Pics of my nano with 250w MH WOW!

[blackdak]

I am not really new to RC... I have been around just usually in lurk mode reading posts, but there are so many people who can answer questions better than I can. But I wanted to show you all what I have done with my nano tank (~20 gal). Hopefully the pics work... bear with me on that!

First some specifics:
Tank: Flat back hex, made by local store Marine Aquatics
Lighting: 250 watt MH phoenix 14k
Flow: 2 rio ??'s ~300 gph
Filtration: Sponge filter, carbon, WATER CHANGES


Now for the pics:

 

[Cutiewitbooty]

wow that tank looks really awesome!! 250 watts of MH on a 20 gal, wow. Do you have any heat issues? What is that coral in the last pic?

 

[nanokeeper]

Thats a beautiful nano. I think your motivating me to set one up again.

 

[blackdak]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=6792823#post6792823 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by Cutiewitbooty
wow that tank looks really awesome!! 250 watts of MH on a 20 gal, wow. Do you have any heat issues? What is that coral in the last pic?

There are 4 computer fans on the hood that run while the lights are on. As a result I have not had any problems with heat... In fact the tank temperature goes down a degree or two while the lights are on. One advantage of living in Utah.. its very dry so evaporative cooling works well.

 

[blackdak]

oh yeah.. the last pic is the toadstool on the right side of the tank.

 

[klese]

Nice tank, how hot does it get?

 

[tgcreef]

wow sweet and im guessin no fish?

 

[blackdak]

it doesnt get hot at all with all the fans. max temp occurs in the morning before the lights come on and its around 76. by the end of the day the temp is 74-75.

There is one fish. A yellow tail damsel. Other inhabitants are: 2 sexy shrimp, snails, hermits but thats about it. low bioload... I want to get a midas blenny and keep that as my only fish. but until I find one the damsel will do as it is a fun little fish.

 

[aural]

i'm guessing there is a damsel in there

 

[Mikeeal]

WOW!!!!:eek2: Nice tank! How long has it been setup?

I have the same thing going on with my 20G. Almost fully enclosed hood with 175W halide, and two computer fans, and the tempature actually drops a degree when the lights/fans come on.

 

[blackdak]

Tank has been up about a year. MH has been on for probably 8 months. Started with softies... they are mostly gone except for the toadstool, GSP, xenia and a few rics.

Mikeeal: you also have the benefit of living in a dry area! No chillers needed!

 

[hooterhead]

just curious why you would put a 250 watt MH over a 20????? it just seems like a stupid waste of money and light over such a small tank. a 70 watt would have been much more cost efficient and would still light the tank just as well. it's just a waste...that's all i'm saying. i don't get why a lot of "nano reefers" decide to put MH over their small tanks. do you just have too much money?? if so why not send me some. all i've got are pc's over my nano...

 

[Cutiewitbooty]

i just spent $400 on a metal halide for my nano. It's better and if your willing to spend the money for awesome looking corals, why not?

 

[Qwiv]

Nice Tank Bdog. He has the 250 watt, because he has aspirations for a bigger tank. No reason to buy (2) lights considering a 70watt MH is almost the same amount as a 250watt in material costs.

B.. You still have that bigger tank? If not, I have a 50 with your name on it after the more. Should be moved into my 180 soon, I hope.....

Wish I could keep my tank that cool... 80 - 82 here.

 

[Qwiv]

Being Dumb

Being Dumb

Been waiting for you to post one day so that I could say
<img src="/images/welcome.gif" width="500" height="62"><br><b><i><big><big>To Reef Central</b></i></big></big>


OK, got that out of my system.

 

[Daddeo]

Nice looking tank!
I had to read the thread title twice, the word "nano" and "250 watt" just seems so extreme !

 

[mojodeli]

Some of us have left over equipment from larger tanks. I have 3 ROIII 250 de pendants and I have been seriously considering using one of the pendants over my 24g NC. The only reason I haven't done anything is I've been doing sps for years and want to do lps.

I'm sure I'll change my mind soon enough and then I'll be hanging 2x250MH pendants over my nano

 

[mr pink floyd]

normally i dont liek hex tanks, becasue i thgouth there was nothign you can do wiht them!

oh man wasi wrong thats really good looking!

i still dont like how the glass make it weird to look in from some angles, but that is an amazing tank

 

[blackdak]

First off, thanks for the compliments everyone. I think it is really interesting what some people have done with their tanks so I would share what I have done with mine.

As far as why I went with a 250 watt MH (not that I need to defend my actions, but to give you my thought process). The tank originally came with really nice lighting from the get-go 96 watt PC quad. After a while I thought it would be cool to have a mini version of some of the spectacular sps dominated tanks that are seen here all the time. I had looked at most of the available options including the 70, 150 DE, 175 SE, and 250 DE. Since my tank is pretty much a custom tank, there arent off the shelf mods like there are for the nanocubes (nice tanks in their own right BTW) so I would have to put it all together myself. I liked having the hood on it so a pendant would not have been my first choice although i did look at the RO and aquamedic pendants. Talking with some people in my local club (WMAS) I came to the conclusion that the 70 watt wouldnt accomplish what I wanted and the 150 DE was the best choice for my application... but the 250 was only a few (maybe $30) more for all new components. Eventually a local guy was selling a 250 watt electronic ballast for a price i couldnt pass up. All told I spent less than $200 for a custom hood, lamp, ballast and all the mounting acessories.

It was absolutely NOT a waste of money... going with a 70 watt then upgrading AGAIN would have been.

Whew... sorry for the length...

 

[blackdak]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=6800197#post6800197 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by mr pink floyd
normally i dont liek hex tanks, becasue i thgouth there was nothign you can do wiht them!

oh man wasi wrong thats really good looking!

i still dont like how the glass make it weird to look in from some angles, but that is an amazing tank

I can certainly understand that some dont like the curves in the hex. It is pretty neat that it does give you distinct viewing angles into the tank and you can really see different things by looking in different panels. I had a guy come by the other night who said it is kind of hard to see in especially if you have glasses with bifocals.