izzypop

Just an update for ya all. Got the skimmer installed and electrical done. The inline 220v timer and 110v timer installed. The helios 400w bulbs I'm having a little trouble getting working but once I sort out the bulb thing I'll get some pics.

Something very cool on the way is a brand new H&S 200CR-F3000 Calcium Reactor. Can't wait to get that baby hooked up. I'll get some pics of it when it arrives. Knowing H&S availability I'm not waiting by the door for it.

aqua medic so it's pretty good.

I used the Tunze one on my original tank and had 0 problems with it. Check out the osmolator from Tunze I think it's better

I have caribsea brand sand in the tank. Not sure what kind. The sand didn't blow around at all. I'm just to lazy to get in there and spread it out. It is in the same spot I dumped it. Once I get the rock aquascaped I'll worry about getting the sand where I want it.

The Dart can run restricted and uses way less watts that way too. read the last post. I would run the Dart and if you have to throttle it back no biggie. I would somehow make it 1.5" in though for sure.

http://www.reefcentral.com/forums/showthread.php?s=&threadid=991012

Cool video. I like your rock structure in the front right corner. sweet. I'm a little dizzy though but it's way cool. Does the wavebox have that dizzy effect on you in person?

Rich once again the king of DIY.

Dimming. That is what I want for sure. I like the idea of a rope since I have 6 feet to deal with. What is this some xmas light thing? or is it in the regular lighting section? I'll go check it out today after work.

I haven't figured out my moonlights yet. I have tried the cheap led versions and I've seen the nice PFO ones but nothing has jumped out at me yet for moonlights.

Are those cold cathode lights proven safe for a moon light on a reef tank? Those look cool for sure. Those LED tubes look sweet too. Hmmm maybe have to give this a try.

Your corals shouldn't receed they should actually appear happier when your moon lights are on. All polyps out and extended. My corals have never had to adjust to any new moonlights I've tried. Your fish will disappear that's fine.

Sweet Shannon!!!

Your Monti's are way cool and take a look at that "orange cap with green digi pic" people. The orange cap is getting green digi streaks in it from merging together. I have never seen that before in anyone else's tank and get a kick out it every time I see it.

Parts of the cap have bright green streaks in it. You definately got some kind of ReefHut LE coral there. I would love a green striped orange cap.

actually you pay the electric bill on that 1/2hp since you pay taxes hopefully

1/2 hp pci chiller should be fine providing you vent it somewhere and not the classroom.

Here ya go buddy. You know how much point and shoot digital cameras love straight actinic lighting.

vho's mounted

got the vho's mounted. here's a pic

yea when you look at them side by side the radiums look blue'r compared to the helios. The helios looks brighter to the eye and lights deeper in the tank. If i wasn't going with actinic I would run radiums.

Got the VHO mounts installed. Next just screw in the end caps and I'll get some pics.

Yea I'll have 4 - 6 foot VHO's under there. Those pics coming next.

I'll be going with Helios 20K bulbs since I'm running HQI. I've seen these right next to radiums and I like the bright white they give off. I also like radiums so those are in my selection too.

some more electrical done and wired and mounted the lumenarcs. Also completed the light rack.

Had a great day getting goodies and starting the light rack. Got the 3 - 400w PFO HQI ballasts and 4 160w VHO's are ready too. The ballasts are 220v so my electrical will run cool.

We repositioned the garage door brace, hung the rails and built the light rack. The light rack is working and in place but there is a couple little things to fix before it is entirely ready. Fix those and get crackin on electrical which should be pretty simple the way we have it laid out.

dewalt is the best

these things crank

rails up

mocking up the hood

hood up

she slides

happy man

make sure garage door opens. Fits perfect

Anyone have any connections or tickets for the mount hood polar express train for sale?? I have $$$, corals, equipment. Let me know the 15th, 16th, 17th or 18th. At least 2 adults and 1 child. I have family coming into town and they want to do this....

