[Ltspd]

Well finally I have a picture of the new tank with some real lights over it. This is only the (2)Iwasaki's and nothing else. The picute is not as bright as it is in real life. So far after almost 4 hours with both lights on the tank temp has not increased. I also have the fans wired up (hosfelts) and they are VERY loud. Fornutaly I have some temp controled varible speed dc fans I will put in their place. These should be very quiet since I dont think they will be running but on low speed. I hope to have one set of the 03's wired in the morning, and the other set soon after. I will have to wait a few days on the 2nd set of pc's since i broke the old bulb clips. The 2x4's are temp until I get the chain and the tank trim complete.



Here is the hood in the wiring stage. The paint is a heat resistant bright white epoxy, and the reflectors are spectral aluminum that I bent to suto resemble a spider reflector.

[Rin]

Nice job, Ltspd. I just rewired my lights yesterday to make it a little more tidy inside. It's amazing how much of a pain all those little wires can be.

So you're going with 2 400w Iwasaki's and 4 96w PCs?

Looks, nice. I like your aquascape, too.

[scubadude]

Looks GREAT Paul!

Im just glad to see that you are over your Plumbing problems

I hope you are starting to really enjoy watching it come together, there has to be a great deal of appreciation built up there with all the work you have into that KILLAH setup!

[Ltspd]

Actaully they are 250w Iwasaki's. I have a 3rd mh that is not wired in the center, a 175w 10KK, and I am having 2nd thoughts about if I need it or not. I wired the 250w with the LM ballast which can run both standard and HQI's in case I decide to switch sometime. These are used 6700k bulbs with supposivly 3 months on them, but I have no way to tell. If I do decide to go HQI's later down the road I can do it cheaply, for the cost of the bulbs and fixtures. If I do that I will more than likely only run (2) 03 pc's and the others 10KK or 6.7K's

My plans are for all (4) of the 96w pc's to be 03's now but I may change my mind. The Iwasaki's are much whiter than I thought and the ballast are burning them very well.

[thezookeeper]

Paul: Looks great! I'm glad to see that your hard work has paid off. And those fans are WAY too LOUD! I'm thinking of switching to IC fans. Let me know what you do. Good luck with everything!


Joanne

[SCETT316]

Paul it's looking good. I guess you can finally say your getting there.
I finally feel the same way too with my setup. Thank God!!!!!!
I will be posting some pics real soon.
Pretty soon you will be able to sit back, relax & finally start enjoying the masterpiece.
Susan

[afishybusiness]

What all do you have going on in your overflows there LTSPD? Looks like they are taking up alot of room...do they surge or something? Just interested in how you set everything up.

[Elmo18]

Ltspd,

I admired in awe at your basement plumbing and sump/refugium setup. Now I admire the entire work of art you've put together.

It looks great!!! Just curious, will you put any overhangs in between those two rock piles?

I also have 2 X 250 Watt Iwasakis and 2X95 Watt VHO actinics 03. I love the color over my tank, not too white and not too yellow. Corals seem to love this light output.

Regards,
Ilham

P.S. Have fun stocking your tank!!

[Bamm Bamm]

Paul It looks awesome...I wish my tank looked that good!!!

[Ltspd]

afishybusiness, I hate the fact I can see through my overflows, but I soon hope it will covered with coraline. The overflows are from the sump only, both of which feed and return from my sump in the basement. The other pipes are the closed loop system. If I knew what I know now I would have had the back drilled to kill all that piping. The pipes are sch 80 so they arent as noticalbe as white, but still noticable. I really need to re-aquascape now that things are settled and running and I will try and cover them up. The returns from the closed loop come back into the tank and come up through the rock with loc-line.

I am at a delima with the lights. Those are only (2) of the 3 mh's I had originally intended to run. I have the other 175 as I mentioned but I am not sure I really need it? I want to be able to keep a clam or two down the road, but the light is very evenly spread across the tank. Also the tank temp never increased, which may be due to the basement acting as a chiller somewhat. If I add more lights I feel sure it will want to heat up, but thats ok once I swap the fans out for something a little quieter.

What do you guys think? Do I need the 3rd mh? I would have 884w or 5.2w/gal without the 3rd or 1059w or 6.3 w/gal. I can even swap the 175 out for another 250w I want to be able to keep what ever I chose but dont want to run the power bill up if I dont have to.

[thezookeeper]

Paul: I think the lighting is distributed nicely, but I do think that there appears to be more intense light at either end of the tank. I think the middle looks a little dimmer. Maybe ever so slight. But with the wattage you have now, I think you should be A-OKAY! It's really up to what you think looks better. And photos do not always depict accurately so I could be totally wrong. HTH


Joanne

[SCETT316]

I am only using 2 250 HQI MH, plus PC. I really like the lighting I am getting. I also was concerned with temp. rising and utility bills.
Susan

[Ltspd]

I may just have to wait it out and see how the tank does with 2 mh lights. If I ever goe to the HQI's I can re-adjust the placement bringing them in towards the center a bit more.

Thanks for the input.

[scubadude]

Paul you are gonna be putting some actinics in there right? Im thinking you might be able to balance it all out with the actinics?

Another thing I noticed (which may be different if I got a better look at it close up) is that the left side aquascaping looks more dense. the R. side is FABULOUS just a thought of critique if you are looking for it

actually now that I took a 2nd look its the Center that looks a little bare or UnNatural....I have the same problem with my tank in certain areas but its very hard to work with certain rocks

[Ltspd]

scubadude, yes I hope to have one set of the actinics up and shining tonight (2 96w pc's) and the other set as soon as I get the new pc clips. I may be real happy with only 1 set of 03's pc's and have the other set as a blending color (10kk's or 8.8k's)

I agree, I got the LR in there and I cant say I am thrilled with how I have in aquascaped. I want to cover the closed loop pipes, etc, but still leave a nice open sand area. I dont want another tank full of LR with no room for anything else

I hope to move the LR around after the mh's have made thing grow out a bit. That way I can pick and chose what and where I will put things

[ConnieH]

Happy days, I'm sure Paul. Congrats on the progress of your tank. It's really shaping up, especially since I last saw it

I would love a couple of those photos to post on the club site when you have the time. As far as the aquascaping, I'm sure you must have seen some of the web photos of the Japanese reefs. Less rock, more lagoon, ledges, etc. If you'd like to see a couple of the photos, let me know. I've been saving them for aquascaping ideas, and will be glad to email them to you. Every little bit helps.

I know you must be proud, keep up the good work!
C-

[scubadude]

Connie

Would you be so kind to email me those links

[ConnieH]

Scubadude, you've got mail.

[mgk65]

Looks very nice, LTSpd!


mgk