Smiddy's Reef 360 Peninsula

MMcKenna1029 · Apr 16, 2022

Curious if you use a PAR meter to tweak your lighting or if you just eye ball it? I just ordered the SQ-420 PAR sensor to play around with. Also ordered 2x ATI coral+ t5's to supplement the LEDs. Looking at your light spread it looks really even, like the skys do a really good job of diffusing. Running just the Photon seems to give my tank a lot of really crisp shadowing and I am hoping the T5s can smooth it out a little.

Matt

rds85 · Apr 16, 2022

MMcKenna1029 said:
Curious if you use a PAR meter to tweak your lighting or if you just eye ball it? I just ordered the SQ-420 PAR sensor to play around with. Also ordered 2x ATI coral+ t5's to supplement the LEDs. Looking at your light spread it looks really even, like the skys do a really good job of diffusing. Running just the Photon seems to give my tank a lot of really crisp shadowing and I am hoping the T5s can smooth it out a little.

Matt

I did use a par meter to set up my new lighting system. My lights do a a good job with spread, for sure. Although with the increased acro growth the past two months, I am seeing shading on the bases of the acros. I am tempted to get to more and have a fully covered panel system over the tank. The T5's are defiantly going to do what you are looking for.

rds85 · Apr 16, 2022

My rabbitfish has been rehomed to a fellow reefer. With ne open position in the system. It has been filled with this guy:

VanDalsenReef · Apr 16, 2022

rds85 said:
My rabbitfish has been rehomed to a fellow reefer. With ne open position in the system. It has been filled with this guy:

Beautiful fish. Why was the rabbit removed ( nipping?)

rds85 · Apr 16, 2022

VanDalsenReef said:
Beautiful fish. Why was the rabbit removed ( nipping?)

Nope, but my regal does from time to time. The honest is truth was to replace him with a more "showpiece" fish.

VanDalsenReef · Apr 16, 2022

rds85 said:
Nope, but my regal does from time to time. The honest is truth was to replace him with a more "showpiece" fish.

I am now to the point of picking on everything is fine. It's picking one coral that ends up killing it. Definitely a better show fish than a rabbit

rds85 · Apr 16, 2022

VanDalsenReef said:
I am now to the point of picking on everything is fine. It's picking one coral that ends up killing it. Definitely a better show fish than a rabbit

I am also at that point. My morish idol is a big fragger when he is chasing down chunks of clams.
Totally agree and they do come around very often.

rds85 · May 8, 2022

Some top downs:

rds85 · May 8, 2022

And now for the bad:

Oh vinyl! Nothing a little electrical tape cant fix, or let coralline overgrow the area.

t5Nitro · May 8, 2022

I'll take one of everything. Awesome corals.

rds85 · May 8, 2022

t5Nitro said:
I'll take one of everything. Awesome corals.

If you local at half the corals need trim. I got warfare everywhere. So much travel recently I haven’t had time to keep it up. Hence a little Dino’s

t5Nitro · May 8, 2022

Wish I was closer! Plus a tank move in the very near future. Getting a lot of great ideas from your fish room photos in the early pages!

rds85 · May 9, 2022

t5Nitro said:
Wish I was closer! Plus a tank move in the very near future. Getting a lot of great ideas from your fish room photos in the early pages!

Tank move plus upgrade?! Let me know if you have any questions about the fish room.

t5Nitro · May 9, 2022

Yeah! I will send you a PM maybe tonight. Heading up to visit the new house this weekend to see what I'd like the electricians to do. If you've got any tips for number of outlets, locations or something you wish you'd have added or changed let me know!

I know ill have dual 20A circuit. I dont think they're planning on the dual circuits dedicated to fish plus a regular 15A for the basement, but I can ask if they can do that.

I have to scope out the place since it won't be a finished basement. Will need to quickly make a plan about where in the basement the tank and fish room might be. There will be an area with utility sink and RODI hookup probably near the water heater and furnace id imagine.

rds85 · May 9, 2022

t5Nitro said:
Yeah! I will send you a PM maybe tonight. Heading up to visit the new house this weekend to see what I'd like the electricians to do. If you've got any tips for number of outlets, locations or something you wish you'd have added or changed let me know!

