Marine-All-In-One tank - Aqua Medic Percula 120 - filter and light concerns

[Midnight Tboy]

Hey there,

I had originally some time back decided to have an attempt at a saltwater setup, and initially I was looking at using something for about £300 for a 3ft bowedfront and adding skimmer, live rock etc and going fish only

However, I cancelled that, and after more reading up etc, and seeing a good deal in the shop I'm really tempted in this model :-

http://www.aqua-medic.de/cgi-bin/php...t_id=1&lang=en


which at our local store is currently going for £1123, cheapest I can seem to find it on the net is about £1350 thereabouts so it seems to be a good deal, aswell as a good size, as opposed to the 215litre one I was looking at before. Practicalfishkeeping website also said that the parts in these aquamedic systems were of pretty high quality. I like that the skimmer etc are hidden from view behind a back panel, and held inside the tank still so I don't have that problem of some skimmers leaking, and it comes with 2x150watt metal halides.....

my first concern of them, is whether I could actually get away with hanging them from the roof (I rent privately so not sure what the landlord would say)....tho that is more of a personal issue than anything else anyways.

My first real concern about the lights is, is it enough? As in I would like to be able to attempt to grow some corals and anenomes etc which seems like it should be perfectly feasable to do in the tank....however something I'm not sure about halides....are they adjustable? what I mean is for example, the cheaper tank that used ordinary T8 tubes, had 2 bright lights and some sort of purpley light (very technical I know - not an expert on them just yet :P) so being different settings for night and day viewing etc. If this is just purely 2 halides hanging from a ceiling, do halides have night time modes or anything like that for a lower intensity, or is it basically a case of it has to be in the dark unless I somehow added a night glo tube to the setup. I really couldn't see how it would be possible to add ordinary tubes though


The next main question:

this comes with 2mechanical filters etc it says on that description, I remember seeing the back of it and seeing a load of balls, and the man said it was a trickle filter setup there.

Now from what I've been reading, when using live rock etc, that people have said they recommend not to use any sort of mechanical filtration anymore when using live rock as an alternative? Would this cause a problem, or be a waste of money and space having that equipment unneeded and unused in the back?


Other than those questions, has anyone any experience with these tanks and recommend them at all?


regards for your time,
Tuck

[Midnight Tboy]

another quick question to add?

for a fairly basic soft coral, and maybe an anenome setup - would T5s perhaps be easier aswell as sufficient....and does anyone know of prebuilt cabinets that come with T5's to use - as I'm really worried bout the idea of hanging lights from the ceiling like that

[Ninong]

Lots of questions. Where to begin.

Aqua-Medic also offers a bow-front Percula 120 now: http://www.aqua-medic.de/index0.html

Both of their Percula 120 models come with an Aquastarlight fixture with 2x150w 10,000K HQI DE lamps. These fixtures come with a steel cable suspension kit but they can also be installed without the suspension cables if you are inventive. Or, Aqua-Medic will sell you a kit with metal brackets that mount on the wall behind the tank to support the light fixture. Whether you want to drill into your ceiling or not is up to you but these fixtures are VERY heavy because they have onboard magnetic ballasts.

As far as the two 150w AB 10,000K (really 13,000K) DE lamps are concerned, they are excellent and would be adequate. In the U.S. most hobbyists would choose the 250w size but you can get by with 150w lamps if you want to. If you keep SPS or Tridacnid clams, you would have to place them near the top of your rock structure to take advantage of the best light intensity. You won't be able to switch to say 20,000K lamps because the 150w 20,000K lamps will not be adequate like the 10,000K 150w size.

As far as the built-in filtration system is concerned, that's up to you. It's an approach that is quite common in the U.K. and in Germany but not as popular in the U.S. The more expensive, larger Aqua-Medic all-in-one marine tank systems have even more elaborate filtration systems that include calcium reactors, denitrators and other equipment.

As far as value is concerned, it sounds like a pretty good deal to me. Deltec also makes some extremely nice all-in-one marine setups but I'm sure they cost a lot more.

With the Percula 120 model, where is the skimmer located? Is it a hang on the tank skimmer or is it inside the filtration sump? Aqua-Medic's larger systems have the skimmer (sometimes two of them) inside the filtration sump under the tank, inside the cabinet.

Check out this Deltec aquarium: http://www.deltecaquariumsolutions.com/aquariums.php




P.S. -- Aqua-Medic also offers an Anthias 120 that comes with four 54w T5's instead of halides.

[Midnight Tboy]

heya,

thanks for the quick reply.

Those deltec systems definately do look very nice indeed, I'll shortly have a go at pricing up one over here see what I find.

As to the protein skimmer....its one of the In-Tank ones, so no hang on equipment and no risk of it leaking all over my floor (I hope).

The skimmer itself was at the far back left corner of the tank. The whole tank was open (obviously for the halides), apart from about 6-10" panel running all the way down the length of the back from the left to right, covering access to the skimmer etc...this could be slid forward in order for you to reach in and take out the skimmer. To the right of the skimmer was part of the trickle filter system (all the balls), and I couldn't really see anything else from the angle I had in the showroom.

