500G (84X48X30)- NOW REAL !
- Thread starter Sanjay
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TheCoralNabber
New member
I think that he said that he put them on the side for use in a gravity fed skimmer in case he decided to go with one in the future. I guess for the added hight is why he had them showing on the side.
Sanjay
Premium Member
Part of the reasons for making the holes in the side -
1) Beacuse I have it in this configuration on my tank right now. I did this 10 years ago when I was using a 6 ft tall CC skimmer that I was gravity feeding and I needed the extra height so I could feed higher into the skimmer.
2) I am not a fan of drilling too many holes in single glass panes.
sanjay.
1) Beacuse I have it in this configuration on my tank right now. I did this 10 years ago when I was using a 6 ft tall CC skimmer that I was gravity feeding and I needed the extra height so I could feed higher into the skimmer.
2) I am not a fan of drilling too many holes in single glass panes.
sanjay.
Sanjay
Premium Member
Hey Mack:
Yeah, I am excited about this tank. You should never have got rid of your 180 - I told you that you would be back in the hobby with a big tank. Its so hard to stay away. !!!
Good luck with your tank.. you know where to come for frags. Also, if you are interested in volunteering time for the Penn State tank let me know.
sanjay.
Yeah, I am excited about this tank. You should never have got rid of your 180 - I told you that you would be back in the hobby with a big tank. Its so hard to stay away. !!!
Good luck with your tank.. you know where to come for frags. Also, if you are interested in volunteering time for the Penn State tank let me know.
sanjay.
Sanjay
Premium Member
For the reflectors I will be running 3 Lumenarcs. As for lamps and ballast have not decieded yet other than still sticking to the 10K lamps. I have not used any actincs for over 7 years now and will keep it that way. I may go with Electronic Ballasts this time, want to test the hypothesis that electronic ballasts extend lamp life.
Just need to find a good deal on the ballasts
sanjay.
jnarowe
New member
Good thinking on the side mounts for the skimmer feed. I wish I had thought of that, since I am having a height issue as well. The other side of that is how much water will pass through a side hole compared to a bottom hole. To get enough water moving through the skimmer, it may be neccessary to have the feed from the bottom.
I am going to take another look at mine and see if i can adjust it. Nothing is glued yet!
Don't forget to check out www.propertyroom.com for ballasts. Sometimes you can happen on a great deal. Generally the fuzz cuts the power cords so you have to re-wire them. I bought my ballasts through reefgeek. Good price and Sunlight drop shipped them direct. I was a bit wary of buying a used ballast.
I am going to take another look at mine and see if i can adjust it. Nothing is glued yet!
Don't forget to check out www.propertyroom.com for ballasts. Sometimes you can happen on a great deal. Generally the fuzz cuts the power cords so you have to re-wire them. I bought my ballasts through reefgeek. Good price and Sunlight drop shipped them direct. I was a bit wary of buying a used ballast.
Sanjay
Premium Member
<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=6544867#post6544867 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by barryhc
Sanjay, the tank design is "very" nice, who is building the tank ?
I really like the stand as well. I was going to build with wood, but that open space is awesome.
Thanks for the details, nice job !
> Barry
The tank is going to be built by Will Sheer at Aquarium Obsessed. I will be sending him the deposit soon here as soon I get the final invoice and contract.
I was initially thinking of going with a 2" square tubular steel stand, but this will be probably be cheaper than the tube steel stand given that it will not require any welding.
sanjay.
Sanjay
Premium Member
Been giving the light rack some thought and here are some initial ideas.
The frame is going to be 1" angled aluminum.. right now the size the the same as the footprint of the tank 84X48". not sure if I should make it the whole 48". Its designed to give me some flexibility to be able to move the lights in the front to back dimension to allow for some flexibility in laying out the rockwork in a more creative manner.
The middle light is centered on the 84" dimension and the other 2 are centered 26" on either side of it.
I will try to hang it so it has some flexibility in being raised up and down, although I will not have a whole lot of headroom there. I may have to think of some creative way of moving it out of the way to get room to work on the tank.
sanjay.
The frame is going to be 1" angled aluminum.. right now the size the the same as the footprint of the tank 84X48". not sure if I should make it the whole 48". Its designed to give me some flexibility to be able to move the lights in the front to back dimension to allow for some flexibility in laying out the rockwork in a more creative manner.
The middle light is centered on the 84" dimension and the other 2 are centered 26" on either side of it.
I will try to hang it so it has some flexibility in being raised up and down, although I will not have a whole lot of headroom there. I may have to think of some creative way of moving it out of the way to get room to work on the tank.
sanjay.
Sanjay,
Are you guys low on help with the PSU tank??? Let me know how often you would need help...kids have me plastered with roles in their activities (scouting, sports, etc)....let me know I'll see what I can do.
Hey, about your light rack, how about placing the fixture rack on a "pocket door" sliding assembly. Basically a frame that has rollers on it. You could mount a stationary angle frame on structure (with a lip to keep the rollers from popping out), then you would have rollers attached to an additional frame above the top of the fixtures on the frame you show in post. Just have to consider ballast locations (maybe in joist space above, centered between max points of rack movement)?
Just a thought...
Mack
Are you guys low on help with the PSU tank??? Let me know how often you would need help...kids have me plastered with roles in their activities (scouting, sports, etc)....let me know I'll see what I can do.
Hey, about your light rack, how about placing the fixture rack on a "pocket door" sliding assembly. Basically a frame that has rollers on it. You could mount a stationary angle frame on structure (with a lip to keep the rollers from popping out), then you would have rollers attached to an additional frame above the top of the fixtures on the frame you show in post. Just have to consider ballast locations (maybe in joist space above, centered between max points of rack movement)?
Just a thought...
Mack
Stoneyscoral
New member
Sanjay, my light rack is just like what you are planning except that I joined the cross memebers supporting the lumenarcs so I could slide them side to side as well as front to back.
Just a thought...
Just a thought...
asnatlas
New member
<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=6552530#post6552530 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by Sanjay
Been giving the light rack some thought and here are some initial ideas.
The frame is going to be 1" angled aluminum.. right now the size the the same as the footprint of the tank 84X48". not sure if I should make it the whole 48". Its designed to give me some flexibility to be able to move the lights in the front to back dimension to allow for some flexibility in laying out the rockwork in a more creative manner.
The middle light is centered on the 84" dimension and the other 2 are centered 26" on either side of it.
I will try to hang it so it has some flexibility in being raised up and down, although I will not have a whole lot of headroom there. I may have to think of some creative way of moving it out of the way to get room to work on the tank.
sanjay.
sanjay, I have not started on my light rack yet, but that is the same idea I had in mind... I already picked up the angled aluminum I just have been busy with other things... I should be starting on it soon... My tank is 96x48 (with a 4" Starphire Eurobracing around it)... I was also debating on making the rack 96x48 or maybe something like 84x36... I am going to be using T5's along with my 4x MHs...
Justjoe
New member
Hey Photon Man,
I think if you make the rack the entire width of the tank, it would really be in the way when trying to access the tank, especially given the width of your tank and your lack of height above the tank. With such a low ceiling, its not like you'll be able to raise the rack completely out of the way.
I would consider mounting each light on its own L shaped bracket that swivels and that can be slid up and down in a track, with the mounts on inside front wall. Or even mount the just the center light on the front interior wall of the tank, and the other lights on the interior side walls of the tank. These could be swiveled front and back as needed. If you leave your rockwork off the back wall, you won't need the lights to be moved towards the back wall, and if you do, they woud be in the way.
I think the rack in this case could be a major maintenance hindrance.
Joe
Sanjay,
First, I agree with Joe about making three smaller sections instead of one large frame. That's what I did recently when I re-did my lighting. You're never going to need access the entire tank at the same time, so why have the lights move in unison? It also helps to have some lighting still over the tank when you're working on a particular section.
As to the frame, instead of using aluminum, which will eventually corrode, think about using PVC or fiberglass angle-iron. I've used it in a number of construction projects and it's incredibly strong. The best part is that the PVC angle can be glued together with regular PVC cement.
Greg
Sanjay
Premium Member
Good points about the lights.. especially I am tight for space and moving the large frame out of the way would not be easy. I was concerned about this.
I am also thinking of having the 2 outer lights be angled into the tank, rather than pointing straight down.
I like the idea of PVC angle especially since it easy to glue, but what about heat if the reflector is sitting on the frame. Also, a good idea to decouple lights and make them individual.
Back to the drawing board... see what I can come up with.
thanks for the input.
sanjay.
I am also thinking of having the 2 outer lights be angled into the tank, rather than pointing straight down.
I like the idea of PVC angle especially since it easy to glue, but what about heat if the reflector is sitting on the frame. Also, a good idea to decouple lights and make them individual.
Back to the drawing board... see what I can come up with.
thanks for the input.
sanjay.
jnarowe
New member
That's a good idea. I have been toying with the idea if mounting my track using a bushing or bearing so that I can swivel each lamp track independantly and give more range of motion. I am leaning toward using motorized tracks so that the lamps will slowly move maybe 1-1/2 to 2' across the 5' of tank front-to-back with a motor. Supposedly the Lumenarcs are good for 3' so a little movement would cover more tank and keep from fryng anything with the 1000W lamps. I definitely would go with individual tracks rather than a complete all-in-one structure. Acces to the tank will be much better. There's no reason to move all the lamps at one time to pick up a tool you drop or clean one corner.
I have thought about this a lot, and the only murky area for me is how to position my fans. If I was building a full size aluminum structure, then I could mount the fans in that. Since I am not, I have to figure out how to mount them and that brings in some variables like whether to hang them from the ceiling on something that will be adjustable for height, or should they be permanently mounted to blow across the top of the tank.
Also, although I see many reef setups with the ballasts mounted over the tank, keeping them cool will add to their efficiency, so I would like to have them in the path of the fans as well. Any thoughts on that?
I have thought about this a lot, and the only murky area for me is how to position my fans. If I was building a full size aluminum structure, then I could mount the fans in that. Since I am not, I have to figure out how to mount them and that brings in some variables like whether to hang them from the ceiling on something that will be adjustable for height, or should they be permanently mounted to blow across the top of the tank.
Also, although I see many reef setups with the ballasts mounted over the tank, keeping them cool will add to their efficiency, so I would like to have them in the path of the fans as well. Any thoughts on that?
Justjoe
New member
If heat is a concern, most larger fixtures have dryer type ducts available to pull the heat away from the tank, some folks have this duct then lead to outside, and if nearby, it can split into the heating ducts of the house and you pick up the heat for heating your house.
Greg just redid his lights and continued this venting technique as its very efficient and truly helps keep the tank cooler.
Ballasts can have some heavier gauge wire and remotely positioned to keep them away from the water if you have some other place to store them.
Be careful with light/ rail movers. If they get stuck, and they do, they will cook those corals. There is probably a way to wire in a fail safe so that if the mover stops, it would shut off that light.
Joe
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