Moving from Ft. Lauderdale

[ChemE]

Greetings all. I just wanted to stop by and introduce myself. My wife and I are moving to Urbana in a little less than a month. She is the newest veterinary oncology resident at U of I and I've managed to arrange to work from home with my current employer (I spend 2 hours a day commuting back and forth to Miami right now).

Once we get moved up there plans will commence on upgrading to a 240. I'm still debating between glasscages.com or buying an AGA from a lfs. Can any of you recommend a good store where I can buy my next tank? As best as I can tell from here, Sailfin looks like the best shop near me but that is virtually impossible to determine from afar.

I plan on joining CIMA as soon as we move up and look forward to meeting everyone.

Thanks,
Chris

[smorrow5773]

Welcome, I see you are a fellow DIY enthusiast. I used to spend a lot of time in your area of the world...Boca, Pompano, Coral Springs. I hate winter...and the construction business is hit and miss during the winter and remodeling condos along the intcoastal is a great way to work. Not too sure the best place to order a tank is though, just thought I would say hi.

I don't think you can run a 55g reef with 100w this far north by the way...heaters are necessary here.

[ChemE]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=7494783#post7494783 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by smorrow5773
...I don't think you can run a 55g reef with 100w this far north by the way...heaters are necessary here.

Don't count me out just yet, I've got a few ideas on this front. The first thing I'll need to DIY once we get up there is the skimmer which will run the new tank. I'm planning on a 6' tall 12" diameter recirculating needlewheel supercharged with a sweetwater II linear piston pump with a 8" neck and an 8" turbulence diffuser. It should very comfortably handle a 300 gallon system volume.

By the way, what do we pay for a kWh after tax and fuel surcharge? It looks like its 6.8 cents but I could be mistaken.

[tcottle]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=7494496#post7494496 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by ChemE
Greetings all. I just wanted to stop by and introduce myself.

I plan on joining CIMA as soon as we move up and look forward to meeting everyone.

Welcome! Always room for another engineer! :D

Does your 100W reef use natural lighting?

[ChemE]

Nope T5. I just checked my Kill-a-Watt a few minutes ago and as of this morning it has been monitoring my reef for 498 hours and my 55 has drawn 59.04 kWh. This averages to 119 watts 24/7. It draws 212 watts while the lights are on (12 hours/day) and 20 watts when the lights are off (12 hours/day). When the lights are off my skimmer, main circulation, and sump return, and chiller are all running on 20 watts! Sweet huh?

[tcottle]

Interesting. Once you get settled you will have to host a meeting so we can see what you have done to minimize electricity costs!

[ChemE]

Sounds like a plan. I can't wait to get up there so I can start curing my 300 lbs. of Florida lacy rock that cost me a whopping $0. One of the few nice things about south Florida is that the rocks lying around look like this once cleaned up...
http://i44.photobucket.com/albums/f26/cdl1051/DIY%20Real%20Rock/pieces.jpg

[Benny Z]

wow!

any way you could pick up a few extra hundred pounds for me? i'll pay the "shipping".

:D

welcome to the neighborhood.

[ChemE]

Hehe. I'm going to use about 100 lbs of the small stuff (4" and smaller) in my sump and the bigger stuff in the tank. I'm greedily hoarding it at the moment but after we get moved and established there (hopefully) will be some excess. In the back of my mind I've been planning to swap this for frags since we'll need lots of frags once the new tank is up and running.

If there is interest, I can certainly step up my collection efforts. The moving company we are using doesn't care about weight (suckers!) just volume. This stuff averages around 58 pounds per cubic foot. So I plan on making the move with 300-500 pounds of it. I'm going to cycle it with around 100 pounds of live rock to get it seeded. I can't wait. I've been collecting and planning for about 6 months now and we are so close now. It is keeping me up at night.

[tcottle]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=7495319#post7495319 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by ChemE
In the back of my mind I've been planning to swap this for frags since we'll need lots of frags once the new tank is up and running.

If there is interest, I can certainly step up my collection efforts.

I'm intetested in a cubic ft if possible. Also the club is very frag friendly - you are certainly welcome to anything that I have.

Also I finally got off my *ss and purchased a Kill-A-Watt from Amazon (thanks for the motivation!)

[ChemE]

I'll see what I can do. Looks like the dog and I are going to go on more walks than usual for the next month. She's my cover so I don't look like some weirdo picking up rocks from the flower beds.

