90 Gal reef for the girls.

[Deuce67]

Chris, are you really planning to do 1000 watters?! Holy molly! How many?

 

[reefkoi]

3 bulbs Russ. It's either that or 6 400's. With 6 400's I get 2400 total watts.
With the 1K's I get an extra 600 watts and it costs me much much less that the 6 400's. The ballasts are the same cost for 1 400 or a 1K and I found 20K Helios bulbs from RM, thats what they run on the raceway systems they have in store.
I only need 3 luminarc III's instead of 6 so you see thats all my reasoning mehind this madness. I will be pushing it, but the reality is

3000 watts (3 1Kw bulbs) in a 600 is 5 watts per gallon.
1600 watts ( 3 400w MH's)in a 180 is almost 9 watts per gallon
So its really not out of line I am just underlit right now I feel.
Oh and yeah I am getting a 2 h.p. chiller to deal with the extra heat.

 

[Deuce67]

Sounds good. I also thought you may have been a bit under lit too. But your corals looks good under 250s. What would be your maximum height from the waterline to the bulb would be? At 220V, you should be able to run one circuit for 3 1000W MH but would be close to the max on a 20A circuit. Im converting to SE myself and overdrive it with my current HQI magnetics. Im using the same reflector though but I will modify it to accomodate SE bulbs. I was going to do it today but my socket and lamps didnt come in. Kinda wish I didnt buy it already since somebody in Denver has a great deal on 400Ws. I could have gotten those.

 

[Deuce67]

Hey Chris, I was looking at the RM website. Those MHs they have are placed pretty high.

 

[racer69]

Very nice Tim. Are those intermatic timers? If they are, that is what I have and the are fairly reliable. They don't like much humidity, which is the problem I have with them under the tank. Sometimes I have to tap on them to get them to operate properly.

 

[murfman]

I see solar panels in Christophs future!

 

[reefkoi]

thank's Murf but i don't know if my roof is large enough to support the required number of solar panels

Russ, I can get the bulbs around 15" above water i believe. This is a concern to me and I am researching it before i buy.

The PFO ballast is 230v and is HQI so I will be overdriving them I think. I may back down to 6 400 watt HQI ballasts if the height above water is a problem.

It's just hard to find people that run 1K watters, it is a somewhat limited market it seems.

Chris

BTW I only have one empty bay in my panel, I will need 2 to do a dedicated 20a circuit for those 3 1K bulbs right?

 

[Deuce67]

Yup. You will need 2 breaker spaces.

 

[Huhhhhh]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=10062675#post10062675 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by racer69
Very nice Tim. Are those intermatic timers? If they are, that is what I have and the are fairly reliable. They don't like much humidity, which is the problem I have with them under the tank. Sometimes I have to tap on them to get them to operate properly.

Yes they are the intermatic. What do you think is causing the humidity problem? Are the outlets oxidizing on the inside? Mine will be located right over the sump so will probably see even more humidity than yours.
Maybe I should build a plexy box to cover all of them.

 

[Deuce67]

Tim, they make weather proof boxes that you can put over those timers. They are available at Lowes or HD. Around 15 bucks a cover though. Thought you were going to Denver?

 

[Huhhhhh]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=10064129#post10064129 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by Deuce67
Tim, they make weather proof boxes that you can put over those timers. They are available at Lowes or HD. Around 15 bucks a cover though. Thought you were going to Denver?

Still waiting on Christof to call.

Are the boxes clear? Are they just regular outlet box covers? How do they mount?

Thanks for stopping by today and making sure all the connections were good.

 

[reefkoi]

Good idea Russ, those covers would work well I think, especially if you seal the hole where the cord comes in well also.

Yeah I thought we were going to Denver too, my wife seems to have too many chores to do, so I guess no fish stores for us

 

[Deuce67]

In use cover

 

[Thurge]

I'm not so sure that those covers would help much. They look like they are open on the bottom to allow cords into the box which would work great for rain and splashes, but which wouldn't stop the humidity from entering the box.

 

[Huhhhhh]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=10068407#post10068407 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by Thurge
I'm not so sure that those covers would help much. They look like they are open on the bottom to allow cords into the box which would work great for rain and splashes, but which wouldn't stop the humidity from entering the box.

Maybe if I mount them upside down and plug the hole for the cord with some foam rope it will seal them up pretty good.

 

[racer69]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=10064097#post10064097 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by Huhhhhh
Yes they are the intermatic. What do you think is causing the humidity problem? Are the outlets oxidizing on the inside? Mine will be located right over the sump so will probably see even more humidity than yours.
Maybe I should build a plexy box to cover all of them.

I did a little research on them before I bought them and they had the same problems that I have. The problem is inside the timer itself, but it is not that bad. If they don't come on or go off, I just tap them a bit with a mag light and they will work for another couple of weeks.

 

[Huhhhhh]

The sub panel is in and wired and the outlets are all wired, Russ stopped by and gave his seal of approval.

I stopped by Home Depot and got a couple of these covers to see if they would fit or not.

Wouldn't you know it I got a different brand that wasn't to clear so I looked at the picture in the link again and noticed it was different.

I'll hit the Depot again tomorrow and see if they have any of the ones pictured in the link. Maybe they'll be a little smaller, the ones I got are a tight fit side by side like that. I'm still thinking maybe a home made plexy box may be better, cover them all in one shot, three or four hinges, hummmmm.

I got the sub floor cut today. I used 3/4 melamine and it will sit on pressure treated 2 x 4s. Now if I have a water spill the carpet can breath a little. The 2 X 4s are just sitting on the melamine for now, it was easier to figure out how to cut them this way.

I'll finish out the night with re caulking the 75 gal sump and plugging the 2 holes in the bottom.

 

[Deuce67]

Update?

 

[Huhhhhh]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=10108242#post10108242 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by Deuce67
Update?

I took the outlet covers back, didn't really like the way those looked. I can't find the clear ones and they are out of them online. I think I'll discuss with Eric about making a little box that will go over all of them.

I'm going to hit it hard today and get the floor screwed together and the shelves built. Then I can put the sump back there and play with the pumps and find out where they will work best. Once I know that I can mark where I need to drill for the bulkheads and get that done.

I'll try and figure out how to run all the plumbing after that. I'm still waiting on the 2 inch bulkheads from Scott's and some true union's I found online so I can only do so much there today.

I picked up the skimmer last night at Scott's so I can play with that today also.

I'll post some more pic's later today.

 

[Huhhhhh]

I got the sub floor screwed together and the shelf & supports cut. Kathy and I got on top of the shelf and bounced around and it didn't creek, bend or give any indication that it wouldn't support our combined weight of around 280 lbs. I will probably have about 400 lbs on it when the water change reservoir is full, so It should be alright. I didn't get as much done as I planned since I got hauled off to the arena cross races yesterday and I'm kind of at a stand still for drilling the sump without a 2 inch bulkhead to work with. I'm going to head to Wally World and get a cheap rubber auto floor mat to try and use to dampen the pumps vibration with.

Here is how the Dart will sit.

Here is where the Hammerhead will sit.