The Reef Central Corner Club Thread

[SimonSKL]

Originally Posted by lotusstar

Awesome, thanks guys for the advice. When I thought of the idea I knew there just had to be 1000 bad scenerios but I couldn't seem to think of them and you helped shed some light on them, which is exactly what I needed. The gravity fed idea is interesting but if I had that much room then I'd just go with a bigger sump. My issue is I'm limited to the space under the tank and nothing else. Don't have room in the living room to even put something outside like I've seen some ATO's in a nice thing just next to the tank. If I want access to the tank I have to move couches and stuff, very small area the tank is in. Ideally I could run the drain and return through the wall to the garage and have plenty of room for a large sump / fuge ato area but that would be a nightmare with Texas weather. Plus that would be expensive which my budget is already limited enough as is. So limited to under the tank, might have to just figure out another way to have a fuge or nutrient export. Thanks for the help.

I too am limited to only the space underneath the tank. I envy those who have a separate fish room or space outside the tank to house all your equipment and sump. These pictures show you my current setup underneath my tank.



On the left I have my Geo calcium reactor and the controller.


Among all these wirings and tubings, I have a 20 gal sump in there. An ATS sits in the back on top of the sump and a protein skimmer on the left inside the sump. Hanging on the front of the sump is a TLF GFO reactor. In the front, I have a 10lb CO2 canister, a NextReef reactor that houses about 750ml of NP Biopellets, an empty bottle acts as an overflow from the collection cup of the protein skimmer, and a 2-gal jug with saturated kalkwasser water to keep the PH steady, especially at night.


On the right, a 3 gal jug that holds RODI water for my ATO and a little shelf for misc small items.


I am hoping what I can put underneath the tank is adequate for me to maintain good quality water to grow the corals that I have.

[reefscape15]

You could always do a HOB fuge. Mine has definitely helped alot! That would leave you room under your stand for just a sump with a big skimmer in it and return pump. Just an easy idea. I think mine was from CPR or Aquafuge, it's the 2.5gal version.

[waldomas]

Great lookin' stand Simon!
Did you build it? If so, do you have a build thread?

It is a bit crouded tho.

[SimonSKL]

Originally Posted by waldomas

Great lookin' stand Simon!
Did you build it? If so, do you have a build thread?

It is a bit crouded tho.

Waldomas, I did post some of the construction pictures in the old post here.

http://www.reefcentral.com/forums/sh...&postcount=107

[The_Codfather]

Originally Posted by reefscape15

welcome codfather! love the name! I think LZ just did a led setup on his corner. pm him and im sure he would help. any questions there is still a few of us who frequent this thread and we are pretty knowledgable. best of luck with the build!

Thanks!...I did a search for member LZ and nothing come up

[reefscape15]

just look back through a few pages. It might be LZ98 or something like that.

[sdoggssf]

I know i asked this question before but dont remember the response i recieved. Has anyone tried the tunze wavebox on a corner tank?????????

[lotusstar]

Sdoggssf, Haven't tried or even know anyone that's tried a wavebox.

Jim, that's a good idea. I hadn't thought about a HOB fuge. Would a 2g fuge be effective enough with 90g of water volume? I have no idea, is there a % guide or estimation as to how large a fuge should be to be effective?

Simon, that tank and stand look awesome. Very well done. You've got a lot stuffed under there. How are the LED's working out for ya?

[bzuber]

Originally Posted by lotusstar

.

My thinking is get a 20g tall tank and a 10g tank to fit side by side. I would split my drain line, 1 going to the 10g where the skimmer would be and the other line going to the fuge. Put a gate valve on 1 or both to control the amount of flow into each. Build a baffle in each tank for the return. Maybe just have the skimmer return section feed into the fuge return section and then both of those have 1 main pump to return to the tank.

I'm sure there are about a million holes in my thinking here so please help point them out to me and if this sort of thinking is possible?

Here is a sump that I built for my 54g corner, seems very similar to your vision.

[SimonSKL]

Originally Posted by lotusstar

Simon, that tank and stand look awesome. Very well done. You've got a lot stuffed under there. How are the LED's working out for ya?

