My 125 Project

Tat2demon · 04/03/2006, 09:29 AM

I will be using this thread to follow the progress on my new 125. It will be a long project so please be patient.

First I would like to say that this is my first (what I consider) big tank, and my first setup that will involve mostly DIY and building work.

I would like to thank Grant for all the excellent info he has already given me.

The tank is a 125 gal. acrylic I bought from Grant. Its 96x15x20 with a center overflow.

I still need to get everything on paper but my plans for this are still very flexible so will most definatly change but this is what I am planning -

DIY stand and canopy. Hopefully I will be starting this in the next week or so. I am going to build the stand and canopy framework and have my uncle in Iowa do the finish work. I would like to finish it out in something nice but depending on the cost of the stand I may just slap some plywood on the outside for now.

Is there anyone here with some experience with building large scale stands that may want to play construction forman for a bit?

The stand will contain all the plumping and sump.

I will be using a 55 gal. glass aquarium for the sump. This will have the normal, skimmer (Berlin 250) macro algea, rock rubble, pump setup. Im thinking of just running normal flourescent strips over the sump. If thats not a good idea please let me know.

I havent decided on a plan for the main tank lights. I currently have an Icecap 660 balast and 4 36" VHOs. For now I will put that in just to have enough light for fish.

This is the part where I need opinions. I can either use what I have and run 4x48" bulbs and add in a couple MHs, or pick up another 660 and run 8x48" VHOs. Either way, our money situation wont allow me to complete the lights for quite some time.

Now for the pics!

First, my old setup.

This is the best pic I could get of the new tank atm. Ill get better ones once we can move it.

I will keep this thread updated whenever I get something done.

If you have any advice it is much appreciated.

Thanks,

Nate

hoover86 · 04/03/2006, 10:19 AM

I will be keeping an eye on your thread as well as I plan on being the lucky purchaser of the other 8' tank Grant has!

I recently picked up 2 250W MH's and will be looking at purchasing VHO's myself as I have PC's right now. I'll be looking for some DIY guidance as well!!

tangdiver · 04/03/2006, 12:06 PM

You guys and your picture p[osting skills...man....oh well

Grant

Gotta love getting crappy orders you did not order...happened again to me...do not have the heart to not except...fish and corals mean to much to me...see ya all later..

Grant

hoover86 · 04/03/2006, 03:37 PM

Grant sorry to hear that

Hopefully they start taking care of you! Nothing worse then seeing things poorly taken care of!

sleeperls · 04/03/2006, 06:28 PM

that thing is gunna be sweet i was just getting there when you was leaving yesterday.

Tat2demon · 04/05/2006, 08:16 PM

We got the tank to the apartment today!

Ill start building the stand on Sunday.

alien9168 · 04/05/2006, 08:27 PM

Thats a really long tank! I don think i have ever seen a 125 that was 8 feet long and 15' wide!!

Definatly tagging.

Lunchbucket · 04/06/2006, 07:02 AM

HOLY COWS!! that thing is WAY bigger then the 65. the 8" length will be nice for some swimming fish. i'm more into the reef setups that have the depth but you can have a beautiful tank w/ that one. i'm sure Grant was very nice to you...he is to everyone!

keep on a posting!
Lunchbucket

kau_cinta_ku · 04/06/2006, 07:03 AM

i will also be tagging this one as i seen that tank at Grants and love the looks of it. lucky i didn't know he was selling them or i would be the one making this thread

but sounds like your off to a great start looking forward to see how this tank comes along

The Reefer91 · 04/06/2006, 07:15 AM

awesome tank dude! 8' is freaking awesome. i'm definately tagging along

tangdiver · 04/06/2006, 09:49 AM

Looking good!!! Soon another frag tank will take up the empty space...Grant

alien9168 · 04/06/2006, 03:56 PM

Quote:

Originally posted by The Reefer91
awesome tank dude! 8' is freaking awesome. i'm definately tagging along

I totally agree dude! Have you ever seen a tank this shape before? Its pretty sick!

Tat2demon · 04/06/2006, 09:31 PM

Got my very first RO/DI unit today.

