Equipment recommendations for a large SPS tank

[bct15]

Which oneone would you pick? Are you talking about units like aquaticlife that have halide t5 combo? Or more like a diy... Picking everything out.

I think he is suggesting something similar to what I suggested...3 halide pendants and a retrofitted t5s (if you want t5s). One of the main reasons to have the t5s with the halides is so you don't have to run the halides all day and to customize your spectrum. You can run the halides only four hours and your t5s the additional daytime...you should not have heat issues running halides and t5s. You can consult a pro if you want but in my opinion you should be fine. The ballast you mentioned is a good ballast, you can even select 250w or 400w I believe. I use 250w 15k xm bulbs on my tank that is the the same depth, but if I could do it again I'd go with single end radium 20k. I can grow and color up SPS in the sand. You are going to get all sorts of best lighting suggestions, I'm just telling you what I think is best based off of my experience and other tanks I have seen.

I also agree you may want some more vertical support on that stand...in one of your pics it looks like there is a lot on the front (then they skinned it), but you'll need more on the back for sure. You'll need to modify the top to get your overflow bulkheads installed if the bottom of the tank is drilled. You could also have a coast to coast overflow or rear mounted overflow that does not require plumbing on the bottom but back. The stand will still need reinforcing though.


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[reef-wannabe]

Who has used the retro kits? How easy are they to setup? I'm a big fan for DIY and kits, and not buying a pre-made unit. I don't have any experience with these tho, so I don't want to miss something or get in over my head. Also, what are some recommendations for t5's? I'd like to have t5 to run so that the halides aren't on all day. Would it be ok to just grab some dual bulb t5 fixtures and hang them on the front and back sides of the halides?

As for the stand: I've sent several emails to the engineering company. I've sent recommendations from here to them. Attached is the drawing of the stand that they've given me.

 

[ReeferBob]

I blew that up so I could see it better. It looks like it was built by an engineer. All function and no form. They should have consulted someone versed in aquarium stand building. It is way overbuilt. The plans do show that they accounted for holes through the top for plumbing, so you can only hope that they will do this and they will line up. Most of the top frame is supporting since they are having such a long span with no vertical supports other then the corners on the back side - not sure what strength then are going to lose when they drill for plumbing. This may or may not lead to a bow developing on that long unsupported side (again, that much weight over time). A bad enough bow could compromise the tanks joints. Once the tank is sitting there, see how much of a gap (if any) is underneath the framing all around.

I would still check it for level since "close enough" is ok for a wall but the tank needs to be perfect.

Keep us posted!

 

[reef-wannabe]

I'll get to the building tomorrow and take a look. I'll grab some pictures of the level on the front, back, both sides, and across each corner.

The back run (inside the IT office, where there is only the two corners) is double stacked 2x4 I believe with what looks like 3/4" between the two. Are you thinking that this won't stand up completely 100% after some time?

 

[ReeferBob]

I am sure the engineer will tell you it will be fine forever..and it might be. His exact words will probably be, "You could park a Mac truck on that stand!". I doubt any part of it will be changed at this point.

There are many ways to do things though. Only time will tell.

 

[reef-wannabe]

You're right... nothing can be changed now. Their words were, "The stand you've got is much stronger than that picture."

I've been thinking about lighting. It will be cheaper in the long run to run the LED's (after considering bulb replacement, power used). I emailed Ecotech today asking how long I could expect the xr30w pro units to last before needing to replace them due to color-shift, bulbs going out, etc and I was told that it would be at least 5-6 years before I'd need to start thinking about replacing them.

If we don't end up going with the LED's I'll do either 250W or 400W halides with actinic. My problem is, I can't find any good single bulb t5 fixtures. Does anyone know of a good one that I could look up? Perhaps it would be better to use some dual bulb units; one set for the "front side" of the halides (hallway side) and one for the "back side" (IT office). At that point, I could get some of these, program them to run within the same schedule, and hang them. Are these decent? Get these plus the hanging kit.

