900 Gallon Reef Project

[Bennytheblenny]

Originally Posted by krkqm2008

Well maybe you can DIY a hang on type thing with black PVC and fit the wave box in them, if not then put them on the side glass . Don't think there is any other way.

I am going to have to get them in and see if there is a way. I only have access to one area of side glass, so I will have to customize the install.

[krkqm2008]

Yes when you get them in, maybe a stronger magnet which you can buy from these car stereo install places, since they use them for sub speakers and all
I am looking forward to seeing you put the 2 wave box in.

[Blatzphemy]

I know this has been touched on a bit; however, I can't find a definitive answer. From what I understand limestone and travertine are pretty much the same thing. As a matter of fact- when I was at the store the other day I could see various tube worm tubes made up a lot of the framework for the tiles. They fill the voids in the tile with epoxy and I'm told by the manufacture there is no sealants. I'm so anxious to do something similar to your build. I would, however, use tile as my substrait and try and grow star polyps on it. I'm extremely anxious to do this I'm just worried about the repercussions. As you know, it could be a costly mistake. I'm thinking I might be able to soak the pieces in water and test for pollutants in the water? I also plan on running activated carbon in my tank.

Amazing build by the way

[Bennytheblenny]

Originally Posted by Blatzphemy

I know this has been touched on a bit; however, I can't find a definitive answer. From what I understand limestone and travertine are pretty much the same thing. As a matter of fact- when I was at the store the other day I could see various tube worm tubes made up a lot of the framework for the tiles. They fill the voids in the tile with epoxy and I'm told by the manufacture there is no sealants. I'm so anxious to do something similar to your build. I would, however, use tile as my substrait and try and grow star polyps on it. I'm extremely anxious to do this I'm just worried about the repercussions. As you know, it could be a costly mistake. I'm thinking I might be able to soak the pieces in water and test for pollutants in the water? I also plan on running activated carbon in my tank.

Amazing build by the way

The tile has been used in hundreds of builds by Reef Aquaria Design with no negative issues. I have tons of tube worms and other critters living on the tile with no problems. I am going to try to grow some montiporas on the tile once I redo the scaping.

[dahenley]

Do you have any updated pictures of the tank?
hows the frag tank going, and the sump?

[Bennytheblenny]

New Reeftechs are in and they are amazing. Ill toss up a video on Monday so you can see the before and after on the colors.

[sienki]

Great lamp! I'm waiting to see the lights over the tank.

[glassterbate]

wow is all If got to say, awesome build.

[Editour2]

Out of curiousity what were your reasons for trading in the 2011 Reeftechs for the 2012 version? I know the newer model has more colored LED's etc., is the amount of total wattage on your system now the same, less than or greater than your previous system?

[Moser]

Which Monday?....

Mo

[Moser]

...

[Bennytheblenny]

Originally Posted by Editour2

Out of curiousity what were your reasons for trading in the 2011 Reeftechs for the 2012 version? I know the newer model has more colored LED's etc., is the amount of total wattage on your system now the same, less than or greater than your previous system?

Its the same wattage at 100% across 5 channels but I actually run the system at 100% across the board now. On the old units I was running at like 75% maximum. The new coloration is amazing, it really adds a depth of color that the old units were not able to output. The fish and corals look amazing the final output is much more pleasing and I think hits more key areas of spectrum. The only thing I would like to see is a violet LED in the sub 430nm range, but that may be something to swap out in the future.

[Bennytheblenny]

Originally Posted by Moser

Which Monday?....

Mo

I am going to take a video today, I picked up an HD camera over the weekend and a tripod.

[dahenley]

how are the corals doing?
i know you replaced all the water and all the rock (thought to be from the Metal's leaching from the busted skimmer pump)

Have they started doing good or better?
and do you attest some of this to the new lights as well, or just a little bit of everything?

thanks!

(still love this build)

[Bennytheblenny]

Originally Posted by dahenley

how are the corals doing?
i know you replaced all the water and all the rock (thought to be from the Metal's leaching from the busted skimmer pump)

Have they started doing good or better?
and do you attest some of this to the new lights as well, or just a little bit of everything?

thanks!

(still love this build)

The corals are doing amazing. I have seen increased coloration and growth under the old and new lights. The main driver has been doing 50 gallon water changes every day for a month. And now I do about 100 gallons a week. Instead of doing one giant water change, I have opted for smaller systematic water changes. That combined with turning off the calcium reactor and turning back on the kalk stirrer have really changed things for the better in a big way. The only thing that has cropped up since my increased water changes is a green plate like algae that has covered some of the lower flow areas of the rock.

