Returning to what I love - My new 180 Rimless

Hey jbanks,
Love the tank and design. I had a quick question. I have been planning on doing a very similar design. The tank i am planning is 48Lx36Wx20H rimless Starphire with the 48' 10 bulb ati powermodule. My question is i am moving into a new apartment soon on the second story and though there is hardwood floors it is hard to tell how structuraly sound the floor is. Do you think it is taking a big risk trying to put a tank that size up there or what? If so what size tank do you think i could get away with? Im putting more planning into this new tank then ever before. Any comments are welcome and thanks alot in advance.

brian
 
Thanks Brian for the kind comments,

In my honest opinion, a tank this size is always a risk on the second floor of an apartment.. As far as the weight, you're talking around 1600+ pounds filled.. Depending on where the structural beams are located really have a lot to do with whether you can safely place a tank this size.. If it is a newer apartment building, it probably has steel beams. If so, I don't think the weight will be an issue.. The other concern is the water.. Accidents sometimes happen with tanks and an overflowing tank is one sure way to get your neighbors on a witch hunt.. So, you will need to have proper controls and level sensors in place that will cut your pumps in case your sump level goes to high or your skimmer decides to go nuts. I don't want to discourage you because it can be done, but I would talk to the building owner and get an idea for how the place was built. If you get a green light, you'll be good to go with the proper safety controls in place and have peace of mind.. Best of luck to you and always feel free to come back and ask questions..
 
Well I'm at the 10 month mark of lighting my tank. Thankfully, I was able to replace all 10 bulbs through a group buy with my local Club (LIRA) and save some bucks. Thanks to RC member (qy7400) who organized it all. I've changed one bulb selection due to the vendor being out of the Fiji Purple.. In it's place is a UVL Antinic White. Looking at the bulb it looks to be a similar color as the fiji purple, but it reflects a totally different shade in my opinion. It reflects a somewhat yellow color in comparison, but with a different effect on the coral vs a mid-day bulb. The colors seem to pop more. Overall when blended in, it looks very nice with only around 9 par less than the fiji purple.. So current lighting is.
Front to back:

ATI Aquablue Special
ATI Blue Plus
UVL Antinic White
ATI Blue Plus
ATI Aquablue Special
ATI Blue Plus
ATI Aquablue Special
ATI Blue Plus
ATI Aquablue Special
ATI Blue Plus

I'm going to give the new UVL a chance for a while. Here are a few updated pics from today with all the new bulbs..

IMG_6414.jpg


IMG_6415.jpg


IMG_6417.jpg


IMG_6418.jpg


IMG_6419.jpg
 
great lookin tank....im not much into the "fuzzy sticks" but i do have a few but with all the colors you have it looks GREAT....
 
Thanks Guys! and Happy Easter Everyone :)

Ray, it was great catching up with you the other night. I'll be in touch with you on the Zoos :bounce3:
 
Hey JB, the tank is looking goooood .Cant wait to see it.

Your wrasse is still a character , looks like he is getting better at walking(swimming)on his tail. LOL

Looks like you need to start planning your upgrade if your corals keep growing like that.
 
Thanks for the kind comments guys.

Tanks Ray, I'll definitely be in touch wnen I figure out what I'm looking for.

Yeah jzdad, he's definitely a character always swimming the way he does :lol: I think it's the vodka :lmao:
 
I did some reading on vodka and think I'm gonna give it a try, start fixing things 1 at a time to I get where I need to be without starting over.
 
Jzdad,

Sounds like a plan. You'll nail it down. Just take your time..

duastina,

Sure there are.. Just take a look at the equipment forum and some of the vendor forums like Premium Aquatics, Aquarium Specialty and Reef Specialty. There are threads talking about different skimmers all the time.. Just remember, it's bet to match your skimmer to you tank volume and bio-load.. I tend to over do it and over-skim, but I built this tank in anticipation of a heavy bio load and so far, I really like the results...
 
My Tank video.. Please forgive the quality... I haven't gone HD yet..

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"This is a private video. If you have been sent this video, please make sure you accept the sender's friend request."

Can't watch the video.
 
Sorry folks. LOL! I'm a YouTube newbie.. You should be able to see the vid now..
 
Well , there's always something to come along and try to knock you down..

I discovered AEFWs in my tank this past weekend %#%^!.... A purple Millie that I have in my tank started to show distress.. It turned a light color, then the polyps retracted.. Slowly, over a few days it started to STN.. I was puzzled because, I have a frag that broke off this colony on the opposite end of the tank and it is doing fine.. So, I decided to take a turkey baster to the colony and white flatforms that I could not see before were blowing all over the place.. Two of my wrasses (red unknown & solar flare) and two carberry anhias went into a feeding frenzy with my red wrasse (name unknown) being the leader of the pack.. I don't have any facitilty to remove all of my corals for QT and many of them are encrusted so, I will try the maxijet method for a while and see if I can get the population down.. I did baste all the other corals in the tank, but did not see any AEFWs fly off.. On sunday I went out and picked up a leopard wrasse, sixline and another carberry to assist in the fight. Wish me luck with this battle.. I'm not one for chemicals in my reef, but I'm consideraing a few super dose treatments of FWE.., which I've seen some folks have good results with... any suggestions would be helpful...
 
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