A 15 year olds dream reef!

[noahreefer]

Hello,

Honestly, to be fair, I don’t think your light plan is even close. I run current orbit marine pros on my tank, (not the ic loop ones). Now I know what most will say you need ai or Ecotech. You can get a lot further, if you do research on your lights then just thinking they are good. What lights do you have now for example.

For example what you will pay for these ai lights, you can get other lights that work equal to or better. Here are some pics or my 240 with current orbit marine pros. These have 60 degree lens so I had to find the sin/cos and also the FWHM. I attached the equation below just in case.

Before I bought anything I did tons of research and beta tested a lot of products by volunteering at my local aquarium.

I have ai lights currently...

 

[Sarah24!]

Hello,

Lol well then I would simply add to the collection that you have now . I wasn’t sure if you were planning to buy these lights and had something else, or if you just drank the same Koolaide as most. (These lights are good, just expensive is all).

 

[noahreefer]

Hello,

Lol well then I would simply add to the collection that you have now . I wasn’t sure if you were planning to buy these lights and had something else, or if you just drank the same Koolaide as most. (These lights are good, just expensive is all).

Yeah my plan was to buy more lights. What about some t5s?? They are a cheaper option. Would they be good?

 

[Sarah24!]

Hello ,

From the research I have done, some of the best light combinations are the T5-led hybrid mix. I personally have not tried it, but have been seriously considering it.

 

[anit77]

Beautiful tank Sarah!

I didn't have the funds to go with expensive led fixtures. I have a 3 SB Reef 16" Baisc's over my tank with 2 Kessil A160WE's to handle some shading. Then I have 2 80w T5's retrofit's 4 bulbs total. 2 front 2 back. I wired the SB's so they're controlled by my Apex for ramping. The T5's run 4.5hrs a day at peak. I'm getting good growth and the colors are great.

With the AI's I'd think you will need 3 of the 52's and you could put the 2 smaller ones you have now on the ends. Adding t5's to that setup will definitely help too. With the odd length you'd probably have to go with 4 retrofits. Two 4 foot and two 3 foot.

If price becomes an issue with the AI's there are other options like the Orbits Sarah mentioned or Reef Breeders and even SB Reef. One of the SB Basic's is perfect over a 20 Long tank you can setup for coral QT, which is what I'm doing. SB has some other very nice fixtures beyond the Basic too.

Go with what your budget will allow and give you the coverage you need. You can always upgrade down the road and sell the lights you get to recoup some of the money. But I would highly recommend T5's being part of the plan.

Here's a shot of the light rack I built. These shots were very early in the setup.

 

[noahreefer]

Thank you guys so much for all the input I’m going to end this thread and pretty much start over and take things slow. I might start it up again once everything is setup. It’s going to be killer!

Noah

 

[anit77]

Good luck with your build. Take things slow, do your homework and it'll pay off in the end.

I hope you do either revive this one or start a new build thread. I look forward to seeing it progress.

 

[edc_aquarium]

I’m currently setting a 55 gallon and I’m only 15 I never thought about a 240 gallon but just take my advice from another person your same age, take you time I’ve been planning my take for 6 or 7 months already and it’s still in planning so take your time you can’t rush perfection

 

[NikoO]

Nice to see other teens in reefing!
(Im, 14 btw)

 

[noahreefer]

Nice to see younger faces in the hobby!

 

[noahreefer]

I’m currently setting a 55 gallon and I’m only 15 I never thought about a 240 gallon but just take my advice from another person your same age, take you time I’ve been planning my take for 6 or 7 months already and it’s still in planning so take your time you can’t rush perfection

Trust me bro I know about patience... on my 50 gallon I probably waited a solid 8-9 months before I found the right tank and equipment. I’ve been wanting a bigger tank for about a year now and when I found the right tank on Craigslist I obviously bought it as I got a good deal. Once again the tank is still empty as I’m finishing up plumbing but I took advice from some other members and I’m not gonna fill it up with water on Saturday.


