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Innovative Marine Aquariums

Beeker's 200DD Par38 Reef-New Pics 3-10-11!


beeker

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Finally some pics, tank has been plumbed and the stand has been skinned

 

Equipment

Tune ATO

MSX 160 skimmer

Vortech mp40's

 

lighting

16 PAR38 spotlights (will have this done in 2 months hopefully)

 

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Enjoi!

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Is this in a museum or something? Looks like an alter built for the tank to be shown in. 16 PAR38's is gonna be blazing!

Tagging along.

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nope just in my basement, lol the tank is sitting where a TV entertainment stand went, the raised platform was already there me and my dad just cut the center out of the platform and then rebraced it and slide the stand into place

 

believe me i can't wait to get this thing up and running, i'm hoping to have my aquascape done by this weekend and hopegully 3 or so weeks after that i'll be working on the PAR38 rig

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Had you considdered other lighting options?

As far as ease of instalation it will probably be tough to beat the Par38's. And dont get me wrong, that should have your tank looking great, but as far as cost... i believe you would be paying almost double per LED compared to if you were making your own d.i.y. LED setup. (the par38's come in at $20 a LED while you could spend as little as $10 per LED for a d.i.y setup with optics and heatsinks) check out this site if you have not, i am under the impression that it is where many reefer's order their LED's: http://www.cutter.com.au/products.php?cat=Cree+XPG

and heatsink's from here:

http://heatsinkusa.com/

 

Just something to think about.

 

Gorgeous tank by the way!

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I've looked into DIY led and me and my dads thinking it would be a lot harder to replace 1 led on a heatsink with 48-60 other leds on it attached to the ceiling or mounted on the tank or hanging, this would probably be a 2 person job, plus you have to unsoder and re-wire a new led in which is more probably more difficult than replacing 1 of the leds on a PAR38 or replacing the PAR38 lamp altogether

 

i looked into DIY led and for the setup it would most likely cost around 1700.00 for a tank this size but that is to cover an area that doesen't need to be lit 100%

 

The Par38's will be a little more expensive, 16 bulbs= 1600.00 + track lighting rig= 300-400

So for about 200.00-300 more than the DIY you can do PAR38's and to me you have a little more flexability as in how you angle and light your rockwork

 

When i do the aquascaping you'll understand what i'm going for pretty much they will be shaped like the letter U the back of the rockwork is the bottom of the U so pretty much that puts the spotlights right over all the rockwork so i really don't need to light up much more than that area, at the bottom i'll keep softies and Zoa's and pretty much Sps will be in the center focus of all the PAR38's

 

this will be my first tank with Led's and it will be a learning experience, i've always used MH's in the past but am definatly looking for to less heat, more flexability, long bulb life, and with that many Led spotlights it will definatly be a dream tank for me

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Glad to see I'm not the only one lighting a large tank with Par38's. I'm only going to have 6 or 8 though, can't wait to see your setup!

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i looked into DIY led and for the setup...

 

I should have guessed given your experience on this forum and with a 2 year old Biocube.

good to know that you thought about it.

 

edit: i just found some of your comments over at reef central about LED's on widmer's thread... should have know i am not the only one bouncing between forums.

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Oh yeah i was on RC in 2005 when i had my first 20g high tank....lol god how far i've come from that disaster, hahaha too bad i don't have any pics of that tank, but it was defiantly a good learning experience for me

 

yeah my 29gBC is the best tank i've ever run and i'm hoping to make this 200g just as impressive, actually i should take some pics of the 29g in the next week or two before i get to the point on transfering corals over, which will probably still be a month or more from now

 

thanks for all the great comments i should have some more eye candy this weekend or next week, i should have the right side aquascape done by then, though i think the tank will only be half ful since me and my dad are still leveling it out

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i'm pretty sure i'll be leaving it as is, the wood isn't 100% flush with the iron stand so there are gaps at the back and top of the stand but you can't see them unless your right up on the tank so there is room for some ventalation inside the stand, the front panel of the stand is held on by magnets and there are 2 3 inch holes drilled in the back of the stand for ventalation and cords, but i might add more once i see how well it performs

 

the tank will be run with Led spotlights and i'll have 2 300w heaters on it so i'm think evaporation won't be too insane since the heat is mainly comming from the heaters and not the lighting, though if it does get a little too moist i'll add some fans and more holes, the top of the tank will be uncovered so most of the evap will be off the top and not inside the sump

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I love the tank! It's exactly what I imagine I'll want when I finally upgrade to something huge in a few years. I like the wide and deep tank better than the thinner long ones most people have.

 

What are the dimensions on that thing? Is there someplace that sells them or is this a custom job? And what's the DD stand for? Double Deep?

 

I can't wait to see this with the lights on it.

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disaster999

i would rethink the return pump loaction, instead of having it right smack in the middle and infront of the sump. going to suck if you need to do something in the sump and the plumbing and pump is in the way.

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only thing that will be in the sump is my skimmer and an ATO will be hooked up, as well as 1 heater, so honestly i won't have much in the way of equipment under the tank, so it shouldn't be too hard to service if need be

 

tank dimensions are 48*36*27

 

it's a 200g marineland deep dimension tank, this setup ran me a little over 1k but i got it used from someone who wanted out of the hobby, not sure what the price on it new would be, around 3k i assume depending on what type of stand you wanted to go with

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Looking sweet beeker. Can't wait to see the PAR38s over that beast.

 

I'd love a tank of that size. I'd much rather have a deep tank rather than a long one. That's why I like the 40B so much. Great proportions. I would have to move to even consider a tank of your size though.

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thanks for the comments evil, i just posted on your thread, didn't see you already posted here, lol

 

Yeah i can't wait for the lighting, this will truley be a dream tank for me and hopefully it all goes acording to plan, granted the plumbing took me and my dad 3 days and about 6 hours of fun, i'm just hoping the lighting goes a little smoother as it should be a lot less intensive

 

Hopefully in a month i'll have half the tank lit by PAR38's i'll pretty much be lighting 1side of the tank to start and then i'll slowly be adding bulbs to the left side of the tank

 

i do plan on adding some powerbrite moonlights or something similar after the main lighting is up and running

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I'd look at the Ecoxotic Stunners for that. About the same cost as the Powerbrites, but much smoother light output.

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Cool i'll look into those still about a month or more away from getting any moonlights but i'll definatly check those out

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Aqauscape pics, the right side is done the left side isn't finished i have to wait until my corals are unmounted from my main 29g before i can transfer the rock over to build up the left side

 

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Left side view of aquascape

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Enjoi!

 

I should have lighting up in 3-4 weeks from now, i have 1 piece of coral in the tank already and it's looking good so when everything is done i'll have some more eye candy :]]

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That's a sweet setup you have there. It so totally looks like a museum or something. It's got so much potential and you're already off to a great start. Looking good. Can't wait to see it develop.

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Me and my dad just got the track lighting setup, hopefully in 2 weeks i'll have the first set of PAR38's over the tank

 

I'll have pics up as soon as possible after i get the lighting :]

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I just got word the PAR38's were shipped out yesterday, i should have some pics of the setup next week after i recieve the bulbs, should be a blast :P

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