Cliff Puckstable October 4, 2011 Share October 4, 2011 Ah, where to begin? My first tank was a 30g. Soon after that I ended up getting a 55g. I really wanted some tangs, so I bought a 170g setup. The 170g needed some tlc. It ended up being more than I could handle at the time. I decided to sell that to a local, and at least get most of my money back. I learned my lesson, well I thought I did. About 2 months ago I found a great deal on a 150g setup on good ole CL. It came with the tank, stand, CPR overflow, 40g sump, Mag 9 return pump, MH lighting, and miscellaneous goodies. The only thing that I didn't like, was that it wasn't drilled. I hope I doesn't bite me in the butt later. After I got it home I realized that the stand had got worn from the saltwater over the years. I didn't feel comfortable using it in its condition. It was kinda sketchy. So, I bought a bunch of 2x4's and made it much more rigid. I also decided to stain the wood to help prevent this from happening again. This process took about a month. I procrastinated my butt off. I should have taken more pictures throughout its progression, but I was lazy. Sorry WAMAS. Okay, no more typing and time for some pictures. Coralife 3x150w MH (I don't know what kind of bulbs it has.) The guts This is where my fuge will be. Artsy picture of the rocks. This is a picture of my 55g. I will be transferring most of the rocks into the right side of the 150g. (Thats why it looks bare.) I plan on going BB on this tank. Another thing is the power compacts do not work for some reason. Does anyone have this lighting system and have the same problem? I might run 20k bulbs to compensate for that. I would like a blue hue. I will hopefully have water in and running with fish before Halloween. If you have any suggestions, please feel free to chime in. Thank you for looking. I will update once I get more pictures. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LanglandJoshua October 4, 2011 Share October 4, 2011 It is possible the PC ballast is dead. On some fixtures it can be a bit hard to get to(so I have been told). If you want to speed up the cycle you can start with rock from an established system. This is something I did, and it has worked great for me. The only catch is that you need to understand that it will come with some pests almost 100% of the time. I had a couple deals where it was conveniently forgotten that there were some large bristle worms. But I have learned to control the populations by pruning them with tongs. As for aptasia try Berghia Nudibranches. With some patience they should populate enough to destroy the aptasia. But don't add any peppermint shrimp. They will eat the berghia. If you are interested in live rock, I have some that I was selling but there were no takers. To cover water flow, in my opinion(we've all got one ) a mag 9 would be a bit low for the entire tanks flow. I would suggest some form of power head or supplementary water flow. I wish you the best of luck with this larger tank! In some ways life does get easier, once its all set up. Soon, you will need to consider what kind of fish you want!!! But first make sure you have all the proper gear, RO/DI, water flow, lighting, ATO. If I knew I was going to spend so much time on my system, I would have just kept all the gear dry until I had it all. Now I am adding things one at a time. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cliff Puckstable October 4, 2011 Author Share October 4, 2011 I don't feel like messing with the PC's so I'll get the 20k bulbs, and go from there. I might try and retrofit LED's later down the road. It should be fairly simple to do. There's tons of space for them. I plan on using the rocks out of my old tanks to speed up the cycle on the 150g. I have powerheads as well, They're just not in the picture as of now. There's a big piece of plastic that holds the top of the tank together. This thing sits right under my center MH. I'm thinking of taking my dremel to it. Does anyone think this is a bad idea to cut that section out? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BowieReefer84 October 4, 2011 Share October 4, 2011 There's a big piece of plastic that holds the top of the tank together. This thing sits right under my center MH. I'm thinking of taking my dremel to it. Does anyone think this is a bad idea to cut that section out? Big piece of plastic is likely a center brace, and on a tall tank like a 150 it is a HORRIBLE idea to remove it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
trockafella October 4, 2011 Share October 4, 2011 Big piece of plastic is likely a center brace, and on a tall tank like a 150 it is a HORRIBLE idea to remove it. +1 If your a fan of broken tanks and water on the floor, you should definitely cut it. If not, leave it alone. Though your light may melt it in time. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cliff Puckstable October 4, 2011 Author Share October 4, 2011 Good thing I asked, eh? That could have been so fail. Thanks guys! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Coral Hind October 4, 2011 Share October 4, 2011 Just watch that your center brace doesn't start to melt or become brittle under that light. A different fixture with 2x250's would be better for a tank like that. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cliff Puckstable October 4, 2011 Author Share October 4, 2011 The center piece has bowed up ever so slightly. I gave it a good push to check its rigidity. It seems pretty strong still. The guy I bought it from said he had this setup for years w/o any problems. I'm going to give him benefit of the doubt, and trust him. It's just kind of a waste of light, eh? Oh wells, it is what it is. