The Reef Tank banner
43K views 477 replies 21 participants last post by  OneDummHikk 
#1 · (Edited)
YES! I have official began my build. I am upgrading my 75 gallon. I will post some pics of the room that I am partitioning off and what the plan is.

-I ordered the tank today. Will be here on Friday (I know, quick huh)

-Will get a hundred pounds or so of live rock on Sat.

-Bought an Octopus 200 skimmer

-Bought a window A/C unit for the sump room to alleviate some of the burden on the chiller.

First question of the build - I want to install an exhast fan to pull some of the heat from the top of the tank. I need suggestions on equipment and where to get it. I want to run some kind of plastic duct work and have the exhast fan in the already breached window next to the A/C unit.

Thanks guys, TRT I need your help!
 
#3 ·
Honestly I am not sure of the brand. I ordered it from Mihn, definitly the best price in town. Probably from a local builder I will definitly need your expertise during this build Chris, especially on the technical stuff.
 
#5 ·
First question of the build - I want to install an exhast fan to pull some of the heat from the top of the tank. I need suggestions on equipment and where to get it. I want to run some kind of plastic duct work and have the exhast fan in the already breached window next to the A/C unit.
Use PVC pipe to run the ducts with. Use a bathroom ventilation fan that you would normally see installed in the ceiling.

Good luck with the build and congrats on the tank.
 
#6 ·
PVC? Really? Don't you think that will be kind of rigid? I was thinking some kind of plastic dryer-type vent extension (for lack of a better term) and a plastic scoop, somewhat like you might see on a dust collection system for a lathe.

Ok, bathroom venilation fan, but how do they hook up? Will I need to hard wire it? I would like to avoid that by getting something that will be 120v so i can put a timer on it. Thanks man.
 
#7 ·
I would probably just use something like this:

http://contractorservices.homedepot...2727&pid=63863118-1086-4971-823e-2c603bc85159

Or if you need a long run you can get just the flexible ducting:

http://contractorservices.homedepot...3603&pid=04c8edea-1842-411d-98d7-f69e31ad309b

You could also use rigid aluminum (I wouldn't use the galvanized for a moisture application) pipe for something lightweight and rigid, which is how most dryer vents are run in new construction:

You could even run flexible or rigid duct and use something like this:

http://contractorservices.homedepot...2379&pid=b120d6b1-2ac3-469c-a14f-aff5da1b8b6a

Any fan you buy will probably need to be wired...if you wanted to "plug it in" you can buy an inexpensive extension cord and cut off the female end and wire it to your fan...then you could plug it into a timer.
 
#9 ·
Ok, cool. I can do that. Or my neighbor electrician. :)

NExt problem/solution. What to use to blackout the windows. There are two normal size windows that will be in the sump room. I need to keep the sunlight from the room. What are your ideas? The windows are pretty much covered by plants from the outside.

I promise to get pics up as soon as I get home so you all can "see" what I am talking about.
 
#10 ·
Ok, cool. I can do that. Or my neighbor electrician. :)

NExt problem/solution. What to use to blackout the windows. There are two normal size windows that will be in the sump room. I need to keep the sunlight from the room. What are your ideas? The windows are pretty much covered by plants from the outside.

I promise to get pics up as soon as I get home so you all can "see" what I am talking about.
Some sort of cheap blind. If they're mostly shaded, I don't know why you need to completely black them out. What is your reason for wanting to block out all the light? Some residual sunlight shouldnt cause algae problems.
 
#11 ·
Well if you think it won't cause problems then maybe I'll just put some cheap curtain over it. I'm not worried about the show tank cause the back and sides will be painted, but I do worry about sunlight messing with the water in the 75 gal sump. Or should I not even worry about that?
 
#12 ·
Very Dark window tint for the windows... you can buy the type that hangs on by static, or the normal type that adheres on. or just a plain ol roll of black plastic. make a frame and mount it to the windows..
 
#14 ·
Okay, Lights...
I have T5's now over my 75 gal and really like them, but I can't find a 36" fixture that would span the depth of the tank, which is 24". I suppose it would be better to go with MHs. But i know nothing about them really. I want my lighting to be economical, yet strong enough to keep anything. What are my options with MH's without pulling an extreme amount of wattage.
 
#15 ·
So this is a standard 180, right? 6'x2'x2' dimensions?

I've got T5s over my 150, which is only a foot shorter. I'm using 4' bulbs centered over the tank, and 8 of them in a retrofit easily fit over the tank and give plenty of light. If you stepped that up to 5' bulbs, don't be too quick to dismiss them as viable options.

For MH, you're looking at three 250W bulbs as a standard, but lately a lot of folks are pining after 400W setups. Personally, I think that's unnecessary. I'm pretty ignorant on reflectors, but maybe Whiskey can chime in on his experience.

Regardless, electrical cost wise you're looking at similar wattage (eight 80W bulbs vs. three 250W bulbs), and seeing that you'd probably run the T5's a bit longer than MHs, it's really a wash (now if you through in some actinic supplementation, the MH config will be anywhere from $5-10 more a month).