That whole back section when viewing the tank itself is concealed by a sheet of plastic or something with I think 2 clear pipes sticking out the far left side, where the protein skimmer was,and 2 more on the far right.....perhaps there was a couple in the middle Im not so sure...so basically all the powerheads and skimmer etc were hidden from view which makes it look pleasing on the eye. Oddly however, I did notice that they dont come with heaters, so I'm wondering if when I buy a heater if it would have to go in view or if there would be a bit of additional space at the back area for that to go.


As to the halides, if they're big and chunky heavy items as you say, it makes me even more paranoid to drill holes in the roof, as I've only lived in this house for a year now and I really don't know how good or strong the place is yet (I'm not a DIY kinda fella ), and ever so worried about either ripping a hole out of the ceiling or chunk out of the wall when it collapses, and then frying the fish alive or having it smash up the tank. On that note too come to think of it, the bottom floor in the front room for some reason is floorboards I've noticed rather than concrete....I hope it could support the weight the full setup will take

With the likes of SPS's, are they able to grow under T5's. To be honest, at the moment with me never having ventured into saltwater fish,a lot of the different types of corals etc are confusing for now knowing the differences etc, which I know will come with time, so I tend to know em only as the hard-looking-things and those big things that wave around a lot near the top


oh, and another question how much costwise would you say it is monthly to feed coral life and fish life...as obviously the bigger the tank I buy, the more fish, and coral life....I can only estimate cost for the fish themselves but have no idea on costs of keeping the reef, food/treatment-wise

cheers,
Tuck

[Ninong]

The Aqua-Medic light fixtures are very nice, just heavy. I have a 120cm Aquastarlight Future with 2x250w 10,000K HQI DE lamps.

It costs very little to feed the fish and other inhabitants in the tank. The most expensive cost is the electricity to run the lights and pumps and heater, etc. And, if you live in the southern U.S., the chiller. Then there is the cost of salt mix. You have an advantage when it comes to the cost of European equipment because you're sort of part of the E.U. even though you don't use the euro. So you can buy German equipment at lot cheaper than we can but we pay less for U.S. equipment and we pay a lot less for livestock.

I'm not too keen on that Percula 120 now that you have explained the setup to me. I think I would rather have all of the equipment in the cabinet under the aquarium.

That Deltec tank in the picture is around 300 U.S. gallons and I think it costs at least £4000. Check around and let us know if you can find one of those where you are and how much they want for it.

You can run T5's instead of metal halides if you want but I think halides are better unless you have a fairly shallow tank, less than 22" tall. Halides are great, especially if you want to keep lots of SPS, but you can keep a lot of stuff with less light.

[Midnight Tboy]

cheers,

I'm just in the process of reading this link at this very moment http://www.ultimatereef.net/forums/i...ic=37268&st=45 someone who is discussing the same models of tank, the perc 120. In it I see them mention that Aqua Medic apparently can let you 'pay the difference' when you buy the tank to upgrade the lights. So I wonder how much the difference will be to replace it to something like the 250watts that you mention. maybe a worthwhile supplement rather than upgrading and selling 2nd hand later (tho at the expense of a larger eleccy bill ) from what I can gather too it seems to be that you can get something that has a blue light on the same halide system? would that be one of those moon glow type lights, for night time viewing? else how do you view the fish at night, without the lights blaring full blast?

I've yet to price the deltec, as its getting late now, near 4am (damn this marine-obsession I'm having right now) and my eyes are getting a bit like deputy dawg, tho if its in the region of 4k I'd have to give it a miss for certain, as theres no way my budget could stretch that far...but I'll be checking out of curiousity for sure..

For the perc120 at the back area too I read it apparently has a sump in its back too - how that works I don't know, I've never had a sump but I picture them always as another tank under in the cabinet....tho I've heard that wet/dry filters in effect convert to being a sump at times....but I wonder if its something usable where could grow this macroalgae that I've read a little bit about.

anyways, cheers for your help, check out that link, and I'll let you know what prices I can scout out tomorrow too

Tuck

[Ninong]

Haha! I can't believe this. I just followed your link to that U.K. board and I'm a member! I must have registered there to keep up with that thread posted by the guy with the 17-ft long tank.

The Aqua-Medic Aquastarlight fixture with the 250w size halides runs about £50 more than the 150w version.

[Midnight Tboy]

wicked - if the local garden centre (cheapest place I found surprisingly!) are willing to be able to customise it by upgrading the lights then I may aswell do that...mind I know we're more limited over here to what livestock we can get our hands on so I wonder if I'll really benefit, if I can even buy the stuff that 250w are beneficial for (you're lucky to see 2 fish in the same marine tank of the same breed, let alone finding corals etc)...

the website seems to mention that you do get control of the light output? thats cool, so long as I can have some sort of light on at night without doing any harm


now I MUST get to bed.....fed up to the back teeth of the last few days dreaming about aquariums and fish and how to afford the bills (mind you last nights was weird.....imagine a mix of a tropical marine centre in your ld grannys attic (which I was always scared of), mixed with a dash of The Ring and a decathlon :-s

wish I could remember it all - make fora wicked movie - but I don't like seeing ghosts in aquarium reflections!!!!


g'night,
Tuck

[Ninong]

OK, here's a picture of the tank that I registered to Ultimate Reef just so that I would receive emails when the thread was upgraded: What do you classify as a Big Tank ?

:eek3:

[Ninong]

Here is the thread on Ultimate Reef of that gigantic tank: http://www.ultimatereef.net/forums/i...pic=31613&st=0