Crab Rangoon

Got it plumbed on Thursday night, and just waiting to pick up the rest of the water tomorrow to get it fully circulating. In the meantime, I installed the MP-40w and played with it for a whole two minutes before getting some wave-type swaying since I don't have any fish/inverts/anything in there now, I've just left it turning at the low speed setting, but tinkering with it sure was fun. It's also nice to know that I can achieve a small wave, changing at all 4 corners rather than just front/back or side-to-side, with only one of them. I have considered adding a second one later, but this is clearly enough for now. Here's the short video, I need to actually read the instructions and figure everything out so I can program it for a full-time schedule

I really cannot stress this enough - for as many people as there will be who haven't had any heat issues with a MH over their tank, there are that many (if not more) who have experienced overheating. If you did throw the 250w on, rather than the 150w, you would just have to juggle between raising it up higher off the water & adding fan-cooling, but you could probably do it without absolutely needing to add a chiller. Anyhow, I will also add that the lighting over your tank is really only as good as the reflector in the fixture. That MH being a random/off brand, rather than an established & developed reflector design, isn't necessarily going to grow things any better than the Current T5 fixture you've opted to consider. Just beware of that when considering the MH - going with a more highly developed, tried & true reflector will always yield great growth results, but others often only provide bright illumination.

Oh, if we're talking about places that may or may not deal with the public, rather than a business, then you could also hit up Praxair. That's who my company uses for refilling out shop supply - perhaps that will help, as they are definitely South, and even if they don't vend to the public you may be able to set up a customer account with them under your business name?

If you mean South Austin, then no just the two already mentioned, for years & years

Liking or disliking taller tanks will certainly vary based upon your lighting, and inhabitants - but in my application, I love it! After all, this is mostly a fishtank that will happen to have some coral to spruce up the interior But I wanted more room for the fish, & the ability to have taller rock structures means more open space on the tank floor / more swimming room. The height is key for achieving dramatic highs & lows in the rock scape, and paired with the penetrating spotlight effect of the PAR38's, it should make for a nice looking layout.

Which of your tanks is it over, and how long have you been running it? Totally, Gilbert - haha. After I get some stuff swimmin around, you'll have to see it. I got all the decent aquascape shots up, so here's all the better views Front Right Left Above

Cool - I hadn't yet seen anyone on the local board posting about having them / post pics of them over their tank. What's your input on it, so far?

No problem - I plan on ordering 6 of the PAR38 bulbs for the tank. I'm just still kind of unsure on if I want a 50/50 mix of 12k/20k, or if the mix should be 65/35. It's hard to view it as such in people's photos posted online (as most of the tanks equipped with these lamps are typically photographed with p&s cameras, and with zero post-processing to the photos), but the 12k is actually a good white/blue mix visually - and not anywhere near as white/blinding as the pics would seem. The 20k is every bit of blue as a Radium bulb - and if you don't want overwhelming blue, they should absolutely be avoided (unless used as only supplemental light / actinic type application). As it stands, I believe I'll be using 2 of the 20k bulbs with 80* lenses, 2 of the 12k bulbs with 60* lenses, and 2 12k's with 40* lenses. I'll have some spare 60 & 80 degree lenses, too, in case I want to adjust one of the bulbs (or do a mix of optics in a single bulb). I really look forward to it, but I'm worried over how much time I'll spend between adjusting / arranging the lights, and adjusting my aquascape based upon the appearance once the lights are over the aquarium Thanks guys, I'm glad it turned out well on the first try. I was under the pressure of my girlfriend, who was less-than-patient for the to wrap it up (I only spent under an hour on this!) so we could hurry & get out of the house I may do a few tweaks to the rocks (really prefer to touch it as little as possible!) after the lights go on, but it'll really be how the fish interact with the rock that'll determine whether the current formation is a keeper or not.

You & me both - haha. Hey Clint, long time no see The UV is just for fish, as algae outbreaks aren't too high a probability with the LED lighting. It will be plumbed in full time, but I haven't yet made up my mind on it's operation schedule. To say the least, many of the fish I'm ordering are possible (or probable) to come in with something bad Any 'at-risk' additions will be introduced to the refugium until I feel they eat well & appear comfortable & active, then I can move them into the display.

