240 Gallon Cube

[d3hree]

Thanks, thats a good idea.
I was wondering how to deal with ATO whilst running a part time surge and your answer has resolved that issue, just measure evap and pump accordingly. Thankyou

 

[kawicivic]

It was a tough choice. I was debating between the Digital Aquatics and the Neptune controllers. The biggest thing concern I had with the reefkeeper elite for DA's customer service. I saw more negative threads and comments about their customer service then Neptune's. They also always seem to have delays releasing new items so to me that seems like they have a lack of resources in house. I had to use the Neptunes customer service and it was some of the best I have ever had with a company. I emailed them and in 10 minutes had a response. They needed the base unit back so I sent it to them and they got it on Friday and fixed it and shipped it back the same day. I bought the controller used and they still fixed it for no charge.

I actually like the reef keeper elites PC4 price point and from a power strip standpoint it made more sense to buy a reef keeper. The biggest drawback was that I would need to buy a separate module or continue to use my tunze controller for my tunzes. When you add it would have cost me more money then the apex. I am happy with my decision so far.

I am setting up a 180 and would like to get a controller down the road since I travel so often. I have been leaning towards the apex but am also curious about the profilux and whether or not it is worth the extra cost. The longer I stay in the hobby the more I realize I should just be patient and buy the best equipment - it seems to hold its value and stick around much longer.

Did you consider the lite controllers at all?

 

[goat585]

I looked at the reef keeper lite but it did work with enough modules. You can only use 4 so I could get the net module, the SL1, the tunze module and one pc4. It could not handle everything that I needed. The apex light I did not consider since I would need an extra module for my tunzes. As for the Profilux, I did take a quick look at it but it was too much money for my tastes. I really debated on whether or not I even wanted to spend the money on a controller so the extra cash for the Profilux took it out of the equation. I ended up getting a great deal on a used apex so that helped make the final decision.

 

[rpresto@hotmail]

ni:wave:ce build

 

[goat585]

ni:wave:ce build

Thank you

 

[solRNY]

any updates?

 

[goat585]

Here are the some latest pictures of the tank. I have not done to much to it. Most of my time has been spent raising clown fish lately. I added a couple of corals otherwise I am just letting everything grow.

 

[romanr]

Very nice. I'm at the same stage with my tank. Done adding corals so now it's all about letting things fill in and fine tuning things as necessary.

 

[goat585]

Here's a couple of new ones. I did change the reflector on the tank. I switched from a lumenbright reflector to a large lumenmax reflector with DIY LED supplementation on the reflector. The light spread looks to be much more even with the new reflector. The LED's at a touch more actinic to the tank which I really like. I plan to tweek it a little more but so far I am happy with the results

Left side

Front

Right Side

 

[biecacka]

tank looks great man!!
corey

 

[goat585]

Here are a couple more. Not my favorite pictures but an update.

 

[goat585]

sorry double post

 

[goat585]

Well I finally got around to building a canopy for my 240 reef aquarium. The canopy is made of 1x2's and 1x3's and plywood. I used oak for the majority of the build and then I stained it a dark red chestnut color to match the canopy. It has a single 400 watt halide with a larger lumenmax reflector. The reflector has 12 LED blue moonlights mounted to it. I also used two 39 watt and two 54 watt ATI blue plus T5's surrounding the halide reflector. Finally I am happy with the lighting on the tank. The T-5's allowed me to go to a 12K Reeflux bulb from the radium I was running. The tank is much brighter and still has a nice hue of blue and enough actinic to allow the colors to pop. Here are some pictures.

 

[goat585]

I also took a couple of quick front shots of the tank. I rearranged the rock work a little since the last update. They are also taken with the new lighting.

 

[HOBrien]

Love the tank. I just picked up a 42x42x24 tank today.

 

[goat585]

Congrats on the new tank. Deep dimension tanks rule

 

[goat585]

Here are some updated pictures

 

[biecacka]

Hey quick question, what are you doing for flow? I'm upgrading to a deeper tank, likely 48 inches front to back and am considering a closed loop.
Any thoughts on what works for you, would you do it same way again?
Corey

 

[tbettis]

cyano?

 

[goat585]

Hey quick question, what are you doing for flow? I'm upgrading to a deeper tank, likely 48 inches front to back and am considering a closed loop.
Any thoughts on what works for you, would you do it same way again?
Corey

I am using two return lines that are pushing around 1500 gallons per hour total. There are also 2 tunzes a 6100 and a 6105 running at 40% or so. I actually just shut one off as I felt there was too much flow for all my LPS in the tank. The return lines run front to back and the tunze that is running is creating a wave right to left. It is positioned in the back right corner. If my tank was SPS dominate I would run both at a higher percentage but with my mix if I run them higher my corals do not like it.

My tank is capable of using a closed loop but the plumbling was going to be a pain in the butt and the close loop pump would have used more power than the powerheads so I went the power head route.