My 75g Dream Build Begins - Early lighting/equipment questions

Antegon · 03/09/2018, 10:27 PM

After years of making mistakes on my 55g tank, I'm finally building out my first real, well done (hopefully), big-kid tank. There's certainly a budget, so please take the "Dream Build" term with some salt, haha.

So far, I've got the tank, standard 75g size, with corner overflow. I'm DIYing an old 29g into a sump, and starting to collect the pieces all together. I am coming up with 100s of questions all over the board, but I thought I might try initiating the conversation with some of the larger ones that are on the "next steps" pile.

My lighting question is simple. I'm doing LEDs. Reading through the annals of these forums, I came across this particular light - http://www.viparspectra.com/goods.php?id=62 -
I was thinking 2 165w chinese something-or-other black boxes, as I can see how inexpensive they are, and have read that many people have had great success with them. I know that not all LEDs in any given catogory are the same, and wanted to know if those vipars were the "right kind" of cheaper LED black boxes. If not, what would you recommend, keeping in mind that if I could afford 2 Kessils, I wouldn't have asked lol.

My questions in regards to building the 29g sump are just of design. I'm currently thinking around 7-8 inches for the first compartment, to include the drain, a 4" sock, and the skimmer. It's a Seaclone 150 w/Maxi 1200, (don't hate me. It was new, free, and I have begun the needed mods). I would like to run it in-sump, but am concerned with the depth of the pump vs. the height of the skimmer. I was thinking about DIYing some different piping than what it comes with for the out-of-sump application, but operating the same, so that I could just build a small stand to raise the pump but not have to raise the skimmer. Would this work?
Then a bubble baffle into the center section of the sump, the return pump area. I was thinking 7-8 inches for this section as well, in the 29g, that gives me just under 4 1/2g in that center section (assuming the baffle is around 10 inches. This being the section that will take the evaporation, is it ok to have just 4 or so gallons, or would you want/need more to combat the evaporation?
The third section would be the refugium. It will be fed from a line coming off of the return line, with a valve for flow control. How does one come up with how much that flow through the fuge should be? It will pour over a toothed wall, with an inch drop into the return center section. I was thinking of running the pvc that fed the fuge from the return line all the way down to the bottom of the tank, then 90 degree elbow and pipe across the width of the tank, with small holes along it, to create some more flow than just surface fed to surface drain, but I don't know if that's a good idea/important or not.

My question with the corner overflow is in regards to the overflow drain pipe. The tank is pre-drilled, and only comes with one drain and one return. I would like to avoid learning how to drill glass on this tank I already bought, haha, but I have read a lot of horror stories from tanks without proper redundancies in place. The pipe is big, and I believe of the durso design. (Curved-over, downward-facing main intake, with airline coming out an inch at the top, and a 1/2" hole drilled in the pipe directly below the airline, about an inch down, and about an inch above the main intake opening level.) It's 1 1/2" pipe, down to an inch at the bulkhead. Can I get away with this, or is it absolutely nessassary to drill another line or 2 for a herbie/bean animal set up?

Ok, I have 9000 more questions, but this is my innagural post, and I'm very excited, so I'll leave it here for now.

Hooray!

Uncle99 · 03/11/2018, 07:19 AM

I have a tank exactly your size and I have used 2-VISPARSPECTRA-165 watt LED for 17 months now. They also make a 300 watt, which would be cheaper than 2
The light has beengreat , corals love them, fans can't hear at all, comes with a ceiling hanging kit.
On the negative side, no fancy software fir color mixing, no ramp up, no lighting storms and that kinda stuff, just a timer and ability to independently adjust blue and white.
Happy with this lighting....

tmccaffery · 03/11/2018, 08:44 AM

from my understanding the cheap black boxes are ok just don't let them get any water on them as not waterproof at all whicj is why I never went that route. I heard of them catching fire for this reason. If you had the money I would go Radions or Kessils.

Antegon · 03/11/2018, 11:16 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by tmccaffery

from my understanding the cheap black boxes are ok just don't let them get any water on them as not waterproof at all whicj is why I never went that route. I heard of them catching fire for this reason. If you had the money I would go Radions or Kessils.

Thanks! I understand the waterproofing concerns. I have a full double glass lid on the tank (and sump, combating Evap) so hopefully that will mitigate that risk. I lost an AI Prime to splash from an HOB a while back on a 29g. The best way to learn is to spend $200 on the lesson :/ haha. Hopefully these lights can get me through the first couple of years until a big Kessil upgrade.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Uncle99

I have a tank exactly your size and I have used 2-VISPARSPECTRA-165 watt LED for 17 months now. They also make a 300 watt, which would be cheaper than 2
The light has beengreat , corals love them, fans can't hear at all, comes with a ceiling hanging kit.
On the negative side, no fancy software fir color mixing, no ramp up, no lighting storms and that kinda stuff, just a timer and ability to independently adjust blue and white.
Happy with this lighting....

Great to hear you liked them! I’ve seen the 165s and the 300, liked the spread/Par of the 2 vs the 1, like your set up. Is that why you went that route?
I do enjoy the ramp up/moon light/variance/control features of nicer lights, but I certainly, initially anyway, don’t require any of that ascetically. I want to achieve constant consistent quality for the tank and build off that. The lightning storm can come later, IMO. Do you think there are bigger advantages of these features to the tank/health, than just the aesthetic enhancement?

Thanks again!

