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  #126  
Old 07/03/2007, 12:16 PM
papagimp papagimp is offline
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Another nifty idea that goes right along with Travis's suggestion, look throug RC's tank of the months past winners. Will let you see what type of equpment, specifically lighting and then see what types of corals they have. You'd be amazed at some of the neat idea's you can get.
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  #127  
Old 07/10/2007, 10:45 PM
Spuds725 Spuds725 is offline
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Quote:
Originally posted by jadeguppy
Many on this thread have suggested Lights of America bulbs. I spoke with the guy at Lowes and they not only don't carry the bulbs, but can't order them.
My Lowes has the 65W Flourex bulb (6500K) -- I just saw it on the shelf on Sunday-- however they don't carry the floodlight that uses it-- and it needs a special ballast/fixture..

Home Depot (at least the ones near me) carries both the fixture with the bulb and the replacement bulb....

Its not on their site but it is this one...

http://www.amazon.com/Lights-of-Amer.../dp/B000BPE56O

Here is a link to the bulb itself-- http://www.amazon.com/Lights-of-Amer...181905-3314237

It states on the page (and is on the bulb box)...

Quote:
Product Description
65W Fluorex Replacement Bulb, Mogul Base, 6500 Kelvin, 84=CRI, For Use In All 65W Fluorex Security Lighting Fixtures, Models 9165, 9166 & 9266, True Values 762930, 762989 & 762997 Respectively.
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  #128  
Old 07/11/2007, 08:48 AM
Travis L. Stevens Travis L. Stevens is offline
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It has a mogul base, so you shouldn't need the floodlight fixture unless you just like the look of it. You can add this bulb directly to a standard socket.
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  #129  
Old 08/09/2007, 06:56 PM
kharrell kharrell is offline
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Hi Travis,

Thanks for all the great info! I waded through the thread. Have you consolidated this information into a PDF or Book, etc???
  #130  
Old 08/10/2007, 08:34 AM
Travis L. Stevens Travis L. Stevens is offline
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Hello kharrell! You're welcome. I'm still working on this thread, but right now it is a lot more behind the scenes. This has been put together enough that by the time people manage to get a tank set up, cycled, and the cleanup crew in, they will have managed to do enough research to know what corals and fish they will want and can cohabitate nicely. While guidance in these areas is still want by most new aquarists, the critical parts of setting up a tank are basically outlined in the thread. Don't worry. One of these days I'll have something available again.
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  #131  
Old 08/10/2007, 10:04 AM
Travis L. Stevens Travis L. Stevens is offline
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An update for all!
You may hear or read dozens of things while looking to set up a new tank, but there is no proof for the pudding. So, to back up the claim, here is a few photos of the 10g tank.

Now, for a little background of the 10g tank used in this thread. It was originally intended to be a starter aquarium for my sister. My sister never came to pick it up, and she promised me she would research before she got it. In the mean time, me and my wife have decided that if we are going to take up space in my apartment with another tank, we are going to take full advantage of it. The tank is now the new "Home for Wayward Souls". Previously, my main tank, a 29 gallon, was being used to keep animals that I would eventually add to my future 75g tank. Since the original conception, the 29g has been filled mainly with Ricordeas, and now has mated pairs of various fish that will stay there. The animals that will go to the 75g have now been transfered to the 10g tank. Just as well as holding animals, it has also became a little frag tank in order to free up room in my display and to make a little side-hand cash for the larger projects. Alright, now off to the pictures.....

Tank as of June 20, 2007


Frag of Mean Green Zoanthids


Frag of of unknown "Star Corals"


Our Molly Miller Blenny peeking out from a hiding spot
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  #132  
Old 09/03/2007, 09:31 PM
rbtwo4 rbtwo4 is offline
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Travis PHENOMENAL thread! im a newbie and want to make sure ive got this right before i start. i have a 30 gal tank already established with no holes predrilled. i bought a 20 gallon to use as my sump/fuge. can i use the same method u used for the 10 gallon as the overflow for my sump/fuge?
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  #133  
Old 09/03/2007, 09:35 PM
Travis L. Stevens Travis L. Stevens is offline
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Yup! In fact, I just helped a friend and fellow reefer with his tank today. He's using the same basic principles that I used in this thread. Here is his thread: http://archive.reefcentral.com/forum...readid=1194983
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  #134  
Old 09/03/2007, 09:59 PM
mhhauser321 mhhauser321 is offline
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Pretty Cool Update Travis, Its cool to see that the tank is still up an running
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  #135  
Old 09/04/2007, 01:58 AM
Travis L. Stevens Travis L. Stevens is offline
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I meant to take pictures tonight, but I got distracted and before the lights went out. I'll try tomorrow.
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  #136  
Old 09/04/2007, 05:17 AM
rbtwo4 rbtwo4 is offline
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I'm a bit confused Travis maybe if u can direct me a bit on this but how would I seperate a 20g long as a sump/fuge with internal overflow?
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  #137  
Old 09/04/2007, 07:30 AM
Travis L. Stevens Travis L. Stevens is offline
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Well, you wouldn't have an internal overflow on the sump/refugium, but you would put baffles in it (if that is what you wanted to do). As far as the actual setup of the sections in the sump, it is totally up to you. A few guidelines for build your own sump is as follows.

1) Place any skimmer(s) in the section that the tank drains in to. Make sure to place the opening to the feeder pump as close to the exit of the drain pipe as possible. For optimal results, plumb the drain pipe directly in to the skimmer body.
2) Make any refugium as large as possible. The more room you have means the more critters you can safely house. If you opt to add other filtration methods such as Macroalgae, it gives you a larger area for more filtration.
3) The section that has the return pump is the section that will lose water due to evaporation. Never underestimate your evaporation rate. Unless you want the daily grind of constantly topping off or refilling your auto topoff resevoir, then make it large enough to provide time between maintenace. This is especially important if you are going to rely on evaporative cooling as a source of temperature control. As effective as evaporative cooling is, it uses up a lot of water.
4) Know that your tallest baffle that is sealed to the bottom of the tank (not any that are raised from the bottom such as in the middle of a bubble trap) is what your water level will be across the entire sump.
5) Make sure to calculate how much water will drain from the display and in to the sump in case of a power outage. Use the formula, (LxWxH)/231=~X gallons, in order to determine how much to make room for. For the display tank, L and W are equal to the footprint of your Display tank, and H is the height from the rim of the aquarium to the bottom of the weirs on the overflow. Do the math, and you should be able to find a gross over estimate of how much water will drain off the top. After that is done, apply the same solution, and work the formula backwards. Plug in the numbers that correspond with L and W as the footprint of your sump, and then use X as the gallons that will be drained from the display. The resulting number will be the height of available space in the sump that you will need in case of a power outage so it does not overflow your sump.

Hint 1 is simple and straight forward. Make this secion as big as you need to fit the skimmer in. Any more is a waste of space. With that said, the hardest decision when building a sump is 2 and 3. It's a trade off. Ask yourself if you want more filtration with more daily work, or less filtration with less work.

As far as the order of the sections go, that's up to you. I prefer my tanks to drain to the skimmer, flow to the refugium to get polished, and then back to the return pump that pumps the water to the opposit end of the display tank.
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  #138  
Old 09/10/2007, 05:43 PM
dez_2121 dez_2121 is offline
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well thanks to travis l I started my tank projects http://archive.reefcentral.com/forum...readid=1204055

hay travis let me know what you think.
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  #139  
Old 09/12/2007, 01:40 AM
dga dga is offline
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a painfully long thread at best, but if you have gotten this far, before taking on a project like this, make sure you do more research on starting a nano than reading a single thread like this. there is much bad information here and some good information. but in many cases theres all to much "opinion" when it comes to a poster asking for facts and the reverse can also be true. but any successfull reef tank will be had by the one that does his or her's research...
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  #140  
Old 09/24/2007, 02:01 PM
wmfsoll2 wmfsoll2 is offline
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This thread has a lot of great information for beginners. There is tons more useful info than bad in this thread. I also believe that the last post shows what single minded thinking will get you in this hobby, to think that beginners are only going to read just one thread when this thread also leads you to many other useful threads within Reef Central. I also think that it is in poor taste to try to derail a thread that has inspired so many people to explore and increase their knowledge in this wonderful hobby. Keep up the good work and and don't lose your enthusiasm for this hobby.

Bill.
  #141  
Old 09/24/2007, 02:22 PM
Travis L. Stevens Travis L. Stevens is offline
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Thanks for the kind words Bill. I don't know how I passed up dga's post. Dga, I'm sorry that you feel that way. I don't see where anyone has said that this is the only source to look at. In fact, I highly encourage others to actively research their own projects. After all, this is just a guide to help you get started. Just as well, this has nothing to do with nanos. In fact, the thread is about reef keeping in general. Nano tanks take a special amount of care that you'll have to look for in a different thread than this.
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  #142  
Old 09/24/2007, 08:33 PM
wmfsoll2 wmfsoll2 is offline
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You are welcome for the post i hope that all your projects go well for you. Bill
  #143  
Old 09/25/2007, 08:11 PM
jadeguppy jadeguppy is offline
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For what it is worth. This was one of the best written and understandable threads I read when I started to set up my salts. Not only was I encouraged to give it a try, I came away with a much better understanding of terms. After reading it I could start to know what information to look for and what questions I needed to ask that fit my specific system. I am greatful you took the time to write this. BTW, when is the condensed version coming out?
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  #144  
Old 10/07/2007, 02:50 PM
TitusvileSurfer TitusvileSurfer is offline
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I agree, I read the entire thread and often refer back using the snazzy table of contents for quick questions. I think dga was a little mistaken at best. Thanks for a great thread Travis!
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  #145  
Old 10/16/2007, 04:50 PM
magellan007 magellan007 is offline
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Hey, Travis

Where can I get the "book version" of this thread??
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  #146  
Old 11/11/2007, 08:50 PM
Nick_P Nick_P is offline
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So glad I found this thread. As you may notice I registered quite a long while ago, read as much as I could, but never actually started anything.

Main reason was information overload. After reading so many ways to do things, and many people saying it had to be done this way or that way. I just said forget about it and went on to other hobbies.

Now with this thread it had everything I needed to feel comfortable to go out and finnaly do it. Specially the material list and the pros and cons of different routes.

So today I headed out. Stoped by the LFS and grabed 2 AGA 10 gallons, 3/4 Bulk heads, and some aggy sand. Then went to home Depot and picked up 6- 2x3x8, 2- 1x6x8, 1- 2x2x8, some plumbing, sillicon, Tile bit for a roto zip, and couple other acceserys. Total bill was right around 150.00 for everything.

Once home i figured the height I wanted the tank and started cutting. Cut some glass, inserted bulk head, then found some plexi glass thats 1/4" thick and cut up and overflow.

Screwd, and glued for about 1 hour and this is where Im at now.






Next steps for me is to skin the base, add trim to the canopy and base, then stain away. Which gives me ample time to lock in what exactly I will run for equipment and livestock.

I made my stand a bit different so I could slide another 10 gallon in at the base and use it for my sump. I also didt try to make the overflow real pretty as am going to do a faux rock back ala ultimate DIY rock thread thanks again

I plan on skinning the bottom with 1/2" birch and makeing the entire front a door just like the thread suggests. Im just going to do it a wee bit different so I get more then 90deg opening.

I really feel that if I hadnt stumbled upon this thread I would still be thinking about it and not actually going for it.

Thank you
  #147  
Old 11/12/2007, 11:17 AM
Travis L. Stevens Travis L. Stevens is offline
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I'm extremely pleased that you found this thread and was able to extrapolate the exact reason for making the thread. Now you can get most of the information that you need here and make a decision for yourself whether or not it will work for you. Now you have gotten your hands dirty and have something you can be proud of, you'll be hooked for life. Welcome to the club!!
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