Theron!!! You ended up movin. Hope all is going well for you.

Acrylic vs. Glass thing I don't want to get into but I will say I originally ordered a glass tank with starphire but it was smaller. I still like glass over acrylic under the 240gal mark. After that I think they are just way to heavy to deal with and get nervous any larger. When the glass tank didn't work out I went acrylic because obvioulsy Envision is right here and I COULD GO BIGGER. I was also under a time crunch with the new baby and Envision whipped out my tank in record time. All in all I am very happy with it.

I forget the distance from the floor to the tank but I think it is somewhere around 35". Most stands are like 30" tall so I am pretty close. My garage floor is a foot or two lower than the living room so I couldn't go much higher without having to go really tall on my stand. As it is the stand in the garage is 4 feet tall with 3 - 3/4 plywood stacked on top. The tank is a lot taller than my bigscreen TV height. Plus the taller you go the less colorful the corals look since the color is all on top of the coral. I didn't want to be looking up at the coral from underneath. Also the higher you have it the more you can see into the garage from the top of the tank. When you are sitting down which is what I'll be doing most of the time I am definately looking up at the tank. If it was in a hallway or somewhere you would be looking at the tank standing up I would have went taller. I went somewhere in the middle.

The tank sits under my garage door slightly. The light rack is going to be tricky and tight but should be fine. The garage door fully opens and closes. I have a shop that is detached from the house which has all my "garage stuff" in it and all this garage does is keep a car and some storage so essentially it is just another room with a concrete floor. I am not going to build a room around it "yet". My wife is eventually going to remodel the home and when she does I'll build a room around it. I'm going to plumb a fan exhaust for humidity and heat to the outside but so far it is just fine. Stays a little chilly but with all the equipment and over 300gals of 78 degree water it stays pretty warm in there.

I love the bottom edge of your picture frame around the tank. I think that looks great. I think it looks better than if you did just a picture frame look all around.

 

Hope that made sense.

 

Tammy

Thanks. What we actually ended up doing was sliding the tank inside the wall almost half way. So the tank does sit inside the wall for a nice tight seal and you don't have that sunken look effect. The sill was something we decided on after looking at a bunch of inwall pics and the ones that were in "my style" of inwall looked best with the window sill look. The HUGE bonus to this style which didn't occur to us was that the tank is not flush with the wall so when the kids and people are viewing the tank they don't accidently scratch it or brush up against it. They can can put there grubby little hands on the sill instead of the tank. Also when you are bending down to look at something you have a place to rest your arms. To see pics of it now makes it look very simple but man was there a lot of planning and construction to make this the way I wanted.

We finally have a plan to finish up the moulding which should make it look really nice. Right now you can just see the water line at the top of the tank. It looks okay but we are going to change up the moulding at the top a little to hide it.

more pics for ya all

I've got all the stuff for the light rail system and some other stuff like pumps and lights. Here are some pics. We are still working on the moulding and well... everything else. Enjoy....

that's not how you do it. you click on the "post reply" button then click on the "paperclip" button in the toolbar and go from there.

Well I am hoping to have the majority of it done by the end of January. That is when our new baby is due. I will have the stuff for the light rack in this week and working on that next. Then electrical. This stuff is never completed but hey I have 4 chromis in there. Well I think I do, I'll find out when I can turn on the lights.

oh yea very sweet and it doubles as a popcorn maker too.

It was actually a stunt double in Star Wars for R2D2 and they were going to toss it out so I took it, put some becketts on it and here we are.... It's all about saving $$ when you can.

Ahh thank you. That helps me alot. Yea I saw those and had to have them.

I've only seen the singles before? 1 bulb = 2 endcaps

This picture looks like they are running 2 bulbs with 2 endcaps. 1 endcap has a connection for two bulbs. I know the wiring would be the same but I like the look of those Y style caps.

Anyone know who makes these Y style VHO endcaps? I want to use these on my new setup but have never seen them before.