Sikryd

+1 - I would definetely stop by and check his system out. While I am a fan of inwalls, I am an even bigger fan of a 3 sided viewable tank. It seems like you loose too much viewing if you can only do it from the front. Bob has a VERY NICE, clean looking setup that is definetely worth checking out to get ideas from. Everything from plumbing, to electrical, lighting - including using an actuator to lift and lower the light canopy, to a frag tank - sump - refugium setup. I have seen a lot of different setups and his is in the Top 10 I have seen that are done right from the bottom up. It definetely gave me some ideas if I was going to run a bigger tank in my basement..........did I say that?!?!!? Lets just hope I don't take that idea too far....... It definetely looks like you are doing your homework. I'll be following this to see how it is coming along! Its unreal the amount of planning, time, money and effort we put into glass boxes!!!

Without writing out all of what I did, and bought since then, I didn't change line item two above - I just disconnected the 8 plug computer thing from the wall that my pumps were on, and plugged it into the extension cord from the generator. Same with the fridge, I plugged it into the other extension cord from the generator. I just recently bought the male end and was going to cut an extention cord and was going to add that end on it soon. I just didn't feel like explaining it all, and couldn't think of the what the eight plug thing is called that all my pumps plug into I'm glad I didn't waste a good extension cord now. Cool - now I should be on the road to the legal beagal, safely way of doing it.

Thanks Dan! That is exactly what I was looking for. Something that kind of explained it so I could see what you guys were talking about. I understand the schematic more than someone trying to put it into words online, since my background has a lot to do with electrical, just not household 120v. I'm still learning and reading up on that stuff right now while I am re-doing a few things I am not happy with around the house. Now I see what you guys were saying about the backfeed issue and how this will cut it off the box completely so the power is isolated. I'll pick one of these up tomorrow at Lowe's or HomeDepot and get to wiring. With the storms around here lately I'll probably be able to test it out again before years end. Thanks for all the help, I am definetely glad I asked this on here. I knew there were some knowledgeable electrical guys on here. I'll definetely pass the information on.

Nice job, it looks good!

lol@Dan Cool - I'll look into the transfer switch option. Does anyone have a link to one online that would work? I have no idea what to begin to look for? I was under the impression that they were $500+ - I guess that is for the auto-transfer switch? I have a certified electrician do all my connecting to the box, and checking my circuits, so I'm sure he'll hook it up - I'll pick up the parts and do the work. I'm still in the middle of wiring my basement, so that'll work out good. The long term plan was to hook up an external outlet that is on the same circuit and use that to plug the generator into. So this will work well with that since it isn't that big of a deal to add the transfer switch in.

The mesh works 5x and does about 30cfm with it installed. It sounds like you have something stuck or cocked and it isn't able to spin fast enough to create a good enough suction in the air line. I would take it apart, put the mesh wheel on it (cut with scissors around the edge to get as balanced as you can) and see what happens. I have had mine running for 6 months with no problems or cleaning at all. This includes power outages, unplugging and replugging without a hitch. It just takes 20 min to pull the pump apart and trim the mesh if it is imbalanced and doesn't start up on its own. You can also put your hand over the intake to block the waterflow, hopefully create more suction, and see if it "seats" the impellor. I did this before I spent the 10min it took me to trim the mesh when it wouldn't start up right on its own.

Are you going to let us in on it Chip? I'd like to set it up as safe as possible, and not have any issues. Being lazy and just leaving it the way it is, just isn't my cup of tea. So - What would be the best way to go about this, without spending a ton of money on a seperate junction box and switch?

A lot of people on here are pretty experienced with growing sps. So I would say it would be a little easier to post your setup, or what you would like to do, and people could let you know from their experience what your scenario would be like. 300 par at the surface of the water is sufficient to grow sps in the top of your tank. Sans the par meter, you can try a piece out and see how it does. I'm sure someone could give you a frag of something to see how it works out for you. I have grown SPS with T-5's at the bottom of a 72g bowfront. There are a lot of factors that can affect light penetration. Water quality and clarity being #1. Sps isn't as hard to grow or maintain like it was a few years back with all the new equiptment and lighting.

What par meter are you using? Is it calibrated for sun or inside lighting? (I'd get technical, but it doesn't really matter - usually they are calibrated for one or the other) Is it attached to a multimeter? What setting is it on? Most likely those numbers need to be multiplied by something, most DIY meters are setup with some type of multiplyer since the value is off. For example, my buddies is set so you have to multiply the screen reading on the multi-meter by 5x.

I added a generator to my stable a little while back. Since then I have had a couple questions pop up online and have been wondering if the electricians or guys that know, could answer some things. When the power went out this is what I did - 1. Shut the breaker off at the box 2. I ran a male to male extension cord from the generator to the wall outlet/circuit I wanted to energize. When the power came back on, I shutdown the generator and disconnected it, shut everything off - to not get a surge in the circuit, then turned the breaker back on. The question was posed that since the breaker "ground", bus, or nuetral line stays connected, that possibly power could be fed back up the line into the grid. I don't think that that would be possible - household electronics aside - just knowing that the circuit isn't complete. Not to mention that when the power came back on, then it would theoretically backfeed to the generator and blow it - which doesn't happen. So is there anything I need to do more, or worry about while connecting my generator up?

160g - the boxes are 200g

Thanks for the info. I'm getting low. Too bad that is a ways out there for me though :(

I'm not sure on that combo since I haven't tried out the Ushio 14k. The ballast should be a good M80 though. Sanjays Lighting guide is where I got a LOT of my information when I was looking. You'll have to sign up at Manhattan Reefs, which takes about 30 seconds. But he has spectoral plot charts, par readings, and everything else you could imagine with different bulb/ballast combos. I ended up sticking with the tried and true from hearing from other people since it was just too much information and to be honest, I didn't really care that much. I wanted a nice crisp white light, with good growth.

