A 750g SPS system is born

[Forestal]

Very nice setup...very obvious how much planning went into it...I also love the look of your lighting rack
i am planning a 150, much smaller, but i like your aquascaping and closed loop ideas. I look forward to updates.

 

[The R/C Man]

Very nicely done! The pictures are great! It is always nice to be able to get ideas from others for my 360 gallon tank project.... Keep em coming.......

 

[Katchupoy]

all i can say is O M G...... cant wait for the rest of the development process

 

[MtnDewMan]

I enjoy the pictures and the progress. Don't let the people who like to put people down because they have awesome setups get you down. He apparently joined RF just to do that, so obviously that is what makes him happy (to belittle other people). We all can see through that kind of thing here on RF, so keep us up on the progress on your great setup.

 

[dsdemer]

My wife would have my head on a stake if I even thought about building a tank that big. Awesome tank, keep the pictures coming.

 

[dgasmd]

Thanks for the kind words guys. I don't get bog down by these kind of stuff. I grew up a long time ago even though it seems people my same age hasn't yet. I don't live or do anything to please others either. I treat others exactly like I want to be treated. No more and no less. Some people just live at the beat of their own drum though, good or bad.

This tank is going to take a long time to look like much of anything. I am doing my best to stick to frags, but it will take a whlie for them to grow into much of anything. With my previous tank, I had the "I want to fill it to the brim with corals", but with this one I am trying to be much more discriminating as to what I add in it. That goes for both, fish and corals. I am aso trying to correct some of the mistakes I made by quarintining fish and corals this time. I have a smaller 60g cube tank that I am using as a quarintine tank. Here are a couple of pictures below. It is very basic:

-60g acrylic cube made by myreefcreations (24"x24"x24"). The one aquarium related item I regreat ever getting the most.
-150 watt DE aquaconnect 14K bulb with blueline ballasts (all bought used)
-cheapo heater from petco
-iwaki 30 return pump (bought used)
-2 phosban reactors. One with carbon and one with phosban.
-60 Lb of haitian rock from a LFS.
-tons of direct sunlight daily all day long.
-2 of the SEIO 820 powerheads
-cheap lexan sump made free by a friend.
-Stand and canopy made by the same sump friend
-the crappiest stain job you'll find this side of the pacific

 

[Forestal]

nice, and by the way...i think the tank already looks great, don't make it sound bad. you are doing it the right way, with patience and planning, it will continue to look good as it ages, and you will be rewarded with the evolving healthy tank.

i figure i am finally ready to set up the 150, because of the 8 tanks of 40, 55, and 60 i have set up i have learned from my mistakes...now i will learn whole new mistakes

I hope someday to be in the class of reef keeper such as you and those on the board here.

[thumbs up]

 

[WaterDogs]

What type of screws were used to build the stand? I'm thinking about building myself a stand using drywall screws but I don't know if those are the correct choice?

Thanks,
Dwaine

 

[mojoreef]

Looks awesome Alberto. The flow through with the milk crates and spray should work real well for keeping the detritus from collecting. Have you had a chance to reduced the Cl inputs yet??

Dont worry about nay sayers, we have a very short rope here,enjoy and become part of the community or dont.


take care


Mike

 

[dgasmd]

Mike:

I have not got around doing that yet. The pumps that were heating up the water were the close loop pumps, so I took them offline and sent them to be replaced. The new ones should be here in about 10 days. Given there is nothing but a clown fish and a mystery wrasses 1.5" long in the tank, it won't bother anything.

 

[rIngo]

very nice! Question though, with the lumenarc reflector will it cover the 48" width of the tank? I thought the most space a metal halide would cover was 24" x 24". And who sells those lumenarc reflectors? can't seem to find anybody that carries them.

 

[CarlaW]

Alberto,
Keep the pics and explanations coming. One of these days, I hope to upgrade to something about that size. I know you'll have enuf lite! I am anxious to see the whole tanks progress thruout the year, I hope!!

 

[dgasmd]

Thanks. The 2'x2' area you refer to is actually for most other reflectors. Lumenarcs are supposed to spread well over a 4'x4' area, but it obviously depends on how high the bulbs are too. I have a 6"-8" area on either side between the rock and the glass that I don't need direct light over, so we'll see how they come out.

