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superman1981 
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 Topic: Superman's (Tim's) 125 gal Thread! PICTURE UPDATES
Posted: October 22 2007 at 7:49pm |
Well I figured that if Sukie and Wudan can have a 90 gal thread, then I should get my own Super 125 gal thread!Â
Â
Although the tank is paid for, it is still at chastings (I think thats Charlies screen name  ) house, but I'm hoping to pick it up one evening this week. I have some plans of how I would like to set it up, I was hoping for some feedback from members on the board. Â
To start out, filtration... I know a lot of you are going to think I'm crazy for doing this, but I've done a lot of research, spent time pondering and praying... and I think I'm going to go sumpless   Thats right, the tank is undrilled and I'm planning on leaving it that way. I have talked with Shawn at Aquatica, and read a lot of reviews based on his recomendation and am planning on going with an All Flow Freedom Filter (internal overflow, filter, skimmer combo) here is link if you're interested in checking them out http://www.freedomaquarium.com/site/product-features.cfmÂ
To add additional flow I also plan on using a Korilla 4 power head, and possibly two MJ 1200's on a wave maker.
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For lighting, I'm really leaning towards going all T5's (Aaron you must be so proud  ) Initially I am only planning on keeping softies, and maybe an LPS or two. Although I would like to eventually get as many bulbs as i can possibly cram under the canopy, I was thinking of starting with 4 bulbs (2 10k, and 2 Actinic) and staggering them within the canopy to cover the entire 6ft length of the tank. Does this sound logical? Also will that be enough light for the softies I'll be putting in? I hope to double the number of lights within the next 4-6 months and add some higher light demanding corals, but I have to start within a budget. Â
I would eventually like to get a hang on UV, but that is down the road a little ways, also is it necessary to use a heater in a tank this large? I don't have one in my 29, and am debating not using one in this tank.
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Finally, I am planning on starting with about 100lbs of Utah Rock and 100lbs of Utah Sand/crushed coral mix. Then I'll add an additional 40 lbs of live sand/rock from my existing tank to get the tank up and running.Â
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Any thoughs on my plan, good, bad, I suck an should give up on reef keeping?Â
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Well I'll post some pics once I have the tank in my house. Thanks for reading, I'm sure I'll have a million more questions and comments over the next few weeks as I set this monster up (the goal is to have it up and running by Thanksgiving... fingers crossed)
Edited by superman1981 - January 24 2009 at 11:48pm
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john hill
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Posted: October 22 2007 at 7:59pm |
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no mj 1200 just korillas imo allot more flow and not as much cleaning
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out with the large and in with the nano
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Mike Savage
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Posted: October 22 2007 at 7:59pm |
I bet that 4 lamps are enough for LPS too.
Mike
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dkle
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Posted: October 22 2007 at 8:05pm |
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If you use the 80w 60'' T5 bulbs, they cover the 6' tank very nicely. No needs for staggering
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If you can't bedazzle them with your brilliance, baffle them with your bs!
Dinhkim Le - Procrastinator extra-ordinare
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superman1981
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Posted: October 22 2007 at 8:22pm |
dkle, do you know where I can find 60" T5's, I looked around for some, but have yet to find any...
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dkle
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Posted: October 22 2007 at 8:47pm |
Aquatica carried them in the past. I haven't looked lately to see if Shawn still has them. Even if he doesn't, I'm sure he can order them for you. And if you'd rather order online, the price is very reasonable as well http://www.reefgeek.com/lighting/Replacement_Bulbs/T5_Fluorescent/For ballast, a lot of people use Icecap ballast to light these bulbs. However, I used the ARO electronic ballast to fire a pair of them without any problem. The price is much cheaper, only 35 bucks for one ballast. I used to get them from Marine Aquatics.
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If you can't bedazzle them with your brilliance, baffle them with your bs!
Dinhkim Le - Procrastinator extra-ordinare
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Mike Savage
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Posted: October 22 2007 at 9:52pm |
I'm sure Aquatica has posted here that they carry the 60" bulbs.
Mike
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shaggydoo
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Posted: October 22 2007 at 10:18pm |
 superman1981 wrote:
For lighting, I'm really leaning towards going all T5's (Aaron you must be so proud ) |
I am absolutely beaming  . I think you would be better off with 1 6.5k, 1 ATI True Blue, 1 UV Super actinic, and then either the UV 75/25 or a 12 or 13k ATI/Geisseman. You should be able to keep a wide variety of corals with that combo and the coloration would be awesome. Keep us updated.
