FishEggs
Aquarium Advice Addict
nice work on the stand and canopy but why isn't it curved to match the tank? lol
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It's so on now - 72g Reef build
- Thread starter neilanh
- Start date
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OP
OP
neilanh
Sliced Bread
Well, several reasons.
1) I'm not a carpenter, that just seemed tricky to me. lol
2) it afforded me more space inside the stand for sump, fuge, equipment, etc
3) amazingly enough, a 180g tank will fit on this stand too... hmmm. hehe
I'm out of town for the weekend, so no progress this weekend shall be made.
1) I'm not a carpenter, that just seemed tricky to me. lol
2) it afforded me more space inside the stand for sump, fuge, equipment, etc
3) amazingly enough, a 180g tank will fit on this stand too... hmmm. hehe
I'm out of town for the weekend, so no progress this weekend shall be made.
OP
OP
neilanh
Sliced Bread
Alright, once again I've been being lazy. I've been remotivated now with the purchase of a bunch of corals from Ziggy, and today a bunch more from BRK. Ziggy is being kind enough to house them for me for the time being, but I gotta get to work.
Today I laid out the lighting in the canopy, and started the wiring. Spent most of the afternoon at the LFS and Ziggy's place, so not a ton of progress, but here's a quick shot of testing out the T5 Retro kit.
No, that's not where the wiring or the ballast will live. Need some more wire to lay it all cleanly in where I want it. But I had to get them fired up. One bulb is a Geissman Actinic+, one is a Geissman Super Actinic.
Today I laid out the lighting in the canopy, and started the wiring. Spent most of the afternoon at the LFS and Ziggy's place, so not a ton of progress, but here's a quick shot of testing out the T5 Retro kit.
No, that's not where the wiring or the ballast will live. Need some more wire to lay it all cleanly in where I want it. But I had to get them fired up. One bulb is a Geissman Actinic+, one is a Geissman Super Actinic.
FishCrazyBenBOMB
Aquarium Advice Addict
Looks awesome.
Ziggy953
Aquarium Advice Addict
Excellent progress. Just a tip on the T5s. You can mount them much lower in the canopy. They don't have to be very far off the water. Since I know the tank you are putting these on put the back bulb further back and have the front one about where you have it now. My rear T5 is about 3" off the water and the front is about 5".
I got all of your corals in the tank. After about 15 minutes the polyps came out on all the SPS which is a great sign. I wish you could have been here to see how awesome they look under the lighting. Over the weekend I'll get them in the 120 so they can benefit from the excellent flow and better lighting. You picked up some great looking corals!
I switched the MHs out for the Hamiltons you gave me. They fired up and what a difference! I reduced the photo period for tomorrow to 4 hours just to give the tank some time to get used to the new bulbs. Thanks again for those!!
Now we need to get that tank of yours drilled....
I got all of your corals in the tank. After about 15 minutes the polyps came out on all the SPS which is a great sign. I wish you could have been here to see how awesome they look under the lighting. Over the weekend I'll get them in the 120 so they can benefit from the excellent flow and better lighting. You picked up some great looking corals!
I switched the MHs out for the Hamiltons you gave me. They fired up and what a difference! I reduced the photo period for tomorrow to 4 hours just to give the tank some time to get used to the new bulbs. Thanks again for those!!
Now we need to get that tank of yours drilled....
OP
OP
neilanh
Sliced Bread
I was thinking about that when I was putting them in, installing them lower. I may do that, I had already rigged up some wood pieces to do it before anyway, so we'll see. I set the back bulb to be just inside the back lip, and the front bulb is closer to the MHs due to the bow in the front. Those are sitting aroung 8" off the water, so perhaps I should lower them. The T5s on my 125 FW are probably only 3 inches off the tank too.
Thanks again for hosting all of those for me - I can't wait to see pics. I was trying to hold out til they got in the tank so I could see them again, but it just didn't happen.
Glad those Hamiltons fired up for you, I'm hoping my reeflux do the same. lol
If it's not raining tomorrow, I'm driling tomorrow or Saturday (need help moving the tank, wife works tomorrow). It's just got to be done - good, bad or ugly. We'll see what happens.
Thanks again for hosting all of those for me - I can't wait to see pics. I was trying to hold out til they got in the tank so I could see them again, but it just didn't happen.
Glad those Hamiltons fired up for you, I'm hoping my reeflux do the same. lol
If it's not raining tomorrow, I'm driling tomorrow or Saturday (need help moving the tank, wife works tomorrow). It's just got to be done - good, bad or ugly. We'll see what happens.
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Ziggy953
Aquarium Advice Addict
Here are the Corals that Neilan picked up at BRK. I'm still doing some searching to find some names for them. He snagged some awesome pieces and I'm looking forward to getting frags of them!!!!
This is a Tort, just not sure what tort it is...
A nice purple Monti Cap
The rest of these I'm not 100% sure what kind of Acro they are but here are the pics...
