-------------------------------------------UPDATEhotos of the build are on pages 3 and 4Diagram of the auto-water change system and frag tank are on page 8Photos of the livestock are on pages 5, 7, 11, 12, 15-------------------------------------------Well, after some to and fro, I have finally decided to take the plunge and upgrade from my current Elos 120 (80 gallons) to an in wall 170. I'm actually picking up RonSF's eurobraced LeeMar. Although I am a pretty experienced reefer, this is a significant size upgrade for me and my first in wall, so I'm hoping to get lots of advice from everyone! This was an impulse buy, so I haven't had time to plan it all out. This is where all of you come in.
http://www.reefcentral.com/forums/showthread.php?s=&threadid=1568304
It's a custom glass, 68" x 24" x 24" tank. The glass looks to be 1/2" thick all around with a tempered bottom. It has two corner overflows with two 2 inch holes and two 1-1/4 inch holes in each overflow. (Holes are actually bigger to accommodate standard sized bulkheads.) In addition, the tank has two holes in the middle of the tank for closed loop returns. In total, the tank has 10 holes drilled.
I am already inheriting a lot of good stuff from my current setup:
Controller: Aquacontroller 3 with Aquasurf
Skimmer: Bubbleking Mini 180
Water flow: 2 x Tunze 6000s
Supplement: Geo 618 Reactor and Aqua medic kalk reactor
Dosing: Litermeter 3 with 2 remote pumps for continuous water change
Ozone: Ozotech
Chiller: Pacific Coast CL-650 1/4HP chiller
The tank will be a mixed reef with a tendency towards sps and acans. The wall that I will be putting the tank into borders the garage, so I can be super messy in there. I am thinking about cutting a fan into the roof of the garage to vent humidity and heat from the lights.
Thinking out loud:
1) My lighting probably needs to be upgraded. Currently I am running a Maristar 2x250w halides + 2x39w T5s. It's great on my current 48" tank, but the new one is 68" and I think I will have dark spots on the side. I am hearing lots of good things about the Coralvue dimmable ballasts and Lumenbright reflectors. I like a pretty blue look, but would like to have fast growth as well. I also love the look of just actinics on... Was thinking about getting some T5 retros to supplement. What do you guys think of 3x250 halides and some T5s for actinic?
2) What size/how many T5s would you do?
3) 250s should be enough, right? No need to consider 400s?
4) Although the tank is drilled for a closed loop, I think I will go with pumps. Electricity bill is a concern and I don't mind the look of pumps. If a CL could be somewhat competitive to pumps on a watt/flow basis, I would consider them. If I do pumps, I would end up capping the holes in the middle of the tank and half the holes in each overflow.
5) I need an efficient, appropriately sized return pump to handle the main tank, a frag tank, fuge, chiller, calcium reactor and phosban. Was thinking about a Sequence snapper... does this sound right?
6) I would set up a manifold with valves off the return pump, to provide water to the various components. Was going to select something like this:
Eight 3/4inch ports (slip socket) x 1.5 slip x 1.5spg
Ok, that's enough for now. Feedback and advise welcome... I am sure I will have more questions later!
Jason
http://www.reefcentral.com/forums/showthread.php?s=&threadid=1568304
It's a custom glass, 68" x 24" x 24" tank. The glass looks to be 1/2" thick all around with a tempered bottom. It has two corner overflows with two 2 inch holes and two 1-1/4 inch holes in each overflow. (Holes are actually bigger to accommodate standard sized bulkheads.) In addition, the tank has two holes in the middle of the tank for closed loop returns. In total, the tank has 10 holes drilled.
I am already inheriting a lot of good stuff from my current setup:
Controller: Aquacontroller 3 with Aquasurf
Skimmer: Bubbleking Mini 180
Water flow: 2 x Tunze 6000s
Supplement: Geo 618 Reactor and Aqua medic kalk reactor
Dosing: Litermeter 3 with 2 remote pumps for continuous water change
Ozone: Ozotech
Chiller: Pacific Coast CL-650 1/4HP chiller
The tank will be a mixed reef with a tendency towards sps and acans. The wall that I will be putting the tank into borders the garage, so I can be super messy in there. I am thinking about cutting a fan into the roof of the garage to vent humidity and heat from the lights.
Thinking out loud:
1) My lighting probably needs to be upgraded. Currently I am running a Maristar 2x250w halides + 2x39w T5s. It's great on my current 48" tank, but the new one is 68" and I think I will have dark spots on the side. I am hearing lots of good things about the Coralvue dimmable ballasts and Lumenbright reflectors. I like a pretty blue look, but would like to have fast growth as well. I also love the look of just actinics on... Was thinking about getting some T5 retros to supplement. What do you guys think of 3x250 halides and some T5s for actinic?
2) What size/how many T5s would you do?
3) 250s should be enough, right? No need to consider 400s?
4) Although the tank is drilled for a closed loop, I think I will go with pumps. Electricity bill is a concern and I don't mind the look of pumps. If a CL could be somewhat competitive to pumps on a watt/flow basis, I would consider them. If I do pumps, I would end up capping the holes in the middle of the tank and half the holes in each overflow.
5) I need an efficient, appropriately sized return pump to handle the main tank, a frag tank, fuge, chiller, calcium reactor and phosban. Was thinking about a Sequence snapper... does this sound right?
6) I would set up a manifold with valves off the return pump, to provide water to the various components. Was going to select something like this:
Eight 3/4inch ports (slip socket) x 1.5 slip x 1.5spg
Ok, that's enough for now. Feedback and advise welcome... I am sure I will have more questions later!
Jason