# 150 gallon fowlr - lighting?



## willieturnip (Aug 30, 2009)

I'm picking up a 5x2x2 sometime this week. 

I have 8x9watt power compacts. Is this anywhere near enough light for a fowlr? 

I also have two 5 foot dual bulb T8 fixtures available to me for a very good price. How would they fare?

What about a combination of the two?

Lighting is my main concern as I know it will be very expensive. If I could blag the lighting I my well consider going salt water..


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## Pasfur (Mar 29, 2008)

For a FOWLR you have no problems at all. My 180 just uses 3 florescent strips and the coraline growth is incredible.


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## willieturnip (Aug 30, 2009)

Bad ass! 

I'm very tempted..

Anything you can think of to put me off?


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## willieturnip (Aug 30, 2009)

Also, can I assume a 150 (5x2x2) will make a nice marine tank? Haven't got any experience in salt water at all..


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## terryap (Sep 22, 2009)

sounds great! the bigger the better, I am sure that is a great size!
I am sure Pasfur will confirm (he is the saltwater Guru!!)


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## Pasfur (Mar 29, 2008)

A 150 will make an awesome marine aquarium. The larger tank will make it much more difficult to make mistakes.

For the record, you CAN NOT set up a tank this large without using a Quarantine tank. You will have to much livestock at risk. I would suggest a 29 to 38 gallon Q tank, which can be set up with a simple biological filter.


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## willieturnip (Aug 30, 2009)

Pasfur said:


> A 150 will make an awesome marine aquarium. The larger tank will make it much more difficult to make mistakes.
> 
> For the record, you CAN NOT set up a tank this large without using a Quarantine tank. You will have to much livestock at risk. I would suggest a 29 to 38 gallon Q tank, which can be set up with a simple biological filter.


I could sell my livestock and convert my 30 gallon Juwel I suppose. Once I go marine my cichlids won't get any attention anyway.. :roll:

I was originally thinking of putting my cichlids in the new 150 and use the 30 as a small marine, but using the 150 will make things a hell of a lot more manageable. 

Right, it's question time then, before I'm totally convinced..


1) Is RO water necessary for a FOWLR? 
2) What does a QT consist of in marine, how is it run and what does it consist of?
3) How much live rock will I need in my 150?
4) How long does it need to be running (roughly) before I can add fish?
5) How it is possible to make regular rock into live rock?
6) Any stocking ideas? 


And another question in regards to overflow plumbing. The tank is already drilled (bonus!). Why does the pipe behind the overflows in the corners of your tank, pasfur, face downwards at the end of it?


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## Pasfur (Mar 29, 2008)

willieturnip said:


> 1) Is RO water necessary for a FOWLR?
> 2) What does a QT consist of in marine, how is it run and what does it consist of?
> 3) How much live rock will I need in my 150?
> 4) How long does it need to be running (roughly) before I can add fish?
> ...


1) No. I use tap and Amquel in my FOWLR. Always have.
2) Bare bottom with biological filter. I start fish at 1.013 salinity for 2 weeks. Then increase with daily water changes, until it reaches 1.023. After 3 full weeks in the Q it is ok to move to display, assuming the fish is eating aggressively and showing great health.
3) 150 to 250 pounds. Check out Marco Rocks The finest aquarium rock available, base rock, live rock, reef rock, marco rock, reef tank saltwater fish, live corals, Marco rocks, Fiji live rock, Tonga Live rock. I would use about 20% live rock and 80% dry.
4) It is different for every tank. A lot depends on how much live rock you use, as opposed to dry rock. Between 4 and 8 weeks is typical. By the way, the "cycle" has nothing to do with when you add fish.
5) You don't. "Dry" rock is calcium based and very porous, essentially the exact same rock that you find on a reef, but not yet populated with life. The life will spread very quickly to this rock if "seeded" with live rock or live sand. Tufa rock and Lava Rock are also porous enough to become live over time. 
6) Almost anything!

In my tank you are looking at the return line. I point them down to direct water flow in that direction, keeping sediment from settling on the sand bed. If you look closely, you will other powerheads aimed towards the bottom as well.


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## willieturnip (Aug 30, 2009)

Thanks for the great advice, this is all very exciting! Good news on the RO water, that'll save me £50 initially and god knows how much in the future.

I'm in the UK, so that marco rocks is off limits really. Which is a massive shame, because the cheapest online rock I can find so far is £180 for 22kg of live fiji. That equates to $300 for 50lb!

This is going to be impossibly expensive if I need to spend nearly half a grand on rocks. Any ideas? I'm happy for it to take a few months if it will save me some cash. 

I wonder if I could get my mate to nick me a bit from the pet shop he works at?..:roll:

Is any porous rock capable of being turned live then? I live RIGHT on Britain's southern coast, so possibly some rock from the beach? There all sorts down there and it went in great with my cichlids after a thorough clean.


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## willieturnip (Aug 30, 2009)

I forget what I came to post. I was editing the message above for so long that to 20 minute limit ran out.:lol:

Not to worry, here's the ad picture as a teaser. The height isn't shown off here as the 5 inch sand bed is completely black. 

I could swear it's made of optiwhite/starphire glass. I could barely see the glass when I went to see it today and it's 15mm! :lol:


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## Pasfur (Mar 29, 2008)

What about the rock in that tank? Do you not get to keep the rock?


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## willieturnip (Aug 30, 2009)

No, I'm just buying the tank. It's only costing me £100 ($163 US) so I'm not going to even start complaining. 

Wants £3/kg ($4.9 US/2.2lb) for the dry rock, though thats probably negotiable. Definitely a good option if it's still around when my next bimonthly load of cash comes in. Well I say load..:roll:


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