Now this is a tank

[mr_X]

Originally Posted by mdaniel2882

20000 please....he has 5000 in skimmers alone. That setup is in the 100,000 range

a hundred grand for just the glass tank? i guess it's possible.

maybe some day we can have a tank and be able to see something like this-

[dollabill420]

We should all go chucks on an aquarium in a common location and see if we can beat it, I know there is the knowledge but maybe not the funds haha

[Gregcoyote]

My power bill got so high with my MH system and chiller that state police came to search my house to be sure I wasn't growing pot! When they saw the giant reef tank, they were very quiet and realized they had woken me up at 7am for nothing. Funny thing is that I work for state police all over the country.

My tank isn't nearly as large as these, but it is 300 gallons and I can tell you the costs are incremental. A 100 gallon reef costs almost twice as much to maintain than a 50 gallon reef.

[e_murray]

Dang, how much was your power bill? I just got a 280g that I'm working on.

[Bige]

I had a friend that was moving his coral store and I had 2 550g tanks in my garage with 4 400w mh over each tank. Was in garage a month before cops showed up to search. They do do that. Tanks are gone now but my bill went up 500 bucks for that month.

[huma-huma]

hahah murray is getting a lil worried now.. ill take that 280 off your hands

[Gregcoyote]

Here in the Midwest we have had over 100 degrees most of the month, my bill was $500 WITH the LEDs. Would have been a lot more with the MH.

[Gregcoyote]

Would like MrX's take on these tanks, as they aren't anything resembling a real reef. They are coral gardens. While beautiful, they are only sustainable with lots of carbon filtration and moving corals round as they try to wipe each other out. It looks a little like overkill to me. Would rather have something that looks natural.

[mr_X]

Well, yes, they hold corals from many different places that ordinarily would not be together, but corals wipe each other out in the wild as well. The last reef i saw in person was in Mexico, and it looked like crap! all browned out and bald spots everywhere. I certainly like the tank i posted better. The difference is, these guys are fragging corals before they touch.

i had halides and T5s over my 400 gallon total volume system and it only ran me an extra $150.00 a month. I didn't need a chiller either.

[Gti_Leo]

you also kept your T5s and halides 12 inches above the water and they were all open not within a canopy so the heat was ab;e to spread out in the area around. that was 4 400watt totally 1600 watts. thats higher then most baseboard heaters that are used to heat up rooms, in a small boxed off area

[mr_X]

i had 3 x 250 watters plus a 400, and a 240 watt t5 unit as well. that's almost 1400 watts. 200 watts made the difference?

[Gti_Leo]

no but my point was your was open and higher above his was within a smaller canopy

[mr_X]

i dunno. i don't recall his tank, but my point was that it didn't cost me that much to run. we'll see what the new 265 ends up costing me (did i tell you i got a brand new 265 for 350?).

[Gti_Leo]

no you didn't, i thought you were considerign a 360g plywood build.

i would like a 265 but i don't liek the 30" of height they have. i'd like to use T5s over 400watt MH so i'd need 80watt icecap ballasts

[Gregcoyote]

I had 1200 watts of MH in a open topped hood hung 12" above the water. In the summer we have an average house temperature of 77deg (I am too cheap to run the airconditioner colder). My water temperature was almost always 83 deg or better even with fans. Worse, it would go down 4-5 degrees at night. My big Iwaki pumps add a degree on their own. As I wanted a stable temperature of 78 degree, I had to chill 5 degrees or more of the water and that costs money. My experience was the MH were like the old space heaters with the big quartz light bulb in the front. MH did grow coral splendidly, but the rest of the overhead was not suitable for me. I would rather limit my coral collection to those specimens that thrive under LED rather than have a coral garden I can't afford to maintain.

As a diver of many years, I am very sad to see the destruction of the reefs as well. But I can use my memory and photographs of reefs of the past to construct what I hope is a more natural reef suitable for fish and coral. I would rather have a few large spectacular corals I grew from frags, rather than the variety we see in these display tanks, where constant pruning is needed...but that's just me. Maybe too much work for my inherent laziness as well. My buddy says "that's why they make wall paper in every color of the rainbow."

[Gti_Leo]

isn't it said that LEDs are supposed to put out the most PAR? i'd think you can house hte same corals with half the wattage

[Gregcoyote]

Probably even more efficient than that, I would estimate 3:1.