408Dartfish
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Great build can’t wait see it full of water. Following along.
400 Gal SPS Dominant + 265 Gal Mix Reef in a 1000 Gallon system.
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McPuff
Valuable Member
I'm glad I'm not the only one to build a model in order to see if the tank would fit down my stairs... still was nervous it wouldn't fit!
Ha ha, you said "hard on." So I'm not always a mature adult, so what. :0)
Ha ha, you said "hard on." So I'm not always a mature adult, so what. :0)
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Breakbeats2334
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Breakbeats2334
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Breakbeats2334
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After Aqua scaping for a few weeks I ended up purchasing 2 24" Arches from CaribSea. I saw these rocks being displayed at Reef Palooza a few years back and let me tell you pictures don't do these things justice on most online websites. From first impressions, both rocks came very well packaged with foam like padding keeping them snugged while in transit. These Arches are massive one weighing 25 lbs the other weighing near 30 lbs first rock stretching 20" X 10" The second rock being 23" X 12".
Tip: Make sure to have a helping hand when moving these, with the help of my father we were able to add these arches to my existing rockwork after 2 days of trial and error.
Tip: Make sure to have a helping hand when moving these, with the help of my father we were able to add these arches to my existing rockwork after 2 days of trial and error.
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Breakbeats2334
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@Holy_makerel
@Mal11224
Thank you both!
Lighting: For lighting, We went with 10 Ecotech Radions for the 400Gallon and 6 Radions for the 265Gallon, I've been using Radions since their first generation back near 2012 and I've been very happy with my ability to grow Acropora underneath em. I'm Striving to have over 100 acros frags starting in this tank so I want an absurd amount of coverage for these bad boys to grow.
Tip: Having access to a Par Meter is a necessity if you have LEDS in my opinion. I can't tell you how many times I've moved established corals 3-6 inches and over the course of a few days completely bleach out. Granted this is due to how much light I'm putting in this tank (between 350-600 par ) for the upper half having a par meter eliminated a lot of these trial and error deaths I would deal with especially with Soft and LPS corals in a tank like this.
The next step to this project was figuring out the orientation and mounting for these lights. Going on Amazon we found some Aluminum Hexroth bars study and thick enough to support the weight.
Tip: Have extra Drill bits...
@Mal11224
Thank you both!
Lighting: For lighting, We went with 10 Ecotech Radions for the 400Gallon and 6 Radions for the 265Gallon, I've been using Radions since their first generation back near 2012 and I've been very happy with my ability to grow Acropora underneath em. I'm Striving to have over 100 acros frags starting in this tank so I want an absurd amount of coverage for these bad boys to grow.
Tip: Having access to a Par Meter is a necessity if you have LEDS in my opinion. I can't tell you how many times I've moved established corals 3-6 inches and over the course of a few days completely bleach out. Granted this is due to how much light I'm putting in this tank (between 350-600 par ) for the upper half having a par meter eliminated a lot of these trial and error deaths I would deal with especially with Soft and LPS corals in a tank like this.
The next step to this project was figuring out the orientation and mounting for these lights. Going on Amazon we found some Aluminum Hexroth bars study and thick enough to support the weight.
Tip: Have extra Drill bits...
McPuff
Valuable Member
What's it called? I can't find anything by that name.
McPuff
Valuable Member
You have 36" front to back on the 400 it appears. Do you find that 2 radions are adequate for 36"? How far apart did you space them? I have thought about doing 6 xr30 for my 300 (72 x 36") and figured it would work really well. Your tank seems to support that idea.
maroun.c
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looking great already. I used the Carribsea rocks for one of my islands and indeed it's great rock. makes the skimmer go crazy for couple days but the already pink color and not algae growth was a plus. also the shape of the arches is really nice and allows for easy coral placement on those bulges...
najer
Valuable Member
Luckily for you I didn't have a mouth full of vodka tonic when I read this and laughed out loud, don't try this at home kids, as mentioned!
Following.
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Breakbeats2334
Community Member
@McPuff. On Amazon search Marker Beam XL Black Anodized beam 2000 x15x15mm (103228) 4 Pieces Is what I ended up going with. Be sure to double check the length because most sellers have different sizes available. These bars are roughly half inch square. I also got Vinyl End caps for the Makerbeams, and M5 x 25mm Alloy steel hex socket head bolts to fit to radions.
Note I went with a smaller size bar for a sleeker design however If you get a bigger bar, you can add accessories to allow the lights to slide. However, for my application there's no room to slide the Radions so I went with the smaller bar which had me drilling holes into this thick piece of metal. As mention earlier have extra drill bits. Be sure to vacuum the aluminium shrapnel before installation.
@McPuff Do you find that 2 Radions are adequate for 36"? I would say beyond adequate 1 radion can illuminate 30"x30" depending on the type of corals but I use the rule 24x24 for SPS with compacted corals growing into one another. With two rows of Radions, you can easily space them to accommodate a 3ft-4ft width. The lights are spaced 1.5" apart along the length of the tank, and 6.25" along the width, and 11" from the top of the tank. The back row is 6" from the back glass and the front row is 9 1/4" from the front glass. 6 Radions for a 300 Gal 72"x36" should work out great! Hope this helps.
