Upgrading Macro Tank Equipment

[reddevilant]

So with my 90 gal macro tank nearing its first birthday and then my birthday and the holidays being around the corner, I want to start planning upgrades to the tank's gear. The main things I want to upgrade is the lighting and power heads (water flow/turnover) since my current gear is pretty cheap/low tech.

For lighting, I currently have two Kessil A80 Suns and a cheap LED strip light from Petco which I think is pretty under-powered for my size tank, even though my macros are doing quite well. My current plan is to just go one step above the current Kessils and get a couple 160s. If I do stick with Kessil, should I get the Sun or the Blue versions? Are there any other lights around the same price range I should consider?

For water flow, I have two Seachem Tidal HOB Filters and two Hydor powerheads. I was thinking of either a wave maker or more Hydors. The laminar flow of two Hydors in a longer tank leaves some dead spots that cyano takes a hold of. Would a wave maker help with that and would it benefit macros as well to have more turbulent flow? Or should I just add a couple more Hydors?

Any equipment I replace will go to a new 30 gal tank that I'll use as a grow out tank or possibly eventually connect it as a refugium to the 90. Anyone have any experience with HOB overflows? I'm terrified of messing up and flooding my house lol.

Any and all suggestions, tips, and advice for my questions, and for any other gear I should consider, is greatly appreciated! Thanks so much!

 

[reddevilant]

Also looking into getting an ATO system, any suggestions on which one to get?

 

[reddevilant]

Bump

 

[Eagle_Steve]

So with my 90 gal macro tank nearing its first birthday and then my birthday and the holidays being around the corner, I want to start planning upgrades to the tank's gear. The main things I want to upgrade is the lighting and power heads (water flow/turnover) since my current gear is pretty cheap/low tech.

For lighting, I currently have two Kessil A80 Suns and a cheap LED strip light from Petco which I think is pretty under-powered for my size tank, even though my macros are doing quite well. My current plan is to just go one step above the current Kessils and get a couple 160s. If I do stick with Kessil, should I get the Sun or the Blue versions? Are there any other lights around the same price range I should consider?

For water flow, I have two Seachem Tidal HOB Filters and two Hydor powerheads. I was thinking of either a wave maker or more Hydors. The laminar flow of two Hydors in a longer tank leaves some dead spots that cyano takes a hold of. Would a wave maker help with that and would it benefit macros as well to have more turbulent flow? Or should I just add a couple more Hydors?

Any equipment I replace will go to a new 30 gal tank that I'll use as a grow out tank or possibly eventually connect it as a refugium to the 90. Anyone have any experience with HOB overflows? I'm terrified of messing up and flooding my house lol.

Any and all suggestions, tips, and advice for my questions, and for any other gear I should consider, is greatly appreciated! Thanks so much!

Is it purely macro? If so, I would suggest using the lights @Tigahboy uses. If you dig through his macro tanks, he uses primes on one/two and some other brand which has slipped my mind. All look awesome.

I will say that I use halies and some old rebuilt LEDs for my macro growout and they do great. For an awesome display, see above as his tanks are absolutely gorgeous.

Edit: Adding @Subsea to this, as macro tanks are a specialty also.

 

[reddevilant]

Is it purely macro? If so, I would suggest using the lights @Tigahboy uses. If you dig through his macro tanks, he uses primes on one/two and some other brand which has slipped my mind. All look awesome.

I will say that I use halies and some old rebuilt LEDs for my macro growout and they do great. For an awesome display, see above as his tanks are absolutely gorgeous.

Edit: Adding @Subsea to this, as macro tanks are a specialty also.

Yeah its macros, fish, and inverts. No corals. My current Kessils work great but I have to put every thing higher up because the A80s don't have enough penetration depth or spread. I think he uses twinstars, i'll definitely check them out. I wasn't sure how well they'd work for me because I think all of his tanks are shorter than mine but I'll take a look.

 

[Eagle_Steve]

Yeah its macros, fish, and inverts. No corals. My current Kessils work great but I have to put every thing higher up because the A80s don't have enough penetration depth or spread. I think he uses twinstars, i'll definitely check them out. I wasn't sure how well they'd work for me because I think all of his tanks are shorter than mine but I'll take a look.

Thats it. Twinstars.

For the kessils, you could always hop on a planted tank forum and do some digging. I suspect that their penetration would be the same as the tuna blues, which I use a lot of. If that is the case, 160s are decent up to about 16" deep and the 360s do well at 24" deep. For corals, at least. Another thing to think of s mounting height. Most Kessil numbers are usually from 8-10" above the water. Not sure where your lights would sit, but be sure to take that into account when looking. Hate for you to get 160s and they still not penetrate enough at the height you would be mounting them at.

 

[Eagle_Steve]

Thats it. Twinstars.

For the kessils, you could always hop on a planted tank forum and do some digging. I suspect that their penetration would be the same as the tuna blues, which I use a lot of. If that is the case, 160s are decent up to about 16" deep and the 360s do well at 24" deep. For corals, at least. Another thing to think of s mounting height. Most Kessil numbers are usually from 8-10" above the water. Not sure where your lights would sit, but be sure to take that into account when looking. Hate for you to get 160s and they still not penetrate enough at the height you would be mounting them at.

Just thought. @dantimdad may have some knowledge of this with his previous FW planted tanks. Maybe he can provide some insight into the suns and how they would work.,

 

[reddevilant]

Thats it. Twinstars.

For the kessils, you could always hop on a planted tank forum and do some digging. I suspect that their penetration would be the same as the tuna blues, which I use a lot of. If that is the case, 160s are decent up to about 16" deep and the 360s do well at 24" deep. For corals, at least. Another thing to think of s mounting height. Most Kessil numbers are usually from 8-10" above the water. Not sure where your lights would sit, but be sure to take that into account when looking. Hate for you to get 160s and they still not penetrate enough at the height you would be mounting them at.

Thanks for all the info! I have the A80s on the mounting arms that goes with them. They're not nearly as good as the other arms Kessil has, very rigid and doesn't really hold its shape when you try to adjust them so the lights are probably 10 or more inches above the water. Also because if the arms, they're kind of at an odd angle. They won't let me point the light directly down so they're at a slight angle facing towards the middle of the tank. I'm not too handy so I don't think I could ever jury rig something that would fit the A80s and look nice lol.

 

[dantimdad]

We had this discussion on theplantedtank and determined the a80s were good on plants to about 16" the 160 up to 30 for low light and 24 for high light

The 360 were either for really tall tanks or for mounting them way above the tank for clearance or spread.

High light plants only need about 120PAR.

 

[reddevilant]

We had this discussion on theplantedtank and determined the a80s were good on plants to about 16" the 160 up to 30 for low light and 24 for high light

The 360 were either for really tall tanks or for mounting them way above the tank for clearance or spread.

High light plants only need about 120PAR.

Thanks! My tank is 24" tall so it sounds like the 160s would work well. And I assume I should stick with the Suns.

 

[dantimdad]

Thanks! My tank is 24" tall so it sounds like the 160s would work well. And I assume I should stick with the Suns.

Yes they should work fine and yes, I would stick with the suns.

 

[reddevilant]

Yes they should work fine and yes, I would stick with the suns.

Thanks for all the help!

 

[afrokobe]

I would do planted tank lights if it were just macros. Twinstars are good, but I like chihiros better.