Questions about lighting and overflow

[Caelan]

Hi there,

I have a 45g which is 18" deep. Are 3x t8 6500K enough lighting for corals?

Also, I was looking on eBay for an overflow box since the $149 price tag made me a bit squeamish...I mean, it's an acrylic box, c'mon! While I found an overflow for about $40 (new), I also came across this thing. I haven't seen one before. Does anyone have any experience with one of these? Are they good/no good?

http://cgi.ebay.ca/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&category=20758&item=4367847190&rd=1

Thanks.

[Fishy!]

I dont feel that lighting is enough to keep any corals in nor is it the right spectrum (you are going to grow nuissance alge like mad).
To use that as an overflow you would need to drill out the bottom of an aquaclear filter, put a bulkhead in and even at that im not sure how well it would work, it is designed to be a surface skimmer for an AQ filter, to get rid of surface "scum".

[Invigor]

They're actually for fluvals. the different gravity of the sw makes it really difficult to use and quite loud (lots of gurgling).

[Caelan]

FJ are you going to be occupied on Thurs/Fri of this week? I am really clueless about the light situation. I thought 3x sunsticks would be ok as the tank isn't deep. Should I swap one out? :confused:

Thanks for the advice about the surface skimmer. I'll just skip that then.

[orion80]

As a quick tip. check out www.wetwebmedia.com (http://www.wetwebmedia.com/) or www.reefcentral.com (http://www.reefcentral.com) and maybe do some reading from the pros of this hobby. Dig was right on about 6500k r the wrong spectrum of lighting , u will need at least 10000k bulbs for this, and if u run them then it would b nice to run some actinics to create a dusk/dawn effect, with timers.

The other option is to run a high k bulb such as 14,000 or even a 20,000k bulb, to have some of that nice blue color in your tank.

Anyways deffinately check out that website, it is full of great info. The most important thing in this hobby is read, read, read and read some more. It is the best way to gain knowledge, just make sure the knowledge is coming from reputable resources.

Such as Anthoney Calfo, Bob/Robert Fellner, Randy holmes/farley, Eric Borenumme. They r all people who have been in this hobby for many many years, most of them have even run commercial fish stores or aquariums.

Adie