Yes a 250w in a lumenarc type reflector would torch your corals. Those reflectors are pretty insane as far as par transfer. I have done a lot of testing on my tank with 250w DE and magnetic ballast. I think I had a par chart in my tank thread. A 250w @ 12" - 16" would be perfect for your application, depending on what you are growing. 12" center you will probably get 300-450 par, bring it up to 16" and you will be in the 250-350 range - dead center of course. Bring out from there and you are looking @ ~ 100 par at the fringes. That would be my best guess based on the testing I have done with my setup.

Its funny when I read and see this stuff about natural vs. ect. Our tanks are nothing like a real reef, the bulbs aren't the sun, and like someone stated - divers have no clue what a coral will look like when in a home aquarium and it is acclimated. I get stuff from a guy that is pro 10k - he probably has 30k-50k in livestock - it is all muted brown in color, not saying it isn't colorful, but no where near the pop you can really get out of some of these corals. I LOVE going to his house and picking up a few things here and there, cause I know once I get them home after about a month the coral will look insane in my tank, if they looked half way decent in his. Sure he gets sweet growth, but he has an established reef, so he has to cut stuff more than anything. Not to mention his walls look "yellow" from the halides. I put 14k Phoenix's on magnetic ballasts, per a lot of people suggestions. It looks as natural as can be. My walls are "white" again and the color/flourescensce of my corals show and look "natural". The best thing to do is see someones setup that you like, and then emulate it. I have seen 50+ tanks around here, and up north all the way to New York - imo the most UNNATURAL looking tanks are the ones with 10k's on them (of which there are very few that still run them on their show tanks) The old 10k for growth arguement is outdated. We have the technology now in bulbs, ballasts, and reflectors that you don't need the par from a 10k to get growth. The 14k and even some 20k bulbs are getting the same par that 10k's used to when the point was valid. Most corals above 400 par reach their saturation point and won't grow or use the light anyway. My .02

Bob - I have an Aquamedic silver single 250w pendant and ballast setup if you end up looking for one. I would say that the effective lighting area is more in the 24" x 36" range ~ 14" off the water - with lower light corals going in the last 6" on the other sides. Or you can go the Lumanmax reflector and get a little more I would think. Like this Aqua Medic Spacelight EX 1 X 250 Watt 10,000K HQI Pendant Item Code: AQ1651Please make a selection List Price: $481.99 Price: $334.99 Price Range: $304.99 to $334.99 Aqua Medic Spacelight EX 250 Watt 10,000K HQI Pendant The Spacelight EX is the next generation family of lighting products from Aqua Medic. They are packed with all the best attributes of the renowned Spacelight series including the finest German bulb holders, superior reflectors, and aluminum housings in a fine powder coat finish. They also boast the best of the Oceanlight series with a variety of sizes and formats, competitive prices and all external ballasts. Even the T5 ballasts are externally cord mounted! All HQI lamps are powered by US made Reeflex Cube magnetic ballasts (included). Includes:

I run mine on the cooler side like that and haven't had any issues before. 76-78 was standard. Now that I have 4 250w over the tank, it jumps it up 1.5f so I adjusted my temperature to 78 normal - 79.5 and have only noticed a little more growth. That could be from a lot of things though. I never noticed anything negative from the lower temps before though.

Call them and talk to Steve. If it was shipped within the months he is aware of, and he'll ask you to send in your serial #'s, and pictures of the wetside in question, in an email.

Its .11 per 1k out here. I think the APEX is the only one that monitors amperage off the Energy bar, but I could be wrong. You could also pick up a kill-a-watt meter for $20 and measure everything seperately. For me its just a great little addition to an already pretty cool controller. I am still looking into learning all the in's and out's and how to use the RSS feeds better.

Definetely a cool controller. I LOVE the new interface, and different options it has. Its nice to see that a LFS got them in. I pre-ordered mine from NS.

The regular ACIII doesn't let you track power consumption - I don't know about the pro. I have the new Apex, and I can see on the graph what each thing is using and for how long (ie. how long it is on). I like that feature. Plus it lets me know if I am in the ballpark or a little close to what the circuit is rated for as far as amperage consumption.

What ballast are you running? It sounds like you are on an Aquamedic fixture if it had AB's in it. I would pick up some 14k Phoenix's or those buy one get one's off of Marinedepot right now. You will be amazed with how much better color you get, and the "whiter" light vs. yellow.

The breaker usually says on it - it goes by amps - usually 15amps or 120v x 15a = 1800w + or - of course

Thats cool Doug - 1cm huh! Yeah Walt raises a bunch of different species up here. I'm not sure of his luck with distribution though. He would be the one to talk to though if someone was to venture into that territory. I know he supplies a couple local stores up here, and has started with some Latz's, and another rarer species. So it should be cool to see how he does with that. Currently he has 45 cubes setup. Kind of a nice little setup for wholesale breeding. Thats cool your having fun with it. Hopefully local stores will scoop them up.

Well I just got off the phone with Steve @ Ecotech marine - service@ecotechmarine.com - 800-785-0338 Ext.3 They had a bad batch of 1000 driveshafts that went into new pumps, repaired wetsides, and wetside boxes. He said they had a batch that was oversized by .004 of an inch, that has been causing issues such as bearings locking up and melting things together - which of course cause the wetside to fall to the bottom of the tank. They have identified the issue and will sent out new driveshafts if you are having a problem. I figured this deserved its own thread so people can read the title and know that there is a fix. Try and get this out to the other forums if you can, cause I know for me it drove me insane!!!