totalimmortal363 Posted July 2, 2008 Posted July 2, 2008 It's been setup for approx 6-8 months with about 3 months of that being SW. The tank was first used to acclimate Bumblebee Gobies and has been SW ever since. Water parameters are good. Ammo 0, Nitrite 0, and Nitrate around 10. It has about 5lbs of dead base rock. It's extra Lace Rock from my African Cichlid setup. It has gravel, BLEH!! But that will change in time. Lighting is a 50/50 10 watt Coralife, but that will change once the right fixture comes along. Beginning.... With sand and some live rock, i'll be replacing the dead rock with live as I find pieces I like The OceanDirect Live Sand The original filter froze up on me, so I replaced it with a Whisper 5-15 that I had lying around. That will become a AC 70 once this project really gets rolling. I recently added a 50 watt Marineland Stealth that works fantastic BTW! It had a cheapo Jr. Heater from Wal-Mart that didn't work for crap. I know it's got a long way to go but i think I'm on the right track. BTW, it's in the open center section of the stand for my 55G African Cichlid tank. I just need to find a fixture I can hang from the "ceiling" of the stand so i can ditch the top all together.
totalimmortal363 Posted July 2, 2008 Author Posted July 2, 2008 Any suggestion, comments, and criticisms are welcome.
clownfish1124 Posted July 2, 2008 Posted July 2, 2008 Great start, sorta. do you plan on keeping corals?
totalimmortal363 Posted July 2, 2008 Author Posted July 2, 2008 Yes, eventually. I'm torn between finishing building my 70W MH Pendant and figuring how to hang/mount it in the space or hanging a pendant and using two Coralife 50/50 Cf bulbs. The answer is pretty easy, just how to mount the MH pendant.
revaltion131 Posted July 2, 2008 Posted July 2, 2008 Yes, eventually. I'm torn between finishing building my 70W MH Pendant and figuring how to hang/mount it in the space or hanging a pendant and using two Coralife 50/50 Cf bulbs. The answer is pretty easy, just how to mount the MH pendant. Some people have made frames of PVC piping to suspend their fixture from. How much vertical space above the tank do you have and how much of it will the pendant take up?
totalimmortal363 Posted July 2, 2008 Author Posted July 2, 2008 From the waters surface to the "roof" is 15 inches. The Pendant is 5.5 inches. I'd like to drill through the back of the stand to get the wires out. I dunno where I'd mount the ballast.
revaltion131 Posted July 2, 2008 Posted July 2, 2008 From the waters surface to the "roof" is 15 inches. The Pendant is 5.5 inches. I'd like to drill through the back of the stand to get the wires out. I dunno where I'd mount the ballast. Can you get a pic of the whole set up, from "floor" to "roof"? That could help others help you brainstorm better. What kind of cordage are you working with for the ballast? Mine is on the floor next to the tank stand, maybe I'm just lucky with it, but I didn't have to bother mounting it.
totalimmortal363 Posted July 2, 2008 Author Posted July 2, 2008 It will be a BallastWise Ballast. I'll see what the wiring is like when I get it. I've only wired standard florescent ballasts before. Im thinking of using black PVC to go from the back wall at the roof and then use a 90 degree elbow to go down to hang the fixture. I don't want to mount the fixture directly to the roof because I cant drill very deep.
totalimmortal363 Posted July 3, 2008 Author Posted July 3, 2008 Everything looks so dirty in those pictures. So, how high should the light be off the water?
OceanNano Posted July 3, 2008 Posted July 3, 2008 Everything looks so dirty in those pictures. So, how high should the light be off the water? IMHO I would put your MH as high as possible....You might need a fan to keep your temp down ( It looks kinda closed-up in that cabinet & might trap excess heat ) When I added a 20w PC to my 5G HEX I had to add a cooling fan to keep the tank below 81F with the air temp @ 75F Just something to think about.... I hope it works out for you & keep the photos coming
totalimmortal363 Posted July 3, 2008 Author Posted July 3, 2008 Thats my only reservation about continuing with the 70W MH is the heat on such a small tank. Considering the size of the tank, what real disadvantages would there be to using 40W of 50/50 PC in a hanging fixture as opposed to the 70W MH hanging fixture?
totalimmortal363 Posted July 6, 2008 Author Posted July 6, 2008 Now, Zoas, shrooms, easy things of that nature. 6 months to a year from now, who knows. I think I'll do what I must to make the MH work.
totalimmortal363 Posted July 9, 2008 Author Posted July 9, 2008 First page updated with a couple new pictures.
Recommended Posts
Archived
This topic is now archived and is closed to further replies.