@maroun.c, The first rock that went in had very little algae formed on the surface where the second rock got completely smothered with hair algae. I suspect this happened due to the extra lighting on this particular arch way. After a few months i'm sure it'll be nice and purple like its neighbor. will keep ya posted.
@najer, Weclome to the party!
Note I went with a smaller size bar for a sleeker design however If you get a bigger bar, you can add accessories to allow the lights to slide. However, for my application there's no room to slide the Radions so I went with the smaller bar which had me drilling holes into this thick piece of metal. As mention earlier have extra drill bits
. Be sure to vacuum the aluminium shrapnel before installation. @McPuff Do you find that 2 Radions are adequate for 36"? I would say beyond adequate 1 radion can illuminate 30"x30" depending on the type of corals but I use the rule 24x24 for SPS with compacted corals growing into one another. With two rows of Radions, you can easily space them to accommodate a 3ft-4ft width. The lights are spaced 1.5" apart along the length of the tank, and 6.25" along the width, and 11" from the top of the tank. The back row is 6" from the back glass and the front row is 9 1/4" from the front glass. 6 Radions for a 300 Gal 72"x36" should work out great! Hope this helps.
@maroun.c, The first rock that went in had very little algae formed on the surface where the second rock got completely smothered with hair algae. I suspect this happened due to the extra lighting on this particular arch way. After a few months i'm sure it'll be nice and purple like its neighbor. will keep ya posted.
@najer, Weclome to the party!
McPuff
Valuable Member
Thanks @Breakbeats2334 !
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Breakbeats2334
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While becoming a master plumber we started quarantining 12 yellow tangs. Most of which were no longer than an inch in length. The original plan was to house 3-7 yellows in the 400G with the 265G hosting 3-5. In the past my 220 had 3 for 2 years with minimal aggression, however those same 2 yellow tangs from the 220 along with my purple tang didn't take kind to new visitors surprise surprise... So ultimately the ones who got beat up went back into recovery before trying them upstairs in the 265. To our surprise all the yellow tangs got along up there... so we continued to add the rest of them into the 265. Heres a shot of them in 2015...
Fast forward to today these same yellow tangs are still alive healthy fat and thriving. All of them being at least 4 inches in length. How did this happen? Between luck, the personality of these fish, and heavy feeding... were fortunate to have such a treat to look at daily with a mini tang army eating vigorously at anything they can find. I don't recommend trying this for most of my efforts to host multiple yellow tangs weren't successful due to alot of variables. If you looked at the builds layout it shows multiple forms of filtration with skimmers roller mats filters socks and here's one of the main factors why... tangs produce alot of waste compare to other fish. Heres a quick video comprised of random iphone shots. Idk if theres a way for me to upload videos directly on to here or if linking a video is against terms of service if any knows please let me know
Fast forward to today these same yellow tangs are still alive healthy fat and thriving. All of them being at least 4 inches in length. How did this happen? Between luck, the personality of these fish, and heavy feeding... were fortunate to have such a treat to look at daily with a mini tang army eating vigorously at anything they can find. I don't recommend trying this for most of my efforts to host multiple yellow tangs weren't successful due to alot of variables. If you looked at the builds layout it shows multiple forms of filtration with skimmers roller mats filters socks and here's one of the main factors why... tangs produce alot of waste compare to other fish. Heres a quick video comprised of random iphone shots. Idk if theres a way for me to upload videos directly on to here or if linking a video is against terms of service if any knows please let me know
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Breakbeats2334
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@siggy Thanks for the kind words!
Over the weekend my father and I took a road trip trip to Reef Palooza NY. Had an great time meeting some old friends along with meeting some new ones!
Shout outs to Ecotech Marine most of these guys have dealt with me through customer service for many years. They've always taken care of me when I've had an issue, they're passionate and love what they do thanks guys.
Over the weekend my father and I took a road trip trip to Reef Palooza NY. Had an great time meeting some old friends along with meeting some new ones!
Shout outs to Ecotech Marine most of these guys have dealt with me through customer service for many years. They've always taken care of me when I've had an issue, they're passionate and love what they do thanks guys.
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Breakbeats2334
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With the rocks cured and in the tanks we decided to make a Topography for the 400 Gal displaying the 6 main zones. With this I started to plot par points of individual zones to plan where I want certain corals to go. As stated before I run my tanks with pretty absurd par so its vital I get this stage right to ensure the health of the corals. The zones Highlighted In Green (zone 2) is where most LPS and soft corals will reside. Zones highlighted in Blue Red Yellow and pink (Zones 3,4,5,6,7) are where I plan to flood the tank with as many acro's as possible. As I get more par readings on the different zones ill be able to place corals far more precise and monitor their growth rates in ways I haven't been able to do prior to now.
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