Coral Tank from Canada (1350gal Display Tank)
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mr.wilson
.Registered Member
:worried: Peter, you do know how many people just read that invite don't you :worried:
Just to remind anyone who missed it earlier or can't fit into the Crab Shack, Peter and I will be taking up residence at the Aqua-Digital booth. I will be the one asking Michael from Aqua-Digital where all those wires he shipped us go :crazy1:
mr.wilson
.Registered Member
Archaic as they sound, T8 lighting isn't that bad for our purpose. The 6,500 T8 lamps cost only $4 so you can change them every six months when they lose intensity or in our case use them for a year as fish only systems don't need as much light. Don't tell Al Gore what we are doing with the old ones though
We thought about upgrading to T5 which is 55 watts to our 32 watts with up to four times the life span (two years vs. 6 months), but we don't want to over-illuminate the fish and grow algae.
I was surprised how blue the 6,500 K T8s were when we put them in. The original lights said "kitchen & bathroom" on them, so they didn't sound too exotic
The Mars coral system still has them until we can settle on new LED lights. We may upgrade the two fish systems to LED as well if the price is right, they are low profile, and the energy savings warrant it. The Mars systems are now ready for livestock. We have a few fish in there now, and more coming later this week (I think). There have been a few modifications and more to come as time and energy allows. So far the pumps were upsized, as well as the return plumbing. The bypass lines for the chiller and UV sterilizer were merged for efficiency. The stainless steel 8 watt UV sterilizers were replaced with 36 watt, 40 watt, and 55 watt UV sterilizers designed for saltwater use. We are working on upgrading the flow in the coral system and will post the results later this week when they are done. The test tank went well, but sometimes a good idea doesn't hold water on a larger scale.
I finally got the 400 watt mogul socket 13,000K light going yesterday. It's lighting one side - of one side - of the tank nicely. It's too white in my opinion. We could supplement it with actinics, but I'd rather see a bluer 15,000 K bulb in there. The colour temp really ranges from one bulb to the next. It may even burn in bluer over the ext week. The 150 watt lighting is even more white and very focused (spot). It has some actinic lights in it (2 x 55 watts) but you can barely tell that they are on. My 4 x 250 watt, 20,000 K HQI fixture lights the tank up very nicely, but it's too blue and eerie looking. I'm afraid to put actinics in the fixture. I think Phoenix 14,000K or something similar would look much nicer. I moved all three test fixtures to be centred over the tank, so shadows are minimized and tank access is much better. Peter's duct work, that I absolutely despise, does a hell of a job in keeping the fixtures and the tank cool.
As you can see in the pictures the corner of the tank is pretty dark now. Our plasma lights might be coming in this week. I'm also expecting a sample light from an LED manufacturer any day now, so we will have more technologies to test. We are hoping to have some answers by MACNA, so we can be floored with more options at the show
We have a temporary stock tank (livestock trough) sump going with one of the old 1 HP spa pumps returning water to the display tank. Our proper sump will be ready in a couple of weeks, but at least we have water movement and even a mechanical filter polishing the water for now. Our closed loop pumps from Germany landed today so I will be picking them up tomorrow. The refugium is running on itself as a closed loop for now, but will come on line as soon as I get the RK2 skimmer (aka Robby Robot) going.
Hopefully these updates will explain why I have been slow to answer PMs for the past few weeks
3seconds2live
New member
Peter i dont know how difficult it would be but the pictures from the sides show us the aquascape nicely but if its possible can you get a some top down shots to see the distances between rockwork in that corner where chingchai was questioning. I think if it comes out clear it would put things into a better perspective in regards to distances. I agree with chingchai that that corner looks from the pictures crouded but i think that its due to the angle of the photos rather than it being actually congested. No hurry of course i'm aware you have so much on your plate right now.
Brian
Brian
scubasteve06
Jeeper Reefer
Mr. Wilson I like the color of your fixture over peter's tank but prefer the intensity of the mogul...maybe with T5, VHO, or LED supplementing it will look very nice...If it were my tank I'd go with plasma, or MH and T5 supplements. I don't know how hard it would be to build a light rack for MH's and T5's with that duct work though. Have you or peter thought about building a canopy to go all the way around and put the lights in there? it would make supplementing light a lot easier to mount.
