BadOleRoss
New member
Very nice tank..........well done!
my 240
- Thread starter hobogato
- Start date
hobogato
New member
thanks for the comments everyone 
here is the last change i made to the tank - i have upgraded just about everything possible in the last few months, so now it is time to watch it grow
well, i have been holding on to my pc actinics for long enough, and finally decided to switch over to T5 for actinic suppliment instead. i was running eight 65 watt actinic retro kits on my tank, and decided to switch over to eight 24" and four 36" high output T5 bulbs. i went to workhorse 7 ballasts for this - three of em. the bulbs i chose are the URI super actinic that supposedly put out 40 watts on a 24" and 65 watts on a 36" if you have the ballast power to do it. so if that is true, i am now running 580 watts of T5 lights. here are a few pics.
i used solartube material to make the reflectors.
tank with PC actinics
acrylic shells i built to house the T5s
the two configurations i used
2 X 24"
a 24" with a 36"
one side installed (looks the same on the other side of the tank) they BARELY fit!
cruddy full tank shot with the T5s - with the PC lights, my camera wouldnt go faster than 1/6 of a second exposure, where with the T5s, it was set at 1/30 of a second - translation, the T5s are WAY brighter
here is the last change i made to the tank - i have upgraded just about everything possible in the last few months, so now it is time to watch it grow
well, i have been holding on to my pc actinics for long enough, and finally decided to switch over to T5 for actinic suppliment instead. i was running eight 65 watt actinic retro kits on my tank, and decided to switch over to eight 24" and four 36" high output T5 bulbs. i went to workhorse 7 ballasts for this - three of em. the bulbs i chose are the URI super actinic that supposedly put out 40 watts on a 24" and 65 watts on a 36" if you have the ballast power to do it. so if that is true, i am now running 580 watts of T5 lights. here are a few pics.
i used solartube material to make the reflectors.
tank with PC actinics
acrylic shells i built to house the T5s
the two configurations i used
2 X 24"
a 24" with a 36"
one side installed (looks the same on the other side of the tank) they BARELY fit!
cruddy full tank shot with the T5s - with the PC lights, my camera wouldnt go faster than 1/6 of a second exposure, where with the T5s, it was set at 1/30 of a second - translation, the T5s are WAY brighter
hobogato
New member
exactly - the one in the first pic was the original reflector and the one in the second pic was the replacement i made from the sky light material. my tank was about twice as bright just by changing from the old spider reflectors on my SE fixtures and the original reflectors in the DE pendants to my home made luminarc like SE reflectors and new reflectors in the DE pendants. i used the same material to make reflectors for the T5 lights i added this weekend also
corivus
New member
<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=9146313#post9146313 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by hobogato
also added a side table that houses a 50 gallon clam tank - plumbed into the sump thru the wall
is it bad that I want to see the construction for this? I've always wanted a tank setup like this for the living room or for my own room its really cool look, I might actually do something like this for my tank setup whenever it goes
thecodfather
New member
sweet tank...keep up the good work!
hobogato
New member
it is a simple acrylic tank with an external calfo that drains into the sump of my main tank. water is pumped to it by a mag7 in the sump. then, i built the table just big enough for the acrylic tank to fit into it and tall enough that the water level was just high enough to drain into the sump. there is also just enough space between the top of the tank and the inside of the lid to house a 175 watt SE MH light in the front and four T5 tubes around the perimeter on the sides and back. the lid is made of four pieces of wood as a frame just wide enough to cover the lighting around the perimeter with a 1/4" glass panel in the middle for viewing. i also added black acrylic around the perimeter of the glass to block out the glare from the lights.
if you have any questions, please ask!
here's a schematic of the tank itself