I haven't changed out all of the rock out quite yet. I removed about 300 pounds of old rock so far and opened up the structure a bit. I have begun construction on the first rock island and will be doing the change over in phases. I figure slow and steady is going to give me better results than drastic moves.

[oceanview76]

Have been enjoying following along with your progress.

Regarding water changes and simplification, I came across Tom's Glassreef website. It has a lot of great ideas, with one of the best (IMHO) being an automated way to make continuous water changes to minimize shock to the system and to simplify your maintenance.

http://www.glassreef.com/basics_water_changes.php

I too live in NJ; and have a lengthy commute so as I design a very similar system to yours for my house, I need to find as many ways as possible to automate the routine maintenance that comes along with a hobby like this.

Anyways, it's just an idea and I hope it helps.

Happy reefing, I'm subscribed...

[Editour2]

Originally Posted by Bennytheblenny

Its the same wattage at 100% across 5 channels but I actually run the system at 100% across the board now. On the old units I was running at like 75% maximum. The new coloration is amazing, it really adds a depth of color that the old units were not able to output. The fish and corals look amazing the final output is much more pleasing and I think hits more key areas of spectrum. The only thing I would like to see is a violet LED in the sub 430nm range, but that may be something to swap out in the future.

So if I understand you correctly.............you were using 8 lamps of the 2011 Reeftechs @ 180 watts each but you were only running them at 75% which you are equating to 6 of the 2012 lamps running at 100%......

Only difference then (other than the lamp setting intensity) would be the new infusion of various colored LED's (amber, red, green etc).............

[danfeig]

I have really enjoyed your thread and read & reread each post carefully with a great deal of interest. I am in the process of starting my own large build and have recently ordered a 96"x42"x48" tank through Simply Elegant Aquatics & A.G.E.

I am very curious and intrigued with your current lighting arrangement. I have been emailing Reeftech and have been very impressed with how quickly they respond to my questions. I would like to be able go with LED's but am concerned about the depth. How was it when you ran the MH's and LED's? Do you find the LED's to be enough? Do you have any "disco light" effect on the bottom of your tank?

I appreciate any insight or recommendations that you have.

[rpjaws74]

i want to see the video as well

[Bennytheblenny]

Originally Posted by Editour2

So if I understand you correctly.............you were using 8 lamps of the 2011 Reeftechs @ 180 watts each but you were only running them at 75% which you are equating to 6 of the 2012 lamps running at 100%......

Only difference then (other than the lamp setting intensity) would be the new infusion of various colored LED's (amber, red, green etc).............

There are a few more changes other than additional colors:
1. Entire unit being a heatsink which allows for longer LED life via better heat management
2. No more RS232 to USB, just a standard USB cable to update lamp software
3. The software to control intensity through the day has 10x the flexibility of the old software
4. Android/Iphone application for controlling the lamps should be available shortly
5. Ease of setup is vastly improved via not having to deal with master/slave issues, only 1 active lamp, 5 passive lamps

My only wish is for Cree to come out with a damn sub 430nm violet LED that pumps out something that looks like a phillips A03 actinic VHO. Also let me tell you Red LEDs kick butt for night time viewing. I have been too swamped at work to be able to setup the video properly. I refuse to use my Flip cam as it doesn't do HD very well, as can be evidenced by my previous videos. I should have some time late next week to video it all, including a demo of the software in operation.

[Bennytheblenny]

Originally Posted by danfeig

I have really enjoyed your thread and read & reread each post carefully with a great deal of interest. I am in the process of starting my own large build and have recently ordered a 96"x42"x48" tank through Simply Elegant Aquatics & A.G.E.

I am very curious and intrigued with your current lighting arrangement. I have been emailing Reeftech and have been very impressed with how quickly they respond to my questions. I would like to be able go with LED's but am concerned about the depth. How was it when you ran the MH's and LED's? Do you find the LED's to be enough? Do you have any "disco light" effect on the bottom of your tank?

I appreciate any insight or recommendations that you have.

