First Tank Setup - Reef Octopus Lux T90 Lighting Questions

[braysky]

Hi everyone,
I grew up with 5 saltwater tanks in my house and finally decided to jump in and do my own tank. I've decided to go with the Reef Octopus Lux T90 and i was looking for some input from anyone who has experience with one. I'm considering using the Kessil AP9x light and was curious if this could be mounted to the tank with their slim overflow design in the back. I'm hoping to avoid mounting to my ceiling

 

[Sean Clark]

Here is an article on ReefBuilders.com that showcases this tank.
Lux Slim Flow aquarium shown off by Reef Octopus
You can see in the last photo that you will be able to easily mount the Kessil mounting arm for the AP9x light that you are considering onto the back of this very nice tank.

Here is a build thread that I found by a user on here. This person did hang their lights though.
https://www.reef2reef.com › threads
Build Thread - Reef Octo T-Lux 90. 48 gallon - Reef2Reef

I hope this helps you.

 

[braysky]

Thanks. That's the first i have seen up close with the light mounted back there. I saw a video where a guy had mounted prime HDs to the rear but another guy on BRS had a review of the tank stating key items he found for new buyers -: one of which was the tank thinness due to the slim overflow was too thin to allow for light mounting and would need to be from the sides or overhead.

Looking forward to getting everything in the next week to two and being able to start.

 

[Sean Clark]

Thanks. That's the first i have seen up close with the light mounted back there. I saw a video where a guy had mounted prime HDs to the rear but another guy on BRS had a review of the tank stating key items he found for new buyers -: one of which was the tank thinness due to the slim overflow was too thin to allow for light mounting and would need to be from the sides or overhead.

Looking forward to getting everything in the next week to two and being able to start.

You're welcome. I must say, I am a bit jealous. Best of luck.

 

[Dana Gray]

Hey braysky,
Just wondering how your build is going? Did you get the Kessil light? If so, how's it working out?
I'm looking at this tank and light set up as well although I'm about 4 months out from pulling the trigger.

 

[braysky]

I did get the Kessil in there - with a little construction haha. I had to greatly cut back the nylon screws so that they would fit inside the overflow area without pushing out the weir. ALso, there's a cover which goes over the entire overflow which i notched out with a dremel to accomodate the bracket. Took about 10 minutes worth of work - pretty straight forward. I then had a custom lid done from Kraken Reef, which should now be up for sale there.

 

[Dana Gray]

Very nice! They sure like their lids though. $250 I saw the one that Matthew from BRS made and I might go that route first before dropping dime on the one from KR. Your tank looks choice though. Good job!

 

[braysky]

it's coming along pretty good so far. I did end up changing a lot of the aquascape shortly after that picture though. I bought a PAR meter and realized half the stuff i thought looked cool created so many low light spots that i couldn't grow much of anything - live and learn i guess haha.

Not the best picture, but it works

 

[Dana Gray]

I hear that. I just started a 7G Waterbox Cube a couple weeks ago So far so good. I probably won't be looking up upgrade until around November Black Friday deals but I'm putting my shopping list together all the same. This tank is top of the list so far. Would like to go bigger but my RO/DI is downstairs in the laundry room and the new tank will go upstairs in the living room. Water changes will be challenging enough with a 48 gal let alone anything bigger. Plus, have to convince the wife I can keep things alive.

 

[braysky]

I have a long way to go for water changes with my setup, but it turned out to not be as bad as i thought. That tank is 48g + the sump - but after rocks/sand, etc...i only have ~40g of total water volume in there. 10% water change is 4g. So weekly changes are really easy with nothing more than a bucket. I started out trying to run a python hose 100ft which quite frankly turned into a bit of mess. Even a 20% change is easy.

These days i'm hardly doing them - since i started dosing, everything is rock solid and my nutrients are all very low (Phos at 0.02 to 0.05 range typical and Nitrate running about 2-5ppm). I still do some water changes but i'm only doing about 10% every few weeks right now versus i was originally doing about 20% per week. Long story short, not as bad doing water changes in that tank as i thought it would be originally.