You can get them from PacificGardenSuppy.com You MUST buy the socket for them together for it comes with a special bracket that you cannot just make at home.

 

[cheeks69]

Wow !!! Now that's a tank :lol: Congrats Alberto to say it's an impressive display is an understatement :exclaim:

 

[big t]

-60g acrylic cube made by myreefcreations (24"x24"x24"). The one aquarium related item I regreat ever getting the most.

Nice setup, and I was wondering if you could expand on this a little? I think that would be a pretty cool size.

 

[dgasmd]

What I meant by it is that I ever regreat getting it from MRC. Against my better judgement, I bought this tank from him. He told me it would be done in 3 weeks and delivered and it took about 9 weeks including him sending it to my previous address. He had already sent other stuff to my current address, so that delayed it even more. Then, there is a 1/8"-1/4" gap at the bottom where the overflow is supposed to be glued to the bottom. So, when you fill the tank, water goes into the overflow at the same rate and if there isn't a stand pipe there, it will continue to come out. Thank god I leak tested it in the garage before I brought it inside. Then, there are gaps in the top, so when you run the magnet or when you stick your hands in the tank and the water columm rises a tiny bit, water spills out through those gaps too. To say that I was more than dissatisfied with the product is a gross understatement. I sent him a couple of emails about it and he didn't even reply. However, he always replied before. I am yet to have one single piece of equipment from him that has worked as advertised and I have had a larger Ca reactor, a kalk reactor, the new version of his kalk reactor, and now this cube.

As far as the dimensions go, the are nice, but require more rock than I would liek to make it work right. I had in mind to low key and low budget on this, so if I had to do it all over again, I would go with 16" high instead.

Please let me know if that doesn't answer your question.

 

[dgasmd]

Alberto!!!! Glad to see this thread Congrats on getting to this point! Woohoo!!

Did you get the MBVs wired alright?

Also, where did you get your power strips, and are they all metal? Brand names and model numbers would be great!

Nikki:

I sincerely apologize for not replying to your questions earlier. I read them and kept on reading and simply forgot to answer them.

I had an electrician put in a separate breaker box for the tank only, so all the equipment would be in its separate system. Also, I needed a 220v line for the chiller. I asked him to make me a box with about 30 outlets to it and switches for each an he laughed at me. He said that what it would cost me to ahve him make it would be a waste of my money. He told me to go to HD instead and buy 3-4 of the outlet strips (like the ones in the picture) that are for heavy duty equipment. They are rated for high amperage draw. He then told me to just take the plugs off the ends and hard wire those directly to the breakers ( yet to do it ). They were about $22 each and can be bought at any HD or Lowes in the electrical section. I will spread the lights and pumps among them as each of these strips is going to go in its separate 20A breaker. I could run all the lines in one, all pumps in another, etc, but redundancy is better I think.

As far as the MBV's, no, I have not wire them yet. I ahve the timer, the wires, and everything else needed, but I ahve been lazy. I plan to do nothing else until I get the pumps back from Sequence and I put them back on. I want to run all my wires inside pipes to make it all very clean, so I want to do it all at once and need the pumps for that.

Hope that answers your questions. Let me know if you ahve any others. Again, sorry for the oversight.

 

[NaH2O]

Again, sorry for the oversight.

No problem, Alberto! I'm used to being ignored . That's going to cost you a beer, you know.

Thanks for the info on the powerstrips - I like the heavy duty ones, and just needed to know where you bought them. We are redoing my electrical (after I get some drywall work done downstairs, from a bathroom flood upstairs), and we also have a seperate panel.

 

[Maxx]

I dont know if this would worthwhile for Alberto simply because he already has his powerstrips purchased, and also because his tank is just enormous....
But I went ahead and bought 2 of these:American DJ PC-100A Power Centers for my tank. I like em alot. On/Off switches for each outlet....bought them at the local Guitar Center for $29.99 each. Might want to think about it.
Nick

 

[Scooterman]

I saw these at Home Depot locally, guess they would keep them at most locations, you may need to ask for them, sometimes it is like wal-mart, not everything located where they belong. Look for 12awg wiring & 20amp breakers on those outlet boxes, still not sure why he would want to hard wire them directly to the breaker, other than preventative medicine, which if the wiring was braded, I'd probably just use the plugs, maybe tie-wrap them down.