+olaggie01 Posted February 10, 2012 Share Posted February 10, 2012 Well, after many months, I finally decided to pull the trigger and get a new tank. The timing was a little strange, since I recently took an office job (so I won't be home all day with the tank anymore), but I couldn't pass up the deal on the tank. I found the tank in Dallas. It was built by Planet Aquarium and measures 60" x 30" x 18" and has an island overflow about 10" off the back wall and 6" off the side wall. Very strange setup but I kinda like it. It also has a PVC bottom and is made from 1/2" glass. Regardin the lights, I wasn’t sure that I wanted to go back to LEDs. I don’t like any of the larger 48” fixtures on the market, and I really don’t like the price of them either. A friend on mine mentioned that a vendor was selling an Aquaperfekt Photon Plus, 2x250w DE MH with 6x54w T5s for $500. I jumped at the chance to own a great German fixture for a ¼ of the cost. I traded my kalk and a media reactor for a pair of Lumatek dimmable 250/400w MH ballasts and started ordering bulbs. Going to go with a pair of Phoenix 15k DE bulbs and the following T5s: ATI Blue Plus ATI Purple Plus ATI Blue Plus Halides Giesemann Midday Blue Plus Blue Plus Should offer me 10 good hours of T5 viewing pleasure and 4-6 hrs of intense growth from the MHs. I will be re-using the rest of my equipment from my 150g build. ATB 840 v1.5 skimmer with upgraded pump 2 – Tunze 6105 pumps 2 - Tunze 6100 pumps Dart return pump (also have a snapper) BRS dual media reactor (GFO/carbon) 40g sump Profilux 3ex running ATO, heaters, lights, the world? Avast marine biopellets reactor I have about 50lbs of rock (but it’s covered in aiptasia). I pulled out all the rock from my old tank and bleached it. I figured it would be easier to start new than to deal with all the aiptasia. I have biopellets running, so that will provide some good starting bacteria. More than likely I will add some Dr. Tim's nitrifiying bacteria as well. Barebottom Mostly SPS, but LPS and zoas to fill in Small schooling fish (only have 2 fish remaining from my 150g, lost the rest to ich) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+olaggie01 Posted February 10, 2012 Author Share Posted February 10, 2012 Got the tank loaded up (just a buddy and I moved the tank, not the smartest thing in the world, that thing is heavy) and started heading down to Austin. Of course, what is the last thing I was thinking about when I was driving home? Rain. And I even packed a tarp to cover the tank/stand, but I never thought to put it on. Made it home, got the tarp out and figured I'd tackle getting it off the trailer the next day. I moved the trailer into the garage and started unwrapping the wet cardboard Everything looked good, except it needed a bath Here is the island overflow (more on this later) This is the stand Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+olaggie01 Posted February 10, 2012 Author Share Posted February 10, 2012 Here is what the original owner planned for the stand design. I'm not sure it will work in our house, but I'll see how it looks before deciding. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+olaggie01 Posted February 10, 2012 Author Share Posted February 10, 2012 One thing that I'm not certain about is the overflow. In some ways I think that it might work, but what worries me is the reach for the tunze on the long end of the tank. I really don't want to have a MP40 or 6105 on that side of the tank. My thoughts are to see how it works in the garage and then decide. 2 options, Option 1 leave it how it is and get an MP40 and suck it up or Option 2 knock out the overflow box, drill 3 more 1" holes in the bottom of the tank for CL returns, and use the 1 1/2" bulkhead for the suction end and use my snapper as the CL pump. This would require me to drill the back glass for an overflow. It would allow me to run a bean animal overflow (which would allow me to sleep better at night than the single 1 1/2" drain it has right now). Option 2 would be lots of drilling and could crack the glass if we didn't do it right. Option 1 might allow me to stack the rock up on the overflow like the Volcano tank on RC or Tommy's tank on ARC. Any thoughts? