TDB's 320 SPS Rebuild

[CoralFragZ]

After recently breaking down my tank to move, I switched gears and decided to stay put and stand the 320 Back up. In the past I had all kinds of Corals and Fish. For the Rebuild It will be all Acropora. I have collected about 100 different Acros, mainly Reef Raft and other "Named" corals that I am currently growing out.




Some Changes to the tank.


1. Going with a shelf type rock work and ordered 200 lbs of shelf rock
2. Upgrading the skimmer to Reef Octopus Regal 300INT
3. Ditch the LED panels and Kalk Stirrer
4. Building my own Light fixture that will support 96 Cree Royal Blue, 8 Cree Royal Blue Moons, 8 ATI T5 Over-driven with Icecap ballast and 4 250 Radium running on M80 Ballast. It will be 96 X 25 and the LumenMax 2 pendants will rest in the middle angle aluminum. I am 75% done with the fixture pictured below.


I would like to share my updates and love your ideas on how I can make improvements.


Thanks!

 

[Kody72]

Happy to see you stick with the tank and see all the future updates

 

[c_healy]

Going to be a sweet build.

Following along!

 

[bwrag]

thats going to be some awsome lighting

 

[indyjaco]

Great to hear you aren't getting rid of the 320G!

 

[CoralFragZ]

Finally finished with the exception of the optics which will deal with later if they are needed which I doubt. I measured over 400 par at 30 inches. Consistent coverage. I may not need the halides =)


It is so bright I cannot look at it without sunglasses. Letting it burn in over night and will work on the canopy tomorrow.

 

[SeahorseKeeper]

Good luck with your build!!

 

[ritter6788]

Following!

Don't hold back like you did on your last tank. :xd:

 

[Aquaph8]

It's been like 3 days, does thing have water in it yet or what? JK man, can't wait to see it come together

 

[SchnitzelReef]

Finally finished with the exception of the optics which will deal with later if they are needed which I doubt. I measured over 400 par at 30 inches. Consistent coverage. I may not need the halides =)


It is so bright I cannot look at it without sunglasses. Letting it burn in over night and will work on the canopy tomorrow.

Don't do halides, T5/led is awesome. The halides will just add a ton of unnecessary heat. DIY setup looks sweet. I did a similar setup on my 8' tank (80w t5s)

 

[CoralFragZ]

I got the lighting mounted and added 60 degree optics and Wow does this thing have high par. I may not ever have to turn on the halides. Next step is to get the rock and sand sucked out.

* Note I removed the front T5's to get a good picture.

 

[StikHedRon]

Man sweet setup, I wanna see your new aquascape!

 

[EW_Fish]

Last tank was awesome I can't wait to see this thing unfold.

 

[Grouchy]

Glad to see you staying with the 320.
Can't wait to see how it turns out

 

[KoleTang]

This will be fun to watch.

What is the significance of adding both sodium nitrate and vinegar in your mixture. Aren't they almost canceling each other out?

Any biopellets in this build or just vinegar?

 

[Grouchy]

Where did you get your lights from?

 

[CoralFragZ]

Here is what I am thinking. One shelf going all of the way accoss. I have about 300 lbs of nice marco rock very mature with sponges today. I will use that rock to elevate this across the tank. About 2/3rds up I am at about 700-900 par with all lights on. With T5 and Led about 300 par.


This will be the ultimate platform for Acros.


Ideas?

 

[KoleTang]

If you can pull off a good looking reef ledge it will look great when the sticks grow in.

You also may be able to get some nice flow patterns like this with that layout. Flow

 

[mcarroll]

Novel, but I can't imagine having a deeper tank, then cutting off my corals' vertical growth potential to make like they were growing in a little tank. (I like big colonies!) I also can't imagine permanently shading off all that space under the shelf. YMMV, obviously!

$0.02

 

[CoralFragZ]

Morning All,


I finished the rock work and finalized the lighting and am very satisfied with the look. I have a few test colonies as the new rock breaks in.


In the final light design I ended up with:


4 250 Watt Radiums with Lumenmax 2 pendant reflectors
96 Cree Royal Blue leds running at 700 MA
24 Cree Blue leds running at 700MA with 90 degree optics
6 ATI Blue + 48" T5 over driven to 80 watts
2 ATI Coral + 48" T5 over driven to 80 watts.
8 Cree Royal Blue LED running at 350 MA for Moons.

The light is incredible and I have not seen better lighting with my own two eyes.


I also finalized the rock work. While it looks to be sitting on the bottom it is actually suspended to allow an underflow. I am going to get two of gyre pumps to keep continuous flow at the bottom of the shelf.


The only issue is that new skimmer is not pulling skimmate like my old SRO 5000 which is prob. because I changed half of the water getting the sand out.


Stay tuned.