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JCurry's 500g System Design & Build

J

Jcurry@wesketch

Phyl
I'm planning a new 500G tank for my basement (96x42x30). But the only way I'll do it is if I can run it with the same electricity expense that I have now on my 125G. Luckily I'm using 3 Iwaki 55s on my tank. So that gives me some room to play with electrically.

I think I can light an 8' tank with two 250W bulbs in Lumenarc reflectors. The Lumenarcs will give a pretty even spread over a 3x3 area. So the lights would only need to travel 9" to 1' in either direction. I'll probably add 4 T5 atinics, 2 in front & 2 in back (end to end). I'm not worried about some parts of the tank being dimmer than the others. The thing I dislike the most about my tank is the flat even lighting I get with my VHOs. I really like the effect of point source lighting and the glitter lines that you can only get with MH.

I'm running 6 72" VHOs @ 165W ea. (990W. total)
4 48" T5 @ 54W ea = 216W & 2 MH @ 250W ea = 500W. That would get me down to 716W +/- depending on lamp life and the type of bulb.

As for pumps I was thinking Darts, Tunzes or if I can slip by my wife maybe 2 Red Dragons. We'll see I have a couple years atleast to think about it.
 
Phyl

Phyl

Officer Emeritus
Officer Emeritus
That sounds great, Jeff. That small span of shift seems like it would be perfect. I'm sure you're already studying Sanjay's lighting charts! It seems to me that most ballast/bulb combinations consume far more than the 250w per bulb that they claim!

Red Dragons will definitely give you the bang for the (big) buck on the electric bill.

I far prefer a 24" deep tank to a 30" one. 96x48x24 would be SWEET!

So when's the meeting at the Curry place?
 
B

boozeman

RD pumps are great if you need a dead silent high flow pump for a minimum head requirement...but, if you plan on not having the sump directly under the tank it would be best to go with something else.
 
J

Jcurry@wesketch

Yeah I'm not sold on the RDs yet. I'm leaning heavily towards Darts and OMs. The pay back on the life cycle of an RD is almost 10 years in NJ. My Iwakis are 12 years old but RD doesn't have that track record yet.

The plan is to have the sump directly below the tank, but have 2 125G refugiums above the tank, one lighted & the other dark. So a minimum of 6' of head. The equip will be in a separate insulated room to kill any noise.

I'll have a meeting any time, just bring your paint brush. ;D
 
Phyl

Phyl

Officer Emeritus
Officer Emeritus
Jcurry@wesketch said:
The plan is to have the sump directly below the tank, but have 2 125G refugiums above the tank, one lighted & the other dark.
Click to expand...

I'm not picturing this... How tall are your ceilings down there? Where will the lights be if the 125s are above the tank? Above as in over? Or above as in higher, but behind? Do you have drawings yet (you must be sketching this by now, no)?





Meeting at Jeff's in January. Just bring your paint brushes. I bet the kids would do a bang up job!
 
J

Jcurry@wesketch

Drawings? What would I need those for? LOL Yeah I have them but my architect sucks, he never gets back to me.

The fuges will be higher. The bottom of the fuge will be even with the top of the display tank and to each side. This will leave access across the back & sides. I'll post my drawings tonight.
Is there a way to move this to the Tale of the Tank forum? I didn't mean to derail the thread.
 
Phyl

Phyl

Officer Emeritus
Officer Emeritus
Split, moved & renamed. Feel free to pick your own topic name (I had to name it *something*). Just let me know and I'll rename it. :)
 
C

Carlo

The bottom of the fuges don't need to even with the top of your tank. It top just needs to be higher then the display tank so gravity can work for you. I'm sure you know this already but just thought I'd mention it. I myself wouldn't want the fuges drastically high like that because it's unneeded head height for the pumps and it will make working on the fuge a pain in the but IMHO. Granted there could be a valid reason for it like the use of space under it, etc... but I was thinking generically.

