Nice start! Welcome to MASA! Looking forward to seeing this tank mature!
Finally - Time to share some photos!
- Thread starter Jeann1
- Start date
looking really good dude.......
only thing is unless the depth of the tank is an optical illusion you better get yourself a pair of tunze pikstiks cause you gonna kak off to reach the bottom........keep up the good work
only thing is unless the depth of the tank is an optical illusion you better get yourself a pair of tunze pikstiks cause you gonna kak off to reach the bottom........keep up the good work
- its no illusion - its actualy at a 700 water level... I couldn't go wider, so I went up to get volume.. I'll go grab a set next time I'm in the Gauteng area
jeann, im not sure of the dimensions of your tank, and it could just be the angle of the pics, but it looks quite deep to me. If the water height is over 650 or 700 you may find the t5's dont give you that much penertation of light for corals needs. Im not sure if u want to keep sps or even some species of lps which like more light, if you then either use a fairly high percentage of LR to lift the reef up in the water, or use egg great under the LR to lift it a little, if u want to save a little on LR.
while i hear what you say about the hood being painted black behind the t5 tubes, i still believe that u would be better off with those tube under reflectors. there are lots of threads on the topic of lighting and the effect reflectors have, so have a look through the lighting section of the forum and you'll see what i mean
while i hear what you say about the hood being painted black behind the t5 tubes, i still believe that u would be better off with those tube under reflectors. there are lots of threads on the topic of lighting and the effect reflectors have, so have a look through the lighting section of the forum and you'll see what i mean
jeann, im not sure of the dimensions of your tank, and it could just be the angle of the pics, but it looks quite deep to me. If the water height is over 650 or 700 you may find the t5's dont give you that much penertation of light for corals needs. Im not sure if u want to keep sps or even some species of lps which like more light, if you then either use a fairly high percentage of LR to lift the reef up in the water, or use egg great under the LR to lift it a little, if u want to save a little on LR.
while i hear what you say about the hood being painted black behind the t5 tubes, i still believe that u would be better off with those tube under reflectors. there are lots of threads on the topic of lighting and the effect reflectors have, so have a look through the lighting section of the forum and you'll see what i mean
The tank dimensions are 1500 x 600 x 800 (Water level at 700)
I will defenatly have a look at the topics - the LR i have now is to start off with - but I am thinking off getting some base rock and lifting the LR.
How what would you say about using mirrors as reflectors? meaning if the top was made out of mirror turned up-side down? the lights are close to the water, and the slides also...good / bad idea ?
bad idea actually.....one gets better reflection of light by using a matt white paint behind the bulbs than one does from a mirror, strangley enough. But as i said, the best reflection is achieved by using well ummmmmm reflectors, and when light is as important as it is to a reef and the inhabitants in it, and when one is spending a fair chunck of cash each month in electricity to power a reef, it just makes sence to use what people have found to be the most effective method to get light down into a tank. But as i say, read up on lighting a bit, dont take my word for it
+1 on the reflectors.
In "The Reef Aquarium" by Delbeek and Sprung , one of the studies showed that with T5 globes, only 25% of the light produced enters the tank directly.
The balance has to be directed in by reflectors. A good reflector increases light into the aquarium by as much as 50%.
In "The Reef Aquarium" by Delbeek and Sprung , one of the studies showed that with T5 globes, only 25% of the light produced enters the tank directly.
The balance has to be directed in by reflectors. A good reflector increases light into the aquarium by as much as 50%.
hey jeann, shot for the pm, i thought id reply here as to the best way to do reflectors (or lighting units) so that the other guys on masa can chime in and correct me if i suggest something wrong, also guys who read this thread later may benefit from the reply.
From the pic you have, running tubes in the hood like you have is a perfectly feasibale sollution. Its exactly how ive done mine. Its great that you have water proof end caps and youve done the tubes realy neatly (UNlike me!
). Make sure that the ballasts are wired EXTERNAL of the hood, both for heat transfer as it can damage the hood, and due to the high moisture you will find in a hood, which will damage the ballasts.
Now to the reflectors. There are a number of options that people use but im not going to go through eaches pro and cons. Frankly the best method (inho*) is to to have each tube under its own single reflectors, or you can have two tubes under one double reflector. Ive got my 80W tubes under double reflectors as it saves me a little space in the hood. The 54W tubes i have are under individual reflectors with each ballast wires exteral of the hood.
I used to run glass sliders over the tank to stop and fish jumping and slow down evaporation, however i found that salt creep (water evaporating off the glass and leaving salt behind) meant that I needed to regularly wash the covers else light was severly hampered from entering the tank. After a while i simply removed them and with a hood over the tank i dont have a problem with fish wanting to jump
simple realy
so ask a sponsor near you....dory pets or idol marine would be my choice for reflectors to the length of tube u have and simply screw the underneath each bulb onto the hood. it might mean loosing a little space between each bulb, but the effort will reward u in the end......ok maybe not you, but certainly your tank
From the pic you have, running tubes in the hood like you have is a perfectly feasibale sollution. Its exactly how ive done mine. Its great that you have water proof end caps and youve done the tubes realy neatly (UNlike me!
