Zoanthid Prop Tank Plans

[Kinetic]

I'm planning on a Zoanthid Prop Tank. I will make it as shallow as possible. What do you think is an ideal depth of a tank, and how close to the surface the frags should be? Also what kind of lighting? Do I need to go all out with metal halides?

Current Plans:

Tank: 36" x 12" x 12"
Lighting: Finnex 35" HO T5 Fixture 4x39watt
Flow: 700gph spray bar return + 2 x seio 620's on both ends

Questions
1. Too much lighting for zoanthids?
2. VHO better for zoanthids?
3. Too much flow? What would you recommend
4. Was going to build the tank myself, about $300 for 3x clear acrlyic sheets from tapplastics. It's about $100 for a 4'x2', and I'll be cutting 2'x2' for the side pieces, thus only needing three pieces of acrylic. Any suggestions?

Thanks

[raskal311]

$100 for 4'x2' is over priced. I was at a plastic shop near my house and a 1/4 4x8 is $110, 4x2 cast acrylic 3/8 is about $65. Why don’t you just go with a 2x2x1 turtle tank pre made at a lfs, should be around $60 to buy. This tank would also give you a lot more surface area to work with. $300 for a DIY 3x1x1 is a waist of money. A 4x39watt T5 would work well for a tank this size.

I have a small frag of blue zoos at about 3 inch below 250watt MH and its coloring up and growing nicely. Zoos don’t need a lot of light but the more the better.

[Kinetic]

ok, thanks for the tip. It's $100 for 1/2" clear acrlyic. maybe I should look for cast? I'll go checkout the turtle tanks at petco.

[Chrisrush]

I think that you mean you should look for extruded. Cast is more $$ than extruded, but weaker.

Chris

[Kinetic]

hmm, ok.

i'll look into that =)

[MRCORAL]

I have 250's over my zoos and T5's seem like you need more light

[Kinetic]

I will use a 250watt HQI and 110watts of actinic PC =)

I'm also going to have 40-45x turnover in the tank. would that be too much?

[raskal311]

$100 for 1/2 seems ok, but thats way more then you need. Save some money and get the turtle tank but if you do end up building one go with 3/8 or 1/4.

[infrared69]

if the frags are really close to the surface, to save $$ wouldnt it be better to use a 150w bulb? i am setting up a frag tank and need to purchase the lights. if the frag tank is 12" deep and frags up on egg create 6" from surface.