Entropy

Just kicking around ideas in my head and decided to included the rest of you (aren't you lucky confused5.gif ).

I am pretty set on a 48Lx36wx25t 190g with a single overflow (middle back wall). A single 2 inch drain and two 1 inch returns. It will be viewable (low iron glass) from three sides and the back will be black. Any other ideas to add? I am trying to keep it under $1000 for the tank itself and will probably start out FOWLR to keep the costs down, but will eventually go with a full mixed reef. I was pondering a closed loop, but I am not sure if I want more complications. Anyway, any feedback or ideas would be great.

Wow! The color difference is amazing!

On my old setup I had the return chamber in the middle with a refuge on one side and the skimmer chamber on the other. Both fed the return chamber in the middle. That way, as you mentioned, the refuge chamber can be at a completely different level (mine was an inch from the top).

Another thing I forgot to bring up is that your return chamber much be big enough to handle evaporation unless you plan auto topoff. On mine it held over 10g, so I could evaporate the normal 2-3 gallons a day and not worry about the pump running dry.

I agree on the skimmer comment. 7" seems really tight for most skimmers on the market. Also the drop from the refuge to the return section might be a bit noisey.

Depending on the rock type you have I find it is usually pretty easy to wedge it into a hole and pin it in place with a toothpick if needed. The rubberband method works well to. Either way the xenia will more than likely attach in a few hours and then start moving.

One word of caution. Xenia is a big time weed and will spread like crazy especially if your tank has nutrients and good lighting.

I think you are fine with the 2x250w setup, but if you really want more light I would go with a 2x400w setup as mentioned above. It will burn less power (200 watts less), provide just as much light IMO, and be cheaper to operate (replacement bulbs).

LOL! Well that is good news at least. Now maybe you can get a nice clean up crew and maybe go shell collecting.

That was what I was thinking as well. Cut it as close to the clam as you can. At least that way there will be less to decompose. I am surprised you clean up critters haven't jumped on it yet. In my old tank the hermits and peppermints would have been all over a tasty morsel like that.

Wow, I didn't think a clam could catch a live fish? I assume it was dead already?

Nope... I just moved here last month with my wife and daughter, so I haven't met any of the club members yet. Our house in Teravista isn't even finished yet.

I have been to the Lakeline Mall though, does that count?

Threads are easy to get off track. I am heading out to the mall today for a birthday party (20+ 5 years olds blob7.gif ), so maybe I can sneak away and check out the store. I have to get all this stuff out of the way before I run into employment. My wife says my vacation has been long enough.

Yeah I have heard of them and seen their website. Did you get it delivered or did you pick it up at one of the shows?

I am not quite ready yet, but does RCA custom order/build tanks? I will probably be looking for something in the 180g range and want starphire (or similar) for at least the front. Preferably reef ready and drilled for at least one closed loop.

Thanks!

Nice! That is a bit high end for me (ok a lot high end). I just have a simple Yamaha YHT-22 setup. It may not seem like much, but I really like the Yamaha sound (hard to explain), and for the room size I plan to put it in (12x11) it should be plenty. I would love to see a picture of your setup though, since I am still in the planning stages while waiting for the house to be finished.

i believe there is the perfect bulb for the specific system as viewed by a discerning eye, yet it is often not the same bulb.  

Amen to that. Mine was two of the Iwasaki Aqua2 (175w) with PFO magnetic ballasts supplemented by 2x110w URI super actinics on a Fulham WH7 ballast. The color was absolutely perfect of my 150g! I may go with the setup again on my next tank.

What did you end up getting? I am thinking about building a home theater in my new house (as soon as the finish building it), but mine will be on the smaller end of the scale. I am thinking about claiming the fourth bedroom for this duty. Any pics?

when the water is clean it will stop producing.  Plain and simple.

That is my opinion also.

I ran a AquaC EV150 on my 90g for a couple of years and it would only skim alot some of the time. Once I moved to a 150g it skimmed all of the time (and a lot of it). There probably is a point where you can overskim, but I don't think any of the normally available (ie: relatively affordable) skimmers will do it. One thing a big skimmer will do nicely is to oxygenate the water.

I think you will be happy with the Phoenix bulbs. I don't think Iwasaki has DE bulbs anyway and they run best off EYE ballasts.

Just talking about all this stuff is making me crazy about getting another setup going... From this point forward I forbid any talking about reef tank setups!!! confused2.gif

I'm really just looking for growth.  

If that is really the case, you might want to think about 250w 6.5k Iwasakis. They will look like poopoo and be heavy on the yellow side, but everything will grow like mad. Some people get enough actinic over the tank to balance the color to something livable, but you will need more than PC's to do it.

All my experience is with 175w SE bulbs so I am not much help, but IME the Ushios are really white on E ballasts, and the XM's are really white with a hint of blue on magnetic ballasts. The last bulbs I had (that where awesome) where Aqua2 by Iwasaki. Great growth and color with or without actinics (I used 2x110w VHO), but I am not sure if they have come out with 250w versions yet.

Anyway good luck!

Thanks for the welcome. I probably will not be in a position to get a tank going until the end of the year (maybe Christmas). I would like to make a few meetings when you guys get everything rolling though.

Just wanted to say hi to everyone. My family and I just recently moved to the area (Round Rock). I had to leave my 150g behind in SoCal, so I am currently tankless, but plan to get back into it as soon as our house is finished being built. Hope to see all soon!

I got the link to the club from gkarshens at Reef Central and I use the same name over there.