A Reef Tank in the Desert - +/- 1,400 gallon system

New Lights - EcoTech Radion XR30w Pro's!!!!

New Lights - EcoTech Radion XR30w Pro's!!!!

So I came home tonight with a Federal Express package sitting on my doorstep.

I reached a deal with EcoTech Marine last week to replace all of my Radion XR30's with their new Pro model. They agreed to a Send/Swap/Return deal with me. They sent me four of the new Radions to install, swap out and return. Once I have returned the units, within the next couple of weeks, they will send me another four out. I have also decided to keep two of my XR30w's and move them to my Fuge/Seahorse Tank. So I will be purchasing two more...

The Delivery...

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The Units...

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My Baby showing them off...

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ashish said:
hey, just got done looking at your thread and i thought it was awesome how you documented every little detail of you aquarium and life (especially on vacation). Beautiful aquarium. I am from NJ and when sandy Hit i lost power in my house for 7 days and no where to get gas, generator, electric. Before that i can't remember losing power EVER for more than 10 minutes. Many reefers lost there there entire systems, we all take power for granted until it's gone.

The amount of money, time, energy, and life stock you have invested in your tank you should def plan for a major outage b/c unfortunately when it happens it will be the last on your list, Solar power is key for your fish and family. Keep up the great work
Click to expand...

Ashish,

Thank you for stopping by and for your compliments. More importantly, thank you for your suggestions pertaining to a solar backup!

I can't imagine being without power for so long and all of the devastation you and your neighbors lived through. My heart goes out to everyone, not just reef keepers.

I shared with my wife your comments and she agreed. We need to have a solar company come back out and discuss a backup plan with us. I will keep you updated.

Thank you again.

Dan
 
Dan,

When those tornadoes hit the Huntsville Al. area a couple of years back I ran without power for a week. In my case we are talking about late April. I had a SMALL generator that kept water moving and I helped out the heaters by closing off the living room and running candles and lanterns. So we lived with temps in the 80s with very humid air (we did not enjoy it to say the lease). My bio load was low and I didn’t lose a single fish but all the pods in the system disappeared after that.

That was a couple of years ago but have looked into a whole house generator that would automatically kick in (if/when we move). The price tag on a system like this is in the 8k-10k range but there are a lot of variables to considered.

Joe
 
geaux xman said:
I ended up having to separate my 2 achilles with egg crate(split my tank in half) for a good ~4 weeks. The first time I had them separated for maybe a week. Took the egg crate out, they were about ready to kill each other and had quit eating for a couple of days. I really thought one was about to die turning pale white and just laying suspended in the water. Separated them for 4 weeks after that to get them eating well again and get use to seeing each other more. Released the 2nd time and the aggression was much much more subdued.

Now after almost a year, they hardly even bother each other. Wish I had a nice reef tank for them to swim in, oh well...

G'luck with the fish! They look like they're about to have a new very nice home.
Click to expand...

Thanks geauxxman!

I hope that I have the same success as you had. They appear to be doing really well. Tonight I will remove the egg-crate and see how they treat each other!
 
Reefed419 said:
Nice Addition of the leak detection, I have flooded my garage a few times doing similar things.
Click to expand...

Thanks Reefed419!

I can't be too careful anymore. My wife is going to be purchasing a new Persian Rug for the living room soon. If water leaks and goes through the Fishroom wall, or out the Fishroom door, I am in serious trouble!!!
 
The tank is looking great, cannot wait to see it with the new lights on it! Hopefully the Achilles pair behave...They will look amazing in your system! Good luck with the Idols as well
 
Newbie Aquarist said:
Lets get those babies fired up. Looks like the son is.
Click to expand...

i am planning on installing the lights tomorrow as I am taking the day off of work. This way I will be able to get Jon Marshall on the phone to assist me with any programing.

