It's so on now - 72g Reef build

[ryshark]

You guessed it, Lowes. Mines a mix of Lowes and HD. Lowes is near my work, and I prefer their plumbing section, but HD is right accross the street, so it was used for those "Oh dangit, I forgot ________" moments. Which, I'm sorry to say, there were a lot of. haha

Exact same for me, I think Lowes has a better selection, but Home Depot is closer. So I only used HD for those same type moments.... the moments like **** I got one threaded union and I wanted a slip! Or

 

[neilanh]

Update time

T5s are wired up - no, I haven't done the MHs yet - something about some guy I know locking himself out of his car at the LFS - something like that.

Tank and canopy

Tank

Open Up!

Any, the only living thing (other than some stringy sponges) that I've found so far.

I know, "Clean the glass!" Priorities, my friends, priorities.

2x54W T5 TEK Retro Kit. Geissman bulbs, 1-Actinic+ and 1-Super Actinic

 

[Tank2379]

SWEET I can't wait to get my T-5's

 

[SparKy697]

That's only two T5's? Impressive.

Looks very nice with the lights on. Cool little star too!

 

[neilanh]

Yeah, only 2x54

WAY brighter than I anticipated.

 

[Tank2379]

You planning on corals?

 

[neilanh]

Yeah, that's my main focus. So much so that I have quite a stockpile of corals being generously housed in Ziggy's frag tank already, and my tank is nowhere near ready yet for them. lol

If you're concerned about my lighting, I have MHs too, I just haven't hooked them up yet. The T5s running is just the first (or 10 billionth) step in this process.

 

[cooltop]

I havent found any Life on mine yet

 

[Tank2379]

Yeah, that's my main focus. So much so that I have quite a stockpile of corals being generously housed in Ziggy's frag tank already, and my tank is nowhere near ready yet for them. lol

If you're concerned about my lighting, I have MHs too, I just haven't hooked them up yet. The T5s running is just the first (or 10 billionth) step in this process.

 

[neilanh]

Alright, one more update for tonight, then off to bed.

If you've read my thread, many months ago I bought a set of used 175 icecap ballasts, sockets and bulbs off of RC. Well, they've been collecting dust, I hadn't even test fired them to see if they worked.

Until tonight (only 1 so far though)

Camera's not showing the true color of the bulb (never does), but it is quite a bit bluer than I expected it to be. We'll have to wait to see what it looks like on the tank. This is the Reeflux 12000K bulb.

 

[mdel747]

neilanh very nice build ,

Boy i cant believe i started to read this thread at noon , and i just got to the last post now , lol i found it by googling 72 gal bow front ,

but very very good job you can be proud , and for not being a carpenter ,, as being one myself , i have to say welcome to the trade good job ,
I'm looking at a 72 but i will ask in a new thread , once again good job well done , looking forward to fallowing along to the end of this project ,,

Wait is there ever a end to MTS

 

[neilanh]

Welcome to AA! Tons of great info around here, I hope that my thread was somewhat helpful to you!

And no, there's no cure for MTS, sorry. The fact that you've asked about it, means you've already got it, it's too late.

 

[neilanh]

Compliments of Ziggy's fuge, here's my fuge

Few inhabitants made the trek over. A bunch of these guys (ID?) and theres a snail in there somewhere too.

Cycle is progressing along nicely on the tank. Ammonia has spiked and is now falling so that I Need to dose daily. NitrItes are doing their spike right now. I don't think it's going to take long at all.

 

[Tank2379]

Bristle Worm a small one.

 

[Tank2379]

Compliments of Ziggy's fuge, here's my fuge

Few inhabitants made the trek over. A bunch of these guys (ID?) and theres a snail in there somewhere too.

Cycle is progressing along nicely on the tank. Ammonia has spiked and is now falling so that I Need to dose daily. NitrItes are doing their spike right now. I don't think it's going to take long at all.

I really like your Fuge. I just don't know how to start mine to get it going.

 

[cooltop]

I wish I could have a fuge on mine but I dont think I have any room underneath for one

 

[neilanh]

That is one of the benefits of building my own stand, I was able to give myself a lot more room.

Here's a shot from the side, just to give perspective on size of the stand vs. size of the tank

That was a big thing I debated early on. Do I get/build a stand that wraps around the form of the tank and limit my space, or give myself space and just hope it looks good in the end.

There's nothing that says the fuge has to be under the tank. If you have room next to your tank, you could setup a small fuge and have it displayed next to your 72. I've seen lots of people do this and like this. I've even seen custom built large displays that have the fuge below the display tank, but have a window in the stand to allow the fuge to be on display too.

 

[ianryeng]

Your flow would be much better I was shocked by the difference it made with that extra 1/4" of space you can push 25% more water threw the tubing. (In reference to using 1" instead of 3/4" tubing or pipe for plumbing the system in an earlier post

That extra 1/4" diameter actually almost doubles the available volume (since if i remember correctly the formula for the area of a circle is pi*r*r or pi r squared)

Hence the ratio is as follows

0.75 * 0.75 : 1 * 1

therefore -> 0.5625 : 1​

Definitely a significant difference that would be greatly beneficial. The difference is deceiving as it doesn't seem like it should be that much greater when you look at the pipe.

Something for everyone to keep in mind anyway


Ian

 

[Jimbo7]

There's nothing that says the fuge has to be under the tank. If you have room next to your tank, you could setup a small fuge and have it displayed next to your 72. I've seen lots of people do this and like this. I've even seen custom built large displays that have the fuge below the display tank, but have a window in the stand to allow the fuge to be on display too.

The coolest is when people set their tanks up with a shared wall with a staircase or something so they drop all the plumbing through the wall and their equipment is all in that little room. I have also seen people drop their plumbing through the floor into their basements where they have like pond size fuges. Although then they have to have a pump that is like 2x more then normal size to get the water all the way back up.

 

[Ziggy953]

Looking good Neilan! That is a bristle worm crawling about in the fuge. You will have tons of them i short order. They do a great job at cleaning things up but be careful if handling them they have a nasty sting.