Project bathwater 2008

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Hey guys!

As some of you might have seen in another thread I bought a house this past week. I have been given a brand new never been used 2.4x0.9x0.8m tank. This tank was constructed extremely badly so we will cut it apart for the move – those Phunky guys built a rather Phunny tank… anyway… So I want to use the tank as a room divider and I need some input.

A friend of mine got given a load of AM equipment that was running on a 2.2m tank for the last 6 months or so. He said I can use them to run my tank till I get around to buying things like the Reef Octo skimmer etc.

I need some input on running a closed loop – shall I put one under the rocks as well as from the top? I also really like those Polario pumps – temped to run two of them on a closed loop around the bottom of the tank… I guess the 80 000l/h ones will do for a 1800L display tank. How high must the 50mm holes be drilled on the “head” ends of the tank? Should there be some sort of cover over the in/outlets of the Polario CLS?

Right lighting… age old battle – MH vs T5s? Cost of replacing 5 bulbs a year vs replacing 32 T5s once a year vs initial installation cost? What’s your take on it?

Anyway - I have a meeting with the interior guy and the landscaping woman now. Please post your thoughts….
 
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Sounds like a great project, as you will be viewed from both sides i assume you will be having most of the rock work running down the middle of the tank? the way i see it, if you run the closed loop under the tank and up somewhere in the middle (or come up twice and divide the tank into thirds) then "T" off with the pipe running down the middle with 2 or 3 outlets flushing through the rock work. I would also run pipes up to each corner to give good flow round the tank, this would also give good surface movement - just an idea.
As for lighting - what are you aiming to achieve? SPS? LPS? fish only? this could influence how you light the tank, i would look at MH for mainly sps, but if you are gonig with a mixed reef look then you would be able to get away with T5's - but if you are worried about replacement costs of lamps already - this baby is gonna rip your wallet big time anyway, so i don't think it will be a major factor - but MH will run much hotter so increase demand on your chiller, T5's will help in that respect.
Just my thoughts, i look forward to seeing this one take shape.
 
Hey Henk Congrats on the House you property magnate you:):):thumbup:


CLS from underneath or i your set up you will see them on the sides

Lights MHH ( Kanga prepares to get stoned) With tubes T5's like ATI around no need to go MH anymore. I would imagine power consumption would be a lot better than MH as well.

Pity those Phellows built it that bad :(
 
32 (ATI) T5's would be total overkill on a tank that size. Even 24 would be more than enough. Also keep in mind that even if you go the MH route you will still need some T5's. (for when you're comparing costs)
 
me again...

well Wee-man i was thinking a mixed tank but mostly LPS, softies, clams etc. I am really looking into the ATI route now... how many and what wattage should i run over the tank?
 
8ft tank, I would go with 4ft tubes end to end.

12 tubes total, 6 on either side with 4 whites and 2 blues per side.
 
my stoopid opinion would be 4 to 5 halides, a mixture of 20k and 14k ( 3 14k to 2 20k) that would work well and you could keep some sps in it.
 
personally i would choose 4*150W MH's and go for like 4 blue t5s to supplement
 
thats exactly what i was thinking Dean! can i run normal T5s now and then change over to ATI as needed or should i just run ATI from the beginning? seems like bit of a waste to run ATIs over live rock for the 1st month or 2
 
thats exactly what i was thinking Dean! can i run normal T5s now and then change over to ATI as needed or should i just run ATI from the beginning? seems like bit of a waste to run ATIs over live rock for the 1st month or 2
Lighting during your cycle is not essential. If you buy normal T5's and only use them for 2 months, what are you going to do with them when you get the ATI's? Bit of a waste I think. :)
 
lol - i might run them longer than a month or 2 and replace them as the budget allows. we have some 6700K Osram 54watt MHs around here. take 4 of those on each side and then the 2x 20000k ones as well....
 
Personally I think you get better light coverage/spread from T5's than you do from MH, for me the T5's just seem to light up much more of the tank. For example, look at Mekaeels tank on the home page, notice the sides of the tank are a lot darker where the MH doesn't reach, with T5's you won't experience that.
 
i'm just pondering how to do this - the 54watts are 1.5m long or are those the 80watts? i can never remember....
 
AND You even have room to grow!

54w = 4ft = 120cm x 2 = 240cm, perfect fit :D

Easy to remember, T5 is JUST 5cm shorter than T8 they intend to replace.

T5 54W, 115cm x 2 = 230cm
so 2 end to end, leaves you with some leeway.
(T8 36W and T12 40W, 120cm)

Henk, according to your T5 housing, width of reflector, efficacy of reflector >
You'd require about min 6, max 8 ATI 54W per side.

There's a really cool tank in CT, L 3m x W 800mm x H 620mm superbly lit with 6 ATI across its width, PER SIDE.

BUT it's 2 ATI Powermoduls, where all design aspects maximise T5 lamps performance.

I'll see if I can get somebody's pix of it.
 
Here are some pics that Liaquat has emailed me of the ATI units that he is talking about.

14762cb8465155.jpg


14762cb9daeaed.jpg
 
Easy to remember, T5 is JUST 5cm shorter than T8 they intend to replace.

T5 54W, 115cm x 2 = 230cm
so 2 end to end, leaves you with some leeway.
(T8 36W and T12 40W, 120cm)

Henk, according to your T5 housing, width of reflector, efficacy of reflector >
You'd require about min 6, max 8 ATI 54W per side.

There's a really cool tank in CT, L 3m x W 800mm x H 620mm superbly lit with 6 ATI across its width, PER SIDE.

BUT it's 2 ATI Powermoduls, where all design aspects maximise T5 lamps performance.

I'll see if I can get somebody's pix of it.

aha ok... so whats the price on the modules :blushing:
 
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