). Make sure that the ballasts are wired EXTERNAL of the hood, both for heat transfer as it can damage the hood, and due to the high moisture you will find in a hood, which will damage the ballasts.Now to the reflectors. There are a number of options that people use but im not going to go through eaches pro and cons. Frankly the best method (inho*) is to to have each tube under its own single reflectors, or you can have two tubes under one double reflector. Ive got my 80W tubes under double reflectors as it saves me a little space in the hood. The 54W tubes i have are under individual reflectors with each ballast wires exteral of the hood.
I used to run glass sliders over the tank to stop and fish jumping and slow down evaporation, however i found that salt creep (water evaporating off the glass and leaving salt behind) meant that I needed to regularly wash the covers else light was severly hampered from entering the tank. After a while i simply removed them and with a hood over the tank i dont have a problem with fish wanting to jump
simple realy
so ask a sponsor near you....dory pets or idol marine would be my choice for reflectors to the length of tube u have and simply screw the underneath each bulb onto the hood. it might mean loosing a little space between each bulb, but the effort will reward u in the end......ok maybe not you, but certainly your tank
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viper357
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Very nice start so far 
Agreed, if for some reason you can not use reflectors then at least try and paint the hood or whatever you have behind the lights with white paint. Even a sheet of Alanod will be 100% better. Your penetration and PAR readings will increase, which provides food for most corals.
hi, very cool build, i am using t5 as well, with giesemann tubes, they get 80cm penetration and i no issues with LPS or SPS... but yes the white paint of reflectors will help alot.
Ok - 3 opinions the same - done deal. Thank you crispin, Viper and dallasg for the advice.
I am going to have to find out if reflectors will fit between the tubes and the glass that the waterproof endcaps are attatched to, if not I'll get some creative DIY way of doing it. (Is something like tin foil or aluminium tape refective enough-just to get an idea if reflectors dont fit)
I do have 1 question though - I have tried to find some sort of a thread about it - found many mentions of it, but not exactly the info I am looking for. Is a wet or dry skim beter ?
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thats a debatable topic depending on what one wants to achieve and when. NORMALLY one aims at a fairly dry skim, thats to say that there is only a little water collecting in the skimmer cup and the skim mate (stuff that collects) is normally a deep dark drown or a little greenish depending on the system.
Occasionally you will want to skim wet in that the skimmer will take out more skimate at a greater dillution (more water to skimate) but this is normally to achieve a quicker rate of skim . For example ive just done a water change, and prior to that i used a pump to blow out any settlement in the LR. That makes the water as dirty as possible and i then take that water out the system and replaced with ready made new salt water. For the next couple of hours i will runa wet skim so as to take out as much proteins or dirty water as i can and then throttle the skimmer back to a dry skim later.
looking good , awesome setup
This is a really nice setup, and a GREAT start
There is only one thing that could be a cause for concern - what are you using this "U" pipe for? IF it is used as a siphon from your DT to the sump, have you made a "siphon break" vent in it just below the water level of the DT? If not, it will drain your whole tank if/when the power goes out...
Regarding the light reflectors: I fully agree with the advise to use reflectors. The best would be to use individual reflectors over each lamp (as recommended), but if that is not feasible then you could "roll your own" by using cut-in-half-lengthwise white PVC drain pipes (50mm or 110mm diameter), and better still, cover those half-round pipes on the inside with reflective aluminium sheeting - this costs just about nothing, and works nearly as well as the expensive commercial reflectors.
Hennie
There is only one thing that could be a cause for concern - what are you using this "U" pipe for? IF it is used as a siphon from your DT to the sump, have you made a "siphon break" vent in it just below the water level of the DT? If not, it will drain your whole tank if/when the power goes out...
Regarding the light reflectors: I fully agree with the advise to use reflectors. The best would be to use individual reflectors over each lamp (as recommended), but if that is not feasible then you could "roll your own" by using cut-in-half-lengthwise white PVC drain pipes (50mm or 110mm diameter), and better still, cover those half-round pipes on the inside with reflective aluminium sheeting - this costs just about nothing, and works nearly as well as the expensive commercial reflectors.
Hennie
This is a really nice setup, and a GREAT start
There is only one thing that could be a cause for concern - what are you using this "U" pipe for? IF it is used as a siphon from your DT to the sump, have you made a "siphon break" vent in it just below the water level of the DT? If not, it will drain your whole tank if/when the power goes out...
Hennie
Thank You Hennie - The U Pipe is the feed from the DT to the sump - It has a "box" outside the DT that has a water level - If the power goes :angry: it only flows about 5 mm from the DT to the sump... I added some pictures in my album of the "box" - Marine Aquariums of South Africa
As for the reflectors - the commercial stuff is not going to fit - so I'm going with your DIY suggestion - is their any specific aluminium sheeting that you know of that works ?
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yup get a product called Alneod from Arcona. here is the product and contact details.
What is anodising?
ARCONA International (PTY) Ltd
P.O. Box 3369
ZA-2125 Randburg
Tel. +27 (1) 17 92 93 08
Fax +27 (1) 17 92 79 86
arconainternational@arcona.co.za
What is anodising?
ARCONA International (PTY) Ltd
P.O. Box 3369
ZA-2125 Randburg
Tel. +27 (1) 17 92 93 08
Fax +27 (1) 17 92 79 86
arconainternational@arcona.co.za
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To give you an idea, here is what I did with mine:
You can get some more info on this thread as well...
Hennie
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