280G+ Starphire In-Wall Build by ReefArtist

Well the ushios to me at first were very white but after a few months I could see the yellow that people talk about. Mixed with my actinics I get a very nice white - they seem to cancel each other (this is in my 65g). So with my 14000 in the middle with a touch of blue and a very large spread from the reflectors, I'm hoping they will merge. I'd like for the outer sides of the tank to be a little dimmer which should happen. I have a lot of low light corals and this would give me extra area to keep them and not have a MH pounding down on low lighter. We'll see what happens as I really have no idea what the combination is going to look like in the end.

Also, I figured if I needed more spread I could always make some larger reflectors - these are 16" and with the tank being 36" deep I could go with 18" reflectors.
 
Very impressed with the lighting setup so far...

How far will the sliders be able to move the rack? I'm looking to do something similar with my current VHO once the MH pendants come in...

Also, how close do you plan on putting this to the water?
 
Thanks Eric and Joey - I'm hoping the lighting works out otherwise it will be 6 - 8 months of getting to like it - LOL.

The sliders are 6' and I can completely uncover the tank. I'm trying to get them done today so I can see how much room I have when they are to the max removal point. I'm hoping for about 1.5 ft of space. The next issue will be the length of power cables - might need to purchase longer ones.
 
I've put all the Zoas that I have in the Infinity, added 4 containers of pods, and I feed the system live rotifers and live pyytoplankton (Nannochloris sp, Nannochloropsis sp). It cycled a few weeks ago and so I've slowly been adding easy care corals. I think I've averaged about 3 or 4 med sized colonies of Zoas and a few rocks with Mushrooms. All the rock that will go into the main display will be hand made so no cycling when I add it. For the most part will will only have the extra 11 little fish as a load - in about 500g of water I don't think those little guys are going to do much. The fish will be added as soon as I can get the lights finished and the rock fired - maybe around Tuesday/Wednesday!
 
I have a ballast question. I have a IceCap 660 and as they state you can have up to 440W/16FT of bulbs. In their diagram they show the combinations and it's not what I wanted to do. So, my question is - can I mix 2 - 2ft T5's and 2 - 4'ft T5's on the same ballast? This is under the length but I'm not sure if I can mix them.
 
according to the Ice cap website, I would say yes.. "in variable lengthhs of 2 to 8' as long as the max wattage is not exceeded."
 
That's what I was going by when I first started laying out my lights but when I looked at their diagrams they always state - 4 bulbs 2ft, 3ft, 4ft etc. I'm checking their website now - I really don't like their new fancy layout of their web - just give me the info. I do have a backdoor to their old layout :D.
 
Carol Joe's right. I asked that same question in the IceCap forum and they said different size bulbs didn't matter up to 16 total ft of bulb. They (IceCap) also said that you can mix t5 and vho on the same ballast.
 
Stephen - how's your build going? Not heard anything lately - of course it's hard to fit in with the holidays.


Happy Holidays everyone!!!!
 
With the holidays it has been crazy here. I hope to get to HD/Lowes today and buy a crapload of pvc so I can get the plumbing done. I plan to paint the inside white today as well. Maybe after the holidays it will speed up.
 
Oh plumbing - I'm so sick of plumbing - LOL. I put the light rack on yesterday and found that I have to remove all the returns I have and reroute them on the top outside around the light rack. Yes it's that close :(. Not to much of a big deal but just having to do more plumbing makes me sick - LOL. You get to the point that the smell of the glue kind of turns your stomach - not that bad but getting there! My T5's are only 3 inches from the water - very close! You know my ceiling and we knew it was low but I really thought I would have at least 4 inches.
 
Yes - I know but it should be OK - I checked my 65g and they are about the same - maybe just a little bit higher but not much. If I have problems I'll just have to redesign the rack - I don't want to redo it now! Might be an upgrade in the future but not now!

Did you get the anthias or just taking your chances that I won't snatch them :D.
 
Did you get 1 male and the rest females? The 4 - Yellow wrasse (Alberts Angels - LOL) are chomping at the bit to get into the 280. I can't wait to see all 5 - females with Albert (BIG yellow wrasse).
 
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