400 Watt MH over 6 ft 125

[Bennihanna]

Have you thought of upgradig the reflectors to luminarc so the room is not so bright? Might help you improve the "clean" look of the tanks exterior. Also are you looking for a wavemaker? I have a R/S Wavemaker that I am looking to get rid of if you are interested.

[raycityboy1]

I don't know the difference from one reflector to the next. These are the first Halides I have ever owned. When I build the bridge down, it should solve that problem. As far as the wavemaker is concerned, if I cannot get the other one to run safely, I am going to trash both of them. I know its crazy, but I really want two that are the same just like all my lights. I am a glutton for symmetry. These pumps are so old they have been discontinued and the manuf. told me they were considered throw away pumps.

I would much rather all my electrical stuff be in the air as opposed to near the floor, in the event of another snafoo like the 100. For the time being, I have everything on a dedicated GFCI receptical, so if water touches anything, it shuts everything down immidiately.

In the end it will be safe and asthetically pleasing. Whenever that may be.

[raycityboy1]

I revamped the placement of the halides and I got the bridge lowered last night. I squeezed all 4 of them onto the brige. I lengthened all the wires, and ran all the balasts to the wall side of the tank. I didn't notice until last night when I repositioned all the lights, but my bridge isn't running directly in the center of the tank. The reflectors are 18" long and they are hanging over the front by 2" and shy in the back by 2". I have two ways of fixing this. Move the bridge pullies back 2" which would mean stripping the bridge down again b/c it is quite heavy. Or move the tank forward 2". I am really leaning towards moving the tank because it would be more time effective to drain it in judt a few minutes with a mag 24 and fill it back up. I can slide the tank with all the rock, sand, and corals in it by myself b/c its on tile floor. As long as the lights are off, I should be OK. I suspect my corals were dryer longer when the 100 busted so I have little fear. They will just slime up and be unhappy for a little while.

I hope to get to play with my troublesome wavemaker tonight to test for voltage, I finally found my voltmeter, I have this strange suspicion that I have evaded this wavemaker for a week for nothing. But I will see soon. My Yellow Tang is healing very nicely and has almost had all the yellow color returned to his face.

[marineduud]

These are the reflectors Ben is talking about.

[raycityboy1]

oh ok, I have seen those in a pet store on a tank, I just never knew THOSE were Luminarcs. That particular store that sells them charges 50.00 for each reflector made to custom specs if needed. Is that a typical price?? They look very well made and they have so many reflective angles on the inside. Is this an item I'd be better off buying online??? Remember again, I have no experience with Halides or reflectors, so the information you give me is all I know about them.

I am slowly but surely advancing on euipment. I hope to be completely finished with everything related to lights in a month if I decide to change reflectors.

I am replacing my baby skimmer with a bad butt skimmer in the works now. The most advanced reefer in our city is building replicas of some skimmer XXX for a fraction of the cost and better results. I trust him thouroughly b/c he is super advanced in the hobby and has done all the same stuff on his own tank which is amazing. I think the pro clear skimmer I am using now is rated for 55-75 gallons at best. I have a huge skimmer without a pump but I know nothing about it and have never attempted to set it up. I would just rather buy a new one.

[steph2039]

WOW!!! Your tank(s) has come a long way. I hope you have all the power strips, timers, and lighting secure. If anything ever falls (or fails) in the tank, not only will you crash your tank, but also all the power supply in Valdosta. Seriously, lighting is always a good thing for the inhabitants of a tank. With 4 400 watt fixtures running I wouldn't worry about your power bill. It will have to be something you get used to. It just looks like a lot of cords running from one thing or the other. Just be careful with all that hanging from the top of your tank. (actually the top, sides, and anywhere else there is power) I really think once the corals get used to the lighting they will be very happy. That being said, if you keep moving them around it won't matter how much they enjoy the light they will still have trouble acclimating to being moved so much.

