Apartment Reefer

[Quintis]

Nice! Can't wait until it's up and running..

Thanks Miyagi570. I see you use two 250w MH's on your tank. I'm thinking about running two 250w over this tank instead of T5's but can't decide since I'm not sure if I would need a chiller or not. The air temp of the apartment is always around 70-72. Do you run a chiller on your set-up?

Great looking stand! I'm am about to have to build one for myself, and may steal some ideas from yours.

Thanks dowtish. Take any and all ideas you want since I did the same pretty much from other stands I've seen people build. I have one more little trick I'm working on now for the stand. I sectioned off a small area on the left side to house all my controllers, powerstrips, and dosing. I will have a doors on that side with a glass pane in the door.

 

[mic209]

I have the tank and custom sump on order and will be getting everything else on order this week. I keep going back and forth on the lighting. I'm thinking about going with MH now, but the only thing is that I don't want to have to add a chiller. I would run two 250w pendant fixtures on the tank if I did. I keep my apartment at around 70 degrees. Anyone have any idea if the MH's would add too much heat to the tank without a chiller?

If you keep your house at 70 during the summer you will be fine without a chiller. I was running a 250w over my 40 breeder and keep my house at 78 during the summer and never had a problem, tanked stayed at 78-79 with a fan controlled by my controller. The fan would only come on 5-10 minutes at a time between 2-6pm, the hottest parts of the day. With you keeping your house at 70, you probably won't even need a fan, your heaters might actually still run even with the lights running.

 

[Quintis]

If you keep your house at 70 during the summer you will be fine without a chiller. I was running a 250w over my 40 breeder and keep my house at 78 during the summer and never had a problem, tanked stayed at 78-79 with a fan controlled by my controller. The fan would only come on 5-10 minutes at a time between 2-6pm, the hottest parts of the day. With you keeping your house at 70, you probably won't even need a fan, your heaters might actually still run even with the lights running.

Thanks, that's what I was looking for. I was thinking with me keeping my place at 70-72 pretty much year round I shouldn't have a problem with heat but I just wasn't sure since I've use MH's before.

 

[trueblackpercula]

Thanks, that's what I was looking for. I was thinking with me keeping my place at 70-72 pretty much year round I shouldn't have a problem with heat but I just wasn't sure since I've use MH's before.

I would say under normal conditions this would be fine, but your tank is enclosed and the light will give off tremendous amounts of heat. I know this because I have an entire room dedicated to my tank and when I was running halides the chiller never really shut off. If you have all the lighting already do a test run and measure the heat.

 

[biggles]

I keep my place around 70-72 all year round and have no trouble keeping the tank temp stable with just air blown across the display top, nothing on the sump frag section so i don't think you'll have too many probs if you use halides - by halides i mean radiums because obviously they're the only ones worth running... As Perc wisely suggested though, some testing might be in order and don't forget that the more you blow on the tank the more humidity is in the house so you need to allow for removing that or the house will fog up lol. In summer the aircon removes the moisture and in winter i leave a window open during the day when not home otherwise the windows fog up - unwanted humidity is not often thought of when planning a tank so best you're aware of that little reef keeping bonus now. :lmao:
Just so you know, the WP-25 i have running has no probs reaching across the 40" width of my tank when it ramps up to full throttle - it's quite a little beast and i'm still in shock that it does what it does for $70- plus shipping, will definitely be getting more. :thumbsup:
I use 3 x 39W ATI B+ and a KZ purple and there are small frags down near the front bottom that only receive direct light from 2 x B+ bulbs and color and growth is fine so i can't speak highly enough of the ATI B+ bulbs mate. I have no idea if the KZ purple is making any difference so i might throw all B+ bulbs on for a month or two to see if anything reacts color wise. Sorry i can't advise on T5's much as this is the first time i've used them - i will say they're the ducks guts when it comes to filling in those spots the halide misses due to shading and i'd recommend running a few with the halides if you go that route.
You've made 7 post without a pic Quintis, not pressuring you or anything just pointing that statistic out is all...........

 

[PaulieReef]

Just tagging along. Love the tank so far!

 

[Quintis]

I use my ac to cool my tank.. I do have a temp spike at mid day but nothing I worry about and my ac is set to 72. My friend has 3x250 watt mh and he doesn't have a chiller or problems w/ temp spike. If you are concerned maybe try a few fans. or run it w/o live stock and watch your temp and see how hot it gets. I will be interested to know what you find cause I am doing a very similar build in a month or so.


As far as phosphates from your brute trash cans I am calling malarkey on that. I rinse my brute out after every mix though. Maybe the people that are getting phosphates are not.

Thanks for the input! I will be testing it out for sure without livestock to see how hot the water gets. I think it will be fine, but we shall see. I did check the BRUTE that's holding my RODI water and my Hanna checker and it showed zero, so I don't think I'll have a problem. I will check it often though just to make sure it remains at zero.

