New 120 build...gonna be a long ride...

[mr_X]

there is a huge difference. naturally, the thicker the glass, the more noticeable.

the only problem with my new tank is that it's 7 feet long, not 8 like the shallow reef you saw. i don't know if i can use the T5s unless i perhaps stagger 80 watt retro fit kits. those are 5 foot lamps.
i am also considering using 3 of these-
Cannon LED Pendants - Modular LED Lighting - Products

 

[BfishLpond78]

Holy Moly!!! Those things look nice, i know nothing of LED's just that they look fantastic, 550 for one pendant...wowzers....but i guess in the long run its alot cheaper overtime to run those vs T5HO / MH. I wonder what the monthly electric bill comparison would be. Could be a huge selling point...

 

[mr_X]

yeah..they are supposed to be maintenance free, super low heat and cheap to run. i have some research to do before i bucked up for them though.

check this out though...pretty exciting-
http://reefbuilders.com/2011/02/09/ecoxotic-retrofits-legoland/

 

[BfishLpond78]

That is absolutely insane!!! Please please keep me in the loop on that research...

Ok let me ask hypothetically here if I were to get those...lol. How many would i need? Two, one white one blue?

 

[mr_X]

you would need 2, but the white blue thing is what i'm not sure about. it would either be both white or both blue i imagine.

 

[BfishLpond78]

Interesting, i did some looking around it looks like people do a one and one combo...

 

[BfishLpond78]

Ok so I was thinking last night (never a real good idea) I was looking into ATO's, then I also got to thinking about doing water changes. Can you incorporate the same principle in doing water changes.

Example....if I were to buy 2 50 gallon garbage cans, one for just ATO water and the other would be saltwater. Could I theoretically remove the water and then pump the water back in instead of using the old bucket method?

Also, how hard is a DIY ATO system, i'm not the handiest guy in the world but i am not dumb.

 

[carey]

I have a small pump that I can use to pump my saltwater from a 32g garbage can back into the tank. I dont always use it though, its more work to me than the old fashioned bucket way. But it does work.

 

[BfishLpond78]

Hmmm...what do you mean by more work?

I've never had a saltwater tank and not sure what the best method will be, i don't want to be sloshing around all that water especially on a 120 gal tank thats alot of buckets!

What percent do you usually do a week?

 

[carey]

I need my b/f's help when I use the pump, he stops the pu,p when the tank is full again. I also have my garbage can outside on my back covered porch so it's about 18ft away from my tank. Then I have to unroll the tubing the and run it through my house LOL

I do about 20-25g a week. I use 5g buckets so I know how much I've taken out and use the same amount of buckets to add water back in. So I replace about 4 buckets which isnt too bad.

 

[BfishLpond78]

Oh ok well thats not too bad, i was figuring people did like 50% water changes on these 100+ gallon tanks and they are bucketing 60 gallons of water around...I have no problem doing maintenance, but i also like to work smarter not harder...lol

 

[Spartachris]

Don't mean to hijack this thread, but you mentioned, Mr X, the ecoxotic retro fit, and I was wondering what you thought of the panorama line, which is expandable.

 

[BfishLpond78]

No by all means please ask any question pertaining to saltwater set ups, cause at some point i'm going to ask it.

I was also curious about those as well so this is good.

 

[carey]

Oh ok well thats not too bad, i was figuring people did like 50% water changes on these 100+ gallon tanks and they are bucketing 60 gallons of water around...I have no problem doing maintenance, but i also like to work smarter not harder...lol

Juts keep extra water available cause you never know. I keep a full 32g of ro/di water on my porch and an extra 4 5g jugs inside in case of a major issue where you might want to do a 50% pwc.

Any pump would do for the pumping method, I have a 800gph rio I use and about 20ft of 3/4 inch tubing. Ended up costing me over $60 between the pump and the hosing from home depot. But I do have it in case of a large water change. Like if a anameone dies and nukes the tank or some other hazard occurs.

Also you should have about 15g of ro/di water available for evaporation purposes, I go through almost a gallon a day adding water. I am trying to get it together enough to set up an ATO for this purpose but havent gotten there yet. LOL

 

[BfishLpond78]

Yea i am looking at getting all that set up as well. I'm going to have the garbage cans (brand new of course) right near the tank and just have them hidden behind like one of those oriental walls or whatever so it looks "decrotive" i guess that way I don't need to run hoses out the door, through my car window, down stairs around the dogs and through the woods...lol.

 

[carey]

LOL. Sounds like a plan. You could probably do the pump setup pretty cheap then if you wanted to. You could also setup an ato pretty easy too if the cans of water are nearby.

How are you filling the garbage cans with ro/di water though? Are you running the output from the machine through the house etc?

 

[BfishLpond78]

Well...I haven't actually go there yet, i am in the planning stages now, I'm ordering my tank this week. I just want to have a game plan now, so as I am building I have a sense of direction.

I am thinking of either tieing into the plumbing at my house to run the RO/DI system or i've heard you can use the outside hose...not sure if that's true or not.

 

[carey]

I use the outside water hose. It's only a few feet away from my garbage can of water so its nice and easy for me. Do you have the link for the ro/di unit? It's $70 I think with shipping and if you ask at ordering time you can get the hose hookup.

 

[BfishLpond78]

I dont have a unit yet. I wanted to wait and ask everyone on here which I should go with. I trust everyone on here because they are not trying to make a buck off me. What unit would you suggest?

 

[carey]

I and many others use this one

0PPM Portable 100GPD Reverse Osmosis DI Filter PO4B-100 - eBay (item 380331542539 end time Aug-07-11 23:10:24 PDT)

I think that link expired but just look at the sellers other items. I make about 5g a water an hour with about a 3 to 1 waste water amount. If you don't ask for a faucet or gardenhose attachment you wil get the hardwiring into your plumbing kit. With mine I use it once a week then store it away in the closet.