This is in the freshwater section as well, but I'm not sure which way to go..
No pictures of the move, the sheer weight of this thing took my full attention. There were a few problems when it was a foot over in the car, but that was solved with an open boot and rope.
It's a custom built 150 gallon 5x2x2 with 14mm glass.
Here are some deceiving pictures just after the move.
It is a lot of fun! I have suddenly realized that I'm not pictured here at all, seems weird to me. Not to worry.
The marine/freshwater decision couldn't be further from being made even if it wanted to. It's going to come down to wether I can afford it or not I suppose. I want to avoid "wasting" this tank on freshwater if possible though. It's gorgeous, the pictures just don't do it justice (as with everything)...
The stand definitely still needs a bit of work. The top is slightly too wide, about 5-6 inches, so the tank comes into the room a lot further. It sort of sticks out, a bit of an eyesore at the moment. It needs covering too, if funds allow.
This isn't permanent lighting, I plan to go halide's at some point. But until then, this shall have to suffice.
Fixing the 2x4 coming up the back of the tank.
Which ultimately suspends this DIY light bar. Currently it has two 4x9watt power compact fixtures and two 16 watt t8's. I have more t8's kicking than I can cram on here, but I'm going to give it a bloody good go. The colour temperature isn't accurately represented in this photo. The T8's are 3500k I believe, the power compact are more like 6000-7000k. I won't bother changing the bulbs yet, I may get halides sooner rather than later..
You know you have a big tank when you can fit a chair in the stand! :lol:
Well, while the nano's clearing I started building the lighting for this thing.
I used T8's because I had what seemed to be infinite ballasts to hand. I will get halides eventually, but while its FOWLR this will be more than adequate.
And for anybody who doesn't think T8's can be bright..
Exposing for the bulbs leaves the room as a dark, empty void.
yea i would get a lot more reflective surface and make them angled to reflect the light down. do some research and look at the other lights that are on the market and you will see what i mean.
I agree that reflectors would be an obvious thing to add, but I don't actually want to spend any money on the fixture. Seeing as a second hand halide can be had for under £200 (I have seen several 2x250s and a 3x150s for that price), even £10 seems like wasted cash..
I will probably just paint the bottom gloss white. I put the small amount of reflective tape on there because it had been in my cupboard for god knows how many years and wouldn't have ever been used otherwise..
you can use anything shinny as a reflector. try using aluminum foil. find a way to stiffen it maybe with cardboard or plastic. just get it smooth and it will reflect the light down
The only reason I am not a huge fan of aluminum is I'm not sure how corrosive it is. In FW aluminum wouldn't be as much of a concern, because of the way it oxidizes. But in SW, I am a little skeptical as to corrosion from the salt creep and splash.
If you put a splash guard on it, than maybe aluminum would work.
i was assuming that there would be a splash guard for safety purposes anyways. no one wants to burn down their house because their tank light catches fire
IIRC aluminum foil is a terrible material for a reflector, as it diffuses most of the light instead of reflecting it. You can see this if you point a laser pen at it.
I'l paint it gloss white. It's only temporary lighting. By the time I even think about any corals (or even fish probably) I'l have a nice big halide fixture.
Here's the shopping list of everything non live (bar the sand and including rock). Add anything if I have forgotten it..
Visitherm Aquarium Heater 300W x2
NeWave 6500
TMC V2 Skim 1000
Caribsea Ocean Direct 120lbs
Red Sea Salt 25Kg
I will probably add another NeWave 6500 at some point in the future, but for now 17x flow should be fine. I have selected the NeWave over the comparable Koralia because I trust the brand. I have used their heaters for years and my nano uses the same brand powerheads and heater.
I have no experience with the red sea salt, but it will save me enough money for a first fish which cant be sniffed at. 10 or 20 quid here and there seems nothing compared to the overall cost of the project, but waste not want not.
An interesting choice I have made is to go with a quite shallow sand bed. Actually about 1.5 inches, which isn't what I would normally recommend, but after accidentally getting a similar depth in my nano and having none of the usual problems associated with this depth of the same substrate I figure there should be no problems on a larger scale. Time will tell I suppose.
I have no experience with the TMC skimmers either, but they are cheap and review well so sod it. Going with a cheaper skimmer will allow me to get a massively over rated modal. I might even go to the 1500 money permitting, which could theoretically come with three times the volume of my tank.
I think I will add the sump later down the line. The skimmer can be run HOB for the meanwhile. If the skimmer being stuck on the back doesn't bother me I won't need to sump at all, which would be convenient as I could run a large water container underneath the tank for water changes.
I'm going to DIY the lighting. Probably looking at 4x80w t5's, which I can get running for under £100 using ballasts from egay. When the time comes that I want some more demanding corals I can always retrofit some more t5's on there somewhere. Theoretically I could fit 38.4 (realistically more than I could ever need/want) t5's over the tank so it's not a worry.
I will when something changes. The only change since the last pictures is that water is in it. :lol:
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