Tink

I have an 8x16 rectangular room that I'm setting up as my fish room and wanted a few opinions. The room is painted cinder-block and below grade. The block seems to stay around 50 degrees and at this point in the year the room itself is about 54 (unheated utility room). Three sides of the room are exterior walls (top 8' wall, right wall, and bottom wall). I'm wondering if it'd be worth the cost (about $350) to insulate the walls with foam board (2" R13 on the exterior walls and 1" on the interior)? With a dehumidifier running the room will hit about 60 this time of year so I would still need to heat the room further to avoid the tank heaters being on most of the time. I'm just not sure if it's worth it because I imagine the cooler room would be helpful in the warmer months. The ceiling of the room in open joists with R13 fiberglass insulation, and another concern of mine is humidity. At this point I'm not sure if it's be better to run an exhaust fan to the outside or a dehumidifier. Would it be smart to add foam board to the ceiling to create an almost sealed box type effect to keep moisture away from the joists and plumbing? Any help or past experiences would be greatly appreciated. Thanks

Ordered 7 bags! Thanks for the heads up

I plan to install a couple centrifugal exhaust fans used commonly in horticulture, and connect them to temp and humidity monitors for environmental control.

Absolutely. I was looking at the Hamilton reflectors as an alternative if they would work better in my situation. I have no experience with anything other then LB Mini or Large though.

Height to mount the reflector is an unknown at this point. If I mount them at 10" from water to the base of the reflector that gives me 11" of space between the top rim of my 125 sump and the 2x6 that is the left to right span supporting the 180 on my stand. So every inch higher decreases that access space, and every inch lower increases it. Obviously I'd like to have as much as possible without shooting myself in the foot lighting wise.

Is that taking into account the LB Minis? I ask because I've heard 16" as well. Also, 12" to bulb or bottom of reflector? Thanks for the feedback

Yes, it's a standard Marineland Reef Ready 180

No chiller

Exactly what I was thinking of doing. I've got Lumatek switchable ballasts. Any thoughts on a reflector to use in this case? I'd like to be able to keep them closer to the water to free up some space if possible, but realize that LumenBright mini will push a good bit of light.

So I'm getting hung up with the lighting plans for my new 180 build. My fish room has a ceiling height of 7', and I'll be using an older 125 as a sump (72x18x22, only 1 center brace). The trouble this creates is a close balancing act when it comes to stand height (every inch shorter gives me that much smaller of a gap between the 125 sump top trim and the stand structure, but then every inch taller a bit more room is gained). What this comes down to is planing to give myself the proper distance between the ceiling and the tank to accommodate my metal halides. I currently have LumenBright Mini reflectors to use, but am not married to them if there is a better option that fits. I plan to use either 250w or 400w Radium bulbs ( I like that 400 Radium color, but realize I may not have the height to run them safely/effectively ??) and just need to figure out the best space to have so that I can start planing my stand. So my questions are these: 250 or 400 on my 180? Why? Which reflector would best serve my needs (least distance between water and reflector, but still put out efficient PAR numbers)? Optimal distance to allow myself from water to ceiling (keeping in mind that every inch counts)? Decisions Decisions Thanks for the help folks

That's correct, and that was a relatively brief event. I don't believe there's a flatworm issue due to the other euphyllia doing fine. Also, no new adds for over a month or 2. The coral has been fed in the past. I feed it meaty foods any time I feed them to the fish. The system is relatively low population, only 3 fish. I've relocated the torch to the frag tank to rule out an environmental issue I hope. It seems to be doing the same.

No, thermostat kept it off even though the controller had it on

Temp always stays between 75.5 and 76. The temp drop was actually only to 73.7 before I caught it.

I sure do

No changes at all, though the tank did drop 3 degrees about a week ago when a heated had an issue. Maybe that was it? I'd be surprised though, the tank only dropped to 72