Addiction wins, 450 gallon system begins

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Just a thought concerning your possible heat problem and the acrylic cracking that Melev mentioned:
Why don't you install bigger PC-Fans on the side of the tank, that constantly blow the hot air away? Alternatively you could install 2 bigger fans directly under the lights?
I got 2 fans hooked up to my AQ-Computer, works great.

Probably too late now, but here in Europe we've got a new T5 light from ATI. Its got 3 built in fans to cool the lamp down:

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The hot air gets blown away out of the side of the light.
 
Originally the flat screen was going where the tank will now be. It's rediculous really because I already have 3 TVs in the house. Currently we have a model railroad in the FISH ROOM so I have to deal with that in a sensative manner. I have been slowly changing the name from "Train Room". We also have about 400 sq. ft. of sparring mats for my son who is in Aikido and my excercise equipment. Most of the space is taken up by junk. When I wreck out the fish room, my wife's junk will go in the bottom of the dumpster with the dry-wall on top. Problem solved.

In reality, the fish room is the only room in the house that could be a store-room at about 15 x 15 with no windows. But I hate storing stuff and there is a lot of other storage space above the workshop, garage etc. I want the whole downstairs level to be an entertainment area. The fish room has a huge bunus in that inside of it is a large closet with a utility sink. That sort of closes the deal, plus I don't want the weight in the upper floor anyway. With no natural light to deal with, lower temperatures due to 2 walls of downstairs being underground, I think it is ideal.
 
NexDog: Thanks Nexdog.

Stevenx2: Hmm interesting. I'll try to tackle this one the best I can. Most of this planning was done in my head and I very well may have made some mistakes along the way, This could be one of them:). I went with the 4" because they are available locally; anything bigger is special order. I've used these 4" fans on my in-wall 125, and love how quiet they are. When doing the math I saw that they are rated at 3500 cubic feet per hour. I estimate that the total air turn over inside the canopy is approximately 31 times per hour. I was uncertain how much air to turn over, but figured this was a good place to start. Much easier to go bigger when cutting holes in your house than trying to figure out how to go smaller:D/ Also I thought that this air being blown out of the wall is also warm air from my house, so energy bills were a factor. I wanted to see how much turn over was sufficient, and not overkill. I mounted the fans high in the canopy because I figured, hot air rises and I wanted to suck out the hot air accumulating in the headspace above the tank, again this could be improper thinking. I also have been running a little experiment over the past two days and the temp above the tank gets to about 89 degrees and holds steady. I would be interested to know if anyone else has measure the temp of their canopy and where it's at. It does seem the headspace on this tank is much cooler than the headspace on the 125 was when I was running MH.

jnarowe: That sounds excellent down there and a great project. After you wife gets over being angry about her stuff missing, it will be a thread to follow for sure. Kind of thinking road trip here:rollface:
 
well, let me get more done first! (BTW, she won't KNOW that anything is missing) I have been practicing in the mirror for 2 days: "What year book honey? I didn't see any year book." Sound sincere enough?

Interesting to note that in the viewing room ceiling right above the tank is the air return for our AC system, and I originally was going to tie into that or even put the tank in the viewing room under it. Unfotunately I realized that I didn't want to braodcast moisture laden air around the house, so I dropped that plan. Since there will be so much heat generated by the 1000 MH lamps, I may try to capture the heat in some other way. I hate to waste all that energy!--J
 
Hop-
I'm putting a closed loop on my 120g and I'm having some difficulty figuing out how to configure my intake. How are you doing yours? I just found this pic on the internet and I'm now leaning toward this (but with only 1 pipe).

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steveoutlaw: I tried to PM you back but your inbox is full! Kind of looks like overkill to me:D At least for a closed loop. I have to tell you I beleive in the KISS method 100%... Less to go wrong.

jnarowe: I'm going to need to see facial expressions to determin the level of sincerity:lol: I think your spot on there on the AC and humidty/heat throughout the house!

KingsX: welcome aboard!
 
Hop-
I'm looking at 1500gph running through mine. Like I said, I would only be using 1 pipe. My main concern is not getting any of my critters or livestock stuck to the intake. I'd love to keep it simple but I want to make sure I don't have too much suction.
 
steveoutlaw: Sorry I missed that, I'm fighting a cold and my heads not working as fast as normal:)
I think if you plumbed the intake with 1.5" with a strainer, then up and over the top, you would be good. I don't think the suction would be all that bad then.
 
I run 2 - 1" inputs for 3600 gph with strainers - the snails do get stuck occasionally - but never for more than 22 hours (I have a 2 hour escape time for them every night)
 
LOL..."Keep It Simple Stupid"... Learned that from my old high school shop teacher.
 
Down to the last 70 gallons of RODI... Tank is full, sump is full and just starting to fill the fuge:D Getting a tad excited here...

Also i have to tell you that the 25 watt moon lights are great. The 16 levels of intensity are incredible. I got them programed in last night, but didn't think much about them and forgot I had them plugged in. When I got up at 4:30 for work they were on and I stood there for too long and was almost late for work:)
 
I was thinking today that you must be out-of-your mind with excitment. rewind on the moon lights...25W? What are they and where did you get them?--J
 
jnarowe: The moon lights are just regular blue party bulbs from the super market. I was doing some browsing on the Neptune sponsor section and read about the AC's ability to control incandesent bulbs. So I just wired in regular fixtures. You can see the fixtures here before they were wired..
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A little secret to those that do not know is that the #8 plug on the DC8 for the AC line can be used as a dimmer without the X10 and dimmer module. Neptune did not like the performance as some units flickered, so they don't support or document it's existance. Shhhhhh
 
very interesting. I had been planning on the LEDs. About the DC8: little did I know, but it can't handle my amps! I have to get 3 DC4s to run my system. How's that for scraping the wallet?--J
 
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