Getting back in - looking for information on equipment

[monkiboy]

As for lights, I personally know the guys who started up Ecotech Marine, so I will try to work a deal with them and see what I can come up with... the Radion's are hard to beat (Vega's are also nice from the testing I've seen and the discussions I've had with Sanjay). The Kessil are not worth the gamble as I haven't seen any reliable test results with them and they are a bit too blue for my tastes.

you should check out the evergrow units - we just had a gb on them. the savings over the ecotech marine alternative will be in the $2000+ with proven excellent results with a variety of corals, depths and setups, reliability, quietness, performance, etc. if anything, just another option to consider and one of my favorite lighting options of the past year or so. although, can get the gen 1 radions piece by piece at around $450 or so but even then are quite expensive and not really doing it in terms of "full spectrum".

 

it's been interesting following along your build ideas and motivations as you seek out the right gear - keep us posted!

[wade]

So I wound up getting the Radions (Gen 2) from my buddies at Ecotech Marine - along with some refurb'd mp40's. So lights and water motion are set.

 

Wound up buying a DC-10000 to try as a return pump - if it performs poorly (I expect around 2200gph from it, decent, but not fantastic, but at very little energy cost) I will switch to an old Dart that I picked up. (Best estimate on the dc12000's is middle of May... booo.)

 

I am hoping that the two vortechs plus the return will be enough water motion. If I have to add more later, I might consider cleaning up my old Tunze (those things last forever!) - just have to come up with a way to attach it.

 

I'm now thinking about aquascaping and under stand design as I have nearly finished sealing the stand and canopy.

 

Oh, and I came up with a system for attaching the radions inside the hood. I have pics and will start a thread on it when I finish installing them so everyone can see it in one place.

 

Getting very close now!

[swimmatte]

Nice, I look forward to seeing how this ends up!