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+olaggie01 Posted February 10, 2012 Author Share Posted February 10, 2012 Got the light last night and unpacked it. It is a beast, 55 lbs of MH/T5 sexiness. I got the old rails taken down and am waiting till I can get some suction cups so that I can move the old tank out of the way and into the garage before I can proceed any further. Here is the temp setup for now until I can get the new tank in place (hopefully next week because after that I'm back working) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+olaggie01 Posted February 10, 2012 Author Share Posted February 10, 2012 Had a bit of a set back the past few days. My son brought home the worst viral infection known to man. And guess who got the brunt of it? Not my wife, but me. So I'm starting to feel better, but it may be before this weekend before I can get anything else done on the tank. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wesreyn Posted February 10, 2012 Share Posted February 10, 2012 This should probably be in the tank builds. I know some things are hard for you aggies to understand!!! Cool tank and that is a awesome light fixture!!! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+olaggie01 Posted February 10, 2012 Author Share Posted February 10, 2012 This should probably be in the tank builds. I know some things are hard for you aggies to understand!!! Cool tank and that is a awesome light fixture!!! Good point. I blame my illness. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DerrickH Posted February 10, 2012 Share Posted February 10, 2012 That light is kick *ss. Ive had all of those bulbs that you listed, short of the halides. Thats a lot of blue. Have you considered the coral plus bulb? Might give more pop and a little less blue if you exchange it for one of the blue plus. Just my .02c ATI Blue Plus ATI Purple Plus ATI Blue Plus Halides Giesemann Midday Coral Plus Blue Plus How is the cord arrangement? Are their pair or does the light have a controller? I seen the small control panel but wasnt sure if they were all independent or not. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+olaggie01 Posted February 10, 2012 Author Share Posted February 10, 2012 That light is kick *ss. Ive had all of those bulbs that you listed, short of the halides. Thats a lot of blue. Have you considered the coral plus bulb? Might give more pop and a little less blue if you exchange it for one of the blue plus. Just my .02cATI Blue Plus ATI Purple Plus ATI Blue Plus Halides Giesemann Midday Coral Plus Blue Plus How is the cord arrangement? Are their pair or does the light have a controller? I seen the small control panel but wasnt sure if they were all independent or not. 3 cords come out of the fixture. 2 for the halides and 1 for the t5s. The t5s then split in the control box into 2 more plugs. I thought about those coral plus bulbs but SOS lightning didn't have them in stock. I may order them from brs later in the month. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Richard L Posted February 10, 2012 Share Posted February 10, 2012 Well haven't you been busy? Thats going to be a nice setup. That fixture looks really cool and I love your temporary setup. I had a Rube Goldberg setup like that during my build in the garage. I think the MP40 is a no-brainer. You'll get a sleek fixture worthy of a nice tank like this and eliminate all the potential pitfalls the other options have. It would be good to test out an MP40 first. I'd let you borrow one of mine but they are ziptied beyond reason! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+olaggie01 Posted February 10, 2012 Author Share Posted February 10, 2012 Well haven't you been busy? Thats going to be a nice setup. That fixture looks really cool and I love your temporary setup. I had a Rube Goldberg setup like that during my build in the garage. I think the MP40 is a no-brainer. You'll get a sleek fixture worthy of a nice tank like this and eliminate all the potential pitfalls the other options have. It would be good to test out an MP40 first. I'd let you borrow one of mine but the are ziptied beyond reason! Been busy but not fast enough. I have all the parts on order for the sump and picked up a sweet. 27x17x17 tank for a fuge or ATo. Not sure what to do with that tank. Yeah, I may end up selling the 2 6100s and see if I can find a used mp40. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DerrickH Posted February 10, 2012 Share Posted February 10, 2012 Lou is selling one that needs a new wetside. Not a bad price. Think its a gen 2. Are those 6100 controllable? Wave mode I mean. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+olaggie01 Posted February 10, 2012 Author Share Posted February 10, 2012 Lou is selling one that needs a new wetside. Not a bad price. Think its a gen 2. Are those 6100 controllable? Wave mode I mean. Yeah, controllable. They are the older block style Tunze. I like them for the purpose they serve. Move a lot of water. They aren't pretty, but they get the job done. I'm thinking about trying to setup a gyre with the 4 pumps that I have. That would help get the water moving, but I'm not sure it would be doable from one side of the tank. