The Washington Reef 75/200 Gal Reef Tanks

Thanks Richard and you should plan to come by when this project is finished.

We went to Home Depot yesterday and purchased all the hardware needed to mount the LED lighting fixtures. We also removed the front doors off the old canopy and took them over to Charlie's so that they can be installed on the new one. Looks like it will be ready to start applying coats of Spar varnish on the inside this week.
 
Here is the latest progress report. That canopy assembly is almost complete, all that remains is to start the water proof coatings followed by sanding and varnish. Then two AC vent fans need to be installed on the top doors. Then we will be moving to our house to be placed on top of the aquarium.

Here are some pictures taken today.

The front doors are off of the old canopy so they have been finished. All the final trim pieces are also in place.
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View with both top doors open. Notice one of the Evolution LED lights installed on the far left.
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This is how the Evolution LED are installed.
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@Heathd wrote:
Thats a dandy mounting solution. Very nice... said:
I actually got the idea from Sam (DFWPOT) on the boards. It allows the light to stay in place when opening the top and they will also swivel plus the ability to raise and lower them.
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That's pretty neat. And you can replace those metal shelf brackets as they rust out over time easily.

So I've been thinking about your skimmer being off during the day time. Water drains out of the body which increases the volume in the sump, eliminating top off for a few hours if not all day long. Then at night when the skimmer resumes power, that is when your ATO would kick in. Right?

Noticed any change in the tank since starting this? What about skimmate collection and skimmer behavior?
 
Thanks Pete.

@Marc wrote:
That's pretty neat. And you can replace those metal shelf brackets as they rust out over time easily. So I've been thinking about your skimmer being off during the day time. Water drains out of the body which increases the volume in the sump said:
The metal on the shelf brackets is heavily coated so they should not rust any time soon, but we will see. The back of the canopy is open except for a screen mesh to prevent the fish from jumping and I will have two exhaust fans on top of the canopy pulling air and humidity out. As far as the skimmer the ATO does not come on this tank that often as I also have a kalk drip at approx the evaporation rate. The Aqua C EV180 Skimmer does not hold that much water when off since it is mounted in the sump. The amount of skimmate is about the same as when it was running 24/7 and lastly I have not seen any real change in the aquarium itself. Remember the fuge section has a large amount of Macro algae in it. There is and has been zero algae in the main tank.

I am really happy with the results so far and will continue to take steps to lower the use of electricity throughout our house.
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With the skimmer off my two concerns would be oxygen levels and excessive wear on the skimmer motor. With all that stopping and then starting, I'd be a little worried I think. But then again it may wear less in the time it's off. Who knows?
 
@TriggaFish99 wrote:
With the skimmer off my two concerns would be oxygen levels and excessive wear on the skimmer motor. With all that stopping and then starting said:
Thanks for you concerns. I have been running the tank with the skimmer off during the day for just over a month now and have not observed any negative effects. The fish are doing great, always ready to eat as usual, and show absolutely no signs of any lack of oxygen. Remember some people do not run a skimmer at all and have had success. As for the pump turning on and off, again I have seen no problems there either. I think that it will be fine as long as the impeller is kept clean.

Update on the canopy: building is now complete and coating with Spar Varnish. This is being done outside with several coats being applied, the high wind today may slow us down a bit, but hope to install by the end of this week.
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I do like the reduced power option shutting off the skimmer provides. I'm always looking for ways to reduce the energy consumption.
 
The new canopy looks good David. I like the way mounted your lights, a little different from the way I did mine. Plan about how you are going to tighten the screw? If you don't tighten it then you may not be able to make the lights stay tilted.
 
@TriggaFish99 wrote:
I do like the reduced power option shutting off the skimmer provides. I'm always looking for ways to reduce the energy consumption. said:
Give it a try and monitor your tank. If you notice any changes that you don't like you can always turn it back on full time.

@dfwpot wrote:
The new canopy looks good David. I like the way mounted your lights said:
It was your idea I just did it a little differently. There is enough space to get a wrench in to tighten the nuts so I will be able to tilt the lights as needed. We have already tried it out when the picture was taken.
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The new canopy is now done and over at the house ready for installation which will take place during this coming week. I will post some pictures then.
 
Long time comming! [smilie=wink.gif]

Be careful as not to burn all of your corals! [smilie=sadsmile.gif]
 
Be careful with Acans. These exact units burnt two of mine and an entire colony of my friends. It seems acans really need lower light with these fixtures. I can't wait to see it!!!
 
I plan to decrease the lighting cycle when the new LED's are installed and will slowly increase over time while observing the corals.
 
How can you tell if a coral is being burnt or not getting enough light? I have a sunset montie that is taking damage and im not sure.
 
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