. i paid 325 for my 1/4 (or maybe 1/10 hp) chiller. i also have a 75 gallon tank. as far as powerheads say i have 6 at 20-25 dollars a piece. over 25 corals in the tank, 175 pounds of live rock... and yes i am still married LOL. hope this helps. if you are in the states look at petsolutions.com or drfosters for great deals.

Keep in mind RoyalGrammaPrincessHannah that the prices that newbie15 paid are grossly inflated retail prices. If you do your shopping online you can get MUCH better deals especially if you put together a retrofit lighting kit (if you have a hood to mount the kit in) For example a T5 retro fit kit would be great, low heat, and very affordable. On a 75 gallon four 54 watt T5 bulbs with Ice Cap reflectors and ran off of an Ice Cap 660 ballast would be a SWEET set up.

 

[RoyalGrammaPrincessHannah]

Thanks ill look into that.

 

[amstar15]

wow!!! i have no idea why i typed 700 dollars for my lights. i believe i paid about 325 for those and 300 for my chiller. superman is right though, search the internet different fish websites, look at manufactors websites, also you can find great deals on ebay.

for me i did as superman said. i ran fans along the inside of my hood were my lights were, down by the sump, to circulate air and cool the tank. due to wanting a more stable environment for some of my delicate corals i went with a chiller to keep my tank at the temp i wanted it to be. again though if you go with lights other than halides you could be very successful in keeping the temp you want and not even need a chiller.

good luck

 

[petey Z]

you can also have your friend, who has his own tank business, get you free metal halide lights

i kno thats what im doing hahaha

 

[RoyalGrammaPrincessHannah]

Still looking for some of those friends...

 

[petey Z]

haha ive found two already

 

[RoyalGrammaPrincessHannah]

Good times... I get discounts all the time at my LFS because I go there weekly and the owner is pretty cool. Once I start doing SPS, thats who ill be selling them to for sure.

 

[Fish Fingers]

Just thought I'd add some imput (even though both my acros died this week . Had some really hot nights which killed them ). I bought a 150w metal halide for $150 and my powerheads (28x turnover/4200lph in total) for around $100. My room is air conned for the hottest part of the day and that cost about $300 I think. It's not very expensive when you take into consideration that other corals will benifit from the equipment, not just your SPS's.

 

[Opcn]

If you can do things the way superman did with evaporative cooling fans and lots of topoff water rather than a chiller you will not only save a bundle on the initial setup but also on the cost of running the system.