(It’s a 200 btw)

 

[edc_aquarium]

This is my 55 and how much progress I’ve made, I’ve built the stand myself and I’ve drilled and plumbed it with a 20 gallon sump I’ve made.
I’m also adding a 10 gallon refugium next to the tank
For lighting I’m using led black boxes I currently use it for my nano tank and it works perfectly
I still need powerheads, a skimmer ,salt mix , rodi, sand , test kits and a dosing pump here are some pictures

And to prove the led black boxes work I’ve been growing birdsnests and montis and they have grown a lot

 

[noahreefer]

This is my 55 and how much progress I’ve made, I’ve built the stand myself and I’ve drilled and plumbed it with a 20 gallon sump I’ve made.
I’m also adding a 10 gallon refugium next to the tank
For lighting I’m using led black boxes I currently use it for my nano tank and it works perfectly
I still need powerheads, a skimmer ,salt mix , rodi, sand , test kits and a dosing pump here are some pictures

And to prove the led black boxes work I’ve been growing birdsnests and montis and they have grown a lot

These are my two tanks right now. I have a jbj 20 gal frag, and a cad 50 gallon aquarium. I’ve personally had a bad experience with the black box led lights so tanks are run with leds

 

[noahreefer]

This is my 55 and how much progress I’ve made, I’ve built the stand myself and I’ve drilled and plumbed it with a 20 gallon sump I’ve made.
I’m also adding a 10 gallon refugium next to the tank
For lighting I’m using led black boxes I currently use it for my nano tank and it works perfectly
I still need powerheads, a skimmer ,salt mix , rodi, sand , test kits and a dosing pump here are some pictures

And to prove the led black boxes work I’ve been growing birdsnests and montis and they have grown a lot

Like the setups just make sure that the corals that you have at a different angle get light on the shaded side so they don’t brown out!

 

[mattgsa]

I was reading a different form here on R2R, and found some great advice. (No surprise there)I'm sorry I don't remember who it was that stated it or where it was. But it went something like this.
"For every day spent studying, you save yourself about thousand dollars."
I have found this to be a very true, and has saved me a lot of money.
Again congratulations, you have taken on a very difficult project for a 15 year old. Most adults in the hobby would be overwhelmed with a tank that size.

 

[noahreefer]

alright guys so after underestimating the sheer size of this tank and the amount of lighting needed, I’ve got the tank filled with water, sand, aquascaped and a plan. So during the tank cycling process I will be running no light to eliminate algae in the tank. I’m still deciding which lighting I want to use because I’m in no rush waiting for the cycle to be done. For my stocking list I am going to have 3 tangs (2 from my old) a mai tai clown, some WRasses, and a lot of Anthias not sure how many but... I got a sicce pump that my lfs said was beefy and was perfect for my tank. For my skimmer I’m going to get the upgraded bubble magus skimmer I believe I have the curve 5 in my old tank.

So as of now the tank is cycling and I’m excited to start filling the tank up with livestock when the time comes!

 

[Cliffsreef]

Hey guys I am 15 years old and I have been in the hobby for about 4 years. This is going to be my first tank above 100 gallons this is going to be my build thread and tank progression thread for my new 200 gallon. I have a Total of three tanks after purchasing the 200 gallon. One is a 20 gallon frag tank and the other is a 50 gallon tank. My main reason for getting an upgrade was because of my two tangs in my 50 gallon. I got them when they were smaller and had the plan to upgrade to a larger tank so they will be getting a new well deserved tank! As for the tank dimensions it is 84inx24.5inx25.5in

We are going to be picking it up tomorrow so I will hopefully get some more pictures!

Good luck!! I just got my son his first a 29g all in one... he is loving it and I look forward to the day we can build a massive tank 500+.

 

[pdt7361]

One idea to help with flow. Since you have such a long tank and only 1 corner overflow, what about using your overflow only for drains? Assuming you have 2 or 3 pipes in your overflow, you could use them to plumb a full siphon with emergency drain. Then have the returns come up behind the tank and into 3 different locations across the back side. A large gyre on the far end would help keep water moving toward the drains on the other side, and a couple other good powerheads would help provide enough movement in the tank.

 

[pdt7361]

For lighting, you should look at one of the T5 hybrid racks. Aquatic Life makes a nice 36" one that you could do 2 of with a small space in between them. This would give you that nice, proven T5/LED combo, you could add in the LED fixtures as you could afford the, and still have some decent lighting from just the T5s. Just obviously but additional lighting as needed before you buy the coral, and give all coral already in your tank time to adjust to the additional lights as you acclimate them.

 

[noahreefer]

One idea to help with flow. Since you have such a long tank and only 1 corner overflow, what about using your overflow only for drains? Assuming you have 2 or 3 pipes in your overflow, you could use them to plumb a full siphon with emergency drain. Then have the returns come up behind the tank and into 3 different locations across the back side. A large gyre on the far end would help keep water moving toward the drains on the other side, and a couple other good powerheads would help provide enough movement in the tank.

That’s a good idea