Cola's 263 Gallon SPS Build in Tampa
- Thread starter mcola78
- Start date
Lighting Dilemna:
It was poor planning but after building the hood and setting up the lighting, I realized I had a few major problems:
1) The hood was not tall enough so the Luminarcs were too close to the water level. With two 400w bulbs I was cooking the tank and running the risk of seriously bleaching any sps placed in the top half of the tank. The Luminarcs' size also made it now impossible for me to do any work in the tank without actually removing the hood.
The only solution was to ditch the lighting and find a new alternative. I could have bought a chiller to accomodate for the heat but that still would not solve the bleaching effects of the lights.
I decided to go with T5s...I have always loved the color these give off and especially how corals look under them. The only negative thing about these is the loss of the shimmering effect in the aquarium.
I ordered everything yesterday so hoping to have new lighting up by the weekend.
New Lighting:
Nine 80watt (60") T5s powered by three Icecap 660 Ballasts. I am going to play around with the color combination but I have purchased multiple bulbs of the following:
8 ATI Aqua Blue
7 ATI Blue Plus
3 Midday
3 Fiji Purple
Any suggestions on these? And the order?
In the middle I will place a single 250W Reeflux 12k Bulb (for the shimmer effect) lit by one of the Galaxy Ballasts I had originally purchased for the 400W Bulbs. The great thing about these Ballasts is that they are four stage interchangeable (250W, HQI, 400W and $00w Overdriven).
On both ends I will place two standard Home Depot style DIY incadescent night lights to use as moonlighting.
The hoiod is going to be covered with the Lumenex Film to increase reflectivity.
It was poor planning but after building the hood and setting up the lighting, I realized I had a few major problems:
1) The hood was not tall enough so the Luminarcs were too close to the water level. With two 400w bulbs I was cooking the tank and running the risk of seriously bleaching any sps placed in the top half of the tank. The Luminarcs' size also made it now impossible for me to do any work in the tank without actually removing the hood.
The only solution was to ditch the lighting and find a new alternative. I could have bought a chiller to accomodate for the heat but that still would not solve the bleaching effects of the lights.
I decided to go with T5s...I have always loved the color these give off and especially how corals look under them. The only negative thing about these is the loss of the shimmering effect in the aquarium.
I ordered everything yesterday so hoping to have new lighting up by the weekend.
New Lighting:
Nine 80watt (60") T5s powered by three Icecap 660 Ballasts. I am going to play around with the color combination but I have purchased multiple bulbs of the following:
8 ATI Aqua Blue
7 ATI Blue Plus
3 Midday
3 Fiji Purple
Any suggestions on these? And the order?
In the middle I will place a single 250W Reeflux 12k Bulb (for the shimmer effect) lit by one of the Galaxy Ballasts I had originally purchased for the 400W Bulbs. The great thing about these Ballasts is that they are four stage interchangeable (250W, HQI, 400W and $00w Overdriven).
On both ends I will place two standard Home Depot style DIY incadescent night lights to use as moonlighting.
The hoiod is going to be covered with the Lumenex Film to increase reflectivity.
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Here's my thoughts on the layout of the lighting. What do you think? I like the look of the tank with a more 10-12K appearance rather than the darker 20K coloring a lot of the T5 combinations usually give off.
The dotted Line is where the top part of the hood lifts up for access:
MH 12K Reeflux
2 Incadescent Moonlights (Night Lights)
9 T5s
Proposed Combination from back to front:
Midday
Aqua Blue Actinic
Blue Plus 12K
Fiji Purple
Aqua Blue Actinic
12K MH Reeflux w/ Incadescent Night Lights
Aqua Blue Actinic
Fiji Purple
Blue Plus 12K
Aqua Blue Actinic
The dotted Line is where the top part of the hood lifts up for access:
MH 12K Reeflux
2 Incadescent Moonlights (Night Lights)
9 T5s
Proposed Combination from back to front:
Midday
Aqua Blue Actinic
Blue Plus 12K
Fiji Purple
Aqua Blue Actinic
12K MH Reeflux w/ Incadescent Night Lights
Aqua Blue Actinic
Fiji Purple
Blue Plus 12K
Aqua Blue Actinic
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chrissu
Member
That's rather creative the way you used pavers to stabilize your rocks. A great idea actually. I'm getting ready to do a similiar setup but I'll be replacing my sand with starboard. I was planning to use Beckets pond foam and a marine safe epoxy with my rocks but your setup looks good too. Is that just regular cement you used to shape the rocks and attach the pavers? Please share your cement formula!
Chrissu - It is Portland Cement. I have heard and read on here that the Portland White Cement Type 1 is the best to use, but I have setup two tanks in the past with other types of Portland Cement and have had no problems with the tank. The trick is in "curing" the rock.
This time around, I had a lot of time to wait in between ordering the tank and actually setting it up. I collected dead coral rock from construction sites in South Florida and cemented the pieces together with a standard mortar/water mix.
After the rocks dried, I attached the stone pavers to the base with the same cement. I let the rockwork cure in the open air for three months (you usually do not need this long to let it cure but without a tank to set it up in, I had nothing but time). After this, I soaked the rocks in a heavy brine solution (salt around 1.2 - for reference the tank is currently at 1.025).
Every week, I took out the bad water and refilled with new high salinity water. I tested the pH as Cement is very alkaline (pH 12 to 13) and leaks lye into the water. When the levels of the water were around 7-8pH I considered the process done.
The 35 Gallon was a single 400W Reeflux 12K. I loved the color it gave off. I like the whiter look (like a 10K) but it definitely leads to sacrifice in the pastel/strong blues/purples that come out from the 20K range of lighting.
I would have run something similar on this tank but I (sadly
) built the hood too small...so T5s will have to suffice. The lighting on the 35 Gallon was at least 20" above the water surface and when it was all said and done with the new tank, the 400W bulbs would only be 9" from the water's surface...way too close in my opinion.Hopefully, I will have the new lighting waiting for me at the house when I return from this business trip so that I can install them on Sunday.
Fingers Crossed...
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USF Nealio
Go Bulls!
How did I miss this thread about a local build? Subscribed!
otterinaround
New member
Love the build. I can't wait to see what else you have up your aqua-scaping sleeve. How long until you add corals?
bmullikin1
New member
unfortunately the tank was taken down and sold.
fishmanstan
New member
How do u know it was taken down?
bmullikin1
New member
bought some stuff from him, want to say he sold it to WWC in orlando, he was in the process of moving for his job, was a incredible looking tank.
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