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cliff Puckstable October 20, 2011 Author Share October 20, 2011 Update: I finally got some water made, and the SG pretty close. I added some live rock and moved the rocks around to make it look more natural. I think it looks 100x better. I pretty much got everything up and running besides the GFO/carbon reactor. I don't plan on using that for a few weeks. I also need to finish my ATO. RODI unit mounted H20 supply. I get pretty good pressure to the unit. (This is with open. It makes 5 gal/per hour.) Refugium Skimmer ATO/reactor This is how it sits right now. Side shot Next pictures will be once I get some livestock. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
surf&turf October 20, 2011 Share October 20, 2011 Looks good, nice scape!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
trockafella October 20, 2011 Share October 20, 2011 I think your off to a great start. I like the aquascape, but IMPO I would move those couple rocks in the middle, and seperate you structures, I think it would open it up a lot more. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cliff Puckstable October 20, 2011 Author Share October 20, 2011 Thanks guys, I know what you mean by those center rocks. I was thinking the same thing when I placed them there. The one rock on the bottom is a beast. I might try and fit it into my sump. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cliff Puckstable October 27, 2011 Author Share October 27, 2011 Is there such a thing as too much light? I was thinking about pulling the center MH out of the fixture, and the pulling the non-working power compacts. Then installing 48x3w LED's in it's place. Would this be over kill for my tank? If this is okay to do, what color combos should I get? What MH bulbs should I get with the LED combo? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LanglandJoshua October 27, 2011 Share October 27, 2011 Yes, I have a 400W MH on my 160 gallon tank. With how close I have it right now, it is to close to the water. I may rebuild my hood to raise the light, and take advantage of the space I have. But sadly right now, I have too much light for some of my corals. This is resulting in lack of growth, death, and sometimes just slow dwindling. So I will be using 250W's. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LanglandJoshua October 27, 2011 Share October 27, 2011 Just saw the LED Q's. I like more blue light, I would prefer to have a combo of some 20k/10k. With a bit more 20k, I love the effect of the blue. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cliff Puckstable October 27, 2011 Author Share October 27, 2011 Is that the only light for your tank? How close is it to the water line? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LanglandJoshua October 27, 2011 Share October 27, 2011 I have that on one side, and a 175 on the other. The 400 is almost 1.5ft up. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cliff Puckstable October 30, 2011 Author Share October 30, 2011 One of our pumpkins Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SunWyrm October 30, 2011 Share October 30, 2011 Wow, that's a beautiful pumpkin! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
surf&turf October 30, 2011 Share October 30, 2011 Beautiful! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Greenhornet October 30, 2011 Share October 30, 2011 Your tank is looking good. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cliff Puckstable December 27, 2011 Author Share December 27, 2011 (edited) Time for a brief update, eh? I'm going to squeeze one in before the new year. I was fortune enough to meet some very generous and wonderful people in this hobby. I was sold/donated some nice pieces. I am grateful for all the help from everyone. WAMAS has been great for me, and I'm sure for many others. Thank you WAMAS members! I took a few pictues, most of them turned out horrible. The decent ones are posted below. I don't really know the names of the corals that I have. I know what category they fall in, like SPS, LPS, etc.. , but have not put an effort into learning their scientific names. One day... Special thanks to Duc, Greenhornet, and mogurnda for helping me get started. You guys have really been generous, so thank you! If you guys have any recommendations on placement of the corals, I'd appreciate it. I kinda put them to the best of my knowledge. Edited December 27, 2011 by greeninja Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jason the filter freak December 27, 2011 Share December 27, 2011 Looking pretty good so far, love the aquascaping Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cliff Puckstable December 27, 2011 Author Share December 27, 2011 Thank you, kind sir. I actually removed a ton of rocks from the previous posts. It's A LOT more open and "cleaner" looking. Even though I opened up a lot of room, my fish only stay one spot. It's killing me. I only have 3 fish for a 150g, and they just stay on one side the entire time. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
surf&turf December 28, 2011 Share December 28, 2011 Lets see another FTS, so we can compare. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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