I'm officially back!!!

[Kinetic]

Originally posted by ac green
I actually did not go with an elos tank (which I maybe regretting after I go see Jesse tomorrow) but I did get a 30"x30"x 23" cube made by Aquarium Envrionments in Texas.

oooh that's so cool, I gotta checkout your system when you have it running!

btw I have the TECO hooked up to my system now. I'll try cooling it sometime soon when my heater arrives. You are more than welcome to stop by my place if you ever want to listen to see if the noise is ok. I'll probably give my input on it sometime soon also.


anyway, not to hijak...

Originally posted by Maximus
Well, I finally decided on the dimensions of the sump. The sump will be 32x24x16. It will have 3 compartments; the skimmer chamber, refugium, and the return. I will gravity feed the top off water via a float valve. The lights are still up in the air as I can't seem to pull the trigger on anything!

Where are you getting the sump made? World Marine or something down in SJ? Try to get it braceless, it makes sump work 1000x easier =) Is the refugium inline?


Also about the lights, definitely get it painted black. I'm not too fond of the colors either since I don't have a Ferrari to park next to the tank at the moment Though if it was a garage tank, it'd be color matched with the car haha.

I'm getting my Aquactinics in on Tuesday or so, if you wanted to stop by and take a look you're more than welcome to. Thing is, these aren't the most beautiful of fixtures, but I don't think they're ugly either. Simple and functional.

What other options did you consider? I like maristars as well. I was selling a 24" recently, and man that was a good looking fixture =)

[Maximus]

Yeah, I'm going to give World Marine a shot. The sump will definitely be braceless as well. The refugium will be in the second compartment. Nothing fancy, just a compartment separted by a single baffle. I don't really need to get fancy with baffles as the H&S skimmer is known for its bubble free return. I really want a sleek looking light on the tank. I'm striving for that modern look.

[hawaiianwargod]

I agree with you Sang regarding the modern look you want to achieve (fixture wise). The problem is mostly if not all, those sleek fixtures are European made...not only costly but the replacement parts can be a pain to get when needed. Fixing it would be an issue as well...One advice I can share is always practice redundancy regarding lighting fixture especially on those highend lighting setup. GL!

[Kinetic]

we need a custom pendant creator... maybe a metal fab guy who can do some stealth luminarcs into a really sleek fixture...

[Maximus]

Originally posted by hawaiianwargod
I agree with you Sang regarding the modern look you want to achieve (fixture wise). The problem is mostly if not all, those sleek fixtures are European made...not only costly but the replacement parts can be a pain to get when needed. Fixing it would be an issue as well...One advice I can share is always practice redundancy regarding lighting fixture especially on those highend lighting setup. GL!

I think you nailed it. The main reason why I am considering the Planet Elos is because they use Icecap ballasts. Jesse said that if anything goes wrong with them, he can fix it at his shop. If I went with another European brand, I would have to send it back to God knows where, and possibly wait months for the fix.

[Marko9]

That is why I went with my maristar over a year ago. I am still waiting for the 4x54T5 unit to come out. I love the dual blue wave ballast and I believe I get more PAR than the ice cap. BTW sang, I switched out my pheonix's to helios last night. I know they need to burn in, but I likey

[Maximus]

I used Blue Wave ballasts before, and I really liked them. Sunlight Supply has a great warranty on them. What is the main difference between the Phoenix and the Helios? What kelvin is the Helios?

[Sparkss]

Sang, just caught up on yoru thread. Welcome back . As for marco rocks, we used them exclusively for our tank, except for LR rubble piled up in the corners behind the rocks. Here are some pictures of the rock when we got it in :

http://archive.reefcentral.com/forum...09#post9023809

http://archive.reefcentral.com/forum...55#post9024555

And here is a relatively current FTS, but there were several things "wrong" with the tank at the time, so the quality is somewhat less than what I would have liked. I need to take a newer, cleaner FTS to represent what it is like now , but this can give you an idea of what the marco rocks look like now. The tank is BigReds old tank (6.5' X 4' X 2') :

http://archive.reefcentral.com/forum...9#post10841799


HTH

[Sparkss]

Originally posted by Marko9
I love the dual blue wave ballast and I believe I get more PAR than the ice cap.

Isn't the BlueWave an HQI ballast (basically an overdriven magnetic) ? If it is the one I am thinking of then it has the same internal parts as the PFO HQI ballasts (from a discussion I had with an SLS rep last year). Unless I tm thinking of a totally different ballast ?

[Maximus]

Wow, looks great! Funny thing is that you can't even see the rocks because of all your corals!

[Marko9]

Originally posted by Maximus
I used Blue Wave ballasts before, and I really liked them. Sunlight Supply has a great warranty on them. What is the main difference between the Phoenix and the Helios? What kelvin is the Helios?