On a big tank I like the 30" look better then 24". To me the 24" looks to "tiny". The additional 6" depth gives it more of a "big" tank look. Of course it helps when you have long arms and can reach the bottom of any part of the tank even at 30". If you can't do this then maybe reconsider the 24" or something in between to make working on it easier!

Just a couple more cents thrown into the pot,
Carlo
 
J

jazzsam

Carlo said:
The bottom of the fuges don't need to even with the top of your tank. It top just needs to be higher then the display tank so gravity can work for you. I'm sure you know this already but just thought I'd mention it. I myself wouldn't want the fuges drastically high like that because it's unneeded head height for the pumps and it will make working on the fuge a pain in the but IMHO. Granted there could be a valid reason for it like the use of space under it, etc... but I was thinking generically.

On a big tank I like the 30" look better then 24". To me the 24" looks to "tiny". The additional 6" depth gives it more of a "big" tank look. Of course it helps when you have long arms and can reach the bottom of any part of the tank even at 30". If you can't do this then maybe reconsider the 24" or something in between to make working on it easier!

Just a couple more cents thrown into the pot,
Carlo
Click to expand...

I struggle with 24". I didn't think it was so bad because I could setup the LR and then not have to worry about it but once you start putting coral down low and moving it up the tank it becomes a real pain quick.
 
B

Brian

Officer Emeritus
Officer Emeritus
My tank is 30" Tall and I have to be honest...I'm kind of wishing it was 24" It's a chore to do ANYTHING in there. If I drop a frag behind the rock, I can pretty much forget about it unless I want to stick half my body in the tank! I like scuba and all, but not in my tank!

Cant wait to see this tank come to fruition!
 
J

Jcurry@wesketch

Thanks Phyl but this really puts the pressure on now.

In the equipment room the stand will be slightly oversized to form a catwalk around the tank (14" +/-). Right now I'm thinking of putting my office right up against the tank so there will be a desk to stand on in the front. That should eliminate the problem of reaching the bottom, I hope.
The reason the fuges would be so high is to give more room below for water storage tanks and other stuff. Besides I hardly ever put my hands in the fuge or the tank anymore.
I may need to rethink the whole layout because there isn't enough width in my basement where I originally wanted to put it. I don't want to go down to 72", 96" is the minimum length.
I'll post some drawings later of the "Dream room".
 
C

Carlo

How would you clean the fuge from time to time? They are swamps where tons of crap can settle. The bigger the tank the more "swampy" the fuge can be. Every system will run different but try and make sure you CAN clean it if/when needed.

Carlo
 
malulu

malulu

NJRC Member
tagging along... this is going to be a fun thread to follow...

I know why are you going for a 96"! it must be for that monster RBTA that would taking up half of your tank!!
;D
 
blange3

blange3

Jcurry@wesketch said:
The thing I dislike the most about my tank is the flat even lighting I get with my VHOs.
Click to expand...

And now I stand all alone! :'(

Good luck with the tank Jeff! And be nice to the architect, he's really a nice guy!
 
Baxreefs

Baxreefs

This sounds like a great system! I wish I could set my fuge above my display.

I am planning the setting up a 30" deep 220 g that i have. I currently run a 24" 120 and use 400 w MH. I'd be worried that 250s won't give you enough light since you are only running two lamps over such a large space with a 30" depth. You may want to look at three 250 lamps and play with the light cycle for each to hold down the electric costs.

Just a thought.

Good luck with the project!
 
J

Jcurry@wesketch

Right now I only keep soft coral (leathers, gorgonia, Palys and such) and LPS. So I think I may be alright with the 250s. But watch I'll setup the tank for soft coral and then SPS bug will bite and then I'll need to switch to 400s. ::)

Malulu: that RBTA only takes up 1/3 of the tank. The clone takes up the rest of the half. ;D

Don't worry Blange I may run a couple of VHO tubes over the fuge.
 
B

Brian

Officer Emeritus
Officer Emeritus
Jeff

FWIW, I have 250's over my tank, I have clams and a few SPS on the bottom.
 
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