[sgarron]

OK. I have everything on order, I think. Plan to set it all up the first week of October. Let me know if I'm forgetting something. I plan to take lots of pics this time.

180 gallon AGA RR tank - to be picked up this week.

65 gallon acrylic (49x18x17) sump/refugium, tank coming today from glascages. Baffles to be installed this week during my lunch breaks.

36" high stand. Will be built once I have the tank so I can take actual measurements.

72" Solaris G-Series LED lighting system.

2 - Mag 9.5's for return pumps.

ASM G-4X Protein skimmer.

Reef Keeper 2.

2 - Jager 250w heaters

2 - 4" filter socks

Phosban reactor for carbon.

75w 6500k grow lamp for refugium.

Lots of ball valves and pvc.

[Tonz of fun]

What have you heard about the light you picked out?

[sgarron]

Mostly good things. I like the idea of not replacing bulbs every 6-12 months. 40% less eletricity etc. I went with the G instead of the H4 because I don't see a need for 6 - 400w lights, the 250's should be plenty. Also being able to adjust the kelvin temp to find that right combo of growth and appearance. Also the eveness of the color, I've been having problems with my Usio MH's one 14k is real nice the other is almost green. Tried 2 replacements to finally get it close.

[FINDING_NEMO]

Originally Posted by Tonz of fun

What have you heard about the light you picked out?

You havent heard bout this type of lights, please dont recommend t-5s against this, this is the best lights that you can get beside natural sun lights

[Tonz of fun]

I have heard of them. I was just woundering what the light output was? Or how much light it is equal to? Do you know?

[FINDING_NEMO]

All I know bout solaris is that their better than MH and cost so much that I don’t bother learning bout them, specially a 72” fixture, they go for more than 2 g’s

[sgarron]

The output per panel is 250w for the G series and 400w for the h4 series. They are also adjustable as far as max output, you can run them at 50, 60 70%, etc.

The g series is plenty for most applications and they are down to $2500 shipped for a 72" unit.

Still very expensive, but that will equal out in time.

[jtravapd]

nice build..i also have an 180...i wanna see pics of the solaris when you get it up and running..lol....i should have waited didn't know they were getting down that cheap...anyway...i had mag 9's and upgraded to mag 12's...the 9's didn't seem like they were strong enough....just my opinion on what happened with my tank...also i didn't see any powerheads...i have 5 of them in my 180...two on the bottom corners facing inward and three on top....well goodluck on the build....post pics as soon as you get them...

[sgarron]

OOPS. I have 3 Koralia 3's, maybe I'll add 2 more.

[Tonz of fun]

Originally Posted by sgarron

The output per panel is 250w for the G series and 400w for the h4 series. They are also adjustable as far as max output, you can run them at 50, 60 70%, etc.

The g series is plenty for most applications and they are down to $2500 shipped for a 72" unit.

Still very expensive, but that will equal out in time.

I was going to buy one when setting up my tank but I read there was only 250 watts of power so I was like "I need more then that" And went another route. They sould probally better explain that. So your saying each little section of 40 leds creats 250 watts of equal power?

[sgarron]

I read that too and was gouing to go with something else. But I spoke to some tech at PFO and it was explained that each section is 250w.

[sgarron]

It's actually each 24" section is equal to a 250w MH. With the 72" I get the equivalent of 3 250w MH bulbs. That's pleanty for my needs. If you need more you could always go with the 400w H4 series.

[sgarron]

I finally picked up the tank and built the stand. I took a vacation week next week so guess what I'll be doing?

I'm going to put all new araganite sand in the display tank and a few cups of my existing sand from my 65. The rest of the sand from the 65 will be going in the refugium for the new tank as well as the sand in my current refugium. I'm taking the 100lbs LR from my 65 and 150lbs LR from someone local that is breaking down their setup and putting it all in the 180. Since everything is already cycled and there is no shipping time for the rock to have any die off I shouldn't have a cycle right?

The way I see it, once everything is set up and running I should be able to transfer the fish and corals and not have any problems?

Am I forgetting something? Mainly, should I be able to do this without harming my fish?

[jimw369]

I did not see in your list a UV sterilizer or ozinator. Not saying one of these is a must. Just a thought.

[sgarron]

I don't see them as necessary, at least not at this time.

[Tonz of fun]

At 6 months once you tank is going I recomend a UV. I would not use them from the start but then again look at Jims tank then look at mine then tell me who knows more lol

[sgarron]

Finally got the tank home and built the frame for the stand. Looks like alot of cleaning to do.

[sgarron]

The stand is painted and the tank is in place. The tank cleaned up pretty good. Vinegar took about 90% off and muriatic acid got the rest. You can see the tops of the 2 dedicated 20amp lines I ran yesterday. In the second pic are the power supplies for the Solaris light.

[sgarron]

The sump and skimmer

[jvharding]

Can we see some better pictures of sump baffles I really like it. We see lots of questions on baffles. Did you make it or is a custom order?

[RyanG]

Do you have any more pictures on how you built the stand? I am having to build a stand and needed to get an idea on how you built yours

[sgarron]

I built the stand at work with the help of a carpenter , I didