sachabballi reef April 23, 2013 Share April 23, 2013 (edited) well, I am definitely interested to watch the evolution! yea you did have a little ADD going on I would have been doing the same thing if Wayne didn't text me his ETA every once in a while...so I was able to just hang and listen....even though I wanted to ask you or Evan to grab me a drink every time you guys went back and forth LOL Edited April 23, 2013 by sachabballi reef Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wade May 6, 2013 Author Share May 6, 2013 (edited) Very many thanks to those who came out this weekend to help me migrate the old 240 out and the new 180 into the house. Here's a pic of the tank on stand with canopy. Just getting it all laid out to start the plumbing and electrical routing. https://lh6.googleusercontent.com/-ndb-7bUYJGs/UYgsIid-c1I/AAAAAAAACnc/MHGddQr_8k4/w931-h793/180_stand_inhouse_May2.jpg (For some reason, uploads won't go for me.) Edited May 6, 2013 by wade Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
flooddc May 6, 2013 Share May 6, 2013 Looking good! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
swffan May 6, 2013 Share May 6, 2013 Very many thanks to those who came out this weekend to help me migrate the old 240 out and the new 180 into the house. Here's a pic of the tank on stand with canopy. Just getting it all laid out to start the plumbing and electrical routing. https://lh6.googleus...nhouse_May2.jpg (For some reason, uploads won't go for me.) Looks great! Glad you got those suction cups or we would have been in trouble! Can't wait to see it up and running. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
surf&turf May 6, 2013 Share May 6, 2013 Lookin good, following along. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
howaboutme May 7, 2013 Share May 7, 2013 Very nice Wade! Like the baby stuff too. Ha ha..Sometimes forget reefing isn't the only things in our lives.... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Reefoholic May 8, 2013 Share May 8, 2013 Very exciting thread! Tagging along... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wade May 17, 2013 Author Share May 17, 2013 Update: Freshwater testing it now. Crappy glasscages bulkheads are not sealing well (luckily I have others I can use to replace them). Wires are a jungle atm, because I am still working on arranging and making sure everything works. Still need to connect the reactor in (no CO2 yet) and get the Apex connected (I can't find the powercord, but don't recall seeing one in the box either). Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wade May 17, 2013 Author Share May 17, 2013 Final equipment list: (3) Radion Gen 2 (2) 1" <old!!> seaswirls for the return DC10000 return pump 300W Ebo Jager heater Reef octopus skimmer (in sump model) - DCS 250) Apex lite with leak detection module and 2 sensors + pH and temp probes Avast! Ca reactor (2) MP40 Working on the layout now. Once I get the bulkhead issue sorted out, I plan to add the salt and get some LR to finish that off. Wound up doing a gurgle buster type overflow standpipe. I put single 1.5" drains into each overflow, which is a bit problematic (I had thought I'd explained I wanted a single overflow with 2 holes... Oh well.) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
YHSublime May 17, 2013 Share May 17, 2013 What are the 3 white boxes hanging on the right? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wade May 17, 2013 Author Share May 17, 2013 What are the 3 white boxes hanging on the right? The electronic ballasts for the LEDs (Radions). Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
howaboutme May 17, 2013 Share May 17, 2013 It's looking very nice! What's the purpose of the 1" or so wide glass edge strips on the bottom of the tank aligning against the tank walls? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wade May 17, 2013 Author Share May 17, 2013 What's the purpose of the 1" or so wide glass edge strips on the bottom of the tank aligning against the tank walls? I believe that it is a reflection of Glass Cages's fear of their own handiwork. :p It is just excess bracing (you should see the top bracing). Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
steveoutlaw May 17, 2013 Share May 17, 2013 Crappy glasscages bulkheads are not sealing well (luckily I have others I can use to replace them). Just be glad it's only the bulkheads and not the tank seams!!! Looking good! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wade May 22, 2013 Author Share May 22, 2013 Tank is now full of water - took 4 days for my RO system (with a 75gpd membrane) to fill it. I think I was only getting about a 10% or less throughput. :p I've begun adding salt and should have the salinity up to speed tonight. Next question: Anyone willing to donate some sand/debris from your tank to kick start mine? Please no volunteers if you have pest problems. I'd prefer folks near the Frederick MD/Leesburg VA area so as not to travel much (yet). Cheers, Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sachabballi reef May 22, 2013 Share May 22, 2013 Im headed out to Disney but very happy to give you some sand when I get back. Its teeming with pods.. I'm in leesburg Sent from my DROID RAZR using Tapatalk 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wade May 22, 2013 Author Share May 22, 2013 Thanks! I'm out this weekend as well, so maybe next? