My first build begins

[scaryperson27]

I would with T5 lighting. On this shallow of a tank, you shouldn't have a problem with them. 500 watts of like plus like 60~90 just sounds like a lot of heat involved.

Check this out

http://www.reefcentral.com/forums/showthread.php?t=1215102

 

[crsaz]

Since you have a center overflow so most likely, you will have 2 islands like rockscape

Im not sure on that yet, I have a few nice shelf pieces I've picked out at work(and hidden in plain sight in a display lol) over the past few months. I am also ordering a box of liverock this week. though Im not sure what kind I want. currently I have about 20lbs of fiji and 45lbs of tonga, Im thinking vanutu or bali. and yes I have decided to go with 2 mh over the dt and one on a light rail over the frag tank.

on the subject of lighting, does anybody know which workhorse ballast will power 2x39w t5's and 2x24w t5's?

 

[crsaz]

been sick in bed the past few days, but today I managed to scrounge up enough strength(mostly got extremely bored) to go to the lfs and order 2 more reflectors and ballasts and went to lowes and got some glass cut for the sump. and picked up about 75# of lr. its getting closer to being done:spin1: I'll have some pics soon

 

[crsaz]

sorry no pics today(hopefully tomorrow) I got the sump built today, and got my frag tank order 48"x24"x10" rimless, 3-6 week wait on the frag tank I also ordered my skimmer I went ahead and got the biggest I could since I dont believe in over skimming and I plan to upgrade in the future

link to skimmer
http://www.reefspecialty.com/Protein-Skimmers-Super-Reef-Octopus/c21_103/p460/Super-Reef-Octopus-6000-External-Protein-Skimmer/product_info.html

 

[jeffeg]

great start

 

[Fisher72]

For lighting, are you going with 10K, 14K or 20K. this will determine if one fixture will be enough. As for flow, 2 40 will be too much, I have 2 in my SPS 90 and they are running at 2/3 powder.

 

[crsaz]

I will be running radium 20k's as for flow I think Ill go with 1 mp40 and the mp10 I currently have

 

[crsaz]

borring update but its been a while since I've done anything so today I picked through 500lbs of tukani live rock that came in at work today(man working at an lfs has its advanteges, how can ya beat personally cherry picking through the live rock before anyone gets to even see and only paying $1.50/lb) and picked out a few nice pieces. anyways I picked up 1 mp40 to start off with. but theres also bad news, the skimmer wont be in for another 2 weeks and the frag tank has been delayed to the first week in jan.
anyways PICS finaly

diesel inspecting for pests

 

[crsaz]

yay, frag tank is done and scheduled for wendsday arrival, and since the skimmer keeps getting delayed I cancelled my order. and I will be ordering from reef specialty so now I am deciding between the 6000ext and the xp5000 cone cant decide so what would you go with? I will have the tank up and running within two weeks:bigeyes:

 

[crsaz]

its here!!!
Im still undecided on the skimmer, now its between the atb 840 and the sro 6000ext, any input??
dont mind my mess room, we've just recently moved in and haven't fully unpacked

diamond edge to match the iluminata

 

[eddie holland]

very nice can,t wait to see it running.

 

[crsaz]

I should have water in it by mid next week. and I am still undecided on a skimmer. its between th xp-3000 cone(10"cone/5"neck), sro 6000-ext(12" body/6"neck)and the atb 840 v1.5(8"cone/4"neck) they will all cost me the same(the atb would be $15 more) so you guys choose. some say I wont be able to develop a decent head with a lagre neck but I think with the combination of high bio-load, lots of feeding, and carbon dosing it will be alright.

 

[cpllongjk]

Hey Crsaz,

Very nice tank, both of them. I to am setting up a Illuminata.
I have the ATB 840 v1.5 and love it. Its got a lot of room for growth imo. You can interchange the large and small pinwheel depending on your skimming needs. Im going to run with the small wheel until I get a frag tank and then Ill switch over to the large. Shoot the small pinwheel might even be enough to take care of 120g-150g total volume.

All I know is I have run the ATB 840 v1.5 with the large wheel and have had issues with the foam head collapsing after 4-5 days. When I switched to the small pin wheel, I got consistant skimmate and the foam head didnt collapse.

About the Vortechs. My opinion is get 1 MP40w. I have 1 also, and had 2 on my 60g (48x15x17) and it was to much flow with 2 of them. With 1 youll be able to open it up nearly full throtle and get the use out of it. IMO MP20s are a waste because they are the same size pump as the MP40 just missing the better controller. I think your tank will be fine with the MP40w and the return pump. If you have 2 MP40w on a non BareBottom tank your sand will be blowing all over if you open the pump up.

With your frag tank, just get a bunch of cheap Tunze pumps and place them under your frag racks. You shouldnt need any surface agitation unless you want it. Just have the Tunzes blowing under the frag rack and youll have some crazy random flow.

Sorry for the book, hope it helps.

 

[mnellis3023]

tagging along

 

[crsaz]

finally after all the crazyness going on in my life, I got the system up and running. I still need to decide on how to hang the lights and skin the the stand. I still need to order an xp-2000 ext, but for now the moded g3 will have to do.