8' 125 gal getting started!! - Page 3

hoover86 · #51 07/21/2006, 10:10 PM

Well here is a picture that I just took of the middle bracing. The holes on the left and right are the ones that are 33 inches long on the bottom side, 26 inches long on the top side (you'll see how they slant) and 9 inches wide. Does anyone think that it would help to cut a hole in the bracing below the hole for the overflow? Will this help dissipate enough heat to where I shouldn't really have any problems with warping if I put a MH light right over the middle?

Here's a picture of the bracing..

Travis · #52 07/22/2006, 01:17 AM

Unfortunately, you can't cut away the bracing. When tank manufacturers make the tank they plug all of their numbers into a program and it tells them exactly how to brace the tank. The only way to get by with less bracing, is to have the tank built out of thicker material. I'm sure the bracing is a little "over-built" but I personally would not take the chance. You will have better chances just running the halide over the current bracing, although I wouldn't do that either. Very rarely do you hear of tanks failing because of the halide over the bracing but there is always that slight chance. Probably your best bet would be to talk to the manufacturer of the tank and see what they would recommend and not recommend.

Travis · #53 07/22/2006, 01:20 AM

I wouldn't cut away the bracing. When tank manufacturers make the tank they plug all of their numbers into a program and it tells them how to brace the tank. The only way to get by with less bracing, is to have the tank built out of thicker material. I'm sure the bracing is a little "over-built" but I personally would not take the chance. You will have better chances just running the halide over the current bracing, although I wouldn't recommend that either. Very rarely do you hear of tanks failing because of the halide over the bracing but there is always that slight chance. Probably your best bet would be to talk to the manufacturer of the tank and see what they would recommend and not recommend.

pllb · #54 07/22/2006, 07:22 AM

looking good so far =)

tangdiver · #55 07/22/2006, 08:53 AM

Tenecor was where it was purchsed from. Check them out...Travis has a good point...check out all options.

Grant

hoover86 · #56 07/22/2006, 08:57 AM

Ok thanks guys, I'll have to get in touch with them to see what they say...

hoover86 · #57 07/26/2006, 02:58 PM

Well after waiting a few days to hear back from the e-mail I sent to Tenecor I decided to just call them. I spoke with a sales rep and he said that he didn't reccomend cuting anything else out of the bracing. He said whenever they make a canopy for one of their tanks that needs to house halides they make it at least 13" tall and put plenty of fans for ventilation. I did get an e-mail reply today from Tenecor and they said that any modifications to the bracing actually voids the warranty as well, so that's deffinetly a no-go. Looks like I'll have to remove the large middle halide until I get a 4th, or just live with one side being brighter then the other. I think it will still be ok, the middle just won't be quite as bright. I'm gonna get them moved tonight and then I'll update the picture. Thanks for the heads up though, I would not have known this would have caused a problem!!

tangdiver · #58 07/26/2006, 04:15 PM

One side brighter is the way alot of my big tanks are...then you have those light loving corals on that side and the others on the not so light side.

Grant

Travis · #59 07/26/2006, 04:28 PM

You could sell your middle MH and put some overdriven T-5's there. T-5's are just as bright as MH.

hoover86 · #60 07/26/2006, 10:46 PM

Well for now I've modified my setup a little to accomodate no lights over the center bracing. One of my reflectors is HUGE as you may remember, so it takes up the whole left side facing the same direction as before, and the others are quite small, so I changed the way they were facing and they both cover the right side. Here is a picture to make things clear!

And one more at a different angle..

One thing I've started to think of, is how worthless my PC's are probably going to be on either end of the canopy. With them so high up off of the water, I don't know that they will make much, if any of a difference to the main tank. I may decide to use these under the stand over my sump if I decide to go with a fuge with LR, LS, chaeto, etc. I really wish I would have planned a little better instead of cutting up my fixture to retro the PC's, but that's life.

Travis I'll deffinetly have to check into a T-5 fixture as I'm not very educated on how hot they get or sizes or anything. Is this height a problem for them or should they be closer to the water? Would they cause the warping problem the MH's do?

Heck, if T-5's are just as good and don't cause as much heat, I may need to contemplate selling all my MH's and going that route. It would deffinetely be a lot of bulbs to change but I'm guessing not as pricey as MH's. Grant, do you have any experience with these fixtures/prices?? I'll have to start hunting for some more info....