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ryan S May 22, 2013 Share May 22, 2013 Wade - don't be surprised if the 3 radions don't work for you. A 180g would need 6 like this: = = = to have a shot with radions, and even then, I still don't think they'd do it. You won't get the spread you want; and definitely not the penetration. If it was my tank, I'd go with 3 400w MHs above, especially for an SPS tank. You could get complete spread and depth penetration that way; plus great coloration and growth. We have a few AMAZING 180g tanks on wamas with 250 or 400 MHs over them. Some of our best SPS tanks imo. But still give the radions a try, just keep my voice in the back of your mind if you notice extremely slow growth or lack of par at the bottom. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wade May 22, 2013 Author Share May 22, 2013 I previously ran 4x400W halides over the tank. But those lamps and massive pumps were also a primary reason for my refusal to get back into the hobby after I moved. I cannot get over the heavy power consumption that halides require and will never return to them. If the intensity is not high enough I will probably fall back to less light intensive species or eventually add more lamps, but we'll see how it goes. As far as the radion's, I may well need 1 more. However, I'm building the rockwork such that it maximizes the light by being more or less directly under the lamps. Based on the reviews by Sanjay and Dana Riddle's estimates on maxing out spectral absorption, I do think there will be enough light at least 2/3's of the way down the water column under them. Of course, those aren't practical applications. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ryan S May 22, 2013 Share May 22, 2013 Having had 400w's before, you'll definitely be in a position to compare SPS coloration and growth speed with the radions compared to what you had, so that's good. I hope the radions work for you. And the power consumption is a monster, no doubt about it. Even then, playing devil's advocate a little bit here; 6 hours with 3 400w MH's (7200W/day) ... would still out perform 3-6 radions, and be about the same, or even less wattage over a 24 hour period. Just something to think about later on. Looking forward to following your build thread! 3 170w radions running for 12 hours = 6120W 3 400w MH's running for 6 hours = 7200W 4 170w radions running for 12 hours = 8160W 6 170w radions running for 12 hours = 12,240W Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CaptainRon May 22, 2013 Share May 22, 2013 LEDs can ramp up and down - doesn't that mean they also use less power during the ramping process? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wade May 22, 2013 Author Share May 22, 2013 Captain - yes, they do consume less when ramping - which mine will be programmed to do. Photosaturation occurs (depending on how much intensity you have) within a few hours in home aquaria. My intent (and we'll see how it goes) is to ramp each of the lamps and have them migrate across the tank with time, simulating the sun's movement. Their time at 100% will be around 4-5 hours each. I'd arranged them to provide a decent amount of overlap. At 30", on the angle, there will be about 50% overlap on each side to help make up for the lesser intensity of a single lamp. It will definitely be an experiment. I've also considered adding a couple of 2' strips of LEDs (eg, those on buildmyled.com) as supplemental if necessary... I should borrow the wamas par meter and check things out soon. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sachabballi reef May 22, 2013 Share May 22, 2013 Thanks! I'm out this weekend as well, so maybe next?you got it..I'm around during the days so can just drop it at your door when you're ready. Sent from my DROID RAZR using Tapatalk 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ryan S May 23, 2013 Share May 23, 2013 LEDs can ramp up and down - doesn't that mean they also use less power during the ramping process? Absolutely. And on the flip side, many folks run their LEDs 24/7 for lunar viewing purposes. The last I knew, the lowest the radion could go for lunar viewing was 5%, which is 8.5W. At the end of the day though, depending on how many LED units someone has, and how long they are run, I think many would be surprised to find the "electric bill savings" is minimal, if at all. For example: 3 250w MH's running for 8 hours = 6000W 4 170w radions running for 6 hours at 50% (ramping up/down) and 6 hours at 100% = 6,120W 4 170w radions running for 6 hours at 50% (ramping up/down), 6 hours at 100%, and 12 hours at 5% = 6,528W 3 400w MH's running for 6 hours = 7200W 6 170w radions running for 6 hours at 50% (ramping up/down) and 6 hours at 100% = 9,180W 6 170w radions running for 6 hours at 50% (ramping up/down), 6 hours at 100% and 12 hours at 5% = 9,792W Wade - please do share the PAR meter results. I was very surprised when I borrowed it and got the results under my radions. Especially in the corners of the light coverage, and at lower depths. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CaptainRon May 23, 2013 Share May 23, 2013 I don't know about the spread on the radions, but the Chinese 120W leds that are all over the place seem to do pretty well with a 24" x 24" foot print. I have four of them over my 200 and there's more than enough light to grow anything I could want - I even have some SPS on the sand bed (27" tall tank with ~2" of sand) that are doing quite well - and my led's are only up to 70% right now. All that said, I'd think the three radion units should be just fine on a typical 180 sized tank. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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