finally beginning my 480g 5'x5'x30" SPS Reef Tank - Page 10

thirschmann · #**226** 08/07/2007, 08:30 AM

My tank won't be located in the fish room at all. I am still looking into not putting a canopy over the tank, I have made no solid decision on the canopy nor the decorative encloser of the stand.

pcostanzo · #**227** 08/07/2007, 09:45 AM

Oh... If you don't cover the top it would be sick having a 5x5 tank rimless!!! Plus you could show off those Solaris lights.

cbui2 · #**228** 08/07/2007, 11:23 AM

with all those PFO LED fixtures IMO i will not build a canopy. i mean when you look at all of those Solaris LED they are simply amazing.

thirschmann · #**229** 08/07/2007, 11:50 AM

I'm starting to like that idea more and more. I was considering a canopy so that I could vent the area above the fish tank without have to worry about sucking out to much AC but I hope there won't be to much evaporation anyways (proably will be though)

cbui2 - The solaris fixtures do look great. Well I purchased my tradewinds 1.5hp chiller today, the same one that your purchased, and I should have it by this weekend. Won't help me much since I am out of the country but still looking forward to getting my components together.

here is a link to the chiller
http://www.tradewindchillers.com/specsheet.html
it is the IL-180-S which is 18,000 btu's

and here is the RO/DI system I bought as well. Looking forward to getting 300gpd

. That should do the job.

at least when i get back everything should be ready for me to start working on my build.

erics3000 · #**230** 08/07/2007, 12:01 PM

thirschmann I am just obssed like you and everyone here. I agree if you go rimless you cant have a canopy it defeats the purpose. All and ALL its whatever that floats your boat. But when you get this one done then you can build a rimmless tank in another room. Now is the perfect time to plan for it. Water changes and all. I am dieing to put a rimless in my family room. One day....

I have been looking around for RO systems myself. For my size I am thinking about going with a 100gpd. Marc has some decent prices on his site. I might just throw him a bone. God only knows how much info I got from his site. I think in Winter park you have city water. I have well water and think I am going to need a booster pump. That does look like a sweet RO system.

cbui2 · #**231** 08/07/2007, 01:12 PM

are you getting the Goodman also? i have the same 2 larger unit on my home and work fine now. i have been at the new house for 1 yr now and works like a charm. its good to get the best in the beginning so upgrading is not needed in the near future. my window tinter just purchased the new H4 20k 72" fixture for his setup which is totally awesome. i will be making a trip to Disney toward the end of the year so i can lend a helping hand if needed

.

thirschmann · #**232** 08/07/2007, 03:11 PM

eric - therre are still some logistical challenges with having a tank this large without a canopy but I am looking into my options. As mentioned before I was planing on putting an extration fan above the tank and I think the canopy would look nice in the room. Plus I had a great idea for access to the canopy that would not interupt the clean look of it what so ever. I might hold off on telling you all but I usually don't like it when people hold out for to long.

100gpd is a lot of water. I have a 80gpd unit now but I really wish I could make more water faster. Apart from top off it also takes a decent amount of time to make enough water for a water change in an emergency. That is why I decided to go for the bigger, well that and I am impatient at times, probably not the best personality trait for someone who is into reef tanks.

A boaster pump is worth it because without it you will probably not get close to your 100gpd. Even in winter park I was barely getting enough pressure to make my previous RO/DI unit work properly.

bart - I think so. I ordered the same one you did, thanks to your guidance, so I am assuming it will be the Goodman as well. You didn't request a Goodman did you? I am looking forward to the reliability of this chiller. I am buying a second 1hp chiller that will be inline, inside the sump room, after the 1.5hp tradewinds. The second chiller will be set 3 degress higher then the tradewinds so if the first chiller fails the second one will kick in automatically. I agree, if you have the best you usually don't have to worry.

I would love any help I could get, especially from someone who is a detail orientated as you. The quality of your setup really is an inspiration for what I am striving for. Of course if all goes well, which it almost never does, you will get to see my tank completely set up already but my fish will still have to be in QT.

About QT, I am friends with a guy who runs a specialzied LFS down here and he has about 60x40 breeders in his store that are usually half empty (this is because he usually only deals with hotels, restaurants, and large private tank owners.) As I will be getting my fish through him anyways I might be able to hold them at his store for 6 to 8 weeks for QT without having to go through the hassle of setting up such a operation at home. Plus I could do this before my tank is completely set up so that I am ready to add fish once it is done cycling. Not all of the fish of course.

and finally, I made the biggest purchase to date. I placed an order for a total of 65 items from marinedepot.com. This order includes my controller, probes, back up 1hp chiller, 1 hammerhead, 3 barracudas, 1 dart, 2 tunze 6201, 2 vortechs, 180w Pentair UV sterilizer, 2 Wavyseas, etc....

well that was a lot of writting... time to have a beer, chill, and nurse my poor debit card back to health

thirschmann · #**233** 08/07/2007, 03:16 PM

Bart - btw your installer must be psyched about his 72" Solaris H4. Have you have a chance to check them out yet?

jnarowe · #**234** 08/07/2007, 03:17 PM

drool...that's going to be a fun day when all that arrives!

cbui2 · #**235** 08/07/2007, 03:47 PM

yes its due in next week i believed

thirschmann · #**236** 08/07/2007, 07:12 PM

Almost everything but the chiller should be in by this Saturday. I'm going to get my brother, who is staying at my house, to take a few pictures for me.

