My 150 Build

[serpentman]

Its an ASM G4 with the recirc and gate valve mod. It does a great job. However, I am planning to upgrade sometime this year.

 

[fade2black]

Nice setup Jeff. How's the main tank doing?

 

[CleveYank]

going fishing?

going fishing?

What's in the tacklebox Jeff? You gonna go fishing to chase away the winter doldrums?

I knew someone who used to fish for his oscar every once in a while with barbless hooks.

DISCLAIMER for the PITA FOLKS...
Thought it was pretty dumb since it was a nice oscar, but it was definately different.

 

[serpentman]

Nice setup Jeff. How's the main tank doing?

Thanks Paul, So far its coming along. I put the few remaining fish I had left from my old set up in last week. They could not have been too happy in their temporary setup. I'll post updates once I get the lights installed hopefully this weekend.

What's in the tacklebox Jeff? You gonna go fishing to chase away the winter doldrums?

I wish, however, I don't walk on ice so its going to be a few months. Actually, its where I keep all my test kits, etc.


I once had an oscar that would probably have hit a hook. I bet he wouldn't taste too bad either

 

[sigs4me]

Great thread! I'll be following along

 

[serpentman]

Just thought I would post a little update. Tank should have lights and refugium up this weekend.

Now for the bad news. Because my raw water quality has been so bad that my RO/DI unit has failed twice thus releasing TDS of 50+, the tank has to be swimming in nutrients. My first indicator, I already have hair algae! Pretty interesting considering the only light the tank gets is from a nearby window.

I am seriously considering a rainwater collecting system for the future.

 

[serpentman]

Here's an update. Like an idiot, I took the afternoon off yesterday and braved the blizzard to go out to SC and HD. After 3 hours one way, I picked up some goodies:

Given my lighting restrictions, AKA the center brace, I decided to try 2 lumenbrights. First choice for this appl would have been lumenarcs but thats a long story.

Another view with the canopy on and the reflectors and new fans in place...courtsey of Sean (Discoreefrover).

Another view of the fans. Total fans are 6 (4 in back and 1 on each side). With 2 400MH blasting, the canopy temp is actually only a few degrees warmer than the room.

 

[serpentman]

"Let there be light"

I am a bit disappointed as my experiment was a partial failure. The dark spot in the center is pretty pronounced. I will probably reserve this area for lower light corals. However, its going to drive me nuts aesthetically, so I will probably put a bank for small t5s there to brighten it up a little.

The good news, its bright as H*** under the MHs

 

[itZme]

Could you stack a few stainless steel washers between the outer screws that hold the reflectors to the canopy and the reflectors so they angle slightly inward and converge on that dark area? I'm sure there is light being spilled out of the right and left side that would keep the ends from being darkened by the angling. I'm talking about maybe 1/4" on each screw to give a few degrees of tilt.
The dark area is not terrible but it is noticeable.

Like this:

HTH
-- Kevin

 

[serpentman]

I may play around with them more. They are tilted slightly but the fans got in the way. Too lazy to take it off and play around. I still don't think its enough. The lumenarcs would have done a better job.

 

[Cove Beach]

Did Dan special order the reflectors, or is he stocking them? I'm planning on running 3 on my 220.

 

[serpentman]

Special order

 

[itZme]

Sell them to Cove Beach and order the right ones for YOUR tank

 

[Cove Beach]

I got plans and templates made for DIY Lumenarcs. I built one of the mini ones. It came out really nice, i plan to use it on my frag tank

 

[Cove Beach]

DIY Reflector

DIY Reflector

 

[serpentman]

Thats pretty cool. Unfortunately, I know enough to be dangerous to DIY. I could see some missing fingers.

As far as my lighting issue, I did play around with the reflectors tonight and cocked at an angle with surprisingly good results. I will post picks later.

 

[serpentman]

Another busy weekend. Since I was snowed in, I decided to make the best of it. I am moving at "break neck" speed to try and get everything dialed in and ready for the upcoming frag swap.

I installed a 40g frag tank:

A 30g fuge:

Updated plumbing:

Fish Room/Area - Eventually this will be enclosed.

 

[jejton]

Man Space. I love it.

 

[serpentman]

Here's an updated pic of the display. I don't know if you can tell the difference but the lighting is a bit more balanced. Still a little cloudy. Been waging an outright war on microbubbles. I checked and double checked every joint suspecting a pin leak. The good news is everything checked out. It wasn't a complete waste of time as I found a serious potential leak on one of my drains. Once everything was narrowed down, I revisited the idea that I was pumping air from the sump.

Rather than invest a fortune is filter socks, I used a 2" polyester pad from Walmart. Same material, cost about $5 and it hits all my returns.

So far, so good. It appears to be working.

 

[itZme]

You wouldn't have any air in your water if you plumbed those drains like I told ya

I know someone was supposed to help you with plumbing but didn't make it that day. We can change it anytime you want to give it a try.