300 acrylic with bar

[FFrankie]

Looks awesome murfman. I looked back but couldn't find the lighting plan. WHat ballast and bulbs did you end up going with?

 

[murfman]

Thank you, all, for the kind replys. My next step is to finish the bar and get it hard mounted and then I hope to add a Tunze Wavebox followed by a calcium reactor.

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=14394109#post14394109 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by FFrankie
Looks awesome murfman. I looked back but couldn't find the lighting plan. WHat ballast and bulbs did you end up going with?

I am running Lumenarc III, full size reflectors with 400W MH Mogul lights. Right now I have Coral Vue Reeflux 12K bulbs. One ballast is the purple Lumatek digital that you see in one of the last pictures. The silver one is a Coral Vue, dual ballast. The lumatek is over my SPS area.

 

[FFrankie]

Thanks for the fast reply murfman. I thought that one looked familiar
I am running 2x 250w coralvue ballast over my frag tank and Radium's with good results. I was asking because I like the color of your tank and am thinking of going with the Lumentek 400w ballasts for my DT. No more T5's just two 400w Radium's in the Lumen bright pendants similar to my FT setup.

 

[murfman]

I was corrected today, the ballast is PFO, not coral vue. You can see a difference between the Lumatek and the PFOs. LT is much whiter where the PFO is more purple.

 

[murfman]

Well I finished the room and the bar. I sealed the bar top, after finish sanding it to 100 grit and put on the sealer, called Rubio Monocoat. This stuff is used for solid wood floors and furniture and is very easy to work with. I rubbed it on with a rag and 10 minutes later buffed it with a piece of white floor polishing pad. I put two coats on and it is beautiful;

This is the end on the short side. I wanted to take this to show the router cut on the edge. Sorry Tim, I couldn't do the square bar, not enough room and that was a spearing waiting to happen on my hip at 3am.

 

[murfman]

Turf algea filter;
27 Jan

31 Jan

1 Feb

2 Feb

 

[murfman]

9 Feb

12 Feb

14 Feb

19 Feb

 

[BWine]

Nice looking setup!

 

[Dudester]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=14395105#post14395105 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by murfman
My next step is to finish the bar and get it hard mounted and then I hope to add a Tunze Wavebox followed by a calcium reactor.

Oooh, really? Don't get me wrong, I love the Wavebox, but you stated in the beginning that you wanted to avoid powerheads and even locline in your tank, and now you're going to put a huge black box in there? It will be very difficult to conceal. Another option would be to build an external wavebox, especially since your tank is made of acrylic. You would probably have to drain about 12" of water to add it and drill the hole in your tank but the entire thing could probably be added and cured in a 24 hour period, and it might be worth considering.

Sorry if my 1st post on your thread is perceived as a negative one, but it's not intended to be. I truly love this project and I'm glad I found this thread. The algae scrubber is wicked cool!

 

[murfman]

Dudester, not taken critical at all. The wave box can't be external as the one wall where it would be mounted is flat against a wall. The box will not be so obtrusive as it will be in a corner where not a lot of people will sit. Another of our club members, with a 600 gallon tank the same dimensions but wider, has two in the same corner as I will place mine. Once it corallines over, you will hardly notice it.

 

[Dudester]

:thumbsup: Most excellent. I'm glad it won't bother you -- for the record, it wouldn't bother me either. I think the wave is worth it!

 

[Mini_GBR]

updates, hows the growth going. SPS dominated, or mixed? The build looks great, wish I had the room!

 

[murfman]

It is a mixed tank, Zoas mainly on the left side, LPS in the center and SPS on the right. Growth is good on the SPS and Zoa side. LPS growing but slowly.


Jan FTS

June FTS

SPS side looks a little "white" since I had to pull out a Multibarred Anglefish and when I re arranged the rock, you never get the coralline the way it was.

 

[BigTuna321]

looks good :thumbsup:

 

[mcliffy2]

Looks like it is filling in nicely. Time to bust out the scraper on the back before it gets too outta hand

 

[murfman]

I am thinking of getting some of those magnetic frag stations from the Alternate Reef and hanging them off the back.

 

["Umm fish?"]

Looking good!

 

[FFrankie]

It's coming out nice dude!

 

[murfman]

Thanks. It is amazing to look at it every day and like a child or pet, you don't see it grow, from the previous day. Pictures are the only thing to show you that you are in fact being successful. Look at the Artic fire zoas in the bottom left of the 1st picture and then now. I have also fragged those 3 times, since Jan for friends. Look at all the zoa growth, for that matter.

 

[murfman]

My "big boy"