A Low Country Reef Tank....one more final upgrade
- Thread starter SPotter
- Start date
Hey Steve I see that you decided to go with 400 watt radiums. I may have missed it but what ballasts are you planning on running them with. I'm still liking the T5s over your old tank but find myself missing the shimmer. I'm not ready to invest much money in led fixtures yet but have thought about pulling a few bulbs out of the ati fixtures and replacing them with some DIY led strips. After seeing some systems running MH I have to say I prefer that look.
SPotter
Active member
Hey Mike....Im going with 250 watt radiums and will run them on galaxy select a watt ballasts. After spending all of the money I spent on led lighting and looking at how much I lost when I sold the fixture I decided it would be best to just go old school. I don't need any of the bells and whistles....just wanted something that has been proven over and over again. I never had MH's before so I am pretty excited about getting them up and running.
SPotter
Active member
I think too many people get way too hung up on the numbers and right off the bat feel they need the 400w bulbs. My plan is to start off with the 250's because of the depth and the fact that whatever goes in there will be small so light should reach all coral with no problems. I will initially start off with 3 cozumel reflectors which have a 30x30 coverage and as the tank progresses I will add a 4th before even considering going to 400w. I have read a lot of articles about running less watts with longer photoperiods as opposed to more watts and shorter photoperiods and my opinion that less over longer photoperiods is the better way to go. Now since this is my first time using MH I could be completely wrong but one of the guys that follows this thread was using two 400w radium mh's on his tank and for the longest time couldnt get the corals right. After months of tinkering he finally decided to drop down to 250w radiums and add a 3rd reflector. Since doing this, his corals have taken off and the tank looks better than ever before. If I am lucky enough where my tank is crammed with corals and I need more light, then I will switch to 400w. I've read that 250w bulbs are good for tanks up to 30" in depth so I think this should work just fine.
Eville
New member
Great progress so far! I am hoping to learn from your experiences and watch your tank grow once it's up, so I subscribed. I too run LEDs right now, and haven't ever ran MH, but my father used to. Personally, I think with the right mix you can't go wrong with them. MH are proven coral growers and the color of corals can still be amazing as long as the water quality is great. The only issue really is bulb replacement and utility expenses.
Jacob
Jacob
SPotter
Active member
Thanks for joining in Jacob. I decided that I would keep things simple for the most part on this build. I spent a lot of money on my last tank and because we moved not too long after it was set up lost a good chunk of it. Im not in the hobby to make money but its nice to know that you dont have to spend a lot to do it right.
Where have you been???? Hows your tank doing? Im going to either add VHO'S or the super actinic leds from buildmyleds.com to supplement the tank.
SPotter
Active member
you thinking about switching from the t5's?
I'm kicking around the idea with t5s or vhos to supplement. I like the color that the t5s put out but really miss the shimmer. To my eyes MH lit tanks just look better. It's nothing that I'm thinking about doing right now but just something to plan for down the road and keep my eyes open for some equipment. I think it may require adding a separate 20 amp circuit which i had been considering anyway.
You are a bad influence! The 20 amp circuit isn't too big of a deal. I have space in my panel and I can do it myself but pulling the wire from my garage to my basement would be a treat. Ill have to check out those reflectors that you are using. Have you thought about how you would mount the vhos to them. Are you going with an enclosed canopy.
SPotter
Active member
Im most likely going to build a rack using metal rails from mcmaster carr. I will then month the vho's or leds to the rack. The rack will be big enough the set 4 of them on it. I will have a full canopy the will go all the way to the ceiling. I had a dryer vent put in the wall on the left end of the tank about 6" above where the tank will be and then I had the hvac guys put an air register in the ceiling on the right end of the tank. I will put a 4" computer fan on the dryer vent and hopefully that will help with pulling any heat out while drawing cool air when the ac is running. We like to keep things cool in the house so I'm hoping this will work. I will be building a fish room in the garage and that will have its own heating/ac system for that room. I will insulate all of the pipes that run thru the crawl space and hopefully all of these steps will give me maximum temp control over my tank.
CHSUB
"Certified Hobby Expert"
been lurkering around"¦I think any supplement lighting will be fine. I however do disagree with you slightly about duration vs intensity but 250 watt MH are still very intense. I had good growth with 175 watt MH; so I think you will be very happy with the lights. i would also consider a chiller.
My tank is doing well, I was having continued problems with very high NO3 which took a toll on my SPS's. I think minimal live rock and a large fish load made NO3 hard to control. Recently I installed a sulfur denitrator and I believe problem solved.
My tank is doing well, I was having continued problems with very high NO3 which took a toll on my SPS's. I think minimal live rock and a large fish load made NO3 hard to control. Recently I installed a sulfur denitrator and I believe problem solved.
SPotter
Active member
I have been looking denitrators as well and have plans to put one on the new system as well. I look for one of the articles that I recently read about light intensity. It was a very good read.
SPotter
Active member
Not too much....house should be completed by the 28th and closing is set for 4/10. I'm cautiously optimistic that these dates will hold. The tank is set to arrive the week of the 14th. From there I hope to have it set up and ready to go by the end of May but since we are going away for two weeks in June I will probably wait until we get back to officially start it.
Dustin1300
Reefaholic
Come on Steve, tell those contractors to get out of the way and start putting that tank in. I thought you'd have water in that tank now
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