Project 150!!

[Maxx]

Just about completed the frame of the canopy....will have it finished and will put a coat of polyurethane on it today....figure two coats should do it.

Also, its not looking like I'm gonna be able to keep sand in this tank.....the flow from the return bounces off the front glass and pushes the sand back for about 4-5 inches and leaves a bare spot of exposed cuttingboard for about a foot and a half...I'll know for sure when I get the Thorite and can make the rock racks...More rock in the tank might make a difference...

need to take a pic of the tank with the rock in it and the huge bare spot...

Progress is slow, but steady...

Nick

 

[Scooterman]

Progress is slow, but steady...

Nick

Well If you consider that slow, I guess my tank progress once completed will be time to tear it down & start over :lol::badgrin: :lol: :badgrin: :lol:

 

[Maxx]

Scott...you know I'm impatient!
I want it done NOW!

I can wait on the cycling and all that...I just want the build to be done...

Nick

 

[Maxx]

Just got off the phone w/ Chris from Sunlight Supply. I'm using their reflectors and ballasts on my 58 gallon and decided to use more of their stuff on the 120.

I've got two Lumen Max 2 Reflectors I will be using on the 120. I called Chris to ask him if it mattered which direction they were mounted since the reflector portion of the unit is actually square...(I couldnt see how it could, but wanted to know for sure...these guys are the rocket scientists who built the damn things....for all I know, they'll freaking explode if mounted wrong...)

Chris told me they were fine to mount either parallel or perpendicular to the tank, as they reflected in a square pattern.

This works out well as I was wanting to hook up my VHO's for dawn/dusk periods and wasnt going to be able to if they needed to be mounted perpendicular to the tank.

So I've got that going for me...

Nick

 

[Scooterman]

WOW those aren't Cheap! Are these vented some way? This is just the reflector housing right?<?xml:namespace prefix = o ns = "urn:schemas-microsoft-comfficeffice" /><o></o>
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The light I got from Krish has built in LED's, 8 blues on each side of the fixture & 8 whites on each side. The blues make great moon lights & the whites makes great pre-dawn affects, very cool, they put out a good bit of light, I just need to add the timers. I think I may do something like this when I get my real lights, & from there rev up to H.O. T5's then the first MH, later the second. After so long I'll reverse the order except the last will be the moon lights on a lunar timer. Sorta complicated sounding I know but really easier than it sounds.<o></o>

 

[Maxx]

I bought them from Premium Aquatics and only paid $149.99 each for them...

I was going to get new reflectors, either Lumarc's or these, these were cheaper, were designed to compete w/ the Lumenarc's, and worked w/ my current ballasts....according to Sanjay, the Lumen Max 1's (I have the LM2's...newer & better design) did a pretty good job competing against the LA3's...

Nick

 

[Scooterman]

That is good to know, also I like the housing rather just an open reflector, even though it may run cooler vrs the housing. I'll have to give them serious thoughts when i'm ready to get the lighting. How about their ballast, didn't see much on testing of them & they are really expensive? (talking about theirs vrs PFO or other similar ballast)?

 

[Maxx]

I have been running two Bluewave IV's which are basically IceCap Electronic ballasts in a pretty blue box for the last 2.5 years....zero issues and I wanted to buy some more. IceCap would only give a 3 year warranty on their ballasts, Sunlight Supply was offering a 5 year warranty...no brainer to me.

Unfortunately, IceCap and Sunlight Supply parted ways and SLS no longer offers the Bluewave IV. I was pretty bummed out since I liked the ballasts I already had...but wound up buying a Bluewave 7 Dual HQI ballast for the new tank. I have absolutely no idea why SLS is using those prices as a MFRP...cause I didnt pay anywhere near that....$223.95 once again from Premium Aquatics.

After talking w/ Chris today at SLS...I found out they are now offering the Galaxy E-ballast, and you can buy a dual version of it....might have gone that route if it had been available when I was buying....but I dont know what E-ballast is inside the Galaxy and would want to know that before hand.

Nick

 

[Scooterman]

Well If IC broke off with them then what in in the bluewave 7?
I was looking at the galaxy today, wonder how good are these also? I guess I need to make some calls and see, never heard of these! One last question, on the dual ballast, if one side goes out, can you replace it or do you can the whole ballast?

 

[Maxx]

I just called Chris again...he didnt answer so I left a message. I would assume that you could open up the box the ballasts are in and replace the defective one....otherwise, thats a poor design IMO...

Nick

 

[Scooterman]

yea that would be poor design, also i don't know if not being able to locate them separately wouldn't be easier.

 

[class clown]

Nick - hey, what made you choose Oceanic for your tank? I am thinking of getting a glass tank in the 150-180 range and this is a brand I'm looking at. What do you think of hte quality so far? any complaints? Are those the standard overflows that come with it?

