My 20 Gallon - Updated Pictures 2/10/08

S

Severum

Hello. I recently moved here after living in Colorado for the past 3 years. I have been into the hobby for 12+ years and for the past 4 years I have only kept this 20 gallon. It lends itself to easy upkeep with my work schedule. I set this up after our move in late October. Here we are at the end of January and I am just now overcoming new tank algae and corraline is finally beginnning to take hold. With that said, here is a pic and some details about my setup:

20 Gallon custom with built in overflow
Aqua C Remora Skimmer
MJ900 for return MJ1200 for skimmer, 2 Rio 600 DC powered for addl. flow
3 x 32W Current PC's
Tsunami AT1 ATO
Reefkeeper 2

Plan is to only keep softies and LPS. Still need to work on stocking and joined DFWMAS to get involved in the area and take advantage of the Coop.

Thanks,

Tyson aka Severum
 
that looks really clean and interesting, would love to see more pics...and welceome!

.:edit:. plus a little taller canopy would hide your skimmer, so...
 
Thanks. I will add some more pics detailing some things. One question I would like some folks' opinion on.....

I am looking to possibly go with some mh lighting and am exploring some options. I really like the clean look of the hood which matches the stand. I was thinking of these options:

1. Build a new oak canopy and use a single 150w MH of around 14k Phoenix and a 1w blue LED for moonlight.

2. Buy a pendant or sunpod and hang it above the tank. Not as asthetically pleasing and not sure it would pass the WAF.

The only downside of the canopy, would be its height. I have always disliked the very large canopy on the smaller tanks. If I went with option 1, how close could I have the halide to the water's surface? Would 3" too close? I currently have 96w(3x32) about 1.5" away. I suppose 14k would give a nice color by itself. I would hate to include the PC's as well due to the heat.

Severum
 
you could do a double ended halide that has a smaller footprint and still make it match pretty well
 
Wes or others......

I have found that I could put together a pretty cheap 150w de halide setup with a ballast from ballastwise and 3" high reflector from hellolights. If I go this route, how far off of the water do you think I should set things up? I was thinking a 6(5.5actual)" high canopy, which in the end, would place the light lens about 2.5-3" from the water's surface.

Considering my 96w of PC's are about 1.5-2", I can't imagine this adding much more heat to the tank. I already have a fan blowing across the top into the canopy controlled by my reefkeeper. Also, I would likely just go with a 14k and ditch the actinics for heat reasons.

Thanks for the input....

Severum
 
I still would keep the mh about 8 inches off of the water. Just incase of water splashing up and busting the bulb.

You could use a glass top on it, if you want to keep it that close. but I wouldn't recommend it due to natural evaporation and heat.
 
Thanks Jerry. The DE reflectors usually have the glass lens on them. I just wonder how fixtures such as the sunpod stay 2-3 inches above tanks with no issues of heat and all. Hoping I could do the same with a new canopy and mh.

Severum
 
Here are some more pics of my setup. You will also see a pic of the new hood I am building which will allow me to finally house some halides vs my PC's I have been running for 4+ years. Hammer frag is from David and acan I purchased form Gavin.

Severum
 
Here are a few pics with the halide installed. I went with a Phoenix 14k. I only plan on running the actinics before and after the halides.
 
Wow, looks great with the new canopy and the lighting looks nice. I have a 60 cube (as sig says) and use only a 250w 12k Reeflux SE bulb and have been very happy with the color.
 
Eric,

Thanks! I have no experience with that bulb. I DO like the color of this Phoenix bulb, but I tend to like more of a blue hue. You are welcome to come by anytime if you'd like to check out the coloring. I am in Frisco.

Severum
 
I might have to take you up on that some day Severum.

Is that a controller to the right side of the tank? If so, what brand is that and are you happy with it?
 
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