Setting up a new 125, help with configuration

[vinny2261]

Be careful of "cheap fluorescent" lighting, moisture can get to the ends and start corrosion. This can lead to a short or a fire. A electronic float switch can be used to shut off your pump if the water level rises to high. The switch set up has a low switch and a high switch. One to top off the Low switch. The High switch is used to stop the pump if the water rises to a flood level.

 

[mal1099]

You could also decide to loss the canopy and go for a hanging light or some with stands that already have a fixture?

 

[Skawt]

You could also decide to loss the canopy and go for a hanging light or some with stands that already have a fixture?

I hear you but the canopy looks good and I am not super handy.

I was actually talking about the fuge light in the cabinet.

 

[NaTe R]

ya that canopy is going to hold alot of heat even if you use a lot of florencent tubes in there. makes the day time temp of the tank rise pretty rapid. before you get to crazy with corals may wanna test your temp swing and see what your going to need to do

althought that kenya tree wont mind to much

 

[Skawt]

ya that canopy is going to hold alot of heat even if you use a lot of florencent tubes in there. makes the day time temp of the tank rise pretty rapid. before you get to crazy with corals may wanna test your temp swing and see what your going to need to do

althought that kenya tree wont mind to much

I have some led panels coming in. I hope they will do the trick. It will end up with 100watts of LEDs plus 160ish watts of t5s. The t5s are in there now and the temp goes up 1-2 degrees during the day. I am hoping a couple of small fans will keep the canopy cool enough to not affect the water temp.

Should have the lights by Wednesday will take pics.

 

[NaTe R]

I have some led panels coming in. I hope they will do the trick. It will end up with 100watts of LEDs plus 160ish watts of t5s. The t5s are in there now and the temp goes up 1-2 degrees during the day. I am hoping a couple of small fans will keep the canopy cool enough to not affect the water temp.

Should have the lights by Wednesday will take pics.

i agree with those lights a couple fans will prob do the trick. I had a similiar setup in the past and i had one 4 inch fan pulling out of the top of the hood right in the center and it did the trick.

 

[Skawt]

Refugium is up and running. Just sand and LR for now.

Need some chaeto.


Last night I found a japanese swallowtail angel and a golden sleeper head goby to add with the rest of the fish this weekend (They are on-hold at the LFS for now). I want to add all the fish to the new tank at the same time. Only other fish I really wanted to find was a yellow mimic tang, anyone know of one for sale locally?

 

[bigblue141]

Red sea Aquarium in Shoreline has one I think. If not I know he can get them in for you.

 

[Skawt]

Got my LED panels in. These are the ones found at http://www.clearlyleds.com I have 10 panels and am going to mount them in two sets of five to work with my canopy.

After playing around with them a bit it looks like using 4 panels worth of blue provides the right amount of moonlight. So I am going to set up the timers to give a cycle like this:

5:00am Moonlights ON
8:00am T-5's ON
10:00am LED Panels ON
9:00pm LED Panels OFF
10:00pm T-5's OFF
Midnight Moonlights OFF

I think I have a pretty slick mounting solution for these, will post pics as I build it out.


I also thought my Sally Lightfoot died. I have had it for a month or so and saw it's shell in the tank. Thinking "Great, just about to move the fish into the new tank and can't even keep a crab alive." Of course an hour later I see it happy as a clam scavenging away. Didn't realize these guys molt and how it got out of that old shell is a mystery, it is 100% complete.

Looking to sell/trade the inhabitants of the 'misfit' tank (5 more posts until I can post in the buy/sell forums). We have a 30g tank that we stick guys in that can't get along with their friends in the main tank. I really only want one tank once we get the 125g fully up and running.

Fish available:
1. Bursa trigger, super fun guy, non-agressive, eats anything in a shell
2. Velvet damsel, big guy around 4", non-agressive with the misfits, had to take him when we bought the live rock from his former home
3. Spotted Sweetlips, was my favorite fish until he went after my new purple firefish, most recent addition to the misfits, still pretty small 3-4"
4. 6-line wrasse, seems like he should be given a chance in the new tank, nervous he will eat snails, he may get a reprieve.

 

[Skawt]

Skimmer arrived today!

I bought a used Lifereef Protein Skimmer VS3-24 off eBay. The seller did not wrap the skimmer so the entire thing was full of styrofoam peanuts. I thought I was in trouble until I filled it in the sink to see if they would float and sure enough they all floated up to the top for easy grabbing.

I hope this was a good choice. Most everyting I have read about this skimmer is positive but I did get some negative feedback after posting I purchased this skimmer.

This thing fits nicely in the space I had and it is quiet:

Since this is my first skimmer I was not sure how to set it up or adjust it so I contacted LifeReef to see if they had any instructions and Jeff emailed me back within 15 minutes with instructions and asked to see pictures of my setup so he could insure it was right. Wow, that is great service! Particularly since I bought it used and they aren't making any money helping me out.

Was going to pick up my last couple of fish today (Swallowtail Angel, Golden Sleeperhead) but I guess they are not ready yet.