Ziggy953
Aquarium Advice Addict
Some nice Ricordea Mushrooms!
OP
OP
neilanh
Sliced Bread
Thanks for the pics!
Progress today - the 72g tank officially has 3 holes in it now, and otherwise it's still in one piece!
Pics soon...
Progress today - the 72g tank officially has 3 holes in it now, and otherwise it's still in one piece!
Pics soon...
Ziggy953
Aquarium Advice Addict
Just a word of advice. Do not over tighten the bulkheads when you put them in for the closed loop.
Good job on drilling the tank! Are we going to see water in it this weekend?????
Good job on drilling the tank! Are we going to see water in it this weekend?????
OP
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neilanh
Sliced Bread
yeah, just gotta be tight enough to seal, right?
I'm hoping to get the CL plumbed up and then fill the tank and let it run while I work on the plumbing for the sump/fuge and returns, then let it all stand for a week or so before I move it inside.
I'm hoping to get the CL plumbed up and then fill the tank and let it run while I work on the plumbing for the sump/fuge and returns, then let it all stand for a week or so before I move it inside.
fijiwigi
Aquarium Advice Addict
Looking good 
OP
OP
neilanh
Sliced Bread
Proof!
austinsdad
Aquarium Advice Addict
When ya coming up this way? Torch, frogspawn, pom pom xenia, mushrooms I need to frag.
OP
OP
neilanh
Sliced Bread
Hey Ray,
As soon as the tank's ready, I'll make a trip. If you look at the pics, it's kinda dry yet and I don't think the corals would survive. lol
That and you guys said I had to wait at least a month before adding corals. It's your rule, not mine.
As soon as the tank's ready, I'll make a trip. If you look at the pics, it's kinda dry yet and I don't think the corals would survive. lol
That and you guys said I had to wait at least a month before adding corals. It's your rule, not mine.
austinsdad
Aquarium Advice Addict
I'll plan on Jan then
Ziggy953
Aquarium Advice Addict
Awesome!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
ccCapt
SW 20 & Over Club
Very well done!. Looks great.
On a side note, just curious to why you choose Reeflux bulbs. They are 1 of the weakest 175w bulbs as far as PPFD. Here an article Sanjay wrote on those bulbs. From the article....
"The Coralvue 12000K lamps are also poor performers in terms of PPFD values..."
and
"There is basically nothing in these lamps that makes them stand out among the crowd of low cost, low output metal halide lamps that have recently swamped the hobby.".
Here's a few charts from Sanjay's site. PPFD - Photosynthetic Photon Flux Density, CCT - Correlated Color Temperature. This is the actual kelvin temp(color) of the bulbs.
Reeflux performance
XM performance
Hamilton performance
Iwasaki performance
On a side note, just curious to why you choose Reeflux bulbs. They are 1 of the weakest 175w bulbs as far as PPFD. Here an article Sanjay wrote on those bulbs. From the article....
"The Coralvue 12000K lamps are also poor performers in terms of PPFD values..."
and
"There is basically nothing in these lamps that makes them stand out among the crowd of low cost, low output metal halide lamps that have recently swamped the hobby.".
Here's a few charts from Sanjay's site. PPFD - Photosynthetic Photon Flux Density, CCT - Correlated Color Temperature. This is the actual kelvin temp(color) of the bulbs.
Reeflux performance
XM performance
Hamilton performance
Iwasaki performance
OP
OP
neilanh
Sliced Bread
Larry, thanks for that info. I perused Sanjay's site a while back and all I got out of it was a headache at the time.
I got the bulbs cheap, and everything that I had read about them was good, everyone who had them loved them, stating that the 12000K bulbs provided basically what I'm after - It's in the lower K range providing for better coral growth, but didn't exhibit the visual aesthetics of being in that range. I run 10000K bulbs on my FW tanks, and for this tank I really wanted something with more blue in it, while still providing for good coral growth.
I got a pair of bulbs, used less than a week, for $50 shipped. I figured for $25/bulb it was worth a shot.
I got the bulbs cheap, and everything that I had read about them was good, everyone who had them loved them, stating that the 12000K bulbs provided basically what I'm after - It's in the lower K range providing for better coral growth, but didn't exhibit the visual aesthetics of being in that range. I run 10000K bulbs on my FW tanks, and for this tank I really wanted something with more blue in it, while still providing for good coral growth.
I got a pair of bulbs, used less than a week, for $50 shipped. I figured for $25/bulb it was worth a shot.
OP
OP
neilanh
Sliced Bread
There's water in the tank!
Closed loop is running with the mag7, I'm gonna go buy a different coupler and setup the 9.5 and see what that looks like, I don't think the 7 is giving me the flow I want.
Closed loop is running with the mag7, I'm gonna go buy a different coupler and setup the 9.5 and see what that looks like, I don't think the 7 is giving me the flow I want.
