500G (84X48X30)- NOW REAL !

[jnarowe]

I tend to agree but caution about buying from LFS. The reef keeper really needs to understand what happens to fish once they arrive at the LFS. What I do is stipulate that fish or corals that I order do NOT go into the LFS system. This is based on my opinion on that system! I feel the same way about rock. I don't want it going into an LFS system, distributor system, etc. I want it in a sealed box direct from the harvest site.

When my order comes in, the LFS calls me and I pick it up right away. In fact he will call me when he is leaving the airport so I can be there waiting. These are direct imported animals and I prefer one acclimation to a healthy system over two acclimations. Once a fish has been introduced into the LFS system, I am much less likely to buy it, and will wait and watch it over a period of 2+ weeks.

QT has been a mixed bag for me. The smaller un-reef tank does not appeal to the new arrival and is more stressful IMO to the animal both mentally and physically. Keeping the QT parameters in line is difficult as well. If I receive a fish that is somehow not in good condition, then I will QT it to keep it within arm's reach.

 

[mrcrab]

I'd have to agree with Jonathan. I just went through a massive loss of fish due to an ich outbreak. I didn't QT the fish. All looked healthy and were eating when added. Once in the main system with rock and corals critters are nearly impossible to catch without tearing the entire system apart. My show tank is lying fallow at the moment and the critters are in a hypo qt system. After 60 days the survivors will be returned and NOTHING will be added to the main system unless it is QT'd for 45 days.

Do you guys that add directly to your show tanks have any protocol, dip etc. that you use to ensure nothing gets into the main display?

 

[Sanjay]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=9667525#post9667525 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by carloskoi

Sanjay, due to the long nature of your thread could you post a summary of your tank? kind of a tank of the month like summary of equipment. [/B]

Great.. I can make my own tank of the month thread :lol:

So here it is without the pictures:

Summary:


Tank Dimensions: 84”L X 48”W X 30”H, ¾” glass with front Diamante. Euro Brace design with full length external overflow 12” deep and 8” wide. Built by Aquarium Obssessed.

Tank Volume: 523 US gal (based on external dimensions of tank)

Tank Stand: Steel 4” H beams and 4” square tube

Sump: 48"L X 30"W X 18"H fed by 2 X 2” drains, into a bubble trap built into the sump. Sump divided into 3 raceways, for serpentine water flow path. Build by Jeff Haddock in Baltimore (Naga on RC).

Skimmer: My old DIY 5ft ETS skimmer retrofitted with a Becket powered by an Iwaki 55 pump (1080 GPH, 185W).

Circulation:
Through sump circulation, powered by a Reeflo Dart (3600 gph, 160W). This pump is also used to feed the Ca reactor and Phosphate reactor.

2 closed loops powered by Reeflo Dart (3600gph, 160W), each return split into 2 and 3 of these returns are hooked to seaswirls. (on 24/7)

2 vortech propeller pumps (3000 gph), one aimed across the length and one across the width into a channel in the reef. (ON 24/7)

Total rating of circulation pumps: 16800 gph (33 times tank volume)

Rock:
250 lbs of Tonga/fiji rock, stacked in pillars, by drilling and using fiberglass rods. Objective was to create a very open reef structure with lots of negative space (ie. Floor space not occupied by live rock). Thorite used to glue rocks together to make bigger rocks from smaller ones.

Sand:
360 lbs of Caribsea Arag-Alive sand (320 lbs of Bahamas Oolite and 40 lbs of coarser Special Grade Reef sand Florida Crushed coral). The finer sand was put in first, allowed to blow around and settle where it wanted, and the areas that were cleared were then filled in with the coarser sand. Sand bed ranges from almost nothing to about 2” in some places.

Lighting:
3 X 400W Gieseman Coral Lamps in Lumenarc III reflectors and Icecap Electronic ballast.
Light Schedule:
Light #1 â€"œ 1:30 PM â€"œ 10-30 PM
Light #2 â€"œ 2:00 PM â€"œ 11:00 PM
Light #3 â€"œ 2:30 PM â€"œ 11:30 PM

Other Equipment:
Calcium Reactor â€"œ DIY dual chamber, reverse flow reactor powered by mag 5 (500 GPH, 45W), fed by the main circulation pump
Phosphate Reactor â€"œ Deltec Fluidized reactor FR509 (fed by main circulation pump)
Looking for another FR509 to add for Carbon Filtration

Chiller:
1 HP Chiller fed by Iwaki 75 RT (1500 GPH, 345W), located in the garage. Water drawn from sump and returned to the main tank. Chiller has not been put to use yet. !!!

Monitors/Meters/Controllers:
Pin Point Ph Meter for Tank Ph (runs around (7.95-8.23)
Pin Point Ph Meter for Calcium Reactor Ph (runs around 6.5-6.7)
Ranco Controller for 2 X 300W Ehiem Heaters (set to come on at 75 and off at 77)
Ranco Controller for Chiller (to be added)

RO and Make up water
100GPD Spectrapure RO unit fills a 75G aquarium used as holing tank.
Reef filler dosing pump to make for evaporation rate, controlled by Reeffanatic level controller.

Saltwater Storage for water change:
75G aquarium used to store water. Saltwater maintained at 76-78F with a 300W Ehiem heater. Water is continuously stirred with a Mag 5 pump.

Fish:

Total : 27
Plan is to primarily keep fish is pairs/groups where ever possible. Some were started as groups or pairs but dwindled into the singles category. Hopefully I can get some of the singles to go to pairs eventually.

Multiples
3 - bellus angels
2 - M. Bipartus
2 - M. Negroensis
2 - bangaii
4 - Kupang Damsels
2 â€"œ ORA yellow Assessors
3 â€"œ Atlantis marine world raised Neon Gobies

Singles -
1 - Blochi Tang
1 - Purpel Tang
1 - hepatus tang
1 - Blond Naso
1 - Midas Blenny
1 - Aurora Goby
1 - Dispar
1 - long nose hawk
1 - radiant wrasse

Corals:

Not counted exactly, but guess is about 120 (will have to sit down one day and do an exact inventory), with about 60 coming from Live Aquaria, and the rest from friends all over the country. There is only one wild colony of Acan. Lordowensis from several years ago, the rest are all propagated corals and frags.

Other Live Stuff:
About 100 nassarius snails (not sure how many are still there)
10 Large Turbo snails
15 Astrea Snails
5 Serpent Stars
2 Cleaner Shrimp

sanjay.

 

[RGibson]

Sanjay were did you buy the Reeffanatic level control ?

 

[Reefski's]

thank you soo much. it is beautiful. i hope you continue to post pix periodically as it all grows together and you also share your trials and tribulations too.

Carl

 

[drstupid]

reefgeek's got the reeffanatic controller, i use it it's great especially given what you get for the price.

(sorry to jump in sanjay)

 

[victor90]

sanjay
I was wondering how long have you had the bellus angels mine would always get so kind of fungus

 

[ckuhndog77]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=9671627#post9671627 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by victor90
sanjay
I was wondering how long have you had the bellus angels mine would always get so kind of fungus

Scroll back 1 page and you will see he got them on April 5.


Looking real good my friend. Can't wait for next trip up to see it.

 

[Sanjay]

Had some time today to play with the camera.. now since the tank is pretty much on autopilot and most of the time I just sit and watch it grow.....

 

[Sanjay]

Some more

sanjay

 

[Sanjay]

Some non acropora...

orange cyphastrea

green based cyphastrea

green polyp encursting monti

Superman monti

green polyp leather

sanjay

 

[wfgworks]

Any full view tank shots?

 

[VikeBron]

Sanjay,
How are the corals doing I brought to you?

 

[Sparkss]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=9668775#post9668775 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by Sanjay
Lighting:
3 X 400W Gieseman Coral Lamps in Lumenarc III reflectors and Icecap Electronic ballast.
Light Schedule:
Light #1 â€"œ 1:30 PM â€"œ 10-30 PM
Light #2 â€"œ 2:00 PM â€"œ 11:00 PM
Light #3 â€"œ 2:30 PM â€"œ 11:30 PM

Sanjay, Looking at the performance data on your web site I was just curious as to why you went with the Giesman over the BLV ? The cost to run them is bascially the same, and similar PAR, but the BLV has a higher CCT. Do you prefer less blue in your lighting ? Or is it that you consider the Giesman highr quality over the BLV ? (I have not researched either one in depth, but do know that the Giesman carries a highly respected name). Have you found that corals respond better to the Giesmans ?

SPECTRUM Lamp Name Ballast Name Shield PPFD CCT Power Volts Amps Efficiency
plot Giesemann 400W Coral SE 1 Icecap 400W Electronic N 157 11354 418 122 3.53 0.3775
Plot BLV 400W Nepturion 14000K SE 1 Icecap 400W Electronic N 152 13648 419 123 3.5 0.3649

I also recall that you had posted some light readings from different sections of your tank, but cannot seem to locate them now. Can you repost that data pls ? IE: readings on the sand bed, @12" above the sand, etc. I also recalled that you had made some general statements about how much light (readings from your meter) that the typical acropora required, etc.

and lastly (I know... too many questions... but your incredible tank just inspires to many possibilities and questions ) : How high off of your water is it to the bottom of your LA III reflectors ? and how far from your water line to your sandbed ? (I ask because people oft times fill their tanks to varying levels, so I did not want to assume 28" - 30" from your water line to your sand bed (30" tank - 2" sandbed).

Thanks for sharing your tank and for sharing your experiences and advice

 

[hahnmeister]

the other thing I would add is 'why icecaps?'. the claims of longer bulb life IMO, are bunk with HQI bulbs, and the G-man bulbs are actually HQI rated 400watters. Running them on some true HQI ballasts would be much brighter.

 

[Sparkss]

Ok, I found this back buried in the thread (ironically it was Sanjay's response to the same question from me ) I just didn't remember the answer :

The bottom of the reflectors is 9.5" off the water surface. I may experiment with lowering them by a couple of inches. to do this I need to attach something to the trolleys, since I can't lower the rails.

With the lights at that distance, and now that your aquascape is in place, how happy are you with the PAR and spread ? any areas inthe front or the back that you wished you had more light ? Enough light down to the corals that are close to the sandbed ? (if there are any that low, that is).

I also read in an old article that BLV made the bulbs for Giesman, or at least used to. Do they still make their bulbs ? Or has Giesman found a new manufacturer for their 400W coral bulbs ?


Hahn, Sanjay had said this about why he was using electronic ballasts :

I finally started my experiment to measure the life of MH lamps on electronic ballasts. So I now have my lighting set up as 3 400W ICECAP electronic ballasts with 3 Giesmann Coral Lamps.

I measured these lamps right before putting them in, and will measure them every month or 2, to track lamp behavior over time.

I looked on the web and can't seem to locate a place to order these bulbs from (no love from Google on that hunt either ). Does anyone know of a site/place to order them from ?

 

[hahnmeister]

Marine Depot used to have them just a month ago... perhaps they are waiting on another shipment?

 

[Sparkss]

when I checked earlier I only saw the 250W DE Giesman lamps, no 400 W or SEs

EDIT : I found what I believe to be them, but still no 400W SE Coral lamp. Here is what I found :



400 Watt 13000K Metal Halide Bulb - Megachrome Marine, Mogul Base

250 Watt 14500K Metal Halide Bulb - Megachrome Coral, Double Ended

 

[Sparkss]

After scouring the net for the BLV bulbs I found out that the BLV Nepturion 14k and the Ushio 14k are the same bulb, aparently as per Ushio/BLV themselves. MD carries the 400w Ushio 14k, so maybe I will give those a try (just as soon as Sanjay chimes in as to why he didn't use them over the Giesman ).

The one thing I am worried about, and was really wanting to hear how it has worked out over Sanjay's tank so far (our dimensions are almost identical, but we are 6" shorter in length and height -- 78" long and 24" tall). We are using the 250W XM 10k in LAIIIs on PFO HQI ballasts (just 2 lights though) and it seems that in certain areas there isn't enough light. We are just about the same height as Sanjay's from the reflector to the water line. For just about the same operational $$ we can upgrade to 400w on electronic ballasts and get a bluer look (but lower PAR). So I wanted to hear how the lower PAR but bluer light did for Sanjay's corals, for color and growth (lower/bluer compared to our lighting, that is). We are also looking at adding a 3rd light, to match Sanjay's configuration.

I just want to know why he chose the ones he did and if he could go back, would he choose a different lamp/ballast for over his tank

 

[Sanjay]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=9684106#post9684106 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by hahnmeister
the other thing I would add is 'why icecaps?'. the claims of longer bulb life IMO, are bunk with HQI bulbs, and the G-man bulbs are actually HQI rated 400watters. Running them on some true HQI ballasts would be much brighter.

I am not sure that any claims on lamp life are bunk at this point.

What is a true HQI ballast for the 400W lamps ? The one that most people are using is a 430W Sun Agro ballast, that may be overdriving the lamps. Sure it would give out more light but would also draw about 70-80 watts more in electricity.

There are other advantages to electronic ballasts, that in my evaluation I would be willing to trade off for 20% less PAR. I can always adjust for PAR by adjusting height. They are compact and convenient, easy to mount, use less power, etc.

I know from personal experience that 3 of these lamps on these ballasts are enough light for my tank. I have montipora caps growing right at my sand bed level, and acropora that are about 4" off the sand bed.

I use my MH lamps for well over a year. On my 55G soft coral tank the MH lamps are 2.5 years old.

sanjay.