So I haven't kept a personal marine aquarium of my own since late 06 / early 07, and I'm long over due for this - but finally, it's here! It's certainly good to be back, and I can't wait to have some animals in the tank. In March, I picked up a 150 gallon 36" Marineland Deep Marine series aquarium to start with, and couldn't wait to get a stand to throw it on. Too bad I'm not much of a builder myself, and wouldn't settle for simple 2x4 framework, or something ordered through the shop all furniture-style But patience & persistence pays off, and I got David (prof) to rig me up an all metal stand with adjustable feet on the underside (currently, the stand is open & exposed, but will be wrapped eventually). While waiting for the stand to be build, I was able to ready a few pieces of equipment, and got my heater, UV sterilizer, return pump, and in-tank circulation all in. I lined the backside & underside of the tank with black vinyl, and let it set for a day or two before transitioning the tank onto the stand. However, the tank wasn't perfectly level on the stand, so I removed it & put a sheet of Insular Foam on top of the stand, put the tank back on, and let it sit for 24 hours with about 80-90gal of water weighing it down. I double checked all 4 corners & sides to verify everything was still level after settling with some weight, and proceeded to fill it to about the 140gal level. Everything checked out fine, with no adjustments to the feet needed after it settled (thanks to the Foamular Insulation - very happy with it), so I threw in the heater, a circulation pump, and some Coralife salt After a few days, I transferred all my liverock in (all of which is 3-4yrs old at the least, and cooked for about 4 months), and let it run that way for about 5 days before I bothered arranging an aquascape. I'd say I'm about 80% satisfied with the result, though I'd envisioned a little more open floor space, and maybe a little more height built up in the back w/the large rock. After I get lights over the tank, and a few animals inside, it'll be easier to make up my mind on if I wanna remove some of the rock, or do a slight re-arrange. Here's a few small/rough photos I shot with my phone to post up until I've managed to upload & edit my shots with my 40D from tonight from the front birds-eye from the front the left side the right side Hopefully I can finish & upload the good pics tomorrow at/after work... I should also have some more photos & have the plumbing done with Misti (Sea Clearly) on Thursday - but here's a rundown of the equipment list: - Trigger Systems Crystal series Elite-30 sump/fuge - Eheim 1262 return pump - VorTech MP40w EcoSmart - Coralife Turbo-Twist 36w UV sterilizer - Reef Octopus XP-2000 Cone Skimmmer (ordered & waiting) - Two Little Fishies Phosban Reactor 500 (with Sulfur media for Nitrate control) And finally, for lighting, I'll be ordering my PAR38 LED lamps this week I look forward to updating the thread with some progress later in the week!

A lot of fish that are diggers & sand-dwellers (like gobies, or more importantly Jawfish) will prefer a mix. If you plan to keep much of them, or any Jaw's, I'd suggest using the sugar-grain sand for a bulk of your mix, and then having about 10-15% the Special Reef Grade sand. The fish that need the mixed grains to build their burrow will, like birds making a nest, pick & choose pieces of rubble & mouthfuls of sand to bring back and solidify their hole. With the sugar-type by itself, this will leave your fish with no option but to try and crowd small pebbles & LR rubble around their hole to prevent more of the sand from pouring in or the top from caving in.

Rivery = River City? RCA's is: - $1 / 5gal DI - $1/gal Instant Ocean - $1.50/gal Tropic Marin

Red Dragon pumps "just sit there" too and also, aren't much to look at (though they do at least have colors to the assembly, and very clear, easy-to-read print - I'll give em that!) but the same people are ok dropping wads on them

do notice that in the item description, it mentions that the one for sale is "one eye" ... but I'm really hoping that it's the pictured specimen offered at that price, rather than a small frag of it O_o

Another really easy way to bind this to rock is to use a needle (or sewing needle) to pierce through the stalk. With this done, you can use a miniature zip-tie threaded through the coral and gently put around a small rock - or alternatively you can thread a sewing needle with fishing line and tie it to the rock. Also, refugiums are a great place to introduce the coral while it adheres.

