Trying to get all my idea's together

[Treed]

I have a few things that Im not sure about. Im getting ready to get my 180 gallon tank back up and running but want to have a plan before I start. This will be an all SPS tank.
1. Ive heard and seen a few threads of people putting starboard material on the bottom of the tank. Im wanting to do a bare bottom tank and was wondering if putting this on the bottom had any pro's or con's to it other than not just having bare glass on the bottom?
2. I live in Ohio and there are a few local places that make aquariums. Im going to be buying a new tank and stand but not sure what company to buy from. I want somewhere that makes good quaility tanks. Ive been considering Miracles Aquariums but really not sure. Any thought on who I should have build the tank?
3. Ive built my canopy over my tank and it has 3 250W metal halides and 8
T5's. I got them from hellolights(The halides are just spider reflectors). Ive been reading a lot about different reflector that would be 100 times better so I was wondering what would be recommended for the halides as well as the T5's. Also the best ballast to run them. Im hoping to keep all the same wiring but just replacing the reflectors and maybe the ballast. The ballast I have now are ARO brand.
4. Im wanting to bond all the rock together so I dont risk rocks falling and hitting the bottom. What are good brands to use to bond the rocks?
Some final thoughts are I do have some other very good equipment as far as a Reefdynamics skimmer, dual chamber calcium reactor setup and 2 votech MP60's. Also have 300 lbs. of live rock that Im going to bleach, vinegar and dry to work with for aquascaping.(I do not plan to use all of this rock lol. That was one thing I didnt like from the last set up.
I cant wait to get my build going but these things need to be figured out first. Thanks for any comments and help to get this going!

 

[Reef264]

I've seen some Starboard used for BB tanks that turned out fantastic!

For a Fish store, there is one in Gahanna, Ohio called Phishy Business.It looks pretty sweet from an online point of view!

For Bonding rocks, I've seen people use "Good Stuff" with great success!

 

[DaddyJax]

Starboard protects the bottom cracking from falling rocks among many other things, thats just one of the scary reasons.

 

[Treed]

Keep the info coming please! Good on the starboard question, but still 3 others

 

[smokenax]

You can also go with PVC pipe drilled
To build a frame and tie your rock to it with zip ties

 

[Big E]

I've run bare bottom reefs for over 20 years & never had a rock accident. No matter what bottom you use just make sure your rock structure is stable using cable ties, rods, ect.

I'd use less than half that rock you have...............let the corals grow into the open space.


There's a place in Michigan that does custom tanks..........can't recall the name off hand.

Go to the Northern Ohio Reefers section in the RC club section. A bunch of local people can help you out also.

 

[Treed]

Yea was planning on not using very much rock. Yea the place in michigan I just cant find any reviews on them so thats why I havent considered them. Thanks for the info! Any one order from miracles before? Also what kind of rods do you use? Is there a good epoxy? And how about the reflectors?

 

[Big E]

reflectors-- Use any kind of diamond/dome type reflector that reflects all the light down into the tank. There's a number of different brands, lumenarcs, reef brites, ect. You can probably find a good deal on used ones right now.

T5's-- use the ice cap reflectors or a brand that has similar specs.

You can probably get much better info if you focus each question on a seperate thread in the appropriate forums.