It seems you've upgraded everything you possibly can. After this, I would leave the tank alone and just enjoy it. If you want to upgrade.....buy more corals

Stephanie

[raycityboy1]

It doesn't look like that anymore. I had to rerun every lamp and ballast b/c I got a free one on Wed. I lengthened the wires to the ballast boxes and ran everything neat and securely. I haven't finished the wavemakers yet, but I hope to get to them soon. I am in the final prom week and this has been the biggest one yet. I am just beat by the time I get done with work and customers are coming in so steady during the day I cannot get any work done on the tank during the day like I normally do. All the wires are all secured to wood with screws and catamounts from Chaparral/Rabalo Boats and Regal Marine (where I used to work) all wires are in a neat and straight line. Those wires aint going nowhere, I promise. There are no longer any timers or powerstrips above the tank, everything has been run down the side.

Why on Earth would a lighting manufacturer put 6 ft cords on these big lights???? They were barely reaching when I had them ran down the back, I had to raise the ballasts up. Had I thought about it, I would have asked them to put 12 ft cords on all my fixtures. At any rate they are all 15 ft cords now so I can move the bridge and have access loops at every catamount and pretty much do whatever I want in the future.

GA Power isn't anticipating that much of an increase in my electric bill. I will see next month.

I have had to move a few corals down b/c they were looking a little blah since I lowered the lights Wed night. Other than that the corals have all pretty much stayed in one place for a while. There was a time, when I was buying corals so fast, I had to keep rearranging the entire tank to get everything to fit. The Green Lobo was the last thing I purchased and I wouldn't have but it was a steal and had been on my shopping list a long time.

I have stopped buying coral in Valdosta. There is just NO selection of anything that I don't have already, and the prices are horrible.

Steph---I know you and I have both been going to Jim's for years, but I had to cut him off. That was technically the only reef store in Valdosta, the other stores just keep a single reef tank and they are never stocked. I have been hearing great things about a store in Douglas. I know your probably thinking Douglas?!?!?!? Who could have thought that would be a good idea? But I have heard from several people that its a really nice store, good prices, and they seem to be knowledgable. I hope to get up there one Saturday when I am not working.

This is the reason that my coral aquisitions have come to almost a complete hault. I figure just save up my money and go to the bigger cities and drop 2-3 hundred at a time. I can get a lot more bang for my buck. Not to mention its a treat just going and seeing different displays.

I am running the entire tank on dedicated GFCI recepticals so if water touches anything, it shuts the entire tank down.

For all you electrical gooroos out there----I am searching for some sort of a plug in alrarm or warbler that will sound when the circuit is broken and there is no power. I want it pluggable so in the event of another 3 hurricanes, I don't have to listen to an alarm for 3 days while the power is off, but I want to be alerted if I ever lose power say while I sleep. I have called many places and been many places online and everyone tells me that this will have to be a custom job. Does anyone know of anything comparable to this????

Originally Posted by steph2039

WOW!!! Your tank(s) has come a long way. I hope you have all the power strips, timers, and lighting secure. If anything ever falls (or fails) in the tank, not only will you crash your tank, but also all the power supply in Valdosta. Seriously, lighting is always a good thing for the inhabitants of a tank. With 4 400 watt fixtures running I wouldn't worry about your power bill. It will have to be something you get used to. It just looks like a lot of cords running from one thing or the other. Just be careful with all that hanging from the top of your tank. (actually the top, sides, and anywhere else there is power) I really think once the corals get used to the lighting they will be very happy. That being said, if you keep moving them around it won't matter how much they enjoy the light they will still have trouble acclimating to being moved so much.

It seems you've upgraded everything you possibly can. After this, I would leave the tank alone and just enjoy it. If you want to upgrade.....buy more corals

Stephanie

[marineduud]

That particular store that sells them charges 50.00 for each reflector made to custom specs if needed. Is that a typical price??

That is not the same reflector you can't find them for that price anywhere and they don't make them to custom specs there are only 3 sizes.


Robert

[raycityboy1]

I am aware of that now. The store couldn't tell me anything about them, including their name. I delved a little deeper yesterday and found out that it is a local reefer that is supplying them. It is a replica of a luminarc, with the exception of the type of metal used. He got a good pic off the internet and put it on a Cad program and he started creating this much cheaper version of the reflectors (although very well built). 90% of the angles are the same with the exception of the ones in the very center and the metal is different, which is how he can sell them so much cheaper. I was informed last night that Luminarcs normally cost $150.00 a pc.