Amazon.com: AquaticLife Dual Lamp T5 HO Freshwater Light - 48 in.: Pet SuppliesAquaticLife Suspension Hardware For T5 & Compact Fixtures

 

[bct15]

You'd need something like this

http://www.aquacave.com/48-TEK-2-T5...ly-P647.aspx?gclid=CMb64OHfzbYCFQ6qnQodTBYAvA

You could use two 48 inch lamps and reflectors in front and two in back staggered to overlap in the middle, or four (two rows) 36 inch reflectors and bulbs in front and four 36inch in back staggered again. Obviously the 48 inch option is cheaper for bulbs and stuff.


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[reef-wannabe]

Ok, I think I've got enough info for now with lighting. Next, what about powerhead controllers/wavemakers? A closed loop isn't really possible with this build, unfortunately. I would love to do a three or so mp40w's but I just don't know that I could get that. Especially if I got the xr30w pro. I've heard the name Tunze before, but have never used one. What have you guys used and liked?

 

[bct15]

Ok, I think I've got enough info for now with lighting. Next, what about powerhead controllers/wavemakers? A closed loop isn't really possible with this build, unfortunately. I would love to do a three or so mp40w's but I just don't know that I could get that. Especially if I got the xr30w pro. I've heard the name Tunze before, but have never used one. What have you guys used and liked?

I'd put an mp40 on each end facing eachother, and either two or three mp10s on the back wall. That would be your ideal powerhead setup if you can't do a closed loop. Ecotech actually designed the mp40 and mp10s to work together like that to simulate a closed loop.


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[reef-wannabe]

mp40's... in the middle of each side? it's a 7' tank. those are enough? Also, the glass is something like .63" thick. Isn't that too thick for the mp10's?

 

[ronnie]

Yup. Too thick for mp10

 

[reef-wannabe]

what about the all elusive mp20w that i've heard whispers about? anyone use those?

 

[ronnie]

They would work. I'd upgrade them to mp40s though. Just need a power supply and a driver.

 

[reef-wannabe]

UPDATE! I took some pictures of a level on the stand. Front, back, both sides, then diagonal across each corner. Thinking back, I believe the one corner that looks bad... the level is sitting up a little bit on the drywall.

 

[reef-wannabe]

 

[reef-wannabe]

Ecotech has contacted me back and confirmed that the XR30W pro LED units will last at least 5-6 years before color spectrum will start to suffer. I've roughly priced out 250w halide/t5 vs led and over 6 years, the led will be quite a bit cheaper. I think I'm going to push those unless there is a strong opinion against them for good reason.

The tank will hold SPS and probably some LPS. What are the flow requirements for these guys?

I know that SPS require rock solid parameters, so lets start with calcium. I've never ran a calcium reactor, but I've read that they keep calcium and alkalinity solid. I've also read that they keep magnesium in check as well. Is that true? A Geo 818 was recommended. Are there any other good ones? Please help me understand how these things work!

crushed aragonite (i believe) goes in the chamber. co2 canister is hooked up to it. water is pumped through it, and co2 is introduced. that lowers the pH, which causes some of the media to dissolve into the water. that goes into the tank to keep ca/alk levels up and steady.

 

[Jay6363]

Love my radion pro.... Powerful!!!


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[reef-wannabe]

Jay6363, what do the colors look like from your radion?

 

[raven67]

How's it been progressing?

 

[reef-wannabe]

To update: the tank got in on Monday, but I was 3 time zones away. I got back into the office today and got to check it out. Its sitting in it's place and is pretty big. We moved into our new office on the weekend of May 17th, and were reassured that desks would be in place at least for IT so that we could work if needed. As I'm typing this, there hasn't been any visible progress on the desks lately and we're still working from foldable plastic tables!

The plan is to get the desks in and paid for, then my CEO wants to revisit the budget and see how much money we can put into the tank. He's thinking that perhaps we'll have to go freshwater at first, but then upgrade to a reef later on as we piece out the equipment. He has said, however, that I'm not allowed to purchase any equipment that could be used in freshwater tanks only. I've got a picture or two that I'll post in a second.