Travis · #61 07/27/2006, 12:30 AM

T-5's will not warp your acrylic. They do need to be kept down closer to the water though (as with any fluorescent). They run lukewarm, nothing like a MH.

hoover86 · #62 07/27/2006, 06:39 PM

Yea, I researched a bit and think I might just stick with the MH's. The T-5's are fairly new and it seems as though there are a lot of things left unsaid about them due to the fact that they haven't had much time to truly test them. One thing I do like about the MH's that I read T-5's don't do is give that kind of rippling effect in the water. This is kind of a minor thing, but something I always thought was really cool about halides.

hoover86 · #63 01/15/2007, 08:01 PM

Well after what seems like forever I'm finally getting things finished up and actually have some water in the tank!!

First update is the fan situation. Keep in mind my tank is 8' long, so I wanted to find some large fans to cover this long width. I ended up getting some fans called Tarzan fans. Like the name suggests, these fans are pretty big. They are 7 1/2 inches to be exact. Unfortunately with their large size came large sound, and I'm definitely going to have to find an alternative sometime, but for now they will work. Here's a picture with a pop can for comparison:

Next is the most important part: WATER! I picked up an RO/DI unit from my LFS this weekend, and have it up and running. It's rated at 75 GPD I believe, and it's been on for around 7 hours and the tank has about 23 gallons so far. Here is a picture of the RO/DI unit, and the tank with water in it finally!!

I've also finished the plumbing, not much exciting to show there. The last thing I have to do is finish my sump. I'm getting a new skimmer, hopefully soon, and have put off finishing the baffles for now, until I decide what to do with a skimmer. I hope to run it in-sump, but I'm not super familiar with the benefits/drawbacks of running in vs. out. I'm looking at possibly a Reefmania that my LFS has on hand. Can't seem to find much research on them, so anyone who has one, all input would be awesome. That's it for now, looking forward to this weekend as I should finally have everything up and running, and begin to put my LR in!!

JG24 · #64 01/16/2007, 01:23 AM

Looking good Josh, Keep it up.

hoover86 · #65 01/21/2007, 07:27 PM

I've been working on my plumbing a little more as there are a few things I had overlooked and I'm almost done there. I also have gotten all my baffles in my sump, and I'm waiting for them to cure before I finish filling up the tank into the sump. Only major update would be my new skimmer!! It's a Reef Mania PS-6.

Hopefully by wednesday I'll have the tank and sump full and get the skimmer and everything rolling!

Lunchbucket · #66 01/21/2007, 08:51 PM

looking good. can't wait ot see how that little RM skimmer works for you. what pump is on there? OR?

Lunchbucket

JG24 · #67 01/21/2007, 09:21 PM

Yes Eric, OR pump, 2700 if I remember right.

hoover86 · #68 01/21/2007, 10:04 PM

Yes it is OR, 2500 though. I'm pretty psyched to step up to my first nice skimmer. My last one was a CPR HOB skimmer, so this is deffinetly going to be alot different then what I'm used to. I love the construction and zero clearance needed to remove parts. This will help a ton with my somewhat limited space under the stand. I already had to modify the stand a little by notching out the right side of the base supports. I test fitted everything and it seems to work great. A little more plumbing, and a little more water and I should be up and running.

JG24 · #69 01/21/2007, 10:29 PM

correct it is a 2500, but sold as a 2700 w/needlewheel. Same as a 3500 and 3700 w/needlewheel.

UnderwaterExotic · #70 01/22/2007, 06:04 AM

Looking good so far!

hoover86 · #71 01/22/2007, 03:57 PM

Gotcha JG24. As you can see I'm still in the learning process in the quality equipment dept.

I've definitely come a long way, but have a long way to go yet, too!

Travis · #72 01/22/2007, 09:50 PM

That is sweet that the RM skimmer has an OR pump on it. That thing is going to blow some proteins out of the water!

hoover86 · #73 01/22/2007, 11:00 PM

Yea I'm hoping so!! Well I have just a few more updates and pictures to add. I've FINALLY finished the plumbing!! I think I miss-glued and re-bought a TON of different parts. That was deffinetly a learning experience there.

Here's a picture of the return pump plumbing, with the check-valve, union and ball valve..

Here is the sump and the plumbing from the overflow..

Here is a picture of the sump with the skimmer in..

Finally, here's a picture of the collection cup.. Gotta love a tight fit!

tangdiver · #74 01/23/2007, 08:12 AM

Looks good, keep it up!

Lunchbucket · #75 01/23/2007, 09:05 AM

cool. you'll like thtat skimmer. i hade one w/ a sedra pump on it...not my fav pump. the OR will do better for you.

nice strapping on the plumbing!

when you gonna fire everything up?

Lunchbucket