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60g LPS Cube
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sukie
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Posted: October 23 2007 at 9:55am |
 AWESOME Plan!
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superman1981
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Posted: October 23 2007 at 9:57am |
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Aaron,
Since you are the resident T5 expert, where is the best place to purchase T5's, ballasts, reflectors, end caps and so on?
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Mike Savage
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Posted: October 23 2007 at 11:37am |
Tim, I would check with New Jersey Reef Supply. They have the 2 bulb 60" retrofit with the new Sunlight Supply reflectors for $142.95 without bulbs.
Mike
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shaggydoo
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Posted: October 23 2007 at 12:06pm |
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Well the best place I have found for bulbs was reefgeek.com. I bought my tek retro kits from hellolights because they were the cheapest and they did include bulbs (but I changed out all my bulbs so it ended up being about 6's with other sites). I never looked into any 6' fixtures though and I know the bulbs are much more limited so you need to take that into consideration when making your decision.
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60g LPS Cube
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superman1981
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Posted: October 23 2007 at 12:21pm |
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K hello lights doesn't carry 60" kits, they were trying to sell me on either doubling up with 36" kits, or using 60" VHO. Thoughts? How would 4 VHO bulbs compare to 4 T5 HO's?
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superman1981
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Posted: October 23 2007 at 12:32pm |
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Also, I know the old rule of thumb used to be 3-5 watt's per gallon, at least for PC's and VHO's. How does that apply to T5's, for example if I were to buy 2 36" kits today, so four 48watt bulbs, would that be enough to start out with for my softies over my 125? Obviously I'd want to eventually get that up to 8 or 10 bulbs, I'm just wondering for initial set up purposes...
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Mike Savage
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Posted: October 23 2007 at 12:47pm |
I think 2 60" bulbs (not 36") over the 125 would work okay for softies. Not great, just okay. I also think 4 bulbs would be fine for LPS. Did you check that link in my post above this?
Mike
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bbauman
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Posted: October 23 2007 at 1:00pm |
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I think that's fine for softies. You'll be fine.
Edited by bbauman - October 23 2007 at 1:00pm
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superman1981
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Posted: October 23 2007 at 1:14pm |
Yes Mike, I did check out that link, thank you . I'm just wondering if 2 60" would be better than 4 36" to start out with... Since it seems like the "36 may get better overall coverage of the tank...
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shaggydoo
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Posted: October 23 2007 at 1:42pm |
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I know the longer the bulb the better the light penetration. So 2 of the longer bulbs should be better than 4 shorter in that respect but the 2 would be harder to mix and match color to make aesthetically pleasing.
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60g LPS Cube
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dkle
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Posted: October 23 2007 at 1:49pm |
superman1981 wrote:
Yes Mike, I did check out that link, thank you . I'm just wondering if 2 60" would be better than 4 36" to start out with... Since it seems like the "36 may get better overall coverage of the tank...
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Of course the 36'' will get a better overall coverage of the tank  . The only disadvantage would be all bulbs, endcaps, reflectors cost pretty much the same, regardless of lengths. Your initial cost would be higher for double the amount of bulbs, reflectors and endcaps. Then the amount of bulb replacement every year would cost more as well. If the difference in cost doesn't seem much to you, then by all means get the 36'' bulbs. But if you wanna save some money, or thinking about staggering the 48 bulbs to get coverage, I think the 80w T5s are a much better choice. My previous tank setup had 2 80w T5 on 72'' of tank length for actinic only. I didn't notice that the two ends of the tank were dimmer.
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If you can't bedazzle them with your brilliance, baffle them with your bs!
Dinhkim Le - Procrastinator extra-ordinare
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superman1981
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Posted: October 23 2007 at 2:27pm |
I actually talked with Ryan at ReefRunners today, and it looks like he can get a retrofit 60" kit with 2 bulbs for less than anything I've found online. So I think I'll start with 2 60" with the goal of eventually getting up to 6 or 8.
For Aaron, I am concerned about astetics, but that isn't my top priority at this moment in time. Once I get up to 4 bulbs I'll worry more about that, but for right now I'm trying to stay within budget, yet keep everything alive |
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