Brand New 8 gallon bio cube

[Fin]

This was the lighting set up on that tank. I didn't even use reflectors, other than the flat reflector screwed to the bottom side of the top of the canopy. Pretty simple, bt it worked pretty well for me.

 

[Fin]

;Drool;Drool;Drool;Drool

Thanks for putting me back on the fence with my lighting choice@Fin ;Shifty

I don't mean to sidestep the convo but it's been on my mind lately. I think I've settled on a Reeflo Swordtail for my retun pump for my system, good price, excellent head height and roughly the GPH I'm looking for with the head height I have, anyone have any thoughts as to why this might be a bad idea?

I had a ReeFlo Dart on my closed loop on my 140 for 12 years. Good pumps. I did have to change the shaft seal every few years, but it was pretty simple to do. Not familiar with the Swordtail though.

 

[Katrina71]

This was the lighting set up on that tank. I didn't even use reflectors, other than the flat reflector screwed to the bottom side of the top of the canopy. Pretty simple, bt it worked pretty well for me.

KISS. Think we can do this on a diagonal for the cube?

 

[JoshH]

KISS. Think we can do this on a diagonal for the cube?

How wide is the cube again?

 

[Katrina71]

How wide is the cube again?

30x30

 

[Fin]

KISS. Think we can do this on a diagonal for the cube?

WHy on a diagonal?

I also need to point out that the picture of the canopy is 20 years old. A lot has happened in the industry since I put that tank together.

 

[Katrina71]

WHy on a diagonal?

I also need to point out that the picture of the canopy is 20 years old. A lot has happened in the industry since I put that tank together.

This is where y'all help me learn.

 

[JoshH]

30x30

You could go with 24" T5 fixtures and one MH, purely speculative on my part but you wouldn't need to make it diagonal

 

[Fin]

I am using the 48" ATI LED / T5 Hybrid Powermodule on my "new" tank.

 

[Fin]

 

[Katrina71]

Let me google. I'd be curious to see y'all's designs. What about 2 options? MH and T5 or MH, T5, and Ai sols.

 

[Fin]

Don't forget that the knock on the MH is the heat. If you go with the floating canopy, up off of the tank, that would help your tank temp. But there is no denying that the bulbs get very hot and will add heat to your room and maybe your tank water. You will need to be prepared to deal with that. I had about five 4" fans in the canopy of that 75. You also need to be very sure you don't accidentally touch that bulb when working in the tank. You will only do it once. Ha!

 

[Katrina71]

Don't forget that the knock on the MH is the heat. If you go with the floating canopy, up off of the tank, that would help your tank temp. But there is no denying that the bulbs get very hot and will add heat to your room and maybe your tank water. You will need to be prepared to deal with that. I had about five 4" fans in the canopy of that 75. You also need to be very sure you don't accidentally touch that bulb when working in the tank. You will only do it once. Ha!

It will be a floating canopy above the tank. How many hours would you run MH? In my head I'd say on at noonish and off at 2 or 3. Am I on the right track?

 

[Katrina71]

It's a corner, vaulted ceiling.

 

[Fin]

It will be a floating canopy above the tank. How many hours would you run MH? In my head I'd say on at noonish and off at 2 or 3. Am I on the right track?

It's been a while, but I think mine were on from 11 to 3, so something that you would need to play with to find what you like.

 

[dantimdad]

By daylight settings do you mean mostly whites/green/red and little to no blue/UV atall? I never really played with my LEDs all that much and still don't so alot of the spectrum blending is still outside my ballpark so to speak.

Yes but not reducing violet or uv

 

[Katrina71]

I like lighting that colors up coral, but not so blue it looks like an alien spaceship. I guess I prefer a softer look. More natural.

 

[JoshH]

I like lighting that colors up coral, but not so blue it looks like an alien spaceship. I guess I prefer a softer look. More natural.

Me too, it's why I really like the look of Fins tank with the MH combo over it, seems very natural but everything still pops in a softer way without the harsh blue look.

 

[User1]

Would you happen to have a pic?

Unfortunately I do not. The tank was a 100 gallon I had back between 1999 - 2003. I was on vacation, family reunion sort of deal, when Enron was playing with the California power grid. Back to back power outages tripped the AC circuit breaker upon coming home and opening the door got a rush of rotten eggs or hydrogen sulfide love... PC at the time wasn't being backed up so lost a lot of our photos. Go figure.

It was a rather simple setup. 100 gallon, 2x175W Ushio bulbs, 2 x 48" SVHO Actinic bulbs, and that was it. LIfe Reef skimmer which I still use today on my 210 gallon tank. Mostly frogspawn and an elegance corals. Mixed zoas and a leather coral. Yellow and purple tang, tomato clowns, and a six line wrasse. See, pretty basic :) The Svho lamps used the ice cap ballase, the MH used a PFO ballast. Neptune with the X10 relays was more or less turning things on and off. Rubbermaid sump and a iwaki return pump I recall. I'll have to see if I have any hard copies of the tank.

The lighting was nice. Had a good afternoon oceanic vibe to it. Like being on a sail boat in the Pacific Ocean catching the trade winds heading to Hawaii sort of deal. The issue for me anyway was at the time the bulbs more or less needed to be replaced every 6 months to a year. I was going to try T5's but, well, let me be honest. I'm a lazy reefer. I dislike chores such as doing water changes and changing bulbs is right up there.

So I've been using LED's ever since.

 

[User1]

Sea Swirl?