Edit - Wanted to mention its a Purelyh2o unit I bought from Tangdiver.

Nate

kau_cinta_ku · 04/06/2006, 09:53 PM

i picked up the same one Sun. and you will love it.

Travis · 04/06/2006, 10:48 PM

Congrats on the tank. I really love those. A good bargain for 8' of length. Unfortunately, it will require at least 4 metal halides to light that bad boy. Unless you plan on making it a full fledged acro tank, it might be more economically reasonable to just go with VHO's or T-5's. You could run 4 x 6' VHO bulbs and have them overlapping in the center. That way, the center 2 feet of the tank will actually be lit by 4 bulbs. You can place some of the higher light demanding corals in that area. And 4 6' bulbs will be a LOT cheaper to replace every 6 months than 8 4' bulbs.

Tat2demon · 04/07/2006, 12:30 AM

Im not sure what I am going to put in the tank yet. Im thinking a bit of everything.

As far as the lights, I really dont like the idea of shelling out the cash for the 4 MHs. It would be a long time before I could handle that. What is the spread like on MHs? Would 4 x 4' VHOs (2 on each side) and 2 MHs work?

I am planning to go with two rock islands, one on each side, instead of one big rock wall or mound.

Travis · 04/07/2006, 01:14 AM

On average, you will get a 24" x 24" spread from a MH, depending on the reflector used and how high it is positioned above the water. That is another problem... since the tank is only 15" wide, you are going to waste a lot of valuable MH light out the sides of the tank. You could just go with 2 MH's and position them over the rock islands but tank lighting will have noticable bright and dim areas.

tonyscoots84 · 04/07/2006, 01:28 AM

wow nice tank... cant wait to see it set up.... if your gonna do it up right ur gonna need some lighting.... have u decided on what u wanted to keep such as sps, lps, softies..... how u want the tank to look is also gonna play a key role on how ur lighting is going to be...

mg426 · 04/07/2006, 01:42 AM

Thats a nice rig. Should be mighty awesome.

Tat2demon · 04/07/2006, 04:07 AM

Ok I hate to turn this into a noob thread but here it goes.

I have never looked into MH before. I just looked over some stuff. Am I correct in guessing that its one bulb per ballast?

So 4 ballasts, bulbs and fixures, plus most likely a chiller to kill the MH heat. From a quick glance that seems around $1500 - 2000 roughly. Thats 1500 - 2000 more than I have.

Looks like Ill go with another 660 VHO ballast and some canopy fans for now.

I would like to have a nice assortment of sps, lps and softies. If I cant have something under that much VHO they can wait.

Dont get me wrong, I would LOVE to have a full set of MHs and a chiller and all the other high end stuff. But as a stay at home dad its hard enough to get the money to buy the lumber for my stand, not to mention 2k worth of lighting.

Hmm wonder if Grant would notice if I snuck over and secretly replaced all his MH fixures with flashlights on strings.

Travis · 04/07/2006, 04:37 AM

Hey Nate, looks like you are getting as much sleep as me tonight, which = NONE.

I just finished cleaning up a 1/2" water in our basement from the rain we are getting.

What a mess.

I'd say 4 MH's and a chiller on that tank is going to run you $2000+. If you want to be able to keep almost anything you may want to look into T-5's. You can run them off your 660 ballast. You would probably need at least one more 660 to run enough of them. I've seen some great looking sps tanks with only T-5's. VHO's will allow you to keep most anything also. But some of your acropora will not be as colorful as they would under more intense light. If you go with VHO's, get a URI A4 ballast to run the other bulbs that your 660 isn't. The A4 is the same as the 660 except it can't run T-5's but is a lot cheaper.

Tat2demon · 04/07/2006, 05:10 AM

Oh dang, sorry to hear it. However better to have rain water than tank water in your basement.