Just to rehash some of my history with LED lighting. The main issue I had when running Acan's on the tank was the focal lenses they use on the lights cause a banding effect on the tank. In order to appropriately cover the tank I would have to double the number of light fixtures and run them at 50%. This was a giant pain and I ended up supplementing with 3 double ended MHs. The Acans if I ran them at 100% even for 4 hours a day would burn to white crisp anything in the top 1/3rd of the tank. They were signficantly brighter than any Halide I have dealt with under 400w, even at 36" of water I could keep any coral on the sand even light loving SPS. I just didn't like the coloration of the Acans and the banding and decided to sell them.

I was researching alternative LED options and came accross the Reeftech's at Absolutely Fish in Clifton. After 1 demo they pretty much had me hooked and I purchased 8 units. I had to run the units at 50% for a while because the guys at the store warned me that anything more and I would cook the tank. I took it slow and ended up running blues at 80% and whites at 60%.

When I saw that new units were coming out, I ended up selling the Reeftechs and purchasing the new units. When I saw the board design I knew that I would be able to run the lights at 100% on all channels. When they offered to custom design the fixtures in terms of length and board placement I was sold. There is no disco effect or banding of colors, as the boards flip every board. So that red/orange is on the top on board 1 then on the bottom on board 2 and so on. Even clams that were rumored to hate LED lights have been doing extremely well on the botton of the tank. I like being able to tweak the look of the tank without causing negative impacts on corals. I can chose to go more red or more green without a problem. The only thing I wish is, as I have stated before that a violet LED (sub 420nm) option be added as a 6th channel replacing some whites/blues/royal blues. With light, unlike with paint, red and blue do not make purple, or in this case violet, they just make a nice pink hue.

[danfeig]

Originally Posted by Bennytheblenny

Just to rehash some of my history with LED lighting. The main issue I had when running Acan's on the tank was the focal lenses they use on the lights cause a banding effect on the tank. In order to appropriately cover the tank I would have to double the number of light fixtures and run them at 50%. This was a giant pain and I ended up supplementing with 3 double ended MHs. The Acans if I ran them at 100% even for 4 hours a day would burn to white crisp anything in the top 1/3rd of the tank. They were signficantly brighter than any Halide I have dealt with under 400w, even at 36" of water I could keep any coral on the sand even light loving SPS. I just didn't like the coloration of the Acans and the banding and decided to sell them.

I was researching alternative LED options and came accross the Reeftech's at Absolutely Fish in Clifton. After 1 demo they pretty much had me hooked and I purchased 8 units. I had to run the units at 50% for a while because the guys at the store warned me that anything more and I would cook the tank. I took it slow and ended up running blues at 80% and whites at 60%.

When I saw that new units were coming out, I ended up selling the Reeftechs and purchasing the new units. When I saw the board design I knew that I would be able to run the lights at 100% on all channels. When they offered to custom design the fixtures in terms of length and board placement I was sold. There is no disco effect or banding of colors, as the boards flip every board. So that red/orange is on the top on board 1 then on the bottom on board 2 and so on. Even clams that were rumored to hate LED lights have been doing extremely well on the botton of the tank. I like being able to tweak the look of the tank without causing negative impacts on corals. I can chose to go more red or more green without a problem. The only thing I wish is, as I have stated before that a violet LED (sub 420nm) option be added as a 6th channel replacing some whites/blues/royal blues. With light, unlike with paint, red and blue do not make purple, or in this case violet, they just make a nice pink hue.

Thank you very much for your response. Would you give them a try on a 48" deep tank? I appreciate your help and candidness.

[Bennytheblenny]

Originally Posted by danfeig

Thank you very much for your response. Would you give them a try on a 48" deep tank? I appreciate your help and candidness.

I wouldn't bother with anything else honestly. You are clearly going to invest the time and money into a large project, why not go with a comprehensive solution to lighting the tank.

I would recommend running the lights as close to the surface as possible, which is feasible with LEDs. I would also probably ask someone with a PAR meter to test the output of these things with 46" of water. If I had one, I would offer to to do it myself. If you decide to do the Reeftechs, make sure to ask for the units with double LED panels, like the ones I have over the center of my tank.

[Dangerwill]

Just spent an hour and a half reading this thread and now my tank is looking a little small. Amazing setup you have created and thanks for posting with such detail, I feel like I was there!

[SPotter]

benny, do you think there is enough spread on these to handle a 36" wide tank? I just got my new tank 72x36x28 and I am having some lighting issues and have started to see what else is around. Rafal is saying 3 will be more than enough for my tank.