[scubadude]

Now bear in mind that this tank was an upgrade for my 90g (which I no longer have) Also these are the first pics w/my Nikon995, which I love





















And as far as the most recent hardware upgrads I have installed a chiller now inline with my closed loop, The chiller is a 1/2HP CSL PowerCooler with electronic temperature control and LCD readout here is some pics of the plumbing







And I did have a RO unit...but just got a new RO/DI and I made an autotopoff valve for it



And ontop of the 2 - 1" SS's fed by the AM3000 and the AM2100 on my return I put 4 - MJ1200's in there and put them on a Wavestrip.....Lemme tell ya....Im spent....financially and physically on this tank......but so far Im fairly pleased as to how it has worked out....Oh yeah I also put 2 - 25watt incadescent bulbs in the hood for moonlighting

[Sker]

Looking good scuba dude, I especially like the rock you can put lots of corals on there. You made some of that rock didn't you? What kind of lights did you put on this set up, do you have a pic of your hood?

[thezookeeper]

Looking good! I can't believe all the stuff you've done. What temp. did the tank reach that caused you to get a chiller? I like the info behind the plan! And how many watts of lighting did you finally end up with? Is the chiller unit okay outside? And I can't believe you're wife didn't kill you for drill through the house! ROFLMAO!!!! Some of us go to extremes to drill through floors and walls, but I think you've got the award from all of us! Dedication man. Gotta love it!


Joanne

[Ltspd]

Rocky,
It looks terrible. And to keep you from suffering anymore looking at it I suggest you break it all down and send it to me.

Email me for my address

[scubadude]

Originally posted by Sker
Looking good scuba dude, I especially like the rock you can put lots of corals on there. You made some of that rock didn't you? What kind of lights did you put on this set up, do you have a pic of your hood?

Yessir....and I am proud to say that over 50% of the rocks in this tank are made and aquacultured by myself! I have 3 - 250watt (double ended) HQI ushio 10k bulbs....heres a few pics of the DIY hood/canopy that I built.







The top part of the lights are on 2 pulleys and there is also 2 dryer vents with fans that are venting the hot air into the attic.

Joanne

Thanks I think I will be staying with just the 3 250watt HQI's ....about the only thing that I would have done differently is I would have liked to get the ballast to run off of 220v instead of 110v as it actually would have been more effecient on elec. ( Paul can I get 220v ballast for these bulbs?) the only other lighting is the moonlights.....No Flourescents....Im very happy with the lighting....and im still increasing photoperiod. The chiller was something that I just decided to because of the heat issues I could foresee in the summer. I was always running my 90tank in mid 80's and things where ok but I was always battling algae problems.

Paul

Man! I was waiting for your opinion....since you put it that way I will start boxing it up for ya tonite.....Ill Fedex it and go ahead and throw in a couple hundred bux for your setup expense :P

[SomeHairyOldGuy]

SHEESH Rocky! Looks good.
SHOG

[reefhead]

sweet!

[RWD]

Hi scuba,
Looking good! One question. Are you venting the heat into the attic or through the attic and out the roof? If it's into the attic, doesn't all that moist air cause any problems? Termites love moist areas BTW. Bob

[scubadude]

Thanx SHOG & Reefhead

RWD,

I knew that question would come sooner or later, If you look close at the way the hood, reflector, fans, and venting is setup the moisture evaporates before it gets to the fans. Im still somewhat into the testing phase of all of my DIY creations too.....so there may be some fine tuning yet. But I dont think moisture in the attic is a big issue...I hope anyway.

[Barry N.]

what we won't do to have a successful reef tank

[organicreefer]

very cool tank.especially with the addition of the chiller what are you running youre temp at now anyway?
its obvious to me the amount of work you put into that beast,its a very satisfying feeling to diy isnt it.you must be proud,it looks great.looks like a little coralline starting on the diy rocks too ,right?how much life do you see on em so far ?any feather dusters or anything?how about a shot of the whole tank so we can see the overalll aquascape
and what fish do you have now?what do you plan on?and,last question,

does that starfish stay on the glass most of the time or what ,ive been thinking of trying one.
thanks for sharing everyone loves pics

[scubadude]

Originally posted by organicreefer
very cool tank.especially with the addition of the chiller what are you running youre temp at now anyway?
its obvious to me the amount of work you put into that beast,its a very satisfying feeling to diy isnt it.you must be proud,it looks great.looks like a little coralline starting on the diy rocks too ,right?how much life do you see on em so far ?any feather dusters or anything?how about a shot of the whole tank so we can see the overalll aquascape
and what fish do you have now?what do you plan on?and,last question,

does that starfish stay on the glass most of the time or what ,ive been thinking of trying one.
thanks for sharing everyone loves pics

Hey OR

Set temp on the chiller is 79....it has taken 3 days for me to step it down to this temp....I might go another degree or two cooler....I have been doing alot of changes lately and didnt want them to all happen at once. There is a piece of rock that I made (I'll try and get a pic) and was totally bare 3 months ago....now coralline ALL OVER it and if you look close you can see the glazing layer of star polyps that are on it now too. Lots of vermitiid snails (sp?) and there is a coral in my tank (i think its a brown maybe other color pocilopora) that is spawning cuz I have baby corals all over now...Even on the refugium glass! I have tried getting some macro shots of these...but they are so small and im still learning on the cam.

Here is a list of the fish I have now

5 sunburst anthias
1 hippo tang
1 yellow tang
1 maroon/gold clown
1 lawnmower blenny
1 Yellow watchman goby...he lives in the refugium now

2 Skunk cleaner shrimps
1 CB shrimp

I will try and get some more pics up.

The blue linckia starfish has been in there almost 2 weeks now....it is just now starting to move about the tank.....Im just glad that it hasnt tried to crawl into my overflow like alot of cerith snails decided to do
and its very hard to get things out of my O-flow area once they get in there.

[naser]

i feel you... after my 125 i am just as well spent... bank account and mind.... mines only been up since right before christmas though......... i just got done stocking it finally. or pretty close.

[rededteck]

I like your tank very much.....

What did all the materials cost you for the lighting? Did you consider adding blue VHO's with the lighting. I ask as I am in a dilemna of buying a pre-assembled lighting system, or building my own.

Would also appreciate where your purchased them and brand names.

Thanks

[scubadude]

Hi Rededteck

If you have 1hr + to spare then you should check this thread out if you are slightly interested in doing HQI - DIY....if you understand this thread then its fairly easy to do it yerself!

http://www.reefcentral.com/vbulletin...threadid=32376

all parts (except wood from HD) where purchased at hellolights.com aka lampsnow.com

[Reinhold]

Dude...where's the snow and ice on those outdoor photos???

Nice set-up! Are you working on plans for a 500 yet?

[kevinpo]

scubadude,
Love those acros Nice job! Do your Sunburst anthias get along OK?

Regards,
Kevin

[scubadude]

Yes the sunburst get along with all the tank mates!

Heres a few full tank shots







and a pic of my refugium



and another macro shot :P

[naser]

oh yea your running those 10k's right? i was thinking those are alittle to white for a 6500k...

[Crap]

The aquascaping on the left side of the tank... reminds me of some hotel lobby... the fishy Ritz Carlton! I can imagine the doormen and bellboys bustling around!