What exactly is the difference between VHO and T5? Also, If I were to go the T5 route with a second 660, how many bulbs would you suggest?

kau_cinta_ku · 04/07/2006, 05:21 AM

T5's are still new to the hobby but many ppl are have great luck with them which is why i did so much research on them and am planning my tank to be T5's only. the main parts to look at when running T5's are reflectors without good reflectors T5's are only as good as PC's. Icecap makes the best recorded reflectors for T5's that i know of now. using an icecap ballast they will overpower the bulbs for ex. a 54 watt T5 bulb will run 80watts on a icecap ballast. and a 660 ballast will still only run 4 bulbs or 16feet length so i suggest running 4 - 4' bulbs on each ballast that will give you the 8' coverage for width each bulb with reflector is 2" if using the icecap ballast so you could still run a 3rd ballast with 4 more bulbs 2 on each side so you can have the dusk dawn effect. so a total of 12 bulbs IMO hope this helps

hoover86 · 04/07/2006, 07:44 AM

One thing too, MH's are deffinetly expensive, but if you watch the sale threads you can pick up some pretty descent deals. I purchased 2 250W setups with coralvue ballasts, spider reflectors, sockets, and it came with 3 bulbs, all wired up for around $300. You have to be right on top of those though, I've found that if I wait to long to pm back, alot of times they are sold very quickly and I've missed out on better deals. Just an fyi, I know some people have problems with buying used, and over a forum, but so far I've had good luck with it, but of course, you have to be careful because there are people out there trying to rip people off.

Dubbin1 · 04/07/2006, 09:06 AM

Quote:

Originally posted by alien9168
I don think i have ever seen a 125 that was 8 feet long and 15' wide!!

Umm guys it is 15" (inches) wide not 15' (feet).

04/03/2006, 09:29 AM	#1
Tat2demon Registered Member Join Date: Mar 2006 Location: Sioux Falls, SD Posts: 833	My 125 Project I will be using this thread to follow the progress on my new 125. It will be a long project so please be patient. First I would like to say that this is my first (what I consider) big tank, and my first setup that will involve mostly DIY and building work. I would like to thank Grant for all the excellent info he has already given me. The tank is a 125 gal. acrylic I bought from Grant. Its 96x15x20 with a center overflow. I still need to get everything on paper but my plans for this are still very flexible so will most definatly change but this is what I am planning - DIY stand and canopy. Hopefully I will be starting this in the next week or so. I am going to build the stand and canopy framework and have my uncle in Iowa do the finish work. I would like to finish it out in something nice but depending on the cost of the stand I may just slap some plywood on the outside for now. Is there anyone here with some experience with building large scale stands that may want to play construction forman for a bit? The stand will contain all the plumping and sump. I will be using a 55 gal. glass aquarium for the sump. This will have the normal, skimmer (Berlin 250) macro algea, rock rubble, pump setup. Im thinking of just running normal flourescent strips over the sump. If thats not a good idea please let me know. I havent decided on a plan for the main tank lights. I currently have an Icecap 660 balast and 4 36" VHOs. For now I will put that in just to have enough light for fish. This is the part where I need opinions. I can either use what I have and run 4x48" bulbs and add in a couple MHs, or pick up another 660 and run 8x48" VHOs. Either way, our money situation wont allow me to complete the lights for quite some time. Now for the pics! First, my old setup. This is the best pic I could get of the new tank atm. Ill get better ones once we can move it. I will keep this thread updated whenever I get something done. If you have any advice it is much appreciated. Thanks, Nate Last edited by Tat2demon; 04/03/2006 at 09:50 AM.

04/03/2006, 10:19 AM	#2
hoover86 Registered Member Join Date: Feb 2006 Location: Rockledge FL Posts: 388	I will be keeping an eye on your thread as well as I plan on being the lucky purchaser of the other 8' tank Grant has! I recently picked up 2 250W MH's and will be looking at purchasing VHO's myself as I have PC's right now. I'll be looking for some DIY guidance as well!! __________________ -Josh-

04/03/2006, 12:06 PM	#3
tangdiver Premium Member Join Date: Aug 2005 Location: Sioux Falls South Dakota Posts: 1,231	You guys and your picture p[osting skills...man....oh well Grant Gotta love getting crappy orders you did not order...happened again to me...do not have the heart to not except...fish and corals mean to much to me...see ya all later.. Grant __________________ Its unwise to pay to much or to little When U pay to much U lose a little $ When U pay to little U sometimes lose it all because the thing U bought was incapable of doing the thing U bought it to do Current Tank Info: 6' long, 3' wide, 2' high, My tank is not worthy of Tank of the Month

04/03/2006, 03:37 PM	#4
hoover86 Registered Member Join Date: Feb 2006 Location: Rockledge FL Posts: 388	Grant sorry to hear that Hopefully they start taking care of you! Nothing worse then seeing things poorly taken care of! __________________ -Josh-

04/03/2006, 06:28 PM	#5
sleeperls Registered Member Join Date: Jan 2004 Location: orange city, IA Posts: 305	that thing is gunna be sweet i was just getting there when you was leaving yesterday. __________________ The longer one holds onto a memory, the longer one lives in the past. The deeper the memory they hold onto, the more beautiful the past will become.

04/05/2006, 08:16 PM	#6
Tat2demon Registered Member Join Date: Mar 2006 Location: Sioux Falls, SD Posts: 833	We got the tank to the apartment today! Ill start building the stand on Sunday.

04/05/2006, 08:27 PM	#7
alien9168 Registered Member Join Date: Mar 2004 Posts: 1,664	Thats a really long tank! I don think i have ever seen a 125 that was 8 feet long and 15' wide!! Definatly tagging. __________________ -Alien Current Tank Info: I used to have a 30g custom acrylic cube sps, lps, zoos, mushrooms, leathers, 3" gigas+ anthias. 30Xg Sea Horse Tank...starting fresh...

04/06/2006, 07:02 AM	#8
Lunchbucket Premium Member Join Date: Jun 2001 Location: Brookings, SD Posts: 12,924	HOLY COWS!! that thing is WAY bigger then the 65. the 8" length will be nice for some swimming fish. i'm more into the reef setups that have the depth but you can have a beautiful tank w/ that one. i'm sure Grant was very nice to you...he is to everyone! keep on a posting! Lunchbucket __________________ Trying to lose weight by walking is like trying to bake a cake w/ a cigarette lighter - Lunchbucket - "Nancy-Boy Extraordinaire" - maxxII- Current Tank Info: 58gal Oceanic RR, 2x400w MH (20k XM and 10k XM), Deltec PF601 Ca Rx, Deltec AP701 skimmer, mag950 return, iwaki 55rlt w/ an Oceansmotions 4-way unit, Tunze 7300 and 6000 each w/ controller, fluidized po4 rx

04/06/2006, 07:03 AM	#9
kau_cinta_ku Moved On Join Date: May 2005 Location: NW Iowa Posts: 8,669	i will also be tagging this one as i seen that tank at Grants and love the looks of it. lucky i didn't know he was selling them or i would be the one making this thread but sounds like your off to a great start looking forward to see how this tank comes along

04/06/2006, 07:15 AM	#10
The Reefer91 Registered Member Join Date: Jan 2006 Location: Arlington, VA Posts: 1,250	awesome tank dude! 8' is freaking awesome. i'm definately tagging along __________________ Dan "Every day we fade little by little, 'till there's nothing left of us but the lies we've sown." Current Tank Info: 20g L display: 2x65watt Coralife light, Octopus 150 needle wheel protein skimmer, 1 Koralia 2 and 2 powersweeps, and a DIY sump/fuge.....120G in the works!!!

04/06/2006, 09:49 AM	#11
tangdiver Premium Member Join Date: Aug 2005 Location: Sioux Falls South Dakota Posts: 1,231	Looking good!!! Soon another frag tank will take up the empty space...Grant __________________ Its unwise to pay to much or to little When U pay to much U lose a little $ When U pay to little U sometimes lose it all because the thing U bought was incapable of doing the thing U bought it to do Current Tank Info: 6' long, 3' wide, 2' high, My tank is not worthy of Tank of the Month

04/06/2006, 09:31 PM	#13
Tat2demon Registered Member Join Date: Mar 2006 Location: Sioux Falls, SD Posts: 833	Got my very first RO/DI unit today. Edit - Wanted to mention its a Purelyh2o unit I bought from Tangdiver. Nate Last edited by Tat2demon; 04/06/2006 at 10:03 PM.