I keep my place around 70-72 all year round and have no trouble keeping the tank temp stable with just air blown across the display top, nothing on the sump frag section so i don't think you'll have too many probs if you use halides - by halides i mean radiums because obviously they're the only ones worth running... As Perc wisely suggested though, some testing might be in order and don't forget that the more you blow on the tank the more humidity is in the house so you need to allow for removing that or the house will fog up lol. In summer the aircon removes the moisture and in winter i leave a window open during the day when not home otherwise the windows fog up - unwanted humidity is not often thought of when planning a tank so best you're aware of that little reef keeping bonus now. :lmao:
Just so you know, the WP-25 i have running has no probs reaching across the 40" width of my tank when it ramps up to full throttle - it's quite a little beast and i'm still in shock that it does what it does for $70- plus shipping, will definitely be getting more. :thumbsup:
I use 3 x 39W ATI B+ and a KZ purple and there are small frags down near the front bottom that only receive direct light from 2 x B+ bulbs and color and growth is fine so i can't speak highly enough of the ATI B+ bulbs mate. I have no idea if the KZ purple is making any difference so i might throw all B+ bulbs on for a month or two to see if anything reacts color wise. Sorry i can't advise on T5's much as this is the first time i've used them - i will say they're the ducks guts when it comes to filling in those spots the halide misses due to shading and i'd recommend running a few with the halides if you go that route.
You've made 7 post without a pic Quintis, not pressuring you or anything just pointing that statistic out is all...........

Lol, thanks for the info biggles! I always get a laugh out of your posts. I do want to run some T5's with the MH's but since I won't have a canopy I'm not sure how I could do it and make it look nice. My plans as of right now are:

2- 250w Lumenbrite SE mogul pendants (not sure if I want the 15x15 size or 19x19..any input?)
2- 250w Aqua Medic Reeflex Ballast
2- And of course Radiums bulbs...you happy biggles?! :lmao:

Let me know your thoughts on that set-up. Like I said I don't think I can get away with adding T5's and having them look good on my tank without a canopy. I was thinking about adding two BuildMyLED strips with Royal blue, blue, and violets though. Put one if the front and one towards the back and angle them in. They have a pretty cool tank mount that lets you angle the fixtures. I'm not crazy about having them sit on the tank but I'm sure how else to go about it.

Good to know about the WP-25. I have one already and am thinking about how I want to proceed with addition flow. I have a MP10 on my small tank now that I can also use or I was thinking about getting a WP-40 and using that with the 25.

Shhhhhhh about the pictures! I've been on vacation for a week and haven't done anything. I did place the order for my sump yesterday. I decided not to go with Trigger Systems and went with someone else...it's a secret! :dance: I should be getting the CAD drawings this week for approval and I should have it the second or third week of August, so I will for sure post pictures of that. It's going to be a beast.

Just tagging along. Love the tank so far!

Thanks. It won't be much longer until it all comes together and get see some water!

 

[Quintis]

Small update. I got in some nice Tonga shelf pieces today. I've got all my equipment on order and it's trickling in. The major hold-ups are my custom sump and tank which should both be ready at the end of the month or first week of September. For now some awesome rock pics will have to do, lol.

 

[glaukos]

very nice rock choices quintis!
i'm sure you will make something very nice!

p.s
i just loooooove your car!

 

[Quintis]

very nice rock choices quintis!
i'm sure you will make something very nice!

p.s
i just loooooove your car!

Thanks Glaukos! I am very happy with the rock. Those three pieces are a total of 30lbs, and I have another 75lbs of regular dry rock on the way. I'm not sure yet how I will add in the shelf pieces but I look forward to coming up with a nice scape.

Yes, that's my 2011 Camaro SS. My other expensive hobby.

 

[Quintis]

Another small update. I got a ton of equipment in today for the build. Now that I have all of these things I can go ahead and finish up my stand this weekend and get everything in place while I wait on the sump and tank. The only equipment I'm missing is the GHL doser, doser containers, and the salinity add-on for my apex. My LFS is awesome and had some WP40's at the store so I didn't have to order from China.

Pics.

Goodies!!




Tropic Eden Grand Select 2bags



Tropic Eden Reef Flakes 2bags. I'm going to mix these 4 bags together















Ok, now I do need some help as I am not an electrician what so ever. How do I get this



To connect to this...




I did find this



Would i be able to cut the female end off of this cable and connect it to the cord for the light?

 

[Ross33]

Looks good so far! Lots of similarities to my build. Yes you could cut the female end off that connector and splice them together. I would get the shrink wrap stuff and some in line connectors to hook them together. Are you going to build a canopy as well?

