Posh's 120g Ocean In a Wall

[Posh]

i also have a 120 and i do have radiums but they are 250's. i love the radiums and they really arent very blue. if it was me i would switch and go with 250's on your tank. the 150's are probably venturing on not enough....

Thanks! Yea, 250 is not an option right now as I am trying to keep with the equipment I have. The 150s have worked for what I keep, as I don't do much SPS, but I agree the 250s would be a good option. Thanks again for the input.

 

[Posh]

Pretty awesome 'scape.... how do you have the rocks connected?

Thanks! My bf built the columns by drilling into the LR and connecting them with PVC pieces.

 

[Nomadic1]

Thanks! My bf built the columns by drilling into the LR and connecting them with PVC pieces.

What size PVC? How big of a drill bit is required, and is it a masonry bit?

 

[Posh]

What size PVC? How big of a drill bit is required, and is it a masonry bit?

I think it was 1/2" Not sure what kind of drill he used, but I know it worked really fast. Here are some photos for you. The carpet was thrown away :P

 

[Posh]

Here is what the rock looked like when the tank was first being setup. It shows how open the tank is in the back which is what we were going for. Trying to give our PBT as much room as possible to swim back and forth... and watching the fish swim through the columns is really neat.

 

[Posh]

This tank started out as a regular tank and after about a year we decided to go ahead and make it into an in wall setup. We didn't build front access bc we we're trying to keep the front looking nice, but after having the in wall I can say without a doubt front access is almost a must with large in wall tanks.

Here are a couple of photos that show the progress.

Marking the wall.

Whole cut in the wall.

Border up.

Rock & Corals in.

The border was painted bright white. The walls are a light beige.

And of course a recent FTS.

 

[Nomadic1]

Could you ask him what kind of bit he used?

 

[Tswifty]

Hey! Glad to see you decided to make a thread. I love your aquascape and how nicely everything is filling in!

As far as the Radiums go... I checked Sanjay's Reef Lighting Site, and unfortunately he does not have any information on the 150w Pheonix bulbs. :( However, the 250w Radium 20k's were close to the 250w Pheonix 14k values, but I don't know if that would translate into the 150w version. I run Pheonix 14k's (250w version), and was considering a switch to Radiums a while back as well. I really like my Pheonix 14k's, but there's just something about a tank lit with Radiums that is so darn appealing! :wink:

I don't know if you have the option, but if you want a little more "pop" perhaps you could add a couple of UVL Lighting Super Actinic R VHO's? I have 2 sitting downstairs that I swear I'll get hung sometime this century... so until that day comes, I can't really comment on the difference they make. LOL

 

[Posh]

Could you ask him what kind of bit he used?

1/2" wood boring bit.

 

[Posh]

Hey! Glad to see you decided to make a thread. I love your aquascape and how nicely everything is filling in!

As far as the Radiums go... I checked Sanjay's Reef Lighting Site, and unfortunately he does not have any information on the 150w Pheonix bulbs. :( However, the 250w Radium 20k's were close to the 250w Pheonix 14k values, but I don't know if that would translate into the 150w version. I run Pheonix 14k's (250w version), and was considering a switch to Radiums a while back as well. I really like my Pheonix 14k's, but there's just something about a tank lit with Radiums that is so darn appealing! :wink:

I don't know if you have the option, but if you want a little more "pop" perhaps you could add a couple of UVL Lighting Super Actinic R VHO's? I have 2 sitting downstairs that I swear I'll get hung sometime this century... so until that day comes, I can't really comment on the difference they make. LOL

Hey! Thanks for looking into that for me. Hopefully it will be close enough that it will work. I was trying to stay away from the actinic lights and stick with just the MH as I like the way those tanks look better.. so I thought I would try the radiums. If I have to, I guess I could replace wtih 250w SE but I really don't want to spend all that money if I don't have to. If these bulbs don't work I'll use them on a frag tank :D