 

[Dana Gray]

That's what I mean. I don't want to carry more that a bucket up the stairs to the tank. Besides, my wife might have an issue with the money I'll be dropping on the 48G let alone anything bigger. I have to work her up to it.

That's great about your parms. Sounds like you've got it dialed in. Hope I didn't jinx ya.

 

[braysky]

for my first tank, its coming together well - though i'm also an engineer so i'm analytical by nature hahaha. I find it fun learning about everything and monitoring it all and seeing where it goes so that helps i'm sure.

And automation heh. I didn't last long pouring water into the small reservoir on the tank itself - the whole thing held enough water for about a day and so i was constantly at it with a measuring cup to pour a gallon in again. So i quickly went to a Tunze ATO and a 10g reservoir. Then i added in the hydros and the battery backup (immediately following the first day i took a power outage and panicked haha) - it wasn't long after before the doser came in (using All for Reef right now). Once i started dosing, everything took off incredible quick. Tank is only 4mo old - got plenty of coraline growth happening and good coral growth.

 

[Dana Gray]

I'm a computer engineer so I dig tech and automation as well. Your system gives me a little woody. My wife on the other hand just rolls her eyes when I talk about tech stuff. Just doesn't understand the appeal. Kinda like me when she talks fashion. So for a big expenditure like this tank/set up I have to work her into it.
Where do you keep your ATO reservoir? Is it outside of the cabinet or is it just to the left of the skimmer?
I'm following your progress and build and am living vicariously through you until I can get my gear later in the year.

 

[braysky]

I keep it outside to the left. The space next to the sump is pretty small - 4" if i recall correctly. Anything that fit there would be no different than using the 1g built in reservoir at the back of the tank. I wanted something to cover me, especially for extended time away, so i bought a 10g. I generally only put 5g in at a time, but at least when i'm going on vaca or something, i can do 10g.

My preference is to keep everything possible in that sump as i don't want to see it all over my office, but there's only so much room when you start adding all that stuff. I'm using carbon in a bag right now but its definitely not as effective as i'd like so i'm going with a reactor next. Unfortunately, the footprint of the BRS reactors is insane, even for the tiny one. Looking at the Aquamaxx Sigma-1, in-sump which looks like it would fit nicely in the cabinet but darn Covid - everything is always out of stock.

 

[Dana Gray]

Here's my little tank. Just got the clownfish this weekend.

 

[JNalley]

You caught me on a day where things aren't looking so great, I broke apart the right side of my scape and am re-epoxying it in there (one of the rocks was loose and I couldn't get to it without breaking it apart), so there are a ton of microbubbles in the water causing it to look cloudy. And the breeder box at the top left is holding a fish I need to trade into the LFS later today.

But, side-mounted lights don't look so bad...

 

[braysky]

Here's my little tank. Just got the clownfish this weekend.

Nice - i already want to do a small one to house something else haha. Problem is i want a dwarf lion, or triggers and puffers - none of which are good in a small cube hah. That's only 7g huh? - looks bigger than i would of thought.

 

[Dana Gray]

Yeah, I'd like to get a dwarf lion someday as well. LOL Baby steps. I'm already pushing things with just a 7G for my first SW tank. I've had lots of FW tanks in the past including planted tanks. This is my first time with a SW/Reef tank. I found the tank and trimmings on Facebook Marketplace and it was too good to turn down. So far, I'm happy with it.

BTW... didn't mean to hijack your thread.

@JNalley - You have a nice setup there. What lights are you using? I can't quite make out the name on the side of the lights.

 

[JNalley]

Yeah, I'd like to get a dwarf lion someday as well. LOL Baby steps. I'm already pushing things with just a 7G for my first SW tank. I've had lots of FW tanks in the past including planted tanks. This is my first time with a SW/Reef tank. I found the tank and trimmings on Facebook Marketplace and it was too good to turn down. So far, I'm happy with it.

BTW... didn't mean to hijack your thread.

@JNalley - You have a nice setup there. What lights are you using? I can't quite make out the name on the side of the lights.

Thanks! Those are AI Hydra 26HD's with 3D Reefing Hoods w/ Diffusers