[ChemE]

WOW! I just shaved another 14 watts off my tank!

I run my 3 54-watt T5's off of 2 Triad ballasts and the ballast that fires my two Aquablue+ bulbs is always warm/hot to the touch. This is in spite of the fact that they are mounted to a 4' long peice of 2" aluminum L-stock to help dissipate heat.

I took my chiller (an 80mm PC fan) and set it to blow down the length of the aluminum and onto the hot ballast. The power draw registered by my Kill-a-Watt dropped over the course of 15 minutes from 212 watts down to 198 watts!

I've been planning for a while to move the ballasts so they sit side-by-side in an aluminum tunnel and mount RAM heatsinks down their length to help them radiate heat better. Finally the tunnel will have an 80mm PC fan at each end, one blowing in and one blowing out. I'll be curious to see how much more if any power savings this configuration can generate.

[tcottle]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=7495491#post7495491 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by ChemE
Looks like the dog and I are going to go on more walks than usual for the next month. She's my cover so I don't look like some weirdo picking up rocks from the flower beds.

A couple of suggestions ....

http://img280.imageshack.us/img280/9651/yhst91062368467771189915243805.jpg (http://imageshack.us)

http://img410.imageshack.us/img410/9003/compcartst2j1sc.jpg (http://imageshack.us)

[ChemE]

Love it!

[RV8tor]

Chris
Welcome, look forward to meeting you and to get some tips on reducing electrical load.

[ChemE]

Thanks RV8tor, I hope I have something worthwhile to share.

[philagothos]

I just moved to Rantoul (a few miles north of Urbana). The people here seem quite friendly (though I have yet to meet any in person). My only let down here has been the selection of LFS. In Knoxville we had two fantastic LFS to chose from. I've been to the Aquarium here and Sailfin in Champaign. On a scale of 1-10 I would give each of them a 6 on selection, but from what I hear they are both excellent on customer service. For better selection you can always take a 2 hour trip to Chicago, St. Louis, or Indy.

Btw, I followed your free base rock thread for a while with a great deal of envy. I'm still working on making DIY rock, but haven't had much luck yet. I'm thinking about going with the salt & portland mix next. Feel free to stuff another cubic foot of flower garden rocks in for me. :)

Quick question a little off topic: what are you growing under 3 T5s? I've got 4 24w T5s over a 29, but I have not had it running for very long and have not decided yet what I want in it so it's pretty sparse.

Hope the move goes well.

-Kevin

PS: If you're hoping to have something worthwhile to share you could bring several hundred pounds of that Florida lacey rock. ;)

[ChemE]

Hey Kevin,

My wife and I got a few of our degrees from UTK (the rest from TTU). We both miss Knoxville horribly.

Our GSP and pipe organ coral are both growing like mad under the T5's. A pink birdsnest is growing somewhat slowly even high up in the tank. My mushrooms, ricordea, hammer, and frogspawn are frustrating me. They don't grow at all, even a little. I'm wondering if it is a trace element thing since everything else is doing well. That is one of the things I'm planning on figuring out after the move.

I've stepped up my collection efforts but a cubic foot does take a while to collect. We'll see what we see after I get the next tank up and running.

[Benny Z]

philagothos - you may want to make a trip to bloomington to check out "the mad reefer". it is by far the largest store for livestock in the vacinity. call ahead to find out when their shipments arrive...you'd be best off going the morning after a shipment.

[philagothos]

Thanks for the tip Benny. I haven't had time to make a trip over there yet, but I have heard good things about them. Hopefully I will find a job this week, then I can start spending money on the tank again.

Sorry ChemE, I'll try not to hijack any more.

-Kevin

[ChemE]

Hijack all you want. This thread is only for me to meet everyone.

[LegoZ81]

Welcome!
my tank is less than efficient ringing in @ 1289w peak with everything running.

All rated wattages (on the tags)
504w lighting
300w Heater (not plugged in right now)
175w lighting over the sump temporary will be going with something else soon to reduce elec.
70w skimmer pump
120w return pump
110w 2x Seio 2600
10w fans

[hcs3]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=7494496#post7494496 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by ChemE
Greetings all. I just wanted to stop by and introduce myself. My wife and I are moving to Urbana in a little less than a month. She is the newest veterinary oncology resident at U of I and I've managed to arrange to work from home with my current employer (I spend 2 hours a day commuting back and forth to Miami right now).

