What do u think of set up

[Drill Sergeant]

Hello everyone

Well the time has finally arrived. Its time for me to start this great hobby. Let me know what you guys/gals think of the set up I'm planning on having. Your comments, will be greatly appreciated

Tank 90 gallon AGA 48x18x24 (with new overflow design)
2 x 660 Ice Cap Ballasts
4 x 110watt VHO
(2-Actinic Whites and 2-Super actinics)
2 - 4" Ice Cap Fans (to be placed in canopy)
1 - Aqua C EV 180 Protein Skimmer
1 - Iwaki 20 (to power the skimmer)
1 - Iwaki 40 (for the return pump)
1 - Tunze Stream Pump 6000
1 - Tunze Multicontroller
2 - 250watt Titanium Heaters
1 - 29 gallon tank (for sump)
1 - PH Pinpoint Monitor

Stand and canopy is being built as we speak.

What do you all think?

DS

[zy112]

sounds nice. what is your livestock plans

[Tosh_Auer]

that sounds like an awsome setup for just starting out. expensive though

[addict]

Sounds great...
You might think about halides with VHO actinic supplementation rather than only using VHO's...
When I started out I had 220w of PC lighting, thinking that would be enough, but ended up adding a 250w Halide anyway.
There's just no comparison between the quality of the light and coral growth.
I only suggested it since it appears that price is no object...
I DIY'd my single 250w halide and spent around $150... you'd probably need 2 of them.

[mps9506]

I think a 660 ballast will push 4 48" bulbs, so if you are just running 4 bulbs you will only need one ballast.
Sounds like maybe you are planning on keeping sps since you are going with the that much flow? I think you will want to go with halides, 250watt mogul based will do very nicely.
Also I would recomend going with a larger sump. Especially if you want to run the aquaC in the sump. Maybe a 30 gallon long or a 40breeder would fit nicely under that stand.
Mike

[Gina]

I would also reccommend MH's. Also, I think you would be happier with a larger sump. I would go with a 40-50 gal sump. If you have the room and the money for it. Not saying that you have to do this, it's just what I would do.

What type of corals do you have planned and what fish?

[Orvin Farmer]

Ditto on the MHs, there is no comparison to the light...also agree with mps9506, about the icecap 660. I have the same ballast running all 4 of my 4ft 110 vho actinics. I would get my money back on the ballast and put it towards the metal halide lights/ballasts. ( 1 light, 1 ballast w/MH ). You do seem to be on the right track. Keep us posted, and we will help you along the way. P.S. Go bigger on the sump if you have the room. You will be glad you did. Send pictures soon of the setup...as soon as your stand is ready to show off.

[Maxx]

Drill Sergeant,
Sounds like a nice set up! What are you planning on keeping? I'm guessing that you will eventually want to go SPS reef. If this is th case, you will need more light. If you've already bought the 2 Icecap 660's you can run 8 VHO's and that should be fine. If you havent, I would seriously consider the MH route. And w/ your tank being 24 deep, you will need a minimum of dual 250 watt MH's. You can keep SPS w/ VHO only, I've known a few people who have and have done it well. So please dont think you NEED MH for SPS....it's a different kind of light and in my opinion, more aesthetically pleasing, but thats just me. I believe you will be needing to change bulbs every 10-12 months, and you should probably get in a staggered mode o doing that. If you change all the bulbs at once, your corals will be blasted w/ higher levels of light than they're used to and will bleach. I would swap out two at a time every 2-3 months and that should keep things on an even keel for you. Good luck,
Nick

[BoomerD]

As to the 2 IceCap Ballasts, you say you're going to use 4 110w. bulbs. Each 660 will power those by itself. Are you planning to maybe run 2 actinics on 1 of them, and the 2 50/50's on the other? If so, maybe you could run 4 bulbs on 1, and 2, 3 , or 4 on the other. In my 90 gallon canopy, ( not enough height for MH) I have 1 660, and 1 430 IC ballasts running the following combinations. the 430 runs 2 actinics. These come on at about 7 a.m., the 660 runs 3 50/50's & 1 actinic. these come on about 9 a.m., then the 430 turns off at 9:30. The 430 turns on again at about 2030, (8:30 pm for the rest of youse) then the 660 turns of at 2100 (9 p.m.) and then the 430 actinics go foo at 2200 (10 p.m.)
This gives me a nice dawn/dusk period before & after the main lights and also gives me a chance to enjoy the phosphorescence (sp?) of the zooanthelle algae in some of my corals & anemones as they glow green under the actinics.

Otherwise, 2 660 ballasts for 4 bulbs is just a waste of $$$ that could be better spent on your tank. the $150+ of the 660, would nearly pay for a dual 250 MH set-up from CoolTouchlighting
(AquariumLight.com) which is one of the boards sponsors.

By The Way, in which branch are/were you a drill sergeant?
God knows, there were times when I hated mine!, but afterwards, had nothing but the highest praise for them & what they taught me!
Semper Fi!

[Drill Sergeant]

Hey everyone. First of all thanks for your comments and recommendations.

ZY and Gina, For the time being I'm just gonna stick to softies and LPS's. As the time goes by, and I get more experience I'll probably (most likely) go with a few SPS's. In reference to fish, you can just say I need to have Nemo (clown) and Dory (Blue Tang). If not my kids will be really upset.

In refernce to the Ballast, its to my understanding that I need 2 of them to run the dusk to dawn affect. If not, please let me know, because I will ship the additional 660 ballast back and spend it on something else like Boomer said. Thats why i got it. And when I got quoted for both ballasts (430 & 660) the difference in price was $10.00. thats why I went for the 660

I'm planning to hook up 2 actinics to one of them, and the 2 whites to another. Is this good, or should I do it differently? If their is a way to wire the 660 to 4-110 bulbs and still have the dusk dawn affect, please let me know.

Hey Boomer, sounds like you have nice lighting in that system of yours. Good job. Just so you can know, and to answer your question, I'm in the Army and I'm still in, as a Reservist.

DS (Jim)

[BoomerD]

Jim, first off, THANKS for still doing what you do!
Since you're going with 2 of the 660's, you may want to add more bulbs. The soft corals mostly will appreciate that, and it will certainly show off the fish more with better light. The only concern will be heat generated, but the 2 4" Ice Cap fans will help a great deal with that. Unfortunately, no way to make 1 bllast do the dusk to dawn effect, EXCEPT with either an IceCap or Solar timer/dimmer. They will indeed accomplish that for you.

[Maxx]

Good info Boomer!
Nick

[Drill Sergeant]

Thanks Boomer

Just like Maxx said, "Good Info"

DS
(Jim)

[VINA DEL MAR]

Jim when I started this hobbie I also had in mind to just keep softies and lps.
Because the initial cost in buying VHO"S was low compare to MH"S I bought VHO"S.
Then I upgraded to MH"S(175's watts).I started liking sps as I learn more about them but somehow they were not thriving due to insufficient light intensity.
My next step was to upgraded again and got 400's watts.
I spend so much money doing all these changers that I could cry!!
So do yourself a favor spent your money in something good now so you don't have to feel like I was back then!!
VINA

[Orvin Farmer]

2 cents here...I think the dimmer for the icecap ballast is around $50.00. Give or take a few bucks.
ALSO: As for me, it seemed for me that everthing I wanted for my tank from the LFS needed high lighting requirements. In other words just like maxx was saying, might save bucks in the long run by getting MH now instead of upgrading as you go along.
But, even if you dont, the two ballasts on to different timmers, will indeed give you the effect you are wanting. The best of luck with your new set-up. We will want updates as you go along.