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  #1  
Old 12/07/2007, 07:55 PM
bmwaaron bmwaaron is offline
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Bmwaaron's 200 gallon A.G.E. starfire tank

Well this is it, Ive been waiting to start this thread until I had some of the new stuff ready to go.

Im upgrading from a 90 gallon Oceanic tank. I have had this tank for about a year and 8 months and am ready to step up into something bigger.

Here is the current tank, Picture is about a month old
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  #2  
Old 12/07/2007, 07:58 PM
bmwaaron bmwaaron is offline
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The stand

This is the new stand being built. I had is custom built by Wood perfect in Dallas. The stand is 72X24X40
The trim hides the bottom 2 inches of the sandbed I plan to have.







And the finished product

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  #3  
Old 12/07/2007, 08:00 PM
bmwaaron bmwaaron is offline
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Skimmer

At MACNA I decided to buy a Bubble King mini skimmer which will be what I use on the new system.

I am breaking in the new skimmer on the current tank and it does a great job



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Aaron
  #4  
Old 12/07/2007, 08:04 PM
nietzsche nietzsche is offline
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wow great work on the stand and your 90 looks great
  #5  
Old 12/07/2007, 08:04 PM
bmwaaron bmwaaron is offline
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The tank

New tank

I decided on a Starfire custom tank from A.G.E.
A few guys locally got these tanks and I was so impressed with the quality of the tank that I had to have one.
The tank is 72 long, 24 wide and 28 Tall which is about 210 gallons.


I am go glad I decided to wait and get the tank I wanted. It took about 2.5 months to get it built but I think its the best decision I have made thus far.
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  #6  
Old 12/07/2007, 08:07 PM
bmwaaron bmwaaron is offline
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One thing I am trying to decide on right now is the background for the tank. I like the blue I have now but am leaning towards black at the moment.....
Any suggestions?
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  #7  
Old 12/07/2007, 08:10 PM
nietzsche nietzsche is offline
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its really up to you. its your tank and no one can tell you what you should have.

i prefer black on a tank because the corals and fish stand out more. if you have blue it kind of drowns it out
  #8  
Old 12/07/2007, 08:15 PM
bmwaaron bmwaaron is offline
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Quote:
Originally posted by nietzsche
its really up to you. its your tank and no one can tell you what you should have.

i prefer black on a tank because the corals and fish stand out more. if you have blue it kind of drowns it out
Thanks Nietzshe thats exactly what I was thinking...
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  #9  
Old 12/07/2007, 08:19 PM
nietzsche nietzsche is offline
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that's some really great work on the stand. does that company deliver by any chance?? and who did your tank?
  #10  
Old 12/07/2007, 08:32 PM
LooklikeME LooklikeME is offline
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I like that the door Opens on the end of the stand it'll be SO much easier to install a sump/fuge.How the top braced?
looks Great!
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  #11  
Old 12/07/2007, 08:48 PM
bmwaaron bmwaaron is offline
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Quote:
Originally posted by LooklikeME
I like that the door Opens on the end of the stand it'll be SO much easier to install a sump/fuge.How the top braced?
looks Great!
Do you mean the top of the Tank or top of the stand?

The tank is eurobraced with acrylic
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  #12  
Old 12/07/2007, 08:50 PM
bmwaaron bmwaaron is offline
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Quote:
Originally posted by nietzsche
that's some really great work on the stand. does that company deliver by any chance?? and who did your tank?
Im not sure if they deliver or not. I picked mine up in Dallas.

Acrylic and Glass Exhibits (AGE) did my tank. They only do custom tanks. If your interested I can give you contact info in a PM.
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  #13  
Old 12/07/2007, 08:57 PM
bmwaaron bmwaaron is offline
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Standpipe

I was looking for a way to do my standpipe and ran into a thread somewhere and saw the Hofer Gurgle Buster and really liked it.
I decided to mod it sligthly just like someone else did.



These are them installed. I have not drilled the holes in them yet because I dont want to do it by hand. Im taking them to a friends shop that has a drill press where we can be a little more percise.
I like these standpipes because they dont take up much room.
Ill post more pictures when I drill them and they are finished
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  #14  
Old 12/07/2007, 09:03 PM
bmwaaron bmwaaron is offline
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I'm working on my plumbing and light setup at the moment. I have all my schedule 80 plumbing on order and should be here middle of next week.

