120 Long Tank! (Build Thread)

[baron1282]

An update! I am getting the stand ready now, and it should be ready within 2 weeks. After that it's really just getting everything ready. I got my RO unit running and I am buying a trashcan with a bulkhead fitting so I can let it drip the water into it. As making 5 gallons each time sucks. Anyway!

I NEED HELP with my lighting!

The issue is my 120 gallon LONG tank. As it stands right now it's only going to be a FOWLR tank and the lighting I have really sucks. I thought what I would do is use the 48in LED strip I had gotten with the tank that I put on my 55 gallon. It lights my 55 gallon up very well. I than thought I would get a few of the LED light strips that you can just stick to the top of the canopy, and with both lights running on a test it looked very dim in the tank. :-( I want eye popping lighting for 60in worth of coverage!

What can I get? I was thinking of getting this unit and cutting the top of my canopy to to allow it to rest on top so it wouldn't over heat. It would be 7in above the water.

T5 Quad 60" Timer Aquarium Light Marine Coral Reef Cichlid LED 320W Odyssea | eBay

Combined with the 48in LED lighting I already have which is this/

BlueLine Products - Reef Aquarium Lighting & Pumps

I was told that that still wouldn't be enough to reach the lighting goals I wanted. So suggestions? My price point is $200 dollars! I am open to buying two 30in units or just one 60in unit. I just want a nice bright tank that my 55 displays now! I don't need coral lights!

If it helps the tank is 2.1 feet deep! If I were to cut open the hood to place the lighting on top it would sit 7 to 8in higher making the lighting have to reach 2.8 feet to the bottom.

 

[Sniperhank]

If this is only a FOWLR tank, then why don't you check out the marineland LED units? I think they come in 60 long.

 

[huma-huma]

if you are going to spend the money on marinelands led lights, you mineaswell just toss a lil more in and buy some chinese leds IMO. you may say its just going to be a fowlr now, but theres a good chance down the road sometime that youll want to venture into corals.

 

[Grizz]

if you are going to spend the money on marinelands led lights, you mineaswell just toss a lil more in and buy some chinese leds IMO. you may say its just going to be a fowlr now, but theres a good chance down the road sometime that youll want to venture into corals.

+ 1 Two over a 5 foot long tank will work fine.

 

[baron1282]

I don't want to grow corals at all because than I would have to get rid of some of my fish that will eat the coral. I don't want to get rid of my puffer.

I am going to go with this!

T5 Quad 60" Timer Aquarium Light Marine Coral Reef Cichlid LED 320W Odyssea | eBay

I saw some videos of the 48in kind and they light up the tank and they were sitting high off the tank. So I am going to take a shot with it. Thanks for the help everyone!

 

[baron1282]

An update! I am one step closer now! I got a 32 gallon clean rubber made trashcan to make R/O water in so I can now make more water without having to empty bucket after bucket of waste water being I extended the drain hose to a drain about 14 feet away.

I am a little too happy with my engineering skills. LOL Glad to say nothing leaks! So Now I just got to fix the stand up and get the light installed and done! It will be ready for fill up within the middle of next month!

 

[Oscarr19]

Good to see everything is going well! I think I'm going to do a similar RODI setup.

 

[baron1282]

Three Months! Three months so far and I feel no where close to having this thing ready. On the bright side I got the light in today! It's more than I hoped for! It's Awesome! Whoever told me this wouldn't be enough is severely lacking in knowledge! This is more than enough to light my tank! I don't think I need the LED 48in light strip I have as well. This one light is plenty! I like the fact the timer is built right into it and I can control the blue night time LED's! So I don't have to go from full light to full dark. I can go gradually.

T5 Quad 60" Timer Aquarium Light Marine Coral Reef Cichlid LED 320W Odyssea | eBay

I might replace one of the blues with a white light as I think its just too much blue, but I don't know! I am also not going to cut my hood like I was thinking to mount it. I am just going to cut some square vent holes on top where the fans are. That should be enough to allow the dissipation of any heat. So the Hood and Tank are finished. I just got to do a little touch up on the hood and tank, but that won't take me long! Plus I got to cut the vents I plan on putting on top to allow the heat from the lamp to vent out. So maybe a repaint, but it won't take me too long being I am done with it.

I got the hood and tank finished, now I just got to work on the stand. The issue is it's been SO COLD that I can not paint. If I could paint I would be done by now with the tank! Then it would just be the issue of getting everything together and transferring the fish.

It's brighter than in the pictures, trust me.

 

[Gregcoyote]

If your going to increase air flow to the fixture, consider cutting some small squares of heater filter material to prevent the fixture from filling with dust.

 

[huma-huma]

If your going to increase air flow to the fixture, consider cutting some small squares of heater filter material to prevent the fixture from filling with dust.

+1. light bulbs + dust/moisture= broken tubes in tank. ...never good.

 

[baron1282]

I agree with the air flow. The hood is open fully in the back. So dust will get in regardless, but I know heat rises and I I am going to make sure that the heat has a place to go on top.

The light itself is going to be about 2 to 3in above the waterline. It also has a plastic protection cover that covers the lights and protects them from water splash. Here is another photo with just the white lights on. I might keep both blue bulbs. I guess the blue brings out nice color. I was told that I couldn't do corals with this light, but I have seen tanks with just this light with corals and growing well. Not the corals that need a lot of light but just some basic easy to grow corals. It looks bright enough. I am not going to put corals in my tank, but I am just saying the light is brighter than I thought. LoL

 

[Gregcoyote]

It will grow many types of SPS if you place them high enough. LPS and soft corals will all do fine.

 

[baron1282]

I would do corals but I got fish that would eat them. I like my Blue spotted Puffer to much to drop him for corals. LoL.

Could a smaller version of the same light grow an frog spawn or a anemone? I am thinking of doing a 27 gallon cub tank for a pair of snow flak clown fish, and I would hope that they would host the frog spawn or anemone. One of the two! LoL

 

[Gregcoyote]

Anemones usually require a tank that's been up for a while and pretty bright lights. Other than that caution, yes.

 

[baron1282]

I know! My tank would be up for about three to four months before I put any coral or anemone into it! Thinking of just having shrimp and having it as a fowlr tank for a few months. I would add the clowns in last in hopes they would host the anemone or frogspawn! I might go with a frogspawn and a rose anemone. I don't know yet! That project is a few years away Anyway! LoL

Got to get this tank going first!

 

[baron1282]

Update!

Just a fast update! I started to put the finishing touches on the hood, and as you can see I cut some slits into the hood so my light can vent the heat out on top.

The other issue I went ahead to repaint the back of my tank to just touch up on the background. I still do no know what happened, but the other paint began to bubble up and it looked like I sprayed paint thinner on it. It really sucks! Now I am striping it and respraying the back.

I do not know what happened with it. Anyway, here is the some pictures of the update. I also started to redo the stand and fix some issues with it. I painted the bottom so it wouldn't get more water damage. I primed it as well. I was not planning on priming the whole stand, but the bottom needed it.

 

[baron1282]

Just some more pics.

 

[Grizz]

Looking good Thats odd with the paint must have been something on the glass

 

[baron1282]

Just a fast update. Hood is done! Stand is going to be a few days!

 

[baron1282]

Whats a good thing to clean the tank with? There is a lot of built up stuff inside the tank that is hard to get off and I have been scraping it off as of right now. So what can I do to get the inside cleaned up?