Very nice - I just passed this along to a buddy who's been thinking of picking up this exact same tank - I'm hoping it works out for the both of you. Also, really great lighting fixture - it makes me sad that this ATI rig is teasing me for a lower price than my LED set-up will be.

...so this is where my jugs went when I left them at the store? real nice, O!

here is my only FTS so far

so who's tank is this for? any info/pics of the tank? I'm setting up one of the same dimensions, and also have an all-metal stand welded up that I painted at work in our body shop I'd really like to see what comes of this - lots of 20-24" cubes around town, but not enough 36x36

I'm with you - setting up my 36x36 and I absolutely refuse to apply shims to help any unevenness. If you were closer to me, rather than clear across (and out of town) the city from me, I'd offer you the remainder of my Pink Panther foamboard - but I'm sure you've solved the problem by now anyway. I originally planned to use a piece of plywood, but as my tank has lower trim, and my stand is just a structural frame, I'm just applying the foam, and cutting out/removing the center section that supports no weight.

Whether a tank has trim attached to the top & bottom won't effect the fitment of a canopy. You may be confusing the term "rimless" with "braceless" - which I'll assume is the case? Rimless means the aquarium is simply a glass/acrylic box, with no center-brace, upper or lower trim, and typically no euro-bracing either. Braceless would simply be without centerbracing in place on the top, and euro-bracing would be structurally bracing the aquarium on the top (and sometimes the bottom) with supports around the perimeter, rather than crossing over the center. So did you in fact mean putting a canopy onto a rimless aquarium?

Good choice in dimensions, I'm hoping to set up my 36x36x27 tomorrow, and will also be using the MP40w on EcoSmart driver for the job - though I might add a second MP40w, or an MP10w to the driver down the road. I look forward to seeing your build progress, as so far, everyone else with a tank near 3x3' footprint has been going quite a different direction with their tank than I am. I'll be making a build thread soon, just waiting for more stuff to get done & photographed so I can dump a bunch of stuff in the thread all at once

In my experience, SPS do not hold their color, or color up to their potential when kept under any amount of PC lighting. Typically, the bulbs and their reflectors are to blame, as PC reflectors are usually pretty bad in design, and as most reside within a manufactured housing, there isn't a lot of room for improvement. T5's or a combo of T5 and VHO would produce better results, if you were wanting to avoid MH or LED lighting.

I strongly support this idea If changing one of your T5's out doesn't exactly achieve the result you're looking for, hopefully the lighting I look forward to putting together later this month will give some insight and good visual ideas of what the PAR38's can do over a tank for locals who haven't seen them yet. There are a lot of good pics highlighting the use of these on SMALLER tanks, where they are not truly spotlighting anything, as the "spotlight" effect of the lamp is the same size as these guys nano tank but certainly good for showing the penetration and spread I suppose. Have you seen this RC thread on them?

The biggest difference will not be your tanks inhabitants, but instead your electric bill & how often you replace bulbs I recall many a lecture, article, or idea from back in the 2004-2007 time swearing that anything beyond 5-6hrs of halide was simply for your viewing pleasure. Take it with a grain of salt, but I feel that 6hrs of halide is plenty of full-blown light to provide the corals in your tank for growth. I've seen many people with longer tanks using multiple lights along the tank that cue up from left to right, so that each individual bulb is only about 5-6hrs a day, but the total MH photo-period may be 7-8hrs overall. Does this make sense? Gives the aesthetic of the sun moving across the aquarium without using a light rail, but also gives you a longer viewing period under full spectrum. I've used MH + T5 (or PC) together with the halide on anywhere from 5hrs up to 7hrs, generally with the supplement lighting lasting approx 45-90 minutes before & after the MH period. Tinker with it as you please, but definitely start out with short periods to begin with - think 3hrs a day for the first 5-7 days, and add 30-60 mins to the period every 3-4 days. This will be a lot safer in the long run.