Once we get moved up there plans will commence on upgrading to a 240. I'm still debating between glasscages.com or buying an AGA from a lfs. Can any of you recommend a good store where I can buy my next tank? As best as I can tell from here, Sailfin looks like the best shop near me but that is virtually impossible to determine from afar.

I plan on joining CIMA as soon as we move up and look forward to meeting everyone.

Thanks,
Chris

hey chris,

welcome to CIMA! i wouldn't order from glasscages.com, but that is just me. i had a horrible experience with them and decided to order my tank through inter america. if you are only considering going up to a 240g, however, i'd just stick with the standard AGA or oceanic designs from a LFS.

sailfin will be your best local store, but it ebs and flows. summer time the inventory gets cut in 1/2. the owner claims it is because the students are gone. most the town survives from students, but i doubt students are buying many corals. anyway, as benny mentioned, the mad reefer is about an hour away in bloomington. it is not worth the drive unless you have other business in bloomington, but it is defintely worth the stop if you find yourself in that neck of the woods. if you are going to leave champaign for a fish store not in chicago, indy, or st louis, your only realy choice would be inland aquatics. in comparison to the mad reefer, the entire store of TMR would fit in the front showroom of inland. then you can add on the 50,000 gallons of SW in the back warehouse of IA. even from chicago, indy, and st louis, no single store can match IA, but when you toss in 12 stores in chicago, etc., day trips to chicago can be worth while.

HTH

[Benny Z]

henry - where is IA?

[hcs3]

http://www.inlandaquatics.com/profile/contact.html

[philagothos]

How does Inland Aquatics comapare to Premium Aquatics in Indy?

[RV8tor]

It all depends on what you are looking for. I have been to both and I would go back to both in a heart beat. If you want more dry goods I would go to Premium, If you want corals/fish then Inland. But both have outstanding choices for everything. I would say that Inland is a little higher in pricing, but they do take frags and will trade. Inland has alot of tanks in the back and if you ask, you can go in back to look. They are real nice at both places. I am in Terre Haute once a week for work and spend alot of time there looking. I don't get to Indy as often as I would like to go to Priemium. Just my .02

[hcs3]

i think they are two very different stores.

PA is only so-so for livestock, and what they have is VERY limited. i'd say either sailfin or TMR easily have more on any given day. they are great for snails and are the only choice for hand-picked LR, IMHO. i was there friday and they had easily 3000lbs for me to sort through. they are also mad crazy with inventory on dry goods. shipping from indy to C/U via 5-day ground arrives next business day so we can ship livestock ground and get it as next day air. but its great to order your bulbs or filters or whatever and have them at your doorstep the next afternoon for no extra charge.

now IA is all about livestock. i have never, nor would i ever, buy dry goods from them. they are very proud of their dry goods. they are also very proud of most their livestock. only thing i really buy from them is their fish, but for those just getting into SPS it'd be a fun several hour visit.

HTH

[philagothos]

nevermind

[ChemE]

Thanks for the welcome Lego and Henry. I especially appreciate all the discussion about local reef shops. I've heard pretty mixed reviews about glasscages.com and I think I'll probably go the Oceanic or AGA route. Oceanic does custom stuff, I wonder if they are as proud of their custom work as Miracles is...

If anyone heres about a 6' long 200ish gallon glass tank going on the auction block, I'm game.

[w2]

Kevin - My church here in Rantoul is looking for a part-time youth pastor. PM me if you're interested. Also, all the stores mentioned in this thread, if you want to visit, I know where they are. If you're up for a road trip, that is!

[w2]

Chris - My tank is for sale. It's 5' long and goes about 190. I'm downsizing and looking to sell.

[ChemE]

Bill,

What are the dimensions, is it glass, and is it scratch free? After dealing with a 12" wide tank, my next has to be 24" wide.

Thanks,
Chris

[w2]

The dimensions are 60" X 24" X 30". It does have a few scratches on the front glass, but does not detract significantly. Overall, the tank is in really good shape. Likewise, the stand is in good shape. If you would like pictures, I could take some tomorrow and email them to you. Please let me know! And, thanks!

[ChemE]

Yeah, please send pictures to clucas@belzona.com. Are you still offering to make a killer deal on it? I just happen to really like killer deals!