Any advice on where I can find good quality grey flex PVC?
I have checked on flexpvc.com and pondsolutions.com but would like suggestions.

thirschmann · #**237** 08/07/2007, 07:17 PM

bart - did you request a goodwin AC for your chiller or did the unit come standard that way. Thanks

EBOLII · #**238** 08/07/2007, 07:32 PM

Were did you get the RO/DI system? Competitive rates?

thirschmann · #**239** 08/07/2007, 07:46 PM

Aqua FX. Pricey unit but seems well worth it. I know they make a very good quality product and are obsessed with high qaulty materials. The owners gave a talk at one of our ORCA meetings. She is as passionate about water as we are about aquariums.

erics3000 · #**240** 08/07/2007, 08:02 PM

thirschmann that was the only ORCA meeting I made. I was there with my wife. I remember that lady she knew her water for sure. hahaha I might have talked to you that day and didn't know it. Someone there had a red ferrari.

I must say that is one hell of an order you made today..WHEEEWW I will drink one for you.

cbui2 · #**241** 08/08/2007, 12:58 AM

Quote:

Originally posted by thirschmann
bart - did you request a goodwin AC for your chiller or did the unit come standard that way. Thanks

thats what he had sent me, but i didn't request that. i am very happy with the unit. i guess you can give him a call to see. i have never bought grey flex sorry on thast one, but since i knew the guys at HD. i got the best deal at contractor wholesale prices on all my plumbing.

thirschmann · #**242** 08/08/2007, 10:44 AM

eric - funny how things like that happy, definetely a small world. I would have said that was my brother's red ferrari but I know he wasn't there. I would like to know who can afford the car and the reef tank, lucky guy.

And I'm looking forward to taking inventory of my equipment. I will only have time for that when I get back as I start Crummer business school 2 days after I get back.

bart - I'll drop Hal a line, seems like a really nice guy. I'm sure it will be the same quality unit but just to make sure.

Does anyone have opinions on putting a vlamingi on my fish list. Another great looking fish.
Would still like some opinions on greyspa flex suppliers from anyone who's got an answer for me.

Reefski's · #**243** 08/08/2007, 11:43 AM

vlamingi are cool but they get huge.

EBOLII · #**244** 08/08/2007, 12:06 PM

Is that RO/DI the Great White or Mako?

thirschmann · #**245** 08/08/2007, 12:13 PM

carloskoi - I know, very cool though... hate to get a fish I have to get rid of at some point. Hmmm

ebolii - its the great white with the chloramine buster.

btw I finally opted to go with 2 barracudas over 1 hammerhead for my filtration to insure i have enough flow for all of my components. Should I hook them up to one manifold or two seperate manifolds?

jnarowe · #**246** 08/08/2007, 04:24 PM

I pondered a vlamingi for a long time, and too be frank, nearly got one, but the fact is, if you have ever seen a grown one, they get totally huge. I finally decided that my reef would look more realistic with smaller fish, and am still looking for a school of 40 - 50 fish that stay under 3".

As far as the pumps go, I power my entire return system with a Hammerhead but I don't subscribe to high flow sumps. Seperate manifolds seems to be smarter in that you would have the option of isolating them like when you take a pump offline. Hard to understand what you mean without a drawing though.

thirschmann · #**247** 08/08/2007, 05:05 PM

The vlamingi is a cool looking fish but that fact that it grows to 2' is a little daunting. I have never seen one in person so I can only imagine what a 2' fish looks like in a 5' tank, must be really depressing. I was wondering how fast they grow from their juvinel state, eventhough I hate to get rid of my fish once i have them so.... damn it.

Maybe you can get a really creepy school of 50 purple firefish

I am an equipment junky and think I need the flow from those pumps to run everything at peak efficiency. Seperate manifolds it is then, and thanks for busting my balls about the drawings. They will be coming along soon and there is nothing you can do to stop me.

As always, thanks for the advice.

jnarowe · #**248** 08/08/2007, 05:27 PM

no firefish for me dude...I have seen too many of them flopping on LFS' floors for my comfort level. Especially since I have the open Diamond reflectors with 1000W lamps!

I have seen a nearly full grown vlamingi in an 8' tank and while I admired the fish, I don't think it was having much fun.

As far as pumps go, I went for just the one for long-term electrical usage. I am not in the same tax bracket as most of these reef nuts so I wanted to be as efficient as possible, hence the three 1000W lamps on movers instead of 12 - 14 400W lamps. But you know, why don't you use two Hammerheads?

thirschmann · #**249** 08/08/2007, 06:16 PM

I was joking about the firefish... though they would be nicely cooked on their flight path out of your tank.

Sounds to depressing to keep a vlamingi, maybe I'll get a baby and pass it on to seaworld when it reachs 8"

I was going to use two hammerheads but decided I didn't get enought flow

. So I'm going to use a hammerhead for my main return and use the two barracudas for my manifolds, I can always tune them down if I have to or take one out if I have I seriously over estimated my flow needs. I am concerned about electrical use as well but I hope that I can save a few watts by going the solaris route. Only time will tell. Maybe I will go broke and then you all can buy up my equipment cheap.

erics3000 · #**250** 08/08/2007, 06:26 PM

I am first in line..hhahahahh Just kidding..Not really..Yes I am..Not really..PM me ..hahah

ANyway..Damm your gona have some nice flow..

30 to 50 schooling fish would be incredible. I am dieing to have a school of something. My wife isn't really impressed by green Chromis. I like them.. 30 anthias would add up big time. Maybe I will go broke before thirschmann.