450G Dream come true

[Mahlhavoc]

I decided to redo this thread as it has been awhile since update and I have alot to cover.

First off this tank is 96x36x30 3/4" acrylic and made by Aquatic Systems design, I can not speak enough about this company and the guy who runs it, awesome service and he goes out of his way for his clients.

My Equipment is as follows:

2- OM 4ways
3- 400 watt SE Halides 15k XM & Blueline E-Ballasts
3- LAIII Reflectors
8- 48" VHOs on 660 Icecaps w/ personally made 8" reflectors
3- Reeflo Darts; 2 on a closed loop and 1 on heater/chiller/skimmer
1- Seq 1000 4300gph for return
1- Aquacontroller 3 with a DC8 and Moon Symulator
1- 150gal sump & 50gal fuge (stock tanks)
1- 1/2hp chiller
1- 1000watt Fireplug heater (got this brand new though company has been out of business awhile now)
1- Aquatic Systems Design skimmer rated 850-1000g
1- Aquatic Systems Design Calcium reactor

To start off I had to tear down an office downstairs to expand my long but thin den.

Ignore the mess as I had a busy day ---->

 

[Mahlhavoc]

Here is the tank in it's drawing form though it changed a bit since that.

I will have one closed loop on the bottm and one on the top to make for a back and forth flow with the OM 4 ways. There will be a shorter overflow that is about 6'x5"x5" and hardly noticable while viewing the tank and will be very quiet with a low waterfall distance. Here are some equipment shots.

And getting closer to Aquarium time, Scott over at ASD sent me some build pics.

 

[Mahlhavoc]

As I said, I decided to make my own reflectors out of some high polished aluminum and they turned out nicely I think. It is a bit tough to find an 8 foot reflector.

Then comes Tank Day!! It's like X-Mas for old people! This thing is huge and beautiful. . can't say enough about Aquatic Systems Design and Scott! He even Delivered!!

Let us not forget the kid in the tank shot . . .

 

[Mahlhavoc]

Scott came up with a nice little addition to this tank I have to say I was impressed and like it alot. Since my sump is in the garage and it would be tough to mount my ACIII sensors out there or drilling probe hole sin the tank, he made me a little probe holder (probably not what it was made for) but it is nice to have. He drilled threaded holes on either side of the tank incase i wanted to move them. These have adjustable screw to hold the probes in no matter the size.

The comes th fun part . . . Plumbing!:eek1:

Here are 85% of my fittings to plumb the CLs and overflow. This alone took me all day long.

This is what came out of a days work and alot of glue sniffing . .

 

[Mahlhavoc]

So then on to filling it up and leak testing it. I really love the OM4ways water action as seen here:

Had only a small male thread leak that was fixed easily. I then finished plumbing the main stock tank in and the last two pumps and a heater. I am still awaiting the skimmer to arrive from ASD and need to hook up the chiller yet. I have now filled it with RO and salted here up and added some sand .. 540 LBS of it :eek1: This has clouded the heck out of the tank and is clearing up as I type this as it has been two days now. 18 bags is alot of sand!

I want to do something close to this as my reefscaping as I love this look and the swim area for the fish is nice along with an open bottom.

These pictures are from Fudges thread on here Marc`s DIY 900g Inwall System http://www.reefcentral.com/forums/showthread.php?s=&threadid=686757

This is where I am at currently and will update this as I go along. Thanks for looking and any comments are welcome.

 

[Mahlhavoc]

Oh, question!

Anyone with lighting expertese . . what do you think about the 3 400watt 15k XMs on a Blueline electric ballast (very blue look) with 4 48" 6500 VHO and 4 48" actinic VHO? Does this sound like a good combo for this tank? I realize the 3 400watt will cover the centerline of the tank and miss the very ends a bit but that is where my major SPS grwoth will be.

Thoughts?

 

[sidewinder770]

OK- where did you get the fireplug from? I looked for one of those for my tank and no such luck!

Keep the pics coming!