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Marcom12 · 03/18/2018, 07:36 PM

I have mostly the same questions

and from my understanding (I could be mistaken) the other features of the more expensive lights are for the viewers of the tank not the inhabitants

at least mostly.

Antegon · 03/19/2018, 06:39 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Marcom12

I have mostly the same questions

and from my understanding (I could be mistaken) the other features of the more expensive lights are for the viewers of the tank not the inhabitants

at least mostly.

After some more research, I may go with a retrofit 2 and 2 T5 set up (just about the same price as the two aforementioned black boxes) and supplement smaller, controllable LeDs (maybe just a hydra/two primes eventually)
I agree on the overemphasis on those features. Most people set levels that please the human eye and not the livestock’s. That, cost, and diffused light are the reasons I’m leaning T5 as the base of the build. Then the LEDs and their fancy features can provide focused PAR to central areas, give some horizontal levels to the tank, and offer those same controls to provide visual enhancement without taking away from the tank light quality. And adding the shimmer.
Haven’t pulled the trigger yet. Love delving deeper into the science!

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

03/09/2018, 10:27 PM	#1
Antegon Registered Member Join Date: Mar 2018 Location: Chicago Posts: 97	My 75g Dream Build Begins - Early lighting/equipment questions After years of making mistakes on my 55g tank, I'm finally building out my first real, well done (hopefully), big-kid tank. There's certainly a budget, so please take the "Dream Build" term with some salt, haha. So far, I've got the tank, standard 75g size, with corner overflow. I'm DIYing an old 29g into a sump, and starting to collect the pieces all together. I am coming up with 100s of questions all over the board, but I thought I might try initiating the conversation with some of the larger ones that are on the "next steps" pile. My lighting question is simple. I'm doing LEDs. Reading through the annals of these forums, I came across this particular light - http://www.viparspectra.com/goods.php?id=62 - I was thinking 2 165w chinese something-or-other black boxes, as I can see how inexpensive they are, and have read that many people have had great success with them. I know that not all LEDs in any given catogory are the same, and wanted to know if those vipars were the "right kind" of cheaper LED black boxes. If not, what would you recommend, keeping in mind that if I could afford 2 Kessils, I wouldn't have asked lol. My questions in regards to building the 29g sump are just of design. I'm currently thinking around 7-8 inches for the first compartment, to include the drain, a 4" sock, and the skimmer. It's a Seaclone 150 w/Maxi 1200, (don't hate me. It was new, free, and I have begun the needed mods). I would like to run it in-sump, but am concerned with the depth of the pump vs. the height of the skimmer. I was thinking about DIYing some different piping than what it comes with for the out-of-sump application, but operating the same, so that I could just build a small stand to raise the pump but not have to raise the skimmer. Would this work? Then a bubble baffle into the center section of the sump, the return pump area. I was thinking 7-8 inches for this section as well, in the 29g, that gives me just under 4 1/2g in that center section (assuming the baffle is around 10 inches. This being the section that will take the evaporation, is it ok to have just 4 or so gallons, or would you want/need more to combat the evaporation? The third section would be the refugium. It will be fed from a line coming off of the return line, with a valve for flow control. How does one come up with how much that flow through the fuge should be? It will pour over a toothed wall, with an inch drop into the return center section. I was thinking of running the pvc that fed the fuge from the return line all the way down to the bottom of the tank, then 90 degree elbow and pipe across the width of the tank, with small holes along it, to create some more flow than just surface fed to surface drain, but I don't know if that's a good idea/important or not. My question with the corner overflow is in regards to the overflow drain pipe. The tank is pre-drilled, and only comes with one drain and one return. I would like to avoid learning how to drill glass on this tank I already bought, haha, but I have read a lot of horror stories from tanks without proper redundancies in place. The pipe is big, and I believe of the durso design. (Curved-over, downward-facing main intake, with airline coming out an inch at the top, and a 1/2" hole drilled in the pipe directly below the airline, about an inch down, and about an inch above the main intake opening level.) It's 1 1/2" pipe, down to an inch at the bulkhead. Can I get away with this, or is it absolutely nessassary to drill another line or 2 for a herbie/bean animal set up? Ok, I have 9000 more questions, but this is my innagural post, and I'm very excited, so I'll leave it here for now. Hooray!

03/11/2018, 07:19 AM	#2
Uncle99 Crab Free Zone Join Date: Sep 2017 Location: Ontario, Canada Posts: 2,906	I have a tank exactly your size and I have used 2-VISPARSPECTRA-165 watt LED for 17 months now. They also make a 300 watt, which would be cheaper than 2 The light has beengreat , corals love them, fans can't hear at all, comes with a ceiling hanging kit. On the negative side, no fancy software fir color mixing, no ramp up, no lighting storms and that kinda stuff, just a timer and ability to independently adjust blue and white. Happy with this lighting....

03/11/2018, 08:44 AM	#3
tmccaffery Registered Member Join Date: Apr 2011 Posts: 170	from my understanding the cheap black boxes are ok just don't let them get any water on them as not waterproof at all whicj is why I never went that route. I heard of them catching fire for this reason. If you had the money I would go Radions or Kessils.

03/18/2018, 07:36 PM	#5
Marcom12 Registered Member Join Date: Feb 2018 Location: Battle Creek, Michigan Posts: 70	I have mostly the same questions and from my understanding (I could be mistaken) the other features of the more expensive lights are for the viewers of the tank not the inhabitants at least mostly.