gcarroll' 260g SPS reef

[gcarroll]

It has been a long time coming but the time is here. Finally I have my chance to build my next tank. I has been 3.5 years since I tore down my 225g reef when we sold our home. With the recent purchase of a new home, the first priority has been to set up my new tank. I learned so much during the 10 years of my last tank and can't wait to apply that knowledge.
RIP to my 225g reef !

 

[Andrew D]

Welcome back! You had some very nice mature colonies in your 225, I can't wait to see how your 260 takes shape.

 

[gcarroll]

So the termite tent came off 7-7-17 . And here is the room of the tank wall complete with the granny curtains.

Demo began 7-8-17 with scraping the old school popcorn off of the ceilings.

And on 7-9-17 demo began on the floors

 

[gcarroll]

The tank I will be setting up will be a 260g AGE with PVC bottom and powder coated stainless steel bracing on top and bottom.

 

[gcarroll]

Welcome back! You had some very nice mature colonies in your 225, I can't wait to see how your 260 takes shape.

It has been a long time coming. Honestly too long! I've learned so much over the years and can't wait to apply it to this aquarium.

 

[biecacka]

Greg, fish room or everything under the tank?

Corey

 

[cFloor]

Your 225 was a thing of beauty, Im looking forward to following along with this new tank.

 

[FireReeferSteve]

Following good luck with build!!


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[JonCubb]

Following along, looking forward to seeing it done!

 

[gcarroll]

It's coming along slowly. Electrical wiring and lighting first then need to convert from 100a panel to 200a. Flooring also arrives in a week.

 

[gcarroll]

Greg, fish room or everything under the tank?

Corey

Corey, unfortunately everything is going under the tank. Wish I could've found another way, but it is what it is.

 

[Wiskey]

This is fantastic! I remember being stunned by your tank many years ago when I lived out in AZ! Great to have you back!

What are your lighting plans? Your off to a fantastic start!

Whiskey

 

[biecacka]

Greg, I understand. Most of my equipment is under my tank or behind it. I dream of a fish room one day.

Corey

 

[gcarroll]

This is fantastic! I remember being stunned by your tank many years ago when I lived out in AZ! Great to have you back!

What are your lighting plans? Your off to a fantastic start!

Whiskey

That is actually the hardest thing for me to decide. What lighting will I use for the next 2 years? Honestly that is about the longest I ever went without changing on the old system.

 

[Wiskey]

That is actually the hardest thing for me to decide. What lighting will I use for the next 2 years? Honestly that is about the longest I ever went without changing on the old system.

Haha! Now that is truth right there!

I can tell you that if you are going with LED's make sure to get a new, high quality fixture. I tried to make my own using just blues and whites to supplement my T5's and it made for a bad experience. The people that are most successful seem to use the puck style fixtures that have many shades of blue, many shades of white, red, green, etc, all close together. And they use lots of the fixtures to avoid shading.

I use T5's on my display and love them, but my tank is a 75 these days, only 18" wide. If I were to setup a 120, or a 180, I would probably go MH with T5 just because that would be allot of T5 bulbs to replace every 8 months if I had only T5. I just love the way that corals grow and look under MH/T5.

Whiskey

 

[gcarroll]

I want the look to be clean! That is the main priority in the end. I will probably start off with a 10 bulb ATI Powermodule. My friend has one lying around that he is not using. I've always wanted to try T5 even though I'm not really fond of the look. I certainly can't argue with the results!

I'll probably use them until it's time to change the bulbs then I'll remember why I never wanted T5. Other options are a Giesemann Spectra, ATI Powermodule Hybrid, GHL Mitras, Giesemann Verve, and of course the Ecotech Radion G4 Pro.

 

[Wiskey]

If you want to go really old school I know a LFS that has a 3 bulb 250W HQI with PC's marked down to about $100! HAHA. I might have scooped it up, but my wife gets migraines so I need to make sure my lights are in a canopy so you can't look directly into them.

I really like T5's I was an early adopter, and I've been using a Tek T5 Retro over many FW and SW tanks over the years. I do miss the glitter lines, but I love the color I get with T5's. Just an FYI, ATI and Guismann bulbs put out double the par that bulbs like Coralife do. I've been shocked by some of these results.

I see that you live in Orange, I'm in Fallbrook now, if you want some frags or want to borrow my PAR meter let me know! I have some high end stuff and love to trade and have my corals in someone else's tank just in case. Plus it's good for the hobby!

You can see a couple pics of my tank here:
http://www.reefcentral.com/forums/showthread.php?t=2644015

Whiskey

 

[biecacka]

Greg, I too like the ati hybrid! But for now I am sticking with my 400 watt radium and I love it.
I dont have quite the heat here in Ohio that you have out west though.
In your list of potential options, I dont see the reefbreeders LED's, any particular reason. Many ppl seem to like them and the fact the diodes are spread out is a nice feature.

Corey

 

[gcarroll]

If you want to go really old school I know a LFS that has a 3 bulb 250W HQI with PC's marked down to about $100! HAHA. I might have scooped it up, but my wife gets migraines so I need to make sure my lights are in a canopy so you can't look directly into them.

I really like T5's I was an early adopter, and I've been using a Tek T5 Retro over many FW and SW tanks over the years. I do miss the glitter lines, but I love the color I get with T5's. Just an FYI, ATI and Guismann bulbs put out double the par that bulbs like Coralife do. I've been shocked by some of these results.

I see that you live in Orange, I'm in Fallbrook now, if you want some frags or want to borrow my PAR meter let me know! I have some high end stuff and love to trade and have my corals in someone else's tank just in case. Plus it's good for the hobby!

You can see a couple pics of my tank here:
http://www.reefcentral.com/forums/showthread.php?t=2644015

Whiskey

Thanks Whiskey, I'll be sure to look you up when I'm ready!

 

[gcarroll]

Greg, I too like the ati hybrid! But for now I am sticking with my 400 watt radium and I love it.
I dont have quite the heat here in Ohio that you have out west though.
In your list of potential options, I dont see the reefbreeders LED's, any particular reason. Many ppl seem to like them and the fact the diodes are spread out is a nice feature.

Corey

The Geisemann Spectra is what I'm looking at for MH. I prefer the 250w Radion over the 400w version. I've used both and just prefer the way the corals responded and PAR is pretty close on them. I'm pretty burned out on MH though and just wanted to try something new.

When I lived in Corona, I ran 3 - 400w MH without a chiller so I don't think I will have much issue with heat as it is much cooler in the OC.

I did not consider Reef Breeders as I prefer to stick with larger established companies. Reef Breeders has a lot of followers but i't really am not a fan. I prefer LEDs that have a path to upgrade and GHL and Ecotech have shown that their lights have had this ability.