Bulb life becomes the biggest factor with sustaining costs. I've had my T5's running for about a year, and I don't plan on changing them soon. As a general rule, maybe we could agree that T5's give about twice the life of a MH setup. Figure $25 for each T5 bulb, $60 for each MH, your bulb costs over the life of the tank are about 75-100% greater with a MH setup. Now, a couple hundred bucks over the life (what, 5 years?) of the tank is (unfortunately) not a driving factor, so your personal preference should play a good portion of the decision.
 
#29 ·
I have to respectfully disagree. As long as you can live without shimmer, there is no reason to go MH. I just setup my 238g (60x36x26) with all T5s and am keeping predominantly sps. When I made the transfer everything browned out of course, but now that I have the T5s up and running I'm amazed how fast the coloration on the SPS is coming back. And the big plus, my tank is thriving on 650w of light, that is about 2.7 watts/gallon. So like crvz, who also has a lot of sps (and has about 2.8 watts/gallon), I'm saving a ton on my electric (not to mention I don't need a chiller) :) I'd need a minimum of 800w of MH, plus supplementation....

to the OP's question on lighting, I think 5' T5s would easily work for a 6' tank. If you are going retro, the 5' Tek retros would work well. I've also heard a rumor that aquatinics is about to come out with 5' T5 fixture that will be amazing, and probably worth waiting for if you can. You could do 8x80w. Going with the 80w vs keeping your old lighting and getting 24" would actually save you a ton of money in the long run because 5' bulbs are only a couple dollars more than 2' bulbs, and you'd have a lot less bulbs to buy.
 
#20 ·
Okay. Thanks for all the suggestions.

I think I have narrowed my options.

1) possibly buy a guy's six foot fixture with 14 bulbs. (My LFS is contacting him about it.) The fixture is two 3' x7 T5s. Cost new was around 800 he said. I'm not sure how much he is willing to sell his for though.

2) use my current 4' x 8 T5 in the middle of the six feet span and then find two other fixtures (one for each side) 2' x 4 if possible and mount them perpendicular to the 4'. It would look something like this from above. |-----------| That should cover a majority of the tank.

Option #2 is by far going to be the most cost effective.....maybe I just answered my own question. :)
 
#21 ·
For lighting if it were me I would go with MH, it's what I did on my 180.

For about $630 you can get 3*250W MH with electronic ballasts and Spider reflectors using XM10K bulbs shipped to your door. Then you can use your existing florescents as supplementation for your atinics. This is all retrofit kit stuff of course and would have to be mounted in a canopy you build - I like my MH to be about 10" off the water.

This will be a pretty white tank,.. If you like things bluer you might look into bluer bulbs and better reflectors like Lumanark mini's.

Whiskey
 
#22 ·
For lighting if it were me I would go with MH, it's what I did on my 180.

For about $630 you can get 3*250W MH with electronic ballasts and Spider reflectors using XM10K bulbs shipped to your door. Then you can use your existing florescents as supplementation for your atinics. This is all retrofit kit stuff of course and would have to be mounted in a canopy you build - I like my MH to be about 10" off the water.

This will be a pretty white tank,.. If you like things bluer you might look into bluer bulbs and better reflectors like Lumanark mini's.

Whiskey
Hmmm. that's something to consider, thanks Whiskey!
 
#24 ·
If your 180 is like my 125 it has two braces one at 24" and one at 48". I used my old 48" light setup on one end spanning from the end to the second brace...then just added a 24" for the last part of the span...with an in-wall design you should have plenty of space to do this using two fixtures (or you can gut the 48" you have now and just add a 24" retro)...if you're happy with your current lights that seems to make the most sense to me...even if you wanted to skimp a little on the 24" end you could make that a lower light area.
 
#27 ·
Sounds like you are getting a good plan together. I will be tagging along to see how everything progresses.

Best of luck with your new "BIG" project. :)
Haha - thanks aquawolf
 
#32 ·
wow i had no idea we were higher than other places. You would think with all the refineries around here SOMETHING energy related would be cheaper. But I do a good job keeing the cost down, for example last month my bill was only 151.00 and that's on a 3,000 square foot house. We don't go upstairs until nighttime to watch movies or something, and during the day our house is at 79. Hense the fact that I have to run a chiller! haha
 
#35 ·
Its actually been shown that T5s lose 30% of their PAR after 9 months. This period is reduced to 6 months if overdriven with icecaps. See this study (translated from German and done by Korallen Zucht): http://archiv.korallenriff.de/Lichttest/T5-1.pdf Can you still run them longer? You can get away with it, but your growth and coloration won't be as good.

I'm running a Sfiligoi Stealth 12x54w unit (I got a discount on it with the purchase of my tank, so the cost wasn't that bad). Its coverage over my 5 ft. tank is very nice.
 
This is an older thread, you may not receive a response, and could be reviving an old thread. Please consider creating a new thread.
Top