Oceanic Tech Tank Owners Thread

[petes97]

Not being an Oceanic employee, I'll have to defer to your experience. I agree it is VERY VERY VERY unlikely, but I would never use the word impossible. I've seen many strange things come out of production assembly lines that were impossible.

Anyway, back to the thread...

[mdbrit]

I've just picked up my 70g Tech.
I'm still deciding on various items, such as return pump and lighting.

Not into SPS so much, but I wouldn't mind trying a clam and plates on the sandbed. However, being 36inch long, I can't seem to find the ideal lighting fixture and I'm concerned about MHs as I don't want a whopping electricity bill. Considering the 6x39wTek T5 fixture all the way to an Outer Orbit 2x150W/T5. Has to be tank mounted.

I was thinking Eheim 1250 for the return pump (I have a Megaflow3 as a sump.

I'd love to hear from anyone with experience with these tanks. Many thanks in advance.

[Garage1217]

Outer orbit all the way! I am doing a 250wx2 48" version on my 90G. Stunning light for the money.

[Joe]

Yea, i have the 48" Outer Orbit Pro 2 X 250 MH/T-5 over my Tech 120. Awesome light for the money...

Joe

[dedfish]

I am setting my 70tech up now. For lights I was concerned about the black eurobrace blocking the light if I used 6x39 T5's. I decided to go with a 250w MH retro with a narrow reflector and hopefully I'll be able to squeeze 4x39w actinic to supplement. I know some of that 4x39 will hang over the eurobrace. I'm also going with a low flow drain/return and a higher flow closed loop. For the return pump I'm gonna shoot for no more than 400gph through the drain. I'll be using an external skimmer which will be gravity fed from a T off the drain. For the closed loop I'm gonna go over the top with dual intakes fit right along side the overflow box, there is just enough space between the eurobrace and the overflow box to fit a 1" pipe. The returns for the closed loop will utilize an oceanmotion squirt and probably come through the holes in the back eurobrace. I'm considering trying to drop the inside two down into the tank at least halfway to help with flow in the lower parts of the tank.

[TOO FLY]

Originally posted by mdbrit
However, being 36inch long, I can't seem to find the ideal lighting fixture and I'm concerned about MHs as I don't want a whopping electricity bill.

What about a Lumenarc Mini (250W MH) supplemented bt T5's or VHO's? I've got a pair of Lumenarc Mini's and will probably supplement with actinics in the future.

[mdbrit]

Interesting ideas there. Would love to see how it turns out. Pics!!!

I feel my ideal light would be 4x39W T5s with one 150w or 250w MH. I don't like PC bulbs these days and no-one does a 36inch MH with T5s it seems. All T5s should hopefully keep the running costs lower plus in the summer I don't want heat to be an issue as I don't have room under the tank for a chiller (nor do I wish to run one).
I sure do like the MH shimmer though....tough one this...

[Garage1217]

With a single MH over a 36" long tank, it is going to have crappy dark edges as the light is more focused. A good rule of thumb I have found is...

1MH per 20-24" of tank length.

[currentking]

I had a coralife dual 150w mh fixture 36". I loved it but I had to buy a T6 fixture for actinics

[mdbrit]

Good point, which is no doubt why they all seem to be dual MH fixtures!
Do you think the 2x150w would do? 2x150w with 4x39W T5's seems like a lot of light for a 70g, even if it is deep.

[Garage1217]

What do you plan to keep..?

[killagoby]

70 Gallon Tech
Solaris H Series Lighting
ADHI Model 30 Refugium
Tunze 9010
Tunze 6101 on a Single Controller
TLF Phosphate Reactor 150
100 LBS LR

[mdbrit]

I plan to keep mainly softies, shrooms, but did want to try a clam and plates for the bottom. Also, I was planning on getting some shelf-live rock, so there's higher up levels in the tank for stuff.
I'm just concerned about running costs and heat but also don't want to get the wrong thing and find that it's underpowered.

[Garage1217]

Well your tank is 25H.... I have never run a 150W on anything other than 18" deep tank so not sure how well it will do adding an extra 7" of depth... Guess I could raise my current 150W up 7" and see how she looks but I have no way to measure the par.

Well anyways for softies like what you want to keep, or mabey sps up high you should be perfectly ok.

Also just to note, I have a crocea clam in the bottom of my tank, not even directly under the MH and it has done great for about 6 months so far, very healthy.

[mdbrit]

I plan on having a 4 inch deep sand bed also, so that might help with the depth issue, as well as a shelf or two.

[Garage1217]

4".... wow would help. I am doing the opposite, 1/2 - 3/4" sandbed Guess that is how the reef world revolves!

[mdbrit]

I've read pro's and cons of a deep sand bed vs bare vs shallow.
Basically, on my 36g corner I ran with a 3" bed for 3+ years and it seemed to work. Plus I prefer the appearance of a sand bed.

[Garage1217]

Of course I ran a semi DSB for a long time no issues. Pro's and cons to both.

[MR PALM BEACH]

My 90.


O yeah no center brace to get In the way!

[mdbrit]

Nice. What light are you using?

[etrigo29]

can i join if i get an ultimate series, my 156 should be here on the 10th

[TOO FLY]

Originally posted by etrigo29
can i join if i get an ultimate series, my 156 should be here on the 10th

Uh, I don't think so. Sorry. Tech Tank owners only bro. I'm kidding. I don't see why not? Isn't the Ultimate Series basically a Tech tank with a different brace, overflow box and clear silicone?

BTW, here's my 120 sitting in the storage... I mean sun room that's soon to be the kid's play room.

[TOO FLY]

Is there a born on date on these tanks?

[Joe]

For people wanting to purchase an Oceanic Tech tank, here is the way to tell if the tank you are buying has the front panel of "Starfire" glass....underneath the bottom tank glass, the small, white tag shows the persons name that built the tank, and a code for the date of manufacture. If the tag has a date of October 2006 or later, you have the Starfire front pane. As this example shows, the "K' (eleventh letter of the alphabet) indicates the 11th day, the 11 shows the month, and the 06 shows the year. Any tank manufactured prior to October of '06 has the "Ultra-Clear" glass.





Joe

[TOO FLY]

Hmmm. No born on date on my tank. I believe I bought it during the month of January, 2007.