Chris writes...

Dear Bob,

You won't be able to publish this one in FAMA without doing some editing. Bob, I am a jackass. I read your Live Sand Secrets booklet and the GARF bullet proof reef thing as closely as I possibly could. The result of your advice was a beautiful, easily maintained reef. We had hard, soft, LPS and SPS in one tank without problems. We also had 3 grand maxima clams and fish (7 fish total). I would like to emphasize the fact that we had a tank with all of this and no problems at all, for 2 years. Then, I started to think too much. I wanted this easily maintained reef that I read about... the Ecosystem. Yes, please scold me... if it's not broke, don't fix it.

Now, I agree with you, there is a time and place for this type of system... mine wasn't one of them. As a result, after being away from my system for the past 6 months, I no longer have anything left. I was away due to circumstances beyond my control. I've had more than competent reefkeepers look out for my reef while I was gone, my wife being one of them. The new system just didn't work. Algae thrived, my corals didn't. So now, I have to revert back to the old ways. You win... you're the man.

So now I bet I have the most oddball question of them all for you. I have tons of room, and a more flexible budget than some of who I've seen send you questions. So here is my small group of questions:

1: I have used VHO from the start... no fantastic results, good, yes. My plan is to take my VHO setup - Ice cap 660 and put all actinic bulbs on (Coralife or ERI), and then add two 175 watt 10,000K MH to the mix. My current system is a 90 gallon tank with two 10,000k and two 50/50 VHO (110watts) bulbs with a separate magnetic ballast which ran three 36" actinic bulbs (30 watt). I turned on the actinics one hour before I started up my VHO lamps. I want to get rid of the electronic ballast and replace it with two 175 watt 10,000k lamps. So, if you can picture four 110 watt VHO actinic bulbs and two 175 watt white MH bulbs burning over a 90 gallon tank, good choice or bad? The VHO actinics would start ( all at once... Icecap 660, 4 VHO lamps). An hour later, 1st MH lamp would turn on, next hour the next MH would go on. After eight hours, the first MH woud shut off, an hour later, the next MH and an hour later the VHO actinics would go off.

Lighting is still arguably the greatest controversy in reefkeeping, next to plenums. Does this sound fair for an SPS tank? I really hate this lighting topic! I tried the cheap Home Depot $5.95 bulb lighting with an Icecap VHO ballast, but it didn't work for me. They burned out after 3 days. I think it's time for me to show the industry the money. The new lighting system that I have described would equal about 8.7 watts per gallon.

2: I do not wish to put a plenum in my main display. Sounds selfish, but everyone who sees my main display with a plenum tends to ask... why so much sand on the bottom? So my plan is to put a 1/2 inch thick layer of aragonite (or less) in my main display. My main display will drain into an approximately 20 gallon sump with a Berlin Classic skimmer (with a mag drive 7). According to Champion Lighting, the skimmer with that size pump is good for 250 gallons. From there, it will flow through a separate 90 gallon tank (in my basement) which is half full with water and a plenum (lifted 1" off of the bottom) with exactly 4 inches, I think, 1-4 mm aragonite sand. Is a separate 90 gallon half full with water, a plenum and absolutely nothing else good enough to keep a 90 gallon SPS tank with the lighting I have mentioned?

If I hadn't screwed this up to begin with, I wouldn't have these questions. I made some mistakes... unfortunately, at the expense of my wife's reef keeping experience. Do you think this sounds like a good plan? Bob, whether you like it or not, I will be using a 90 gallon main display with a 90 gallon sump with a plenum...so humor me!

3: What could I light the 90 gallon sump with? I was planning to use an extra three lamp electronic ballast that I had accidentally ordered to do the job. Since there will be nothing but a plenum in the sump, are there any particular bulbs or animals I should place in there? I might place some coralline covered live rock lifted up on some egg crate in there. What would you do if you had the opportunity to set a system like this? I already have the pumps, powerheads, wavemakers, chillers, ballasts, lamps and two 90 gallon tanks.

If you need more explanation please ask... I know that my letter probably sounds like mindless utterance. I do not plan to use a calcium reactor, using GARF's plan of attack on supplements, I did very well (previously to my changes) following their advice on some Seachem products to balance pH, alkalinity and calcium.

Bob, you have done so much for my wife and myself as far as our reef goes. I regret my changes. It ended up costing so much as far as money and more importantly, where our animals are concerned. Any advice you have for my ideas would be a benefit.

Thank you sincerely,

Chris