Thanks Lotusstar. I have a mixture of LPS and SPS in my tank but I was not very successful in growing any SPS prior to using the LED light. They all turned brown within a month after I put them in the tank. It could be my nutrients were too high then. So far the SPS are responding very well to the LED and new tips are coming out. They also retained their color instead of turning brown on me. Some of the smaller SPS frags almost double in size in 3 months. However, my LPS did not seem to grow much, they look healthy but they are not increasing in size. I think may be it is too much light for the LPS. Here is a tank shot from a few days ago.



This picture was taken on 4/1/10, about a week after I started my LED. You can compare this to the same coral in the middle of the tank.


This birdnest (upper right side in the tank shot) coral almost double in size since this picture was taken on 4/1/10.
[/QUOTE]

[reefscape15]

Lotusstar - Really any fuge is better than none, but 2gal might be a little small for 90g of water volume. They do make larger ones, but I just got the smallest cause it was for my 20g at the time of purchase. I think the larger one is like 6gal which would prob be good enough.

[awitowsk]

Simon your tank and setup are awesome.

I just started building the stand for my 92 yesterday. Still have a long way to go though.

[SimonSKL]

Awitowsk, Looking good! Can't wait to see your finished stand and tank. It is always a challenge for me to build something curvy. Why are you needing 3 tanks underneath? Sump, RODI water and a refugium?

[awitowsk]

Awitowsk, Looking good! Can't wait to see your finished stand and tank. It is always a challenge for me to build something curvy. Why are you needing 3 tanks underneath? Sump, RODI water and a refugium?

Thanks. The curves are one reason I cheated with traditional doors. I like the way you completely hid the trim and seams on yours, very nice. I am going to keep it in mind when I start the canopy.

That is my plan for the tanks. Have the drain split to the upper fuge and the sump below, and the 20H next to the sump for ato.

[vickreyreef]

is anyone with the 92g hanging a 48" fixture or mostly just using a 36"? I have a 36" sitting on the glass top now but really want to switch from 2 150w de mh to 2 250w de mh...but cant find a fixture that has 2 bulbs in the 36" ...seems to start with the 48"....I also want to hang it from the ceiling as I am sick of manipulating it to clean the tank etc...

thanks!

[yeloowtang]

myself i'm using a 24" with 1x 250 mh and 4x t5 actinics from
hamilton tech (cebu sun) and it works great andthey have
a 36" fixture with 2x mh
http://www.hamiltontechnology.com/it...-Actinics-1987

i wanted my lights to be centered so i went with the 24 wich is enough lights for me but if i were to start over again i would leave more space from the walls (3"-4" or so) that way it would be centered otherwise the corners stick out and it's in the front to much.
plus leaving more space from the walls would have given me the space to install vortex pumps now i can't i only have 2"

hope this helps
steff

[vickreyreef]

wow thanks! just what i was looking for. one website I saw them on gives you quite a few choices for the t5's...how in the world does one choose this? Is there a popular preference?
I use radium bulbs and will continue to do so but have never used t5's..these are the choices they give you:

Choose your 1st 2 T5 Bulbs *
39W 6500K Daylight White
.39W 10000K Ice White
.39W Real Actinic 03 Blue
.39W 50/50 Actinic Sun

.Choose Your 2nd 2 T5 Bulbs *
39W 6500K Daylight White
.39W 10000K Ice White
.39W Real Actinic 03 Blue
.39W 50/50 Actinic Sun

[yeloowtang]

it's all about preference
myself i went with 4x 03 actinics but i'm using the 10000k hamilton bulb
and i like the colors so far and have good growth.

the hamilton MH 10k bulb is said to have more blue than others !!!!

things to keep in mind when you choose is they are wired up so you get 4 stage lighting,all seperate plugs.
1x for MH with balace
1x 2 t 5s
1x 2 t5s
1x moon led lights
ohhh and the fan is seperate aswell you have two one that sucks air in the other out.
so if you go with say a 14k or 20k bulb with more blue to it you might want a set of daylight t5 to come on before MH
they come with brackets but are usless on a corner tank i suspended my set up,i did use the bracket for my chains..

hope this helps
steff

[chrissu]

SimonSKL, That's one impressive cabinet and equipment setup. I noticed you mentioned having an RKL (ReefKeeperElite). You also mentioned kalk especially at night. Do you have your kalk fed on a timer during the night or do you have your controller configured to pump kalk when it drops below a given threshold? I'm thinking about doing the later and figured I'd ask. TIA

[chrissu]

After asking around about several lighting pendant, fixture, and canopy ideas, I finally decided on a setup that works for me. It's an Aqua-Medic 36" Oceanlight with dual 150watt Metal Halides and dual 36" actinics. It's one alternative if you're looking for a 92gal AGA. Looking at SimonSKL's cabinet and canopy combo, there are obviously better solutions than what I did but I just wanted to share it if anyone else is thinking about lighting and such.