The idea is to run a Reeflo Barracuda into a manifold and then run everything off of that. I will be running a chiller also. I am not doing a closed loop system and have instead opted to go for 4 Vortech powerheads and a Tunze wavebox.

The Manifold setup I am building will run:
The remote refugium
Calcium reactor
Chiller
2 3/4" return lines
Carbon and Phosphate reactors
Remote Frag tank

Ill post some pictures of the Plumbing when I start to assemble it next week.
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  #15  
Old 12/07/2007, 09:04 PM
bmwaaron bmwaaron is offline
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New Pump

I just got this today and am very excited



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  #16  
Old 12/07/2007, 09:11 PM
yellowwatchmen yellowwatchmen is offline
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Awesome cant wait to see it up and running!
  #17  
Old 12/07/2007, 09:11 PM
melev melev is offline
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Very nice thread so far. You make me so proud.

I can't wait to hear how you like the HFGs in your overflow.

Let's see pictures of the canopy with the lighting!
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  #18  
Old 12/07/2007, 09:19 PM
bmwaaron bmwaaron is offline
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For lighting I have decided to use the following

2X 400w MH Coralvue dimmable ballast and 12k Reeflux bulbs
1X 250w MH Icecap ballast and 10k Reeflux bulb
4X 39w T5 with VS ballast in Single reflectors for actinics

The MH reflectors are the Lumenbrights with SE sockets

I have mounted them through the Canopy to get them a little further off the water and hopefully give me more spread.
The 2 outside reflectors are 400w and the inside is a 10k 250w

I am going to aquascape with 2 islands towards the sides of the tank which is why I only did 2 400w and 1 250w

I am looking into getting a Profilux controller to run everything but since they changed suppliers its put a hold on that plan.
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  #19  
Old 12/07/2007, 09:28 PM
bmwaaron bmwaaron is offline
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This is the Lumenbright mounted in the Canopy

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  #20  
Old 12/07/2007, 09:47 PM
LooklikeME LooklikeME is offline
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I have a Profilux and havent had any problem with the new supplier Aqua-digital.Great support.
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  #21  
Old 12/07/2007, 09:49 PM
bmwaaron bmwaaron is offline
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The center reflector is finished with the Aluminum tape that seals the sides. The tape is not taped onto the reflector so it can be removed. This also helps prevent light beams onto the ceiling.
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Last edited by bmwaaron; 12/07/2007 at 10:21 PM.
  #22  
Old 12/07/2007, 10:19 PM
bmwaaron bmwaaron is offline
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Ok here is another picture and some explanation of the lights
They are mounted above the canopy which allows them to site 14 inches from bulb to the top of the water level in the tank. This also for 2 things to happen
1. I can get inside the canopy and work inside the tank
2. I get a much larger spread of light



The Aluminum brace holds the Reflectors upright. They are centered by the cutout and brackets I made that site inside the canopy

Since the stand is so tall you cant really see the reflectors if your looking at the tank

Here is an eye shot level, but remember the stand is 40" tall so unless your 7 foot tall you wont see these.
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  #23  
Old 12/07/2007, 10:35 PM
melev melev is offline
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Now I understand it better. That's really cool, because you can see the "behind the scenes tour" when you start to look closely, but for the most part it actually is invisible.

How hard was it to get the openings the right size for those reflectors?
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  #24  
Old 12/07/2007, 10:46 PM
bmwaaron bmwaaron is offline
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Quote:
Originally posted by melev
Now I understand it better. That's really cool, because you can see the "behind the scenes tour" when you start to look closely, but for the most part it actually is invisible.

How hard was it to get the openings the right size for those reflectors?
It wasnt that hard, I measured the Canopy out and figured out where I wanted the reflectors, they are slightly center. Then I placed the reflectors outlined them and cut it out with a jig saw.
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  #25  
Old 12/07/2007, 10:47 PM
uncleant uncleant is offline
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looks reall good i cant wait to see it up and running
 

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