I know ill have dual 20A circuit. I dont think they're planning on the dual circuits dedicated to fish plus a regular 15A for the basement, but I can ask if they can do that.

I have to scope out the place since it won't be a finished basement. Will need to quickly make a plan about where in the basement the tank and fish room might be. There will be an area with utility sink and RODI hookup probably near the water heater and furnace id imagine.

Sounds good,

More breakers dedicated to the fish system the better depending on the size of your system and electrical load.

Fun project to started from bare studs. I really enjoyed it.

drtechno · May 12, 2022

t5Nitro said:
Yeah! I will send you a PM maybe tonight. Heading up to visit the new house this weekend to see what I'd like the electricians to do. If you've got any tips for number of outlets, locations or something you wish you'd have added or changed let me know!

I know ill have dual 20A circuit. I dont think they're planning on the dual circuits dedicated to fish plus a regular 15A for the basement, but I can ask if they can do that.

I have to scope out the place since it won't be a finished basement. Will need to quickly make a plan about where in the basement the tank and fish room might be. There will be an area with utility sink and RODI hookup probably near the water heater and furnace id imagine.

you might also consider using GFCI breakers instead of outlets since they are more reliable. I have occasional nuisance trips on my gfci outlets which would be a pain to deal with (especially if on vacation). I hear the breakers are far more reliable. Also if using redundant return pumps, put them on different circuits with different gfci solutions on each. Easy to do and allows a level of backup

t5Nitro · May 16, 2022

drtechno said:
you might also consider using GFCI breakers instead of outlets since they are more reliable. I have occasional nuisance trips on my gfci outlets which would be a pain to deal with (especially if on vacation). I hear the breakers are far more reliable. Also if using redundant return pumps, put them on different circuits with different gfci solutions on each. Easy to do and allows a level of backup

Good info. I had the builders look into it and get me some quotes. $200 for two GFI breakers. Should I go this route and no GFI outlets?

It also sounds like they are just going to put 1 receptacle per circuit breaker for the dedicated dual circuit for the tank. Doesnt seem like much, but then again I only use 2 outlets (4 total plugs) for my current system with kasa power straps plugged into those.

If you guys have recs on any of tge electrical stuff ill just tell them to do it. Dual circuit and 2 outlets are free of charge. Changing to dual GFI breakers would add $200, and any additional outlets would be more as well. Didnt ask how much per outlet install. All of the sump and gear is going to go under the stairwell.

drtechno · May 20, 2022

t5Nitro said:
Good info. I had the builders look into it and get me some quotes. $200 for two GFI breakers. Should I go this route and no GFI outlets?

It also sounds like they are just going to put 1 receptacle per circuit breaker for the dedicated dual circuit for the tank. Doesnt seem like much, but then again I only use 2 outlets (4 total plugs) for my current system with kasa power straps plugged into those.

If you guys have recs on any of tge electrical stuff ill just tell them to do it. Dual circuit and 2 outlets are free of charge. Changing to dual GFI breakers would add $200, and any additional outlets would be more as well. Didnt ask how much per outlet install. All of the sump and gear is going to go under the stairwell.

Yea, based upon the number of times I have had false GFI trips in the outlets in the unfinished basement (not fishroom) I would definitely go the route of breakers. Even if its one false trip per year, that's something I would prefer to avoid completely by going with the breaker route.

You can always swap to GFI outlets and a regular breaker later on, but you won't want to.

t5Nitro · May 20, 2022

Awesome. The electrician ended up putting in 15 amp circuits, 3 in total in the basement. One for regular basement accessories, and two additional ones dedicated to the tank. I wanted 20 but they said 15 is plenty, lol. Breakers are GFI and outlets standard receptacles. Really appreciate that tip! Major electrical upgrade from what I have now.