04/06/2006, 09:53 PM	#14
kau_cinta_ku Moved On Join Date: May 2005 Location: NW Iowa Posts: 8,669	i picked up the same one Sun. and you will love it.

04/06/2006, 10:48 PM	#15
Travis 10 and over club Join Date: Nov 2002 Location: Sioux Falls, SD Posts: 5,525	Congrats on the tank. I really love those. A good bargain for 8' of length. Unfortunately, it will require at least 4 metal halides to light that bad boy. Unless you plan on making it a full fledged acro tank, it might be more economically reasonable to just go with VHO's or T-5's. You could run 4 x 6' VHO bulbs and have them overlapping in the center. That way, the center 2 feet of the tank will actually be lit by 4 bulbs. You can place some of the higher light demanding corals in that area. And 4 6' bulbs will be a LOT cheaper to replace every 6 months than 8 4' bulbs. __________________ TOTM August 08 An ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure. Current Tank Info: 280 sps w/ 75 LPS, 75 refugium, 120 sump

04/07/2006, 12:30 AM	#16
Tat2demon Registered Member Join Date: Mar 2006 Location: Sioux Falls, SD Posts: 833	Im not sure what I am going to put in the tank yet. Im thinking a bit of everything. As far as the lights, I really dont like the idea of shelling out the cash for the 4 MHs. It would be a long time before I could handle that. What is the spread like on MHs? Would 4 x 4' VHOs (2 on each side) and 2 MHs work? I am planning to go with two rock islands, one on each side, instead of one big rock wall or mound. __________________ Nate cham - "Taste it, if it tastes like poop.....it is." Current Tank Info: 400 gallon in progress. 8x3x2.5

04/07/2006, 01:14 AM	#17
Travis 10 and over club Join Date: Nov 2002 Location: Sioux Falls, SD Posts: 5,525	On average, you will get a 24" x 24" spread from a MH, depending on the reflector used and how high it is positioned above the water. That is another problem... since the tank is only 15" wide, you are going to waste a lot of valuable MH light out the sides of the tank. You could just go with 2 MH's and position them over the rock islands but tank lighting will have noticable bright and dim areas. __________________ TOTM August 08 An ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure. Current Tank Info: 280 sps w/ 75 LPS, 75 refugium, 120 sump

04/07/2006, 01:28 AM	#18
tonyscoots84 Registered Member Join Date: Mar 2006 Location: Howell, NJ Posts: 322	wow nice tank... cant wait to see it set up.... if your gonna do it up right ur gonna need some lighting.... have u decided on what u wanted to keep such as sps, lps, softies..... how u want the tank to look is also gonna play a key role on how ur lighting is going to be... __________________ 120 Gallon RR tank Sfligoi 2 x 400w radium bulbs w/4 t5's Current Tank Info: 120 gallon single overflow, Sflligoi 2x 400w radium with 4 t5's, 2 mp40's, tunze ato, skimz monster 203, eheim 1262 return, SPS all the way :)

04/07/2006, 01:42 AM	#19
mg426 Registered Member Join Date: Jan 2006 Location: maryland Posts: 6,923	Thats a nice rig. Should be mighty awesome. __________________ I found a way to make a small fortune running a reef tank. Start with a large fortune. Unofficial President of the SEACLONE haters club Current Tank Info: 125 mixed reef 110 lbs LR, 1x250watt XM 20K MH 2x175watt XM 20K MH on Magetics 2X96 watt actinic PC, 220 watt VHO actinic, 30 gallon refugium, closed loop system powered by Sequence Dart MSX 200 skimmer 38 gallon sump, Oceansmotions squirt