I went with the helios 20K. After seeing them in person the color to the pheonix's is similar, but I think the are a "crisper" blue. I saw them first at BACFM when Eric and Steve were running them. They have similar PAR to radiums, but what I like is the extra high spike in red. I have heard they still have good growth, very similar to the pheonix's. Red is such a cool color is a reef and I know it is going to make the Orenji very happy Yes I pick bulbs for my corals. Once they burn in for a week. I will get you a shot.

I believe I have the Sanjay charts for these two bulbs; I will try to hunt them down and get them to you.

[Marko9]

Originally posted by Sparkss
Isn't the BlueWave an HQI ballast (basically an overdriven magnetic) ? If it is the one I am thinking of then it has the same internal parts as the PFO HQI ballasts (from a discussion I had with an SLS rep last year). Unless I tm thinking of a totally different ballast ?

I believe that is true Tom, but I have also seen test that show they produce slightly more. Plus, a 5 year warranty and a great service department is why I ended up that way.

[Maximus]

I assume the Helios is a bit dimmer compared to the Phoenix? If you can get the PAR reports, that would be great.

[reefer on a budget]

Originally posted by Sparkss
Isn't the BlueWave an HQI ballast (basically an overdriven magnetic) ? If it is the one I am thinking of then it has the same internal parts as the PFO HQI ballasts (from a discussion I had with an SLS rep last year). Unless I tm thinking of a totally different ballast ?

you're correct. internally they use essentially the same magnetic core. having owned both ballast, i would go with a bluewave handsdown. the quality and workmanship of the bluewave is so much better than the pfo. dont get me wrong. pfo has improved over the years but i still think they're behind SLS.

all these hqi ballasts are basically higher wattage 400watt ballast. they power consumption of a hqi is higher than a standard ballast. recall...hydroponic 430watt sun agros.

[tacocat]

Originally posted by Maximus
really wanting to come back. Well, I finally just pulled the trigger today.

This is awful. Why would you do this to yourself again?

BTW, Did you know the Aqua Delight acro originally came from you?

[Maximus]

Originally posted by tacocat
This is awful. Why would you do this to yourself again?

BTW, Did you know the Aqua Delight acro originally came from you?

Hey Hector! Yeah, I finally figured the aqua delight was from me last year. I got the original frag around 8-9 years ago from Todd Santora in LA and sent Greg Hiller a piece in a trade. I used to call it the "blue-green" acro.

[tacocat]

Originally posted by Maximus
Hey Hector! Yeah, I finally figured the aqua delight was from me last year. I got the original frag around 8-9 years ago from Todd Santora in LA and sent Greg Hiller a piece in a trade. I used to call it the "blue-green" acro.

Dang this thing is OLD. I can't remember who Todd Santora is, but I recognize the name, and it's a name I haven't heard in a long while (like Joe Kelly).

[Solitaryensis]

I felt compelled to post, given that all the old-school, cool reefers have responded to the thread Welcome back, Maximus. Now we all need to convince ROAB to get back into it. I've tried many times with no avail!

[Sparkss]

Originally posted by Marko9
I believe that is true Tom, but I have also seen test that show they produce slightly more. Plus, a 5 year warranty and a great service department is why I ended up that way.

Hehehe, the point I was trying to make was that I would entriely expect an HQI ballast to get more PAR than an electronic one. With a very few expections . I mean an HQI pulls almost 50% more wattage than an electronic ballast at times, so I would hope that it had higher PAR

Your original post had compared a Blue Wave ballast to an Ice Cap one

[Sparkss]

Originally posted by Maximus
Wow, looks great! Funny thing is that you can't even see the rocks because of all your corals!

Thanks for the compliment. It is getting there (but still a ways to go.. isn't it always that way though ? ). But the rock itself is fantastic for the fish. They absolutely love it. Our entire shoal (is that the right word) of barletts disappear into the rock on the right at lights out every night. These rocks are so pourous it is really hard to describe. But thre fish and critters really love them.

[Maximus]

Originally posted by Solitaryensis
I felt compelled to post, given that all the old-school, cool reefers have responded to the thread Welcome back, Maximus. Now we all need to convince ROAB to get back into it. I've tried many times with no avail!

Thanks dude! Ahh, the joys of Home Depot, hehe. I just came back and bought a bunch of clear vinyl tubing, extension cords, and garbage cans. I know this procedure all too well.

[Maximus]

I also ordered my sump today at the place in San Jose. To tell you the truth, I was expecting an inferior job. Well I was pleasantly surprised when I saw a sump waiting for a customer. It looked great! My sump should be ready by Mon. I did pick up a little something. Anyone want to guess what I will use it for?

[Kinetic]

qt tank... frag tank... RDSB... fuge... nano? no idea =X

[Chaotic Reefer4u]

Welcome back Sang...

[Maximus]

Thanks dude. Kinetic, keep guessing!