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+olaggie01 Posted February 10, 2012 Author Share Posted February 10, 2012 Another thought I had was about the lumatek ballasts. The photon plus fixture doesn't have any plugs, just a hot, neutral and ground coming off each of the MH ballast. The lumatek ballast have a special plug for sunlight supply fixtures. I can either buy the female end for the lumatek ballast or buy a 20 am outlet and plugs and run them that way. I want to be able to disconnect the fixture from the ballast if I need to make any changes down the road. Probably would be able the same cost, but I could complete it over the weekend instead of waiting on shipping from sunlight supply. What are your thoughts? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+olaggie01 Posted February 10, 2012 Author Share Posted February 10, 2012 Also, the tank will be setup as a pennisula. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+olaggie01 Posted February 10, 2012 Author Share Posted February 10, 2012 Here is the new ATO/fuge It had an overflow at one time, but I'm not sure what happened to it. I figured I could either split the tank in half and put the ATO in one side, and a fuge in the other, or just make it a large ATO or a large fuge. It also has a blue acrylic panel attached to one side, it is not covering up a hole, it is just there. Got the BRS reactor mounted as well and I went by HD today and got most of my plumbing. Waiting on UPS to bring valves and the bulkheads. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+olaggie01 Posted February 10, 2012 Author Share Posted February 10, 2012 And here is the mockup of the sump. Most of this equipment was from my old tank. I will add the ATO/fuge tank above the 2 part containers on a stand. I need to build the stand and plywood floor this week. Any thoughts on how to keep the steel stand from rusting on my light colored tile? My old stand had feet but still rusted when I spilled SW. And don't say, don't spill SW, cause I know it will happen. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Long Posted February 10, 2012 Share Posted February 10, 2012 nice tank! That is close to my dream size of 72x30x24 if I ever upgrade. I would probably just buy the correct plug for your light setup. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+olaggie01 Posted February 10, 2012 Author Share Posted February 10, 2012 Here is the box that the t5s plug into. This way there is only 1 T5 cord coming from the fixture. Proposed rock work. We will see how this ends up, but I don't want much rock as in my last tank I could never keep the detritus from finding it's way underneath the stacked rock. I may not stack any rock, but just put a few large pieces on the PVC bottom. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+olaggie01 Posted February 10, 2012 Author Share Posted February 10, 2012 nice tank! That is close to my dream size of 72x30x24 if I ever upgrade. I would probably just buy the correct plug for your light setup. Hi Long, I would have liked a 6' version of this tank, but when this came up for sale, I had to buy it considering it would have cost more to buy the glass than this entire setup cost. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DerrickH Posted February 10, 2012 Share Posted February 10, 2012 You put your old rock out in the sun to bleach out? You had a pretty good garden growing there lol. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+olaggie01 Posted February 10, 2012 Author Share Posted February 10, 2012 You put your old rock out in the sun to bleach out? You had a pretty good garden growing there lol. Did one better. I put it in a trash can with a gallon of bleach and a mag 5. I'll give it a few days and then hose it off and let it dry in the sun Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gig 'em @ NDstructible Posted February 10, 2012 Share Posted February 10, 2012 holy cow you bleached the rock!?! haha, thats one extreme treatment! I like the tank, can't wait to see what it looks like when it's set up Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DerrickH Posted February 10, 2012 Share Posted February 10, 2012 His apstasia was massive. Would take a peppermint shrimp the size of a lobster to eat some of them! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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