Finally got the tank up....
- Thread starter inetmug
- Start date
Thanks for the compliment. The stand and top really turned out well.
Tank is a 250G Clarity Plus. It is an older tank that is in good shape. They are no longer in business, so the lifetime warranty is of course history.
Tank is 3/4 acrylic, with two corner overflows. Sump is 4'L x 18"Hx 11"D. It has a poor mans ATO with the Kent float switch. It also has a Predator downdraft skimmer with a Rio 1200 (rated for 180G). It also has the Aqua UV setup with a new bulb. The pump is a Dolphin 4750 which has been refurbished. The stand is CA Redwood.
There is not real room for a separate RO/RI canister with a separate pump. I am adding the solenoid/float-controller to the ATO system for a secondary fail-safe from autotopoff.com. So I will have a solenoid that closes on the float lever going too high.
The lights... yet another story. My bud was a fish guy, I am a reef guy (have 55G now that has done well). Now that it is up, holds water, no leaks, I am ordering the big kit from Steve's Leds. Should be equivalent for 1200W metal halide is the claim. It has the Phillips Luxeon LEDs ->http://shop.stevesleds.com/SPS-Grad...kage-84-100-tanks-SPS-Retrofit-Kit-84-100.htm
I inherited this setup from a collage bud that passed in October. His widow could not sell it and she needed it gone, so she asked if I would take it in his memory. We were fellow divers and he was a major league aquarium guy and collector. The sand is all new, and his rocks were kept in a culture tank for 8 weeks. Some of the rocks were bleached, rinsed, and set out to dry for weeks and are now dead.
I had several bumps in the setup mainly due to my ignorance. I set it up, only to realize you can not use a level on the tank to make it happen right. So, I broke it back down, leveled it right per the advice on this specific forum, and presto, it all worked just fine. I was over thinking it, but when you got overflows on each end, it really matters. I now have it leveled within 1/16-1/8, more like 3/16 on the long end.
I had a ton of leaks in the plumbing stuff, just from age, had to redo that also. I just took out a working system and never gave it a thought, but when it went back together, things needed to be updated. So I ran it with FW for about a week to get the kinks out.
The UV system I decided to keep as I might use it from time to time if I see a problem. I realize it can kill reef stuff if the water passes two slow. I do not think this is the case here as it goes right from the pump to the UV with no flow reduction.
I got a bunch of fish in the 55G that got overcrowded and things went bad. I have nursed them back to health, but I am moving them over time to a hospital tank that has the right copper level to be sure. So I have some Angels, highhat, surgeon, cardinals, etc., all atlantic collected. Banded corals, etc.,
Tank is a 250G Clarity Plus. It is an older tank that is in good shape. They are no longer in business, so the lifetime warranty is of course history.
Tank is 3/4 acrylic, with two corner overflows. Sump is 4'L x 18"Hx 11"D. It has a poor mans ATO with the Kent float switch. It also has a Predator downdraft skimmer with a Rio 1200 (rated for 180G). It also has the Aqua UV setup with a new bulb. The pump is a Dolphin 4750 which has been refurbished. The stand is CA Redwood.
There is not real room for a separate RO/RI canister with a separate pump. I am adding the solenoid/float-controller to the ATO system for a secondary fail-safe from autotopoff.com. So I will have a solenoid that closes on the float lever going too high.
The lights... yet another story. My bud was a fish guy, I am a reef guy (have 55G now that has done well). Now that it is up, holds water, no leaks, I am ordering the big kit from Steve's Leds. Should be equivalent for 1200W metal halide is the claim. It has the Phillips Luxeon LEDs ->http://shop.stevesleds.com/SPS-Grad...kage-84-100-tanks-SPS-Retrofit-Kit-84-100.htm
I inherited this setup from a collage bud that passed in October. His widow could not sell it and she needed it gone, so she asked if I would take it in his memory. We were fellow divers and he was a major league aquarium guy and collector. The sand is all new, and his rocks were kept in a culture tank for 8 weeks. Some of the rocks were bleached, rinsed, and set out to dry for weeks and are now dead.
I had several bumps in the setup mainly due to my ignorance. I set it up, only to realize you can not use a level on the tank to make it happen right. So, I broke it back down, leveled it right per the advice on this specific forum, and presto, it all worked just fine. I was over thinking it, but when you got overflows on each end, it really matters. I now have it leveled within 1/16-1/8, more like 3/16 on the long end.
I had a ton of leaks in the plumbing stuff, just from age, had to redo that also. I just took out a working system and never gave it a thought, but when it went back together, things needed to be updated. So I ran it with FW for about a week to get the kinks out.
The UV system I decided to keep as I might use it from time to time if I see a problem. I realize it can kill reef stuff if the water passes two slow. I do not think this is the case here as it goes right from the pump to the UV with no flow reduction.
I got a bunch of fish in the 55G that got overcrowded and things went bad. I have nursed them back to health, but I am moving them over time to a hospital tank that has the right copper level to be sure. So I have some Angels, highhat, surgeon, cardinals, etc., all atlantic collected. Banded corals, etc.,