04/07/2006, 04:07 AM	#20
Tat2demon Registered Member Join Date: Mar 2006 Location: Sioux Falls, SD Posts: 833	Ok I hate to turn this into a noob thread but here it goes. I have never looked into MH before. I just looked over some stuff. Am I correct in guessing that its one bulb per ballast? So 4 ballasts, bulbs and fixures, plus most likely a chiller to kill the MH heat. From a quick glance that seems around $1500 - 2000 roughly. Thats 1500 - 2000 more than I have. Looks like Ill go with another 660 VHO ballast and some canopy fans for now. I would like to have a nice assortment of sps, lps and softies. If I cant have something under that much VHO they can wait. Dont get me wrong, I would LOVE to have a full set of MHs and a chiller and all the other high end stuff. But as a stay at home dad its hard enough to get the money to buy the lumber for my stand, not to mention 2k worth of lighting. Hmm wonder if Grant would notice if I snuck over and secretly replaced all his MH fixures with flashlights on strings. __________________ Nate cham - "Taste it, if it tastes like poop.....it is." Current Tank Info: 400 gallon in progress. 8x3x2.5

04/07/2006, 04:37 AM	#21
Travis 10 and over club Join Date: Nov 2002 Location: Sioux Falls, SD Posts: 5,525	Hey Nate, looks like you are getting as much sleep as me tonight, which = NONE. I just finished cleaning up a 1/2" water in our basement from the rain we are getting. What a mess. I'd say 4 MH's and a chiller on that tank is going to run you $2000+. If you want to be able to keep almost anything you may want to look into T-5's. You can run them off your 660 ballast. You would probably need at least one more 660 to run enough of them. I've seen some great looking sps tanks with only T-5's. VHO's will allow you to keep most anything also. But some of your acropora will not be as colorful as they would under more intense light. If you go with VHO's, get a URI A4 ballast to run the other bulbs that your 660 isn't. The A4 is the same as the 660 except it can't run T-5's but is a lot cheaper. __________________ TOTM August 08 An ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure. Current Tank Info: 280 sps w/ 75 LPS, 75 refugium, 120 sump

04/07/2006, 05:10 AM	#22
Tat2demon Registered Member Join Date: Mar 2006 Location: Sioux Falls, SD Posts: 833	Oh dang, sorry to hear it. However better to have rain water than tank water in your basement. What exactly is the difference between VHO and T5? Also, If I were to go the T5 route with a second 660, how many bulbs would you suggest? __________________ Nate cham - "Taste it, if it tastes like poop.....it is." Current Tank Info: 400 gallon in progress. 8x3x2.5

04/07/2006, 05:21 AM	#23
kau_cinta_ku Moved On Join Date: May 2005 Location: NW Iowa Posts: 8,669	T5's are still new to the hobby but many ppl are have great luck with them which is why i did so much research on them and am planning my tank to be T5's only. the main parts to look at when running T5's are reflectors without good reflectors T5's are only as good as PC's. Icecap makes the best recorded reflectors for T5's that i know of now. using an icecap ballast they will overpower the bulbs for ex. a 54 watt T5 bulb will run 80watts on a icecap ballast. and a 660 ballast will still only run 4 bulbs or 16feet length so i suggest running 4 - 4' bulbs on each ballast that will give you the 8' coverage for width each bulb with reflector is 2" if using the icecap ballast so you could still run a 3rd ballast with 4 more bulbs 2 on each side so you can have the dusk dawn effect. so a total of 12 bulbs IMO hope this helps

04/07/2006, 07:44 AM	#24
hoover86 Registered Member Join Date: Feb 2006 Location: Rockledge FL Posts: 388	One thing too, MH's are deffinetly expensive, but if you watch the sale threads you can pick up some pretty descent deals. I purchased 2 250W setups with coralvue ballasts, spider reflectors, sockets, and it came with 3 bulbs, all wired up for around $300. You have to be right on top of those though, I've found that if I wait to long to pm back, alot of times they are sold very quickly and I've missed out on better deals. Just an fyi, I know some people have problems with buying used, and over a forum, but so far I've had good luck with it, but of course, you have to be careful because there are people out there trying to rip people off. __________________ -Josh-