Pros:
Helps keep the water cool. Seems to have delivered on keeping things cool as I heard it would. I can run this setup without a chiller but I do have a fan in the sump area.
Quiet. No ballast or fans in the fixture. The ballasts are remote units that are very quiet. They do have their own built in fans. I keep the ballasts in a cabinet behind the wall so there is no noise from the fixture at all.
Great light spread. with 2 MH's, everything is well lit.
Quality. Everything is made of metal. No cheap plastic anywhere.
Looks. It gets a A+ hands down.
Access. Great access to get to the tank. Another corner tank owner told me to go with a pendant or fixture for this very reason and he was right.
Visors. They don't advertise it but these fixtures include visors that you can use or not use. They keep your eyes from getting a direct look at the lights if you are sitting on the couch looking up at the tank display. Well thought out.

Cons:
Expensive. This unit is around $675. I figure I paid about a $200 premium over most other options but since I didn't have to build a canopy and get a chiller to cool the canopy, I figure it was worth it.
Aqua-Medic only has a few of these 36" models left in stock in their current model. The shipping/tech support guy told me that they are discontinuing the 36" line and will only have 24" and then 48" fixtures when their next gen fixtures roll out next year. That is what made me place my order.

If interested in more details, just let me know!

[SimonSKL]

Originally Posted by chrissu

SimonSKL, That's one impressive cabinet and equipment setup. I noticed you mentioned having an RKL (ReefKeeperElite). You also mentioned kalk especially at night. Do you have your kalk fed on a timer during the night or do you have your controller configured to pump kalk when it drops below a given threshold? I'm thinking about doing the later and figured I'd ask. TIA

The Kalk solution is deliverd by an Aqua Lifter pump controlled by the RKE and is triggered if the PH drops below 7.8 which usually happens at night. What is interesting is my 2g kalk solution sometimes can last for days but in some nights almost 1 gal of the kalk is used to maintain the min Ph. I can't figure out such wide variation.

[chrissu]

Ah, that is exactly my thought. I see a the same issue using top off water. The evaporation will seem to be about the same weatherwise, but the kalk will swing a bit on its own schedule. Adjusting PH up based on the actual reading is the right thing to do. I'll be ordering an RKE and will set up the PH control the same way you have yours.

By the way, really nice setup you have.

Thanks for sharing!

[SimonSKL]

Chrissu, I noticed you have two Regal Tangs in your tank. I have one in mine for almost 3 yrs and you can see that in my tank picture. It is a very active fish and is almost 6" long and has outgrown the tank. You don't have as much live rocks as mine so your two fish will have more swimming room. They do grow quite large.

[vickreyreef]

I am switching out this weekend from 2-150w de mh 20k radiums which sits on the glass of my 92g corner to

2-250w de 14k phoenix with 2- super actinic 39w t5 UVL's on dual galaxy electonic ballast

How high should I hang the unit above the water line? I have mostly sps with some lps down on the sand level.

also for a lighting schedule the 150's are currently on 11 hours a day....what should I do for a schedule with the combo unit now?

thanks

[epstein]

Hey all....Its been a while ....and Im looking for new ideas in terms of aqua scaping so I figured Id ask my ole buddies here...... I will be removing my walls ......and going with a more conventional approach...... My tank has been set up for 2 yrs and to be quite honest I am having a hard time keeping and growing sps.... The Only culprit I can come up with is possible leeching from my great stuff walls..... I do enjoy the look ....but figured its just time to hit the reset button......So that being said ...... I was wondering if I could get some advice and pics of Aqua scapes that I may try to emulate......

Thanks Brian ...