 

[Quintis]

Looks good so far! Lots of similarities to my build. Yes you could cut the female end off that connector and splice them together. I would get the shrink wrap stuff and some in line connectors to hook them together. Are you going to build a canopy as well?

Thanks! I posted the wrong picture of the cable but they do have one that will work so I'll order a couple and use those. I won't have a canopy for the build as I want to keep it open to help with the MH heat. It won't look the sleekest since the pendants are a nice size but they have a nice finish on them so it won't look too bad without the canopy. I got some 80/20 extrusions I painted black that I will use to hang them from.

 

[dowtish]

Looks like xmas over there!

 

[Quintis]

Looks like xmas over there!

Yea, it's crazy that six different shipments from six different vendors all showed up on the same day. :eek1:

 

[glaukos]

Niiiiice!!
Many reasons to make you happy quintis

 

[biggles]

Oh yeah lots of goodies......... :thumbsup: I remember standing in front of such a big pile of 'reef man stuff' smiling to myself one day and my wife walked up and said, ' do you really need all that stuff just to keep a fish tank ' - seriously, she said 'fish tank' ! Needless to say things didn't work out too well on the marriage front.......
MammothReefer is running dual 250W radiums with no other supplemental lighting mate, his SPS reef is awesome in colors and growth so you're on a winner. Little Rimless Radium Tank - 2 years of progress
I only feel the T5's are needed for me because i run a single 250W over a 40x24" footprint.

CAD drawings, bloody CAD drawings. I knew something was up with that jet engine skimmer and now sump CAD drawings & computer launch controllers - you're building a bloody rocket aren't ya Quintis
That rock is very cool, should let you create an awesome rock scape mate. Don't worry, i'll inform you promptly if it's not up to par.........:reading:
Can you show me a pic of the inside of one of those reflectors, they look a lot like the exhaust shrouds on the Apollo rockets btw............ won't be long and the reef will be coming to life

 

[Quintis]

Niiiiice!!
Many reasons to make you happy quintis

Thank you Glaukos!

Oh yeah lots of goodies......... :thumbsup: I remember standing in front of such a big pile of 'reef man stuff' smiling to myself one day and my wife walked up and said, ' do you really need all that stuff just to keep a fish tank ' - seriously, she said 'fish tank' ! Needless to say things didn't work out too well on the marriage front.......
MammothReefer is running dual 250W radiums with no other supplemental lighting mate, his SPS reef is awesome in colors and growth so you're on a winner. Little Rimless Radium Tank - 2 years of progress
I only feel the T5's are needed for me because i run a single 250W over a 40x24" footprint.

CAD drawings, bloody CAD drawings. I knew something was up with that jet engine skimmer and now sump CAD drawings & computer launch controllers - you're building a bloody rocket aren't ya Quintis
That rock is very cool, should let you create an awesome rock scape mate. Don't worry, i'll inform you promptly if it's not up to par.........:reading:
Can you show me a pic of the inside of one of those reflectors, they look a lot like the exhaust shrouds on the Apollo rockets btw............ won't be long and the reef will be coming to life

Lol Biggles, you always crack me up. Shame on her for calling it a fish tank! Glad to hear that the two 250w pendants will be good enough color wise for my lighting as they are so big that it would be difficult to add any type of supplemental light. I had to go custom on my sump since I wanted to maximize the space under the stand and all of the pre-made sumps where only like 15" wide. Mine will be 38"x 22"x 15", so I'll be able to have a very nice sized refug.

The shelf rock will give me a challenge when trying to scape, as I'm not sure yet how I can work it in and make it look nice. I most likely won't use all of it maybe just one or two of them. I'll snap a picture of the reflector when I'm off work for ya. I should have my sump the first week of Sept, but the tank is still a ways off. I guess I picked a bad time to order custom items. Everyone has been so busy getting ready for MACNA they tell that it has backed them way up. So, I'll just have to continue to wait, which is torture!

 

[Quintis]

Here are the reflectors Biggles. They still have the film on them.

 

[biggles]

Hi mate, thanks for showing me those reflectors - very bloody fancy. Can you take the film off and take a flash shot of one direct on for me...............
Can't have a sump too big, the bigger they are the more man reef man stuff you can fit in there :thumbsup: My sump is 40x20x14" with a 20x20" section i can use as a frag tank, refuge or remote DSB - prob all of them at once in the end lol.
Bloody MACNA...... one of my Aus online suppliers has taken off for a two month US 'reef equipment fact finding' mission........bet he doesn't find much reef gear at bloody Disneyland.........:rolleye1:

Looking at those radium bulbs and your equipment list (inc the rocket) i think you're going to have a cool SPS tank mate. Could you squeeze a blue LED light bar across the front or back so you can see the funky colors at night, i love the blue time before lights out. Just a thought in case you wanted the dusk viewing