Specific Light and RO

[SaltyWenStirred]

Hello all....

Let me preface to say that I am new, but am moving slow.

I ordered the Innovative Marine Nuvo 38g tank, and it's on its way.

I plan to have a reef aquarium with a few fish.

I also have books on the way to educate myself, but they aren't here yet.

The light I plan to get is the Skkye Light 92W. It comes in 14000K or 20000K.

What are the pros and cons of each? In particular, I'm interested in soft corals, although I'd like to have a blend, and providing an ideal growing environment.

Also, I am going to get an RO/DI system. There are a few million opinions on the net as to which is the best one. SpectraPure has refurbished four-stage systems (90G) on their site for $128. Is this a good deal or does someone have a better suggestion?

The Coralife PureFlo (50G) sells at my local store for $138. So it seems like a good deal, but not sure about brands, refurbished, etc.

Lastly, anyone got some suggestions for a nice heater for the unit?

[billdogg]

The major difference in the lights will be color. Some prefer it to be more blue,others not so much. To each his own.

In addition to the books - go to www.wetwebmedia.com and start reading. EVERYTHING you will need to know is covered at that site. What you will read there is not people's opinions, (like on here, although this is a great resource as well) but rather is facts offered by experts in the field.

I got my 7fgpd usint from Russ at www.buckeyefieldsupply.com. IMHO, the service from that place cannot be beaten. If you have questions, call him up and he will gladly answer them for you.

As far as heater? the truth is that none of them are really great. Your best bet is to get one (i like titanium - no glass to break) and run it using a controller.

HTH

[SaltyWenStirred]

Thank you so much for replying.

One last question. I live in Louisville, KY. The best fish selection in the whole area is 20 miles away. And it has a ton of reviews about the place, saying it crowds it's fish (which is true), they have sick fish with healthy fish (that's true too), and lots of folks have had fish die quickly that they purchased there.

If it turns out that there are no decent places to get healthy fish, is online a decent option?

And, is it pretty standard for everyone to operate a sick tank from the start?

[TjwBlake]

liveaquaria.com is a great source. A lot of people here use it at I've never heard anything bad.

there is no reason to ever run a sick tank at any point.

[thegrun]

+1, the color is more a preference than anything else. I prefer a bluish color, so I lean towards 20K, but you should see slightly better coral growth with a 14K color.
I wouldn't hesitate to go with a refurbished RO/DI unit. I like the Bulk Reef units, but they all use essentially the same parts so hunt for a good deal. The components that I do thing you want in a good RO/DI unit are a bypass flush valve to extend the life of your RO membrane, a duel TDS meter, three stages of filters prior to the RO membrane and a pressure gauge. These items can all be added to an existing system but are less expensive if you purchase them as a packaged deal. I would lean towards a 75 gallon unit, smaller flows just take too long, larger flow units often require higher water pressure so if your house pressure is low you would need a booster pump to make them work which can be expensive.
As far as a heater goes, I like the Eheim Jager heaters but have had good luck with the Finex titanium heaters and even the Via Aqua titanium heaters. Whichever brand you go with, split your total wattage into two heaters so when one goes bad you will likely have time to catch the problem before your tank crashes. Heaters tend to stick in the on position when they fail which can fry a tank, if you are only dealing with half the wattage by using two heaters you have some time to spot the problem before it becomes a disaster. For a tank your size I would go with between 150 and 200 watts total, so a 100 watt and a second 75 watt heater would be just about right. I would strongly recommend getting a controller like the Reef Keeper Lite or the Neptune (Apex) Lite. In the long run a controller will save you money as they act as multiple timers, power strips and provide a big safety factor to your system by shutting down things like heaters when they malfunction.