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Here's my first blog entry on Reef Addicts. The site looks great, here's a picture of my 75 Reef in progress. Currently it has T5s but I'm in the process of creating an HQI system with VHO supplementation.




I'm planning on going with lumatek dimmable 400 watt ballast. Please let me know what you think!

Hello everyone! My name is Ryan and I'm a 28 year old Reef Addict in progress. Ever since I was a kid, I had all kinds of pets...but I was never successful with a fish tank because I hated reading and the library (internet wasn't available) and I never new about the so called "new tank syndrome" until 2008. In October of 2008, My girlfriend gave me a 29 gallon tank for my birthday and that's when my addiction started.

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Well being that I am a newbie to reefs but somewhat experienced at fish keeping( freshwater). So far I have decided on a 33 gallon long with a custom sump under it that should hold 30 more gallons. I am going to build the sump and stand myself. I received a kit for xmas from my mom that is 700 gph overflow. It is made by glass-holes.com. I can not wait to drill a hole into a piece of glass I paid good money for! Also I have a octopus skimmer rated for 200 gallons. I know this is overkill but I am ...

The Plan
So in the fight against ConEd and their .33 cents per kilowatt policy, I decided to stop using my sump as the main source of display tank flow and remove the Mag9 that was in there.

The Victory
The Mag is listed as using 93 watts of power...welllll, WRONG, more like 124 watts. I have been using a device made by Ryobi, purchased at Home Depot, and it does the same job of the Kill-A-Watt device at half the cost. I hope that half the cost don't mean crappy readings. ...

I'm preparing my shopping list for this Saturdays trip to my local LFS(FAOIS). So far my list consists of the following:

Replacement Filters for RO/DI, Calc/KH test kits, Salt.

Here's where I need advice. I have an OLD Nova Extreme 8x54w T5HO fixture with the single reflector. It's not ideal, and bulbs are 13months old so they need replacement. I bounced a couple of ideas around. I would hate to spend the money on new bulbs for a fixture that isn't ideal, and that ...