Surprisingly, since I am only changing out 1/3 of the lights, one of the owners at EcoTech that I spoke with, suggested that I did not need to change my program or lower my light intensity and slowly ramp up the lights. Apparently the additional output with the pro model is really geared for deep tanks. As I will be spreading the new fixtures around the tank, the light frequencies shouldn't change too much.

We will see tomorrow when I install the new lights. I may still end up going through a 30 day acclimation mode...
 
Spectre2006 said:
Slowly ramp up Radions, at your tank depth it shouldnt take too long to get at full capacity. My corals paled up under Radion.
Click to expand...

Thanks Spectre2006. Keep in mind, I have been running the 1st Generation Radions since I set up my tank. I am excited to see how my clams and LPS on the bottom of my tank react!
 
Made2Rock said:
Dan,

When those tornadoes hit the Huntsville Al. area a couple of years back I ran without power for a week. In my case we are talking about late April. I had a SMALL generator that kept water moving and I helped out the heaters by closing off the living room and running candles and lanterns. So we lived with temps in the 80s with very humid air (we did not enjoy it to say the lease). My bio load was low and I didn't lose a single fish but all the pods in the system disappeared after that.

That was a couple of years ago but have looked into a whole house generator that would automatically kick in (if/when we move). The price tag on a system like this is in the 8k-10k range but there are a lot of variables to considered.

Joe
Click to expand...

Joe,

It's well worth the expense when you consider the investment I have made. I always tell my daughter, who is relatively a new driver, "You never expect to be in accident. You have to be prudent and expect the unexpected." Same thing goes with our tanks and our utilities.

I appreciate your input!

- Dan
 
I thought with you looking into it you might want a ball park number on a generator. I was looking for something like natural gas. This way I do not have to worry about running out of gasoline or the gas getting old. The one I look at will do a weekly (or whatever you want) selftest and lite status lights according to the last test. This way when you go to do your weekly maintenance you'll can make it a point to go check the generator.

I'm still hoping to get to this point down the road.

Check out Peter's thread here on reef central. He put in an even nicer generator.

http://reefcentral.com/forums/showthread.php?t=2096730

Joe
 
Catra2030 said:
Just read through the whole thread....love it. Can't wait to see the new lights.
Click to expand...

Thanks Catra2030! It's nice to have you hear.

I hope to have the four new lights hooked up in the morning. I am anxious to see how my clams and low lying corals like the new lights! I don't expect to notice any difference in the lighting itself.
 
Eville said:
The tank is looking great, cannot wait to see it with the new lights on it! Hopefully the Achilles pair behave...They will look amazing in your system! Good luck with the Idols as well
Click to expand...

Thanks Eville. I am real happy with the way things are going. I am excited too about the lights!

The Achilles are both doing terrific. I took the egg-crate out yesterday and for most of the afternoon and evening they ignored one another. Tonight they were taking turns chasing one another. All of their Ich spots are completely gone! I had the lights on for 5 hours today. I placed the egg-crate back in so they would be resting a little. I feel like they are being put in "Time Out!" They will probably be acclimated to my display tank in the next couple of weeks. I am in no hurry. The Moorish Idols are so-so. One is looking and eating much better than the other. She is showing some signs of distress, but is pretty much ignored by her mate and the others. I may transport her to an old 30 gallon with a hang on filter and see if that helps. I am also getting a delivery of live Brine Shrimp tomorrow and will hopefully be able to entice her to eat more!
 
solitude127 said:
Very nice build. I'm interested to see how the Radions do for you
Click to expand...

Thanks solitude127. I'm glad you are following along. I was hoping to install the four Radions today, but didn't end up having enough time. My son was off school today (end of quarter grading day), so I after I did my weekly maintenance duties, I decided to spend the afternoon with him. Easy choice to make.

Hopefully tomorrow before the Arizona vs. ASU Basketball game, I will be able to complete the task!
 
Everything is looking nice ..... interested to know how the ozone is working out, I am thinking of running it on my large setup also....
 
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