Designing a monster
- Thread starter Harleyguy
- Start date
jnarowe
New member
You picked just about the best one for that. The only thing better would be a pressure rated one, but they do use a bit more juice. But if you compare the Hammerhead's flow to other pumps, youwill find that it produces in the high range for its power consumption. Plus they have excellent customer service.
Well just with your 8 400w's your closing in on my monthly power
budget!
Do you know what bulbs your planning to run? With the ballasts you have I would recommend you look into either the xm 10k's or a BLV 14k. Then do your supplimental lighting based on that choice.
That thing is going to be a simply massive. You also need to start thinking about your fish room, temp control, system contollers and humidity control.
budget!
Do you know what bulbs your planning to run? With the ballasts you have I would recommend you look into either the xm 10k's or a BLV 14k. Then do your supplimental lighting based on that choice.
That thing is going to be a simply massive. You also need to start thinking about your fish room, temp control, system contollers and humidity control.
Harleyguy
Premium Member
I am going to run XM 20K. As for the fish room I have a great deal of space. The fish room will be in the basement below the tank. As for humidity, I am going with an air exchanger. As for cooling I'm looking into Geothermal Loop. Supplemented with a small chiller. I am usinf an Aquacontroller III Pro for control.
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All great choices except one. The XM20k's. Swing by one day and ill show you why. I used to run them and like them alot. But they lose intensity very fast(like 6 months), and they are a bit on the purple side. I switched to the BLV 14k, and turned out to be just as blue as the XM's are purple. Very close to a perfect 20k bulb in looks. Plus they have more PAR, and are about the same price as the XM's. I still have my old XM 20k laying around if you want to see the differance.
Im actually suplimenting with a 10k T5 to whiten things up a bit.
Im actually suplimenting with a 10k T5 to whiten things up a bit.
Harleyguy
Premium Member
The reason I wanted to start with the XM 20K is the fact that when you overdrive them Like I will be doing they tend to be more white and give off greater par. On my last tank I used Aquaconnect 14K and I liked them very much, but I figured I would give the XM's a try. I will also be suplimenting with 10K T5's
Harleyguy
Premium Member
Because I have not bought my bulbs yet, what I might do is buy a couple of different brands and temps to see what I like.
Also what I decided to do is go with SE reflectors and Hqi ballasts. That way I can overdrive the SE bulbs and if I wanted to, later, I could change the reflectors to DE and have a full Hqi set-up. Right now I don't see the need in Hqi bulbs. I'm sure this is going to start a wild debate, so let the arguments begin.
Also what I decided to do is go with SE reflectors and Hqi ballasts. That way I can overdrive the SE bulbs and if I wanted to, later, I could change the reflectors to DE and have a full Hqi set-up. Right now I don't see the need in Hqi bulbs. I'm sure this is going to start a wild debate, so let the arguments begin.
then definatly come by and check the color out. Im running Blue line balasts(magnectic) which are one step under the HQI's. I got a great deal on them so ill take the small par deduction.
Do you know how many T5's you want to run? I was considering doing a dual bulb setup for my next tank. Basicly run one ballast with lets say 4 bulbs bulbs on it. Then get 4 10k's and 4 actinics, and wire them to a relay that will switch from the 10ks to the actinics based on a timer. This way you get your 10k suppliment and actinics for dusk dawn and you dont have to buy another ballast.
Another plus I saw from the 10k supliments was that by having a 10k T5 run along the front of the tank, it really brightened up my clams even when viewing from a low angle. And now I have some more light under my big anemone so I can put some softies under there and not waste the space
Do you know how many T5's you want to run? I was considering doing a dual bulb setup for my next tank. Basicly run one ballast with lets say 4 bulbs bulbs on it. Then get 4 10k's and 4 actinics, and wire them to a relay that will switch from the 10ks to the actinics based on a timer. This way you get your 10k suppliment and actinics for dusk dawn and you dont have to buy another ballast.
Another plus I saw from the 10k supliments was that by having a 10k T5 run along the front of the tank, it really brightened up my clams even when viewing from a low angle. And now I have some more light under my big anemone so I can put some softies under there and not waste the space
Harleyguy
Premium Member
<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=11705577#post11705577 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by EnderG60
then definatly come by and check the color out. Im running Blue line balasts(magnectic) which are one step under the HQI's. I got a great deal on them so ill take the small par deduction.
Do you know how many T5's you want to run? I was considering doing a dual bulb setup for my next tank. Basicly run one ballast with lets say 4 bulbs bulbs on it. Then get 4 10k's and 4 actinics, and wire them to a relay that will switch from the 10ks to the actinics based on a timer. This way you get your 10k suppliment and actinics for dusk dawn and you dont have to buy another ballast.
Another plus I saw from the 10k supliments was that by having a 10k T5 run along the front of the tank, it really brightened up my clams even when viewing from a low angle. And now I have some more light under my big anemone so I can put some softies under there and not waste the space
When I get home I will look you up and I'll have to come down and see your tank. As for the T-5's I plan or running 8 5' bulbs and 8 4' bilbs.
This is the main reason that I am doing SE bulbs with Hqi Ballasts. I figure it's a good combination, and if I need more Par, or the price of Hqi bulbs comes down I might switch, and all I'll need to do is replace the reflectors. I hope the set-up I am going with will work for me, I figure the worst case would be that I have to add 4 more 400's. I guess I'll just have to wait and see.
NYIntensity
Premium Member
Idiots like you make me less than willing to admit I'm a Marine. Why don't you shut up; I'm guessing you JUST got in, or you'd have more respect for people, boot.
Harleyguy
Premium Member
I have started shopping for....salt... I think it's funny that this is something that I never even thought of budgeting for on my previous tanks. I have also started looking into alternatives for a chiller. I'm considering a Deltec ECO cooler... Has anyone had any experience with these???
jnarowe
New member
when you "shop" for salt, I would buy a bucket of each one you are considering, test it, and then decide what you want to buy. Unfortunately many salts do not have batch numbers on them, so there is no real gaurantee that you will get the same salt. I know OceanPure and Tropic Marin use batch numbers.
jnarowe
New member
right now OceanPure Pro. another thing I feel strongly about is switching out salts. So many people become very brand loyal but I think that is a mistake with salts. I feel that there are so many elements that we don't test for, and that staying with one salt will ultimately make the system difficient in some of them.
