270 Gallon SPS tank for JBNY

[Kigs]

nice aquascaping!

 

[Bax]

That is just purdy!

 

[Phoebe0715]

Man that's awesome!!! I am building a stand/canopy for my 180 set up and I know what you mean by slow progress - but I am getting what I want! lol (I also veneered the whole stand with burl - man it is beautiful!) I have one question - how high is your canopy? It and the doors for the stand are out last steps. I love the rail idea and I think I will incorporate it in my canopy, but trying to get an idea for height. Thanks.

 

[cwegescheide]

Just rocks in there and it already looks great! The stand looks really nice too. Great job Joe. :thumbsup:

 

[fishdoc11]

Phoebe0715

[welcome]

Chris

 

[SunnyX]

Great looking setup so far joe! :thumbsup:

I may have missed it but what MH Bulb and ballast combo are you now running?

 

[marino420td]

Very sweet thread to follow. The tank, stand and canopy are really beginning to look like something now.

I believe you were the guy that donated a couple of huge pieces to Atlantis Marine World from your old tank. A very large hammer and I think a huge acropora. If so, would you mind posting pictures of those as a teaser to what this tank will produce ?
I can't find the link.

 

[JB NY]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=10951538#post10951538 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by melev
Nice progress. I'm looking at the current pictures with the MH lights on, and the previous pictures where the VHOs were installed for the test run. It doesn't appear to have a lot of room to move them out of your way, since they aren't able to slide under the Luminarc reflectors. Or did you work out a solution to that?

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=10951960#post10951960 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by meschaefer
I like the hood and light rack that you built. Just so I am clear, is the goal of the set up to be able to pull the light out and leave the hood on the tank?

Thanks guys.

The main goal of the racks was really to allow me to do two things. Take all of the lights out of the canopy when I need to put something or pull something large from the tank. With my old tank. I had to take off the entire canopy, which was such a pain. So I want to be able to take out the light if needed. The other goal was to be able to slide the racks forward to make cleaning the bulbs a little easier.

Marc, yeah you are right. I was originally hoping that I would be able to slide the VHO rack under the luminarcs if I needed more room to get my arm in the tank. I didn't really measure before I put everything in motion and really underestimated the size of the LA3 reflectors. The euro bracing is what threw me off. My last tank was an AGA, so I never had bracing like this before. The euro bracing is 4.5" around the tank, so when placing the light racks I lose a total of 9" if I try to keep the lights so they do not overlap the euro bracing.

It's all good though. It looks like I have just enough room for the vho rack as well. I decided to wire it so that I can unplug the vho rack inside the canopy and will just pull it out when needed. If I find it too much of a pain I can always change the vho rack a little bit. It won't cost more than $20 to do and maybe take 1 hour. So I'll just leave it be and see how it goes. Can't get everything perfect.

 

[JB NY]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=10955050#post10955050 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by Phoebe0715
Man that's awesome!!! I am building a stand/canopy for my 180 set up and I know what you mean by slow progress - but I am getting what I want! lol (I also veneered the whole stand with burl - man it is beautiful!) I have one question - how high is your canopy? It and the doors for the stand are out last steps. I love the rail idea and I think I will incorporate it in my canopy, but trying to get an idea for height. Thanks.

Thanks for the kind words. Yeah it took a long time to get this project done (well almost done). Unfortunately I have many distractions and other hobbies which were competing for my time too. The total height of the stand, tank, canopy is 6' 5". The Canopy is 15" tall.

 

[JB NY]

SunnyX I am running 250 Watt MH with VHO URI actinics. The bulbs are XM10K. Right now I only have the XM10K bulbs over the tank.

To everyone else who offered kind words, thanks do much for the nice comments. I really appreciate them!! :thumbsup:

 

[JB NY]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=10956462#post10956462 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by marino420td
I believe you were the guy that donated a couple of huge pieces to Atlantis Marine World from your old tank. A very large hammer and I think a huge acropora. If so, would you mind posting pictures of those as a teaser to what this tank will produce ?
I can't find the link.

lol yeah that was me.

About 6 months in the tank, probably about 4" long?

When we pulled it out.

The frag of the table coral about 2 months after I first got it.

When we pulled it out. I must have fragged 3-4" chunks out of this coral at least a dozen or so times over the years as well.

The whole thread is here:

http://www.reefcentral.com/forums/showthread.php?s=&threadid=832314

 

[i2ik]

outstanding job! the canopy as well the stand are pretty well done! i could not see the aquascape well, but now that the lights are on, its very nice!

 

[marino420td]

Thanks Joe. Still amazed at the size of those. Funny how they don't look so big in that 20,000 gal behemoth.

 

[bleedingthought]

Wow, those are crazy!

 

[melev]

Joe, do you think you could install a secondary track on each side low enough to fit the VHOs? If so, you could move the VHOs lower now, and still have the option of putting them higher (current setup). Just a thought.

 

[chwcdw]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=10941880#post10941880 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by JB NY
I didn't lubricate the track at all, the ss bolt on the track sticks a little but it's still not too much trouble to pull the rack back and forth.

That's a good idea on using nylon screws, I don't know why that didn't click with me. I think I have a whole bag of them in my fish room. I'll have to try them and see how it goes.

I can take a picture tonight when I get home to give you a better idea. But basically it is a 1/4 hex bolt that fits in the track, then you just put the nut on to pull something tight against the track.

here are some pics for the site I bought them from
http://www.woodpeck.com/ttrackmain.html

In looking at the photos, it looks as if you would have enough room to just use nylon washers and keep the stainless bolt for strength. Maybe use one under the head of the bolt and another under the nut?

 

[CoralGeek]

wow!

 

[JB NY]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=10958134#post10958134 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by melev
Joe, do you think you could install a secondary track on each side low enough to fit the VHOs? If so, you could move the VHOs lower now, and still have the option of putting them higher (current setup). Just a thought.

I think I could just replace the block the VHO uses to attache to the track, by having it an inch or so lower I can probably get it under the MH.

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=10958662#post10958662 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by chwcdw
In looking at the photos, it looks as if you would have enough room to just use nylon washers and keep the stainless bolt for strength. Maybe use one under the head of the bolt and another under the nut?

That's a good idea, I'll see if I have some washers I can use.

 

[melev]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=10959113#post10959113 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by JB NY
I think I could just replace the block the VHO uses to attache to the track, by having it an inch or so lower I can probably get it under the MH.

I thought of that yesterday, but today I thought of a secondary track. I like the first one better.

 

[JB NY]

:lol: