Newbie

LED lighting would be sweet but not cheap at all but if you got it like that go for it. If it were me I would use power compacts or t5 sence your only planing on softies. I would lean tords t5 because they give you the option of lps and sps later on. trust me you'll want some eventually so might as well plan ahead. What brand of hang on filter were you looking at?

 

I agree with Bill! LED is probably the best lighting available but that comes with a pretty hefty price tag - you wont need to upgrade though and the total cost of ownership is probably the lowest considering you only need to replace the bulbs every 5yrs or so.

I would also go the T5 route. I started my tank the same way (FOWLR and then softies and now LPS) and I started with a 108 watt double T5 fixture on my 55gal and have raised some beautiful softies and two anenomes under it. I recently upgraded to a 216 watt quad T5 fixture so that I can start keeping LPS and given that my corals and anenomes were thriving before now they've really taken off! In my opinion the biggest reason to go beyond T5 lighting into either MH or LED is a large aquarium. LED and MH are the only light sources powerful enough to give you the wattage per gallon you need on a 90gal+ tank. If you are going to stick with the 45gal then I think T5 will give you all the light you'll need.

As far as the CPR Bak-Pak, I've heard nothing but good things. I use the Coralife Super Skimmer myself and am more than satisfied with it. I would consider getting a canister filter as well though. I only recently started using a skimmer after I made the jump to keeping stoneys; before then I was using just a Fluval 404 and with the right filter media it did a great job keeping my water clean enough for the softies I had (with regular water changes of course). If you plan on keeping primarily corals with a few fish than you should be able to get away with just a skimmer (if you have enough live rock) but if you plan on keeping a good number of fish as well I would deffinately add a canister filter. You'll need the mechanical filtration and the added chemical filtration won't hurt either. My canister plus skimmer set-up right now keeps my water near perfect - near zero disolved organics and minimal impact on major and trace elements.

That's my two-cents, which is coming from someone that operates on a fairly tight budget. It's nice to see someone that does their homework - good luck!

 

If your into DIY you can check out www.rapidled.com for kits to make your own fixture. All you need to add is a heatsink and they can be found at heatsinkusa.com.

 

I would go with the nova extreme.

 

I have 2 CPR's that I could part with. Let me know if you are interested. They don't have powerheads on them, but they are good skimmers.

 

i would go T5. LED's aren't worth the cost yet IMO i dont have much that uses electricity in my house besides my TV lights and my fish tank but yet my electric part of my bill was about as much as my gas.....so thinking my halides eat up alot of electricity

 

T5's all the way!! I have been VERY happy with what my T5s have done for my tank.

 

i want to make the switch but i love the look of my halides and got to much wrapped up in them /DesktopModules/ActiveForums/themes/_default/emoticons/sad.gif maybe tax time i'll break down and get a TEK unit like you brandon