Terry's 450g upgrade

[cracker]

Originally Posted by tbittner

hmmmmm, nobody mentioned the Solaris!

(shameless request for thoughts on it)

You better put it back in the box & hide it. Some of us know where You live!

[Frankie]

I like the color of the light a lot Terry! that tank is going to look so cool full of water!

[tbittner]

Jeff...



I was thinking the same thing! 150 lbs of LR doesn't go real far in this tank, does it.

I really, really, really like this light. It's really a shame they don't make a 120" version.

I have a feeling that the other 48" will be covered by a Solaris around Christmas time.

For now, it will have an outer orbit, 250w mh with actinics over it. No corals in that part though.

[thelastmucci]

you know I was thinking the same thing as far as that the solaris (the fact that it doesn't cover the whole thing...I like your plan terry to wait it out for awhile...I"m sure you'll have plenty of room for any coral you want even with half the tank lit. The rock looks great and if I'm not mistaken I do believe that I saw some coralline on it. Great pics and thanks for sharing after what I'm sure was a long day.

[JoJo]

i think everyone was so stunned that your 150# of LR looked more like 40# we completely missed the lighting which also looks minature to the tank. but it gives off a nice hue.

[tbittner]

Yeah, it really surprised me too.

I've been thinking about another issue. My 100g sump tank doesn't have extra bulkheads in it for another pump to be attached to it. So I'm thinking of using just a small Rio 36HF pump, sitting in my skimmer tub, to pump water into the 450 and let the water in ALL of my tanks circulate together for a week. I would only get around 1000 gph with it, but at least all of the water would be the same water.

Then, when I move everything from the 120 to the 450, there shouldn't be any kind of a shock.

Does anyone have any concerns or suggestions about this idea?

[JoJo]

That sounds like a good idea. since there wouldnt be anything in the tank the flow should be acceptable, your stock will already be acclimated to the water, & once they're in the 450 the return will be more, i dont see a problem. plus it will be less work since you wouldnt have to drill an extra bulkhead into the sump.

you know you're in the big league when you call a 1,000gph pump small!

[tbittner]

Well, I've successfully turned a small problem into a disaster! One of the bulkheads about 1/2 way down inside the tank was dripping in the back. So I put a small pump in the tank to pump the water into a barrel so I could replace the bulkhead. Of course, the pipe fell out of the barrel and pumped a bunch of water onto the floor before I realized it.

[JoJo]

aww mannnn, well i guess the slate paid for itself already. how many gallons are you thinking? the water didnt reach the drywall did it, Patti said that was her only concern.

[tbittner]

Probably around 10g.... I cleaned up it with towels, a bunch of towels, as quick as I could. The water got to one corner where the drywall is against the theater room but I dryed it up. This corner has gotten wet a couple times before. This wall will also eventually come out when we replace the carpet in the theater room so I can build insert shelves for the media equipment.

[JoJo]

10 isnt bad, its more than we want on the floor, but it could be worst. i hope this is the one & only time this happens, uh oh, i see Patti's here, Hi Mrs. Bittner

[JoJo]

hey terry i'm on Tractor Supply.com, do you know the name of the drain crates you're using or what section they may be in?

[tbittner]

Is this what you're looking for?

Tractor Supply Company - 2 in Polypropylene Basket Suction Hose Strainer

[SJS]

WOW - I'm finally caught up. Comments - you're gonna need a bigger rock! That Solaris is fabulous, I really need a couple of those (my birthday is really soon hmmm)- A real disaster involves more than 10 gallons of water!!! (I'm really good at misdirecting the hose end of the pump the tile floor gets bathed regularly in salt water !!)
I cant wait to see it with the rest of the rock.

[tbittner]

Yeah, I've pumped out FIFTY gallons onto this floor before, but I really thought I had my methods down and perfected. Too bad I didn't FOLLOW them and clamp the hose into the barrel.


Oh well, that's how we learn, by making mistakes. Well, HOPEFULLY we learn from our mistakes and don't repeat them, like I did this morning. I should have waited to pump more water in until I had a cup of coffee.

I HIGHLY recommend the Solaris. No heat, beautiful color, and the color is fully adjustable. No light bulb replacements, it uses a fraction of the electric, it's a no brainer now that I've spent as much as I did and I'm glad I did. The controller that is built into it has so many options too, as far as sunrise, sunset, simulated cloud cover, moonrise, moonset, lunar cycle. The options really amaze me as to the intelligence built into the light.

I sat and watched sunset last night. It goes from full brightness to off in about 1/2 hour, which is also adjustable if you would prefer the sunset and/or sunrise to last longer or shorter.