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=9773217#post9773217 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by Mahlhavoc
Here is the tank in it's drawing form though it changed a bit since that.

 

[Mahlhavoc]

One of my LFS owners, who is a good friend of mine, had a friend who had it sitting in his garage forever. It was still in the box and wrapper. Aquanetics went out of business long ago, was a gem of a find for a buck fifty.

 

[Mahlhavoc]

 

[Je®vis]

Look at all those Aragonite... you bought the entire shipment?

 

[petedoc]

Great project! I like the plumbing, it would make Jacuzzi jealous. Is that a continuous reflector for your MH lighting?

 

[Mahlhavoc]

Nope, that is to hang 4 - 48" vho lights along the tank. I have Lumin III reflectors for the MH. I have my fish transfered over and the luminarcs hanging but still need to finish the VHO lighting and hang them.

I had a terrible problem though, in the switch .. three tanks worth, my sps RTNed in the holding containers . .maybe temp swing or PH .. unsure. I lost 80% of my stuff. I am pretty tore up about that but what do you do

I asked what people thought about the lighting (400 watt blueline e ballasts with xm15k and the vhos 6500 and 10k) and the spectrum but haven't recieved an answer so I just ordered them (the new VHOs) but already have the XM15k and they throw like a 20k blueish spectrum. Anyone have input on this?

 

[invincible569]

Sorry about the coral losses. Im sure it was due to temp. Do you know what the temp was?

 

[Fiziksgeek]

I wanted to ask what you plan on keeping in the tank. I run 250W XM10K on my aga 210 (29"deep) and they seem to work well, but dont have the most satisfying color, but its not bad when paired with a couple of 6' actinic VHOs. According to Sanjays lighting info, the 250W 10K puts out about 50% more light then the 400W 15K's.

I asked what people thought about the lighting (400 watt blueline e ballasts with xm15k and the vhos 6500 and 10k) and the spectrum but haven't recieved an answer so I just ordered them (the new VHOs) but already have the XM15k and they throw like a 20k blueish spectrum. Anyone have input on this?

 

[Mahlhavoc]

Ok, so what would be the best light combo for the 400w blueline ballasts for SPS? This will be an SPS dominated tank. I want it to look pleasing too. I did not know that 10k would be 50% more light, can you show me this information?

 

[Fiziksgeek]

If you go to Sanjays lighting archive you will find alot of good info.

http://www.reeflightinginfo.arvixe.com/

Select compare 2 lamps. It doesnt list every possible combination of ballast and lamps, but you can use icecap or some other electronic ballast to compare.

Additional info is located here:

http://www.reefcentral.com/forums/showthread.php?s=&threadid=624185

 

[Mahlhavoc]

Ok, where would one purchase these, BLV 400W Nepturion 14000K SE? I can't seem to find a place via google and can anyone attest to the color? they are the highest rated 14k I on Sanjays list.

BLV 400W Nepturion 14000K SE on Blueline 400W Electronic Ballast


PPFD= 140
CCT= 15441
Watts= 386
Amps= 3.22
Effeciency= 0.3627

VS my XM 400W at a PPFD of 75

 

[petedoc]

I certainly like the look of my 14K lights, don't know what the corals opinion is yet. Brightness is not a problem.

 

[TandN]

looks like your on your way to a great set up

 

[AuroraDave]

I used Sanjays data & other RC threads when I upgraded from 250W to 400W 1 month ago. I decided to go with EVC 14,000K lamps.

Since I am using Luminarc's, I no longer have room for VHO supplimentation; so I didnt want to use 10,000K. EVC's par (and spectrum) looked like the best bang for the buck @ $55. Plus, Sanjay was running them on his PSU tanks. There are a few lamps with a little higher PAR, but they were much more $.

I use both Blueline & M59 ballasts. The color is similar on both. I had an XM15KK lamp that I tried out briefly and the color was about the same blue, but not as crisp. That lamp was not brand new though, so?

I've heard good thinks about Reeflux as well.