 

[Maxx]

Uhm....what made me choose this tank was Nikki (NaH20) was getting rid of it at a good price...LOL.

This is an older tank, and in the interim between the time this tank was built and now, Oceanic was bought out by All-Glass. No lowering of quality from what I'm able to see via the net, but I think they may have changed overflow designs now...check em out at www.oceanicsystems.com ...
According to the website, they have the megaflow overflow...which exactly what All-Glass calls theirs....

No complaints on the tank over all....They come w/ 2 one inch drains and two 3/4 returns.....but I'm using all 4 as drains.

Nick

 

[Reefdaddy1]

Nick you shoulda called bro, I coulda saved you major dollars on those lights. But all is good in the world. LOL

 

[class clown]

10-4 -thx for the info

 

[Maxx]

Well If IC broke off with them then what in in the bluewave 7?
I was looking at the galaxy today, wonder how good are these also? I guess I need to make some calls and see, never heard of these! One last question, on the dual ballast, if one side goes out, can you replace it or do you can the whole ballast?

Scott,
The Bluewave 7 is a PFO HQI ballast...

Got an email from Christ Guthrie from SLS today, regarding the Galaxy E-ballasts...
"Hi Nick, I’m not sure who makes the components of the Galaxy they are coming out of China. As far as one side of the dual not working we don’t repair the Galaxy if something goes wrong we just replace it. But keep in mind we can not replace it until we receive the bad one back which we will pay shipping both ways.

I dont like that he doesnt know who is making the ballast inside the box....there is a big difference between E-ballasts IMO and from what I've read. IceCap and ARO are probably the best in terms of PAR values on various bulbs. I also dont like the fact that if one side dies, you're w/o a ballast until your new one arrives....not good. But on the upside...they are in this business, and know how detrimental that can be to a reef tank so I would assume they have the utmost confidence in their product. Also, I wouldnt exactly expect them to replace something w/o confirmation that it was infact broken. There are some unscrupulous people out there who would think nothing of stealing by deceit...
I guess they have to protect themselves...

Nick you shoulda called bro, I coulda saved you major dollars on those lights. But all is good in the world. LOL

Hey Bob,
looked through your website...they only SLS stuff I saw you carried was the RO3 pendants, and I wanted the Lumen Max 2's for this tank....didnt see the part on your home page where you state you carry some things not listed on the website...sorry. (Reading I Fundamental....)

Ben...happy to help. BTW, you might want to check your sig line....the link to your tank is down...errror message is in place of tank stats...

Nick

 

[Maxx]

04-11-07

Things are moving slower than I had originally hoped...doesnt it always?

Anyway...
Long story short, wound up suspending the canopy from a pine closet rod that's about an inch thick. It is mounted below the joists.

I tried playing with the pulley system several different ways, and each way worked out as bad as the first. The death knell for the pulley set up was when the wife came in and asked how long I expected "that ghetto fabulous contraption to keep working?"



I can still raise/lower the lights 10.5 inches, which at their highest point will have the lights some 15 inches or so above the water level.

I also put some coarser sand down in the bare spot. The intent being to see if that gets blown around. If it doesnt, then the sand stays, if it does...well, then I have another BB tank.
The sand I put in initially is 0.5-1.0 mm in diameter. The new stuff is 2.0-4.0 mm in diameter. I'm not going any bigger than that for this...

Pics will follow later.

Nick

 

[Maxx]

I'm slacking on the photo's, but I did do some messing around with the Thorite last night. Thorite sets up pretty quick....to the point that it gets interesting to work with sometimes.

I coated one PVC rock rack with the Thorite, and used up most of the Thorite in the 10lb can I bought. Thorite is sold in lbs since its dry, but it came in what's basically a 1 gallon paint can.

After I get home from work, I'll post pics...promise.

Nick

 

[Maxx]

04-15-07

As promised here are some pics.....nothing spectacular, but its something new to look at...

Here is the new canopy:

Its not lowered fully, it comes down about another inch, placing it just above the top of the tank. The VHO's sit below the MH's, but on either side so they are not touching. Not necessarily proud of the handles to raise/lower the canopy, but the eye bolts work better than my last system. Besides, they are simple and were inexpensive.
Ignore the rats nest of wires...those are for the Streams and will be stored neatly when this all comes together.

Here are some pics of the Thorite experiment...

First off, let me state its not any where near finished....still looks like pvc covered in cement, so I'm not happy. I will be adding more Thorite to the rack to break up the outlines and camoflage it more....

But, it went from this...

to this :

Not a bad start IMO....added the acrylic feet to raise it up off the bottom so detritus doesnt get caught up under there.

I'm tired, need to get up earlier tomorrow morning...

Nick

 

[vwmoneypit]

what is your mix for the cement is it #3 portland?