Doug's 250, now 300, in wall build

[Gti_Leo]

a 25g has the same foot pring a 29g is 30"x12"x18"

 

[mr_X]

i would much rather have a sump than not. otherwise where do you put the protein skimmer and heaters? HOB? not on my tank! you might have to do without a refugium, but that you can HOB, but the skimmer has to go in a separate tank, and i don't like the external skimmers because when some weird thing happens in the tank and the skimmer goes crazy and starts overflowing, it could drain a large portion of your tank, kill your livestock, and ruin your floors. in the sump, the worst thing that happens is the collected nutrients just go back in the aquarium until you correct things.

 

[mr_X]

btw, yes, the tank wall is still under construction. pics coming soon.

 

[Gregcoyote]

i would much rather have a sump than not. otherwise where do you put the protein skimmer and heaters? HOB? not on my tank! you might have to do without a refugium, but that you can HOB, but the skimmer has to go in a separate tank, and i don't like the external skimmers because when some weird thing happens in the tank and the skimmer goes crazy and starts overflowing, it could drain a large portion of your tank, kill your livestock, and ruin your floors. in the sump, the worst thing that happens is the collected nutrients just go back in the aquarium until you correct things.

Yep...that's right on. My skimmers have always been too big to go in the sump, so as a result, if they overflow, you had better be there to stop it.
But some skimmers are just too big for a sump and if you want to drain the collection cup with a hose into a bucket, it has to clear the side of the sump. I use to drain my collection cup into a floor drain, but that proved to be very dangerous as you couldn't really track what the skimmer was doing.

 

[Felix T Cat]

My HOB skimmer (yes I know, I would rather have a sump but can't where I'm at) has an overflow tube I have zip tied back over the tank. There have been a few times it has overflowed and the extra just runs right back through the tube into the tank.

I am also using a HOB CPR fuge and it works great for the time being.

 

[Gregcoyote]

That's a good idea, if you can have a overflow on the collection bucket that goes back into the tank if the bucket overflows. Means the skimmer has to set pretty high up.

 

[kurtyboh]

A 25gal is the size of a 20 tall, 29gal is the size of a 20 long.

http://freshaquarium.about.com/od/aquariumsandstands/a/tanksizesweights.htm

 

[Gti_Leo]

A 25gal is the size of a 20 tall, 29gal is the size of a 20 long.

Aquarium Sizes and Weights - An Aquarium Sizes and Weights Chart

yep that i know but for a tight space i would use a standard not a 20 long

 

[mrbee2828]

Tank / build is awesome. I would love to see some shots of the plumbing all around.

 

[Ibrahim]

Wow your tank is looking better and better everyday! Glad to see the RBTA is doing better

 

[mr_X]

Ok. I borrowed a PAR meter and my findings were quite interesting. Right now i have 8 x 54 watt T5HO on the left side of the tank and 4 x 54 watts on the right. I shut 4 lamps off because the lps was not liking it. They have showed immediate improvement.

On the left side, where the toadstool is sitting, i'm getting 240 PAR. That's 24" from the lamps.
At the sand bed i'm getting 200. That's 30" from the lamps, and more than enough for any lps and good for clams.
On the other side with just 4 lamps running, i'm getting 108 on the sand bed. This is fine for any sand bed LPS in my experience.

Also, i took a reading at the anemone, and faced the probe at the LED screw in lamp, and guess what.......381 PAR at about 14" away from the lamp, and through glass.
Pretty impressive all the way around.

 

[carey]

Very interesting, thanks for sharing! Still a little confused as to how much PAR each type of coral requires but now I have a ballpark figure for general purposes.

 

[mr_X]

well, i've kept lps like fungia, wellsophyllia, lobos, favia..etc. at barely over 50 PAR and they were bright and colorful.

 

[Gti_Leo]

and people don;'t belive that T5s can penetrate 30" of tank.

my a** T5s aren't as powerful as MH or LEDs, thats 400watt MH teritory there that standard none over driven T5s are hitting

 

[carey]

I've been comparing PAR values of different LED fixtures for my upcoming 60g build and all are over 50 par at sandbed height. What type of par do you think it would take to keep a clam successfully? Or sps for that matter? I wouldnt put SPS on the sandbed but as far as PAR values what do they like?

 

[Gti_Leo]

ive read that SPS need about 200-400 PAR so my guess is clams need the same

 

[Gregcoyote]

Look at where the coral grows naturally and that will give you a good guess. Water clarity can also be a major factor. Lighting triggers other metabolic process's along with algae production. Very interesting measurements. We need more of that, hope PAR meters get cheaper! The readings from the low color temperature LED was PAR, not lumens? That is very interesting in itself as I remember you didn't have much invested. I had always heard clams needed maximum light, and I have seen them growing in pretty shallow water in nature. I would guess they need north of 200 PAR, but in a natural setting they may see +1000 PAR. I have heard clams will take as much light as you can throw at them.

PS, Mr_X, I tried to respond to your PM but was blocked. Merry, Merry!

 

[mr_X]

Yep, it was PAR. i used this-
Apogee MQ-200 PAR Meter - Apogee - Test Kits/Electronic Testers

 

[Gregcoyote]

Yep, it was PAR. i used this-
Apogee MQ-200 PAR Meter - Apogee - Test Kits/Electronic Testers

That's pretty cool. Same meter I have been using.

 

[Gti_Leo]

i know that LED lamp would put out good PAR numbers, generally lower kelvin lamps put out more PAR then higher, which shows on actinics 50000k bulbs which put out half the PAR output as a daylight