3seconds2live
New member
I'm not posative but i think the ductwork is for the ventilation to remove all the moisture from evaporation and a canopy would probably be counterproductive not only that but probably the asthetics of the tank itself
nineball
Active member
Actually, you are both right. There is a canopy but the panels have been removed for the rock work ease of entry. When the canopy is on the tank it does form (almost) an air tight seal to ensure that all heat and humidity go into the fish room which then takes it outside the room and house through the dedicated HRV. The air entering the canopy comes from the HVAC to ensure proper circulation. There's a lot more to the environmental systems in the house than I want to go into here. Lets just say that the design goal of not having any situational awareness of the Aquarium other than the visual has been met 100%. There is absolutely no noise, heat or humidity in the house without compromising the quality of life for the aquarium inhabitants.
On the subject of lights........after we have all the basic plumbing and equipment in place and running to our satisfaction, hopefully by this coming weekend at the latest we will turn our attention and focus to the lighting. As noted earlier our intention is to make good use of the information and technology on display at the MACNA to finalize our lighting strategy. As soon after as we can we will develop a short list of requirements and trial some equipment for the tank and fish room. We are talking a lot of lighting.......we hope we will be able to continue our quest for best practices for the management of the tank and fish room.
Peter
Peter
nineball
Active member
You are absolutely correct Brian. I was very concerned that the corner was in fact too empty so we worked to leave an impression of fullness while keeping maximum open flow of the water column. It is truly a matter of perspective with this tank. There is one vantage point from the outside short panel where the optics suggest a tank of about twenty feet in depth with a series of continuous reef branches that go to infinity. The addition of fish will create a three dimensionality that even James Cameron (Avatar) would be jealous of for sure. I will try and get the overhead shots you have requested as soon as the team have finished tweaking the rock work.
Peter
nineball
Active member
That was me
Mike
Thank you very much Mike. We appreciate your support and observations.
Peter
nineball
Active member
wow that is just amazing
Thank you very much fakeprofile and welcome to the group. :dance:
Peter
chingchai
Premium Member
ChingChai, I presume you mean the last shot???
If you do here is another perspective straight on. I tried to make it look dense and tight if you looked off angle but if you looked straight on it would open up.
Peter
Well, it may be the angle. Sorry.
reeferbro0622
New member
Thanks a lot I should be there Wednesday to watch everyone set up, I may be busy seeming I have a press pass :thumbsup: Maybe I will see everyone roaming around.
As for your rockwork I would like to complement everyone for such a great job they did with the epoxy. They really made it blend and once it colors up it will really flow nicely.
Still following
JT :fun4:
mr.wilson
.Registered Member
reeferbro0622
New member
Hey, how come I don't get a press passDoes that get you back stage?
I get to meet the band members and everything :eek1: !!!!! Its a shame its not as exciting as real press passes at big events:blown:
JT
mr.wilson
.Registered Member
I agree, there is no all-in-one bulb out there yet. The space above the tank is limited. The original plan was to go double wide with the lighting fixtures but I don't see that happening with the duct work in place. As mentioned, the duct is there specifically for the tank.
The plasma reflector appears to be compact and hopefully lightweight. Some report that in order to get the desired aesthetic of blueish light the plasma light needs to bedimmed down to the point of compromising PAR value. I hope that isn't the case. We will know soon so stay tuned.
jackbendawn
New member
Hi peter and crew, well its just taken me two and a bit days to read through this thread and i don't really know what to say as i think i have run out of superlatives, i will suffice by saying that my 100 gallon tank now looks like a nano to me, the thought and planning that has gone into this build so far is outstanding and the attention to detail goes beyond belief, but i think the thing that has impressed me the most has been your willingness to learn and take on board advice from others. I hope that when this is finally complete that you will get years of pleasure out of it as i'm sure you will. I think the aquascaping is absolutely stunning and i can't wait to see how this develops with the addition of livestock, maybe one day i can build my dream tank lottery win permitting, until then i will have to be content with drooling over yours. All the best of luck from over the pond, Regards Gary.
nineball
Active member
Thanks elijaher. I haven't really focused on either the coral or the fish for the time being. I want to make sure all the systems are fully operational and that the water column has truly stabilized before I move on to wildlife.
Peter
AQD_ottawa
New member
Hope you got shares in Tie wrap for all dem wires
The Macna booth is actually under the name of GHL profiLux where you can meet The now famous Mr Wilson and Peter. The owner of GHL (Matthias Gross) will be there to meet and greet everyone. :fish1:
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