Not New To Reef Hobby, But Almost....Built Thread.

[427HISS]

My wife and I started the hobby back on 1996, retired a few years later, then back again, then retired. lol

So, a little background on why the start then retirees. At age 2 I had a traumatic brain injury, was in a coma for 16 days, had to learn to talk, stand up, walk etc all over again. I have headaches, migraines to what I call electrical zaps, in my head 24/7. Doctors had me have a pain scale from 1 to 10.

After the first start into the reef hobby in 1996 a few years later I started having seizures and was diagnosed with a very rare form of epilepsy. If I crossed my feet heal & toe I would fall, and we all walk that way, so I had to learn a new way of walking which looked like my pants were full of crap. Easier said than done. At that time their were three of us in the USA having this brain disorder and around 20 in southern America up to Europe, so about 25 people world wide since 1940., so there's not enough of us to have a large scale study from the pharmaceutical companies, colleges etc. it costs a lot of money to do so. The Mayo Clinic came up with a couple of medications that work pretty well.

Then I had two heart attacks. I was driving my truck at apx 35 mph when a lady dropped her mp3 player and accidently stomped on the throttle and rear ended me at 60 mph. The whip lash ripped all the tissues from my neck to my skull. They ended up burning off all the nerves to my upper neck. I boke C-4 vertebra and disk, left hand went into the dash breaking two fingers and 4 bones in my hand. I did brake my neck many years ago so C-6 & C7 are fused and now C4 is fused. My trucks frame rails were bent up in the middle 7".

Then last year on June 4th I had a stroke and again on June 14th. So two strokes in ten days. lol. The left side of my body in numb, so I need a walker as my body leans o the left. I fall all the time ! I've had to give up most of my hobbies including flying remote control airplanes which I've been flying since age 14. I built a Ford 427 Shelby A/C Cobra back in 2000. Before the strokes I built a Ford 460 truck block and bored and stroked it out to 527 cu.in., Kaase SR-71 heads, stacked EFI (so cool) new aluminum clutch, dual disk clutch, new Tremec 5 speed transmission etc. During my physical therapy they had me use a 4" x 24" stretch band for a workout.

The head nurse saw me withe the band under my left foot to my hand and stretching my leg from a bent position to a straight out leg, and she asked my why and I said my 427 Cobra has a clutch, so I'm practicing the leg movement of using the clutch pedal, and I said, I will drive my Cobra again, I WILL,... dive her again !!! And I am, I won't be racing her, or speed shifting, but at least I'm driving her !

Ok, sorry for the soap opera story, but I want all of you reefers to know just what I'm up against and how willing I am to create my last beautiful mixed reef tank, with your help !
I have a class A personality (good & bad) but I wouldn't be here and living the best life I can.

Like in 1996 with a 75g, I built it into the living room wall above the console TV (does anybody remember those. lol) wall with access in back which was a unused bedroom. Now it will be a 125g under the big flat screen TV. The room will now be the reef room, fish room, equipment room, ect lol.... It's soo cool to watch the TV and reef tank at the same time !

The tank has been drilled for two return lines, but not the drains yet. I do have a Synergy Reef Shadow Overflow, skimmer, sump, return pump, power heads etc. I will give you all what exactly what I have.

First about the lighting. Back in 1996 I had 4 VHO's that some couldn't believe, I grew the easier sps corals, but mainly lps. After a couple of years I did experiment with a 175w halide, but we did not stay in long enough to see the results. The T-5's were just starting to appear. When we got back into it, I was shocked about the newer LED's. And, I was SHOCKED about the high prices ! I did buy a 72" long 8 tube T-5 lighting system that the first owner removed the 2 inner lights and installed 8 LED square pucks that I can't get to work. In the last several years of collecting products I watched a lot on YouTube videos and local fish stores,

I still prefer halides and supplemented blue lights for colors of fish and corals or the T-5's. But, when I saw the company Reef Breeders quality and price, I may be hooked on their LED system. I will not, be be buying the extremely high cost of the Radions, Orphek or the other top say, 5 lights. $3,000 to $5,000 is crazy for me. All I want is the ramp up & down programing.

I do have a budget reef set up after spending so much on the 427 Cobra updating. (but was worth every penny. lol)

I have a lot of the BRS type dead white rock and a bunch of the awesome Tonga finger rock, but I'm hoping to buy some high quality live cultured rock to seed the bacteria, Coraline etc.

First though, what's your thoughts on the lighting ?

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[KrisReef]

I'm not much on lights, I have halides on my tank. I had to look yours up
The Ford Cobra 427 (AC Cobra) uses standard 7-inch round headlights, often requiring H4 bulbs or modern LED replacements for brighter, clearer light, with aftermarket options offering features like RGB halos or built-in DRLs. You can find replacements at auto parts stores like Advance Auto Parts and online marketplaces like eBay, with many kits coming with adapters for easier installation.

Others with LED experience can steer you to the budget priced lights that can grow coral without breaking the bank.

Let's call this a "Bump."

 

[RocketEngineer]

So if your 125g is like mine, it’s got a 72”x18” footprint. Mine had a single brace but most I’ve seen have two. Depending on which it is, you have different options.

My recommendation: (3) XR15s. I know, I know, you don’t want to go expensive. However, the company has a proven track record and has been around enough years to prove they work. Now, given that the tank is only 18” wide and not overly tall, you honestly don’t need the larger XR30s.

Here’s my 100g with just two XR15s:

For just starting out, this has been plenty of light. I’ve got coraline algae all over the place. And they aren’t full power.

I think you may be using older tech thinking when planning modern day lighting. Especially at the beginning, you’re mostly just lighting the fish and aquascape. Wait until you get the system going before settling on a final light configurations.

Learn from my mistake: I killed just about every coral in my 125g setup with new LED lights. The tank never recovered.

 

[JustaSunday]

Quanta makes competitively priced led lights that can definitely be used for a wide variety of tanks. They are dimmable but that’s about it, I’ve seen people get plug in timers to create a a schedule for the lights. Definitely worth looking at for a “budget” led as they pack a punch and have a quality spectrum.