Marty

The housing is square, but the fan opening is round. The square housing allows for screws/bolts in all 4 corners for mounting.

I would recommend two fans also, but one blowing in and one pulling out would work more efficiently than having both blow in. I did not put any holes in the top of my hood because I didn't want any light shining up on the ceiling. For those that do have holes in the top, how do you deal with the light on the ceiling issue?

So, pez, the 250 moguls just aren't worth it, huh? Then why did you charge me so much for them?? :p With a 125, I'd go with 3 of whichever you choose. Two just won't give you a good spread of usable light on a 6' tank.

I cut a ~3 1/2" hole, drilled 4 holes and used bolts, not screws to hold it on. mc

I've got an icecap fan. You can attach the wire with a wire clip and a short screw or a big staple. I wired the temp probe to the side of my canopy about 8" from the lights and 3-4" above the water line. If you put it too close to the lights, it'll be on high all the time. I love it. It's really quiet and seems to cool my hood really well. I've got one 4" in my hood with 2 250w MH's and 4 110w VHO's. I get some temp swings, but nothing more than 4-5 degrees during the day. If I had it to do over again, I'd put two fans in. I screwed up by centering the one I got. I guess I could put one on the other end pulling air out instead of an empty grate. I'll add that to the list of things I want to or would do the next time! I need another 3 ring binder to fit it all now.

I've got a flame angel, and as michael says, it's a pig. I feed formula 1 & 2 flake, frozen brine, minced shrimp, freeze dried worms, and a couple other things alternately. My flame eats everything with vigor. I also notice it picking at the algae on the glass all the time. I haven't had any problems with it picking at corals. I guess I got lucky and got a well behaved one. mc

Booze Plumbing in Vienna. A little pricey, but they have anything you want, or they can order it. Try a couple different HD's. I've found that the one at FX Circle doesn't have as much plumbing stuff as the one in Merrifield. You're probably not going to find bulkhead fittings there, but any other PVC piece you need, they should have. Marine Depot has a great on-line selection too.

Why would I want your pieces?

kimo, what type of 180 are you using? 4MH's may be difficult to get into a standard 180 (at least oceanic) with the two braces evenly spaced 1/3 of the way along the tank. Don't most people use 3 MH's? Unless you're using an acrylic tank or some other type that I'm ignorant about (highly likely :D )

I'm posting pics of my overflows in the gallery for anyone interested. mc

Maybe we should have a fish loaner program. But I don't want to be the one to have to catch and recatch my purple tang in a reef tank.

I'd love to have your problem. I can't keep caulerpa growing and I don't have a fuge to propogate it. The few times I've gotten a bunch, my purple tang devours it in an hour or so, then like aquariareview's, burps and looks for something else to eat. Never have had a problem with it nipping corals or polyps tho. mc

I've not had a problem with oil slicks. I've got really good water movement and my return and one other powerhead are directly agitating the surface. My return is completely submerged. One other point on the 'exhaust' hole in the return. Make sure you don't put it too far below the surface. In a power outage, the tank will drain into your sump until the siphon breaks. If your sump is too small, or the hole is too far below the surface, your sump will overflow before the siphon breaks. I'll try to get pics of my overflows and return from inside and outside the tank tonight. mc

If you mean blurry as looking like crap, I got that when I first started taking pics. In the auto mode, the lens will focus on the glass instead of the object you're looking at. Especially if there is anything at all on the glass. Some cameras also have a focus mode where the camera will focus when you push the button partially, then if you move the camera it stays on that focus no matter what you see through the view finder. I have noticed that taking macro (zoom in) pics always come out crisp and in focus. Play around with it and try lots of different things. All cameras and tanks (not to mention photographers) are different. Find what works for you. You think it's bad taking pictures of your tank, try doing it in scuba gear 100' down! Good luck. mc

I've got two 1" bulkheads. There's a 90deg elbow inside that rotates to adjust the water depth in the tank. Currently they're both turned about 20deg to one side. They both have the basket cone strainers on top also. I don't get any sucking sounds from mine. All I hear is the water flowing down the tubes. The only time I get sucking sounds is when I remove the cones and water rushes out, then once the level stabilizes, the sucking goes away and there's just a relatively quiet water flow sound. I can get some pictures tonight if anyone's interested. mc

The problem with having it as a display is it would be a little more difficult (did not say prohibitive) to make it "educational". It also becomes a maintenance issue. In the classroom it can be used for science lectures and experimentation. And a smaller tank would be a little more managable for someone who is not used to the hobby. Not that a big display tank would be bad to look at anywhere... my 2 cents. I think this is a great idea. mc

If he's continually feeding DT's and rotifers, that would seem to back up what pez said. Everything is being killed, so he has to supplement heavily.

It'll be gone later this evening when all the paranoid soccer moms buy it for traction. I'm sure that's why they have it out now.

I've got two cleaners in my 120. I rarely see them. Not sure why. This is the 3rd pair I've tried. I seem to lose them all the time. I think it has something to do with that snapping and popping I always hear after the lights go out........ mc

I think the frame idea would work great for a fuge where you have space. But for a sump, usually it's crammed/shoved/shoe-horned under the stand and space is a premium. Not sure if a bulky frame would fit. Great idea tho. Those of you fortunate enough to have space or a 'fish room' have a little more leeway. I'll try to plan that into my next house. ::

You can get rubbermaid tubs at home depot, target, walmart, etc, etc. The biggest drawback of a rubbermaid tub of any size is it bows out a lot when filled. You can get a more rigid storage container, but they don't come as big as rubbermaid tubs. I think you can get rubbermaid tubs for farming applications that are heavier, but they tend to be larger - 100g +. I would check the boards and the newspaper. Used acrylic and glass tanks pop up pretty regularly in the 40g range. If you're not in a huge hurry check them out. Hope this helps. Marty

The true test is a sip test.... :O

'Micro' blue legs are probably ok, but if they grow, you won't have snails for long. Micro blue legs become macro blue legs. Either get scarlets or go with all snails. I have nassarius, ceriths, turbos, and astreas and things stay pretty clean. I think I have a couple scarlet hermits, but I only rarely see them since they're nocturnal.

Not meaning to be critical, but your logic sounds a lot like suggesting to cycle a tank with damsels. I think I know what you mean, but the way you wrote it, sounds like a captive cultured frag is entirely expendible. I know you better than that tho. I had a similar set-up with a 55g w/440w's of VHO. I tried an acro and a monti and both did not fare well. I had them about 12" below the bulbs. That's as high as my rock went. You may not want to go with a high light acro to start. Try something a little hardier. Just my 2 cents.

I don't currently have the spiderlight type reflectors. I used the cheap metal flashing option. The VHO's are on the dual bulb endcaps on either side of the MH's. My MH's are parallel to the length of the tank. Not sure why you'd want to put them perpendicular. IMHO, if you went with two 400's, I'd use 6500k and two 110w actinics. If you wanted to really light up the tank, keep all 4 VHO's and use all actinics. Some folks use just the MH's with 20000k bulbs, but that doesn't allow you to simulate dawn and dusk. I have my VHO's come on about 2 hours before the MH's and stay on for about 2 hours after the MH's go out. The VHO's are on for about 12 hours and the MH's are on for about 8 hours. Ideally, I would split the VHO's onto two 430's and have the actinics come on for an hour before the 50/50's then the MH's and reverse the order for shut down. I also run an icecap fan in my hood. I love the variable speed and the noise is almost nothing. Definitely worth the extra money.