Tankenstein - Weeble's 150 Tall

[Defective_Weeble]

A deep-tank lighting anecdote that occurred to me

There are definitely a lot of options to consider.

If I go MH I'll end up doing 2x Hamilton Cayman Sun pendants and then running T5 actinic
.
For T5 I'm definitely looking at 6 bulbs, but still considering 8. More for color options than for actual light value.

For LED it's a simple choice for me with Radion. I'm not opposed to DIY but I'd rather not. At least not for lighting. Glass and wood work are fine. The other thing that holds me back here is a lack of spectrum. I'm not a big fan of the blue and white only lighting. While I've definitely seen it grow coral and look good, I just prefer full spectrum lighting.

The obvious issue with the Radions is that Pros retail for around $750 each. No matter how you cut it, $1500 is a frightening amount of cash for a single part of the build.

Silicone in some triangle bracing under the box instead?

Not a bad idea. Still tossing around the idea of having a custom acrylic one made, but it will really come down to cost. I'm going to email Synergy tomorrow to find out. If I go glass, I'm looking at 1/4 inch, which I think will be fine for the small volume of water that will be in there. Though part of me really likes the idea of going acrylic and mounting it with the bulkheads. I think it would look really clean that way.

 

[mcarroll]

1500/230 = a light that needs to be 650% better. Can't deny it's better, but it can't be close to THAT much better. If color (as you're defining it) mattered, I'd be tempted to just add a manually dimmable circuit with the few LED emitters it would take to amend the blue/white combo. Maybe another $20-$30 off the top of my head?

Anyway, just making a point. I understand they still aren't the same and there are things you're paying for besides light output with the commercial fixture. If that stuff is "worth it" then it's worth it. It's many times more $/watt more than I'd personally be willing to spend tho.

-Matt

 

[mcarroll]

Example GU10 setup. Luxurious 1x2 pine mounting. Screw in a socket. Wire as normal 120v circuit. Screw in premade $2-$5 bulb. Done.

-Matt

(Xtra blue - if you see it - is thanks to the camera phone...even the blue emitters aren't that blue in person! Confusingly, it only looks that blue when viewed on the phone....looks ok from the R2R website on my computer.)

 

[Defective_Weeble]

Definitely hard to argue with the money aspect. Though I'd have to build a canopy and I wasn't going to. It's going to be hard enough to get in and clean this thing when the top will already be 67 inches tall lol

 

[Defective_Weeble]

Another decision made - Synergy Reef Systems is building an external overflow for me.

$75. Black acrylic with a clear bottom. 30x4x6 inches, to match the existing holes. They'll also be drilling the bottom 1.5-inch plumbing holes for the BeanAnimal overflow. I'm going to space these out pretty far to allow me to have the valves going toward the side versus facing the back to save some space.

I'll be doing the coast-to-coast overflow internally, but only running about 2 inches off the back of the tank. That should give the water enough space to fall without going directly into the hole and creating splash.

 

[bender27]

Looks good brad. I need something made from synergy reef systems too.

 

[mcarroll]

Definitely hard to argue with the money aspect. Though I'd have to build a canopy and I wasn't going to. It's going to be hard enough to get in and clean this thing when the top will already be 67 inches tall lol

12" off the water is the standard mounting height for standard gu10 bulbs. It would be a small matter to get a different wattage and lenses so the lights could be mounted WAY over the tank - even mounted in the ceiling a la canned lighting.

-Matt

 

[Defective_Weeble]

A change of plans. The 150 is still here, pending pick up from a guy who's going to turn it into a FOWLR tank. As for me? Say hello to my little friend:

The change came after a week straight of discussing and investigating lighting options for the 150. At the end of the day I'd end up having to run dual 400w MHL or some form of DIY LED. Neither of those were options that I wanted to take. They simply don't fit into my long-term plans for the tank, so the 150 went from "WHEE!" to "more trouble than I want" pretty quickly.

The new tank is ~115 gallons. 60x18x25. Yep, 25. Odd, but whatever. One of my local MTRC folks found the seller on Facebook and gave me a yell. It took 5 days to get the deal done because of scheduling, but I finally picked it up yesterday. It's absolutely filthy, but it's nothing that a bit of water and some scraping can't handle.

I'm doing a coast to coast overflow, about 2 inches off the back wall. This will lead to a BeanAnimal setup with 3x 1.5-inch drains. I had considered replicating a Ghost overflow but I think I want to stick with c2c because it's just not worth the money to me to build the ghost.

There are some other changes too, so I'm rewriting this section:

The Stand

No more rolled steel. I'm snagging some lumber from Home Depot tonight to build a 61x19x36 stand.

Equipment

• Return Pump: Jebao DC12000, to a manifold which will drive my reactor and some flow to the refugium.
• Powerheads: 2x MP25 for now. They're cheap and I already have one in hand. I'll be changing these later, most likely.
• Skimmer: Eshopps S200.
• Heat: 2x Jager 150w
• Reactor: Synergy SMR-2500 running Ecobak biopellets (bottom plate removed to assist with better tumble)
• ATO: Presently autotopoff.com float switch, but will likely move over to a Tunze Osmolator soon.
• Lighting: Um...Too many options. But that's a lot better than too few options. For now, my existing 4 bulb T5HO.
• Sump: 55 gallon, 4 chamber. This is another freebie from a local, and it's too good to pass up. Taller than I really want, but I'm OK with it.

Surprisingly, I'm within a couple hundred bucks of being able to have this thing running. Though I'll have to pile corals into the middle for now, I can deal with it. If I'm feeling really froggy (and if my bulkheads get here in time) I'll have it wet this weekend

Oh, and I also got some rock

 

[Defective_Weeble]

Stand and sump acquired. Both need minor work. Glass ordered and ready for pickup. Sand, bulkheads, power and silicone will be here Saturday.

This weekend, we get wet

 

[fishroomlady]

woo hoo! good for you! it sounds like it's going to be really nice.

 

[mcarroll]

Now you need a new thread with a new title!

-Matt

 

[Defective_Weeble]

I thought about it. Wish there was a way to change the thread title.

 

[Defective_Weeble]

Out with the old, in with the new (build thread)!

https://www.reef2reef.com/forums/member-tanks/168947-if-i-only-had-tank-weebles-4-foot-120-a.html