Critique my equipment list

[pdfb55]

I'm planning my 120 oceanic tech that I will be starting hopefully in a month or so. I'm been thinking about equipment for months now and i just want to hear what all of you think. As of now this is what i'm going to buy:

Solaris 48 inch H-series

Precision Marine Bullet 2 skimmer (website recomends a mag 18, what would be a good quieter pump?)

2 VorTechs

EHEIM 1260 for return

Geo Calcium reactor 6x12 with RF deluxe Co2 regulator w/ solenoid and a pinpoint pH controller

Reef Fanatic Level controller

Not sure on sump size yet (going to have a fuge w/ chaeto)

Probably going to order 50-75 lbs marco rocks with some other live rock from lfs. (i'm going for open aquascaping this time, my 0ld 92 was all stacked on the back and scraping the glass was terrible)

Its going to be SPS dominated with maybe a few lps. I'd also like to create some large caves in the aquascaping for some low light corals. The tank will also be BB with starboard. I dont think i will end up buying/needing a chiller b/c the lights are cooler than MH's and my house is kept really cold but we'll see. Also i'm planning on adding a controller in the future, hopefully one that can update conditions online. What do you guys think of the lighthouse controller? Also as of now i'm leaning towards ordering from Premium Aquatics, what do you guys think of them, are they good?

Ok thats all i can think of for now, i'll probably start a build thread once i get all of the stuff ready to go.

[frederickk]

Sounds good and a lot of money at the same time

[sabbath]

I really like my Lighthouse controller. Click my red house to see it live. Costumer service was great. It had a bad recepticle. They sent a new one with a return postage paid slip. No questions...

[mwoneal]

that's great, did you do the scripting for the page, or was it part of the off the shelf system?

[sabbath]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=10809998#post10809998 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by mwoneal
that's great, did you do the scripting for the page, or was it part of the off the shelf system?

That is how it comes right out of the box.:)

[luv951]

I run my PM Bullet 2 external and use a Gen-X PCX 40 to power it. Its quiet and works really well. About $119 I think at marine depot. I got mine locally and they matched the price, so you might call around.

[AZDesertRat]

The Eheim 1260 will probably be too small for a return pump. It does not handle head that well. I did some extensive testing and here are my results using a Kill A Watt meter, 10 psi pressure gauge, ball valve, 1 inch water meter and 1" plumbing on the discharge.
Open discharge - 782 GPH at 63 watts
1 psi (2.3') - 492 GPH @ 60 watts
2 psi (4.6') - 433 GPH @ 54 watts
3 psi (7') - 356 GPH @ 50 watts
3.5 psi ( 8') - 300 GPH @ 46 watts
4 psi (9.5') - 253 GPH @ 43 watts

I tested this brand new pump for a friend and was very disappointed. I had heard how Eheims were so good with head pressure but it really dropped off fast.


Compare it to an OceanRunner 2500 which only draws 38 watts maximum at about the same pumping rates and head. I don't have test results for the 2500 but my work with a 3500 showed they were almost dead on with the published data OR provides so I would assume the 2500 is similar. The OR price is also less than half what a 1260 goes for.

[Pirate@40]

Get a Tunze wavebox. They're awesome.b

[sabbath]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=10810453#post10810453 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by AZDesertRat
The Eheim 1260 will probably be too small for a return pump. It does not handle head that well. I did some extensive testing and here are my results using a Kill A Watt meter, 10 psi pressure gauge, ball valve, 1 inch water meter and 1" plumbing on the discharge.
Open discharge - 782 GPH at 63 watts
1 psi (2.3') - 492 GPH @ 60 watts
2 psi (4.6') - 433 GPH @ 54 watts
3 psi (7') - 356 GPH @ 50 watts
3.5 psi ( 8') - 300 GPH @ 46 watts
4 psi (9.5') - 253 GPH @ 43 watts

I tested this brand new pump for a friend and was very disappointed. I had heard how Eheims were so good with head pressure but it really dropped off fast.


Compare it to an OceanRunner 2500 which only draws 38 watts maximum at about the same pumping rates and head. I don't have test results for the 2500 but my work with a 3500 showed they were almost dead on with the published data OR provides so I would assume the 2500 is similar. The OR price is also less than half what a 1260 goes for.


I'm wondering now if my Mag 7 is actually doing about 375gph at the DT.

[Roy G. Biv]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=10809708#post10809708 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by sabbath
I really like my Lighthouse controller. Click my red house to see it live. Costumer service was great. It had a bad recepticle. They sent a new one with a return postage paid slip. No questions...

Is that status page built in to the controller?

[sabbath]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=10811804#post10811804 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by Pmolan
Is that status page built in to the controller?

Yes. Everything is how it comes. No loading of software. It is already in the controller. You can even change settings ( password protected) online. Not sure if I will need to but good to know I can. They also have a fancy looking yahoo widget that comes up automatically on my desk top with everything. It displays lows and highs... Here is a link to their site for info. http://www.mcuresearch.com/

I did a water change yesterday at around 6pm. You can see on the graphs that the orp started to go up right after that. Great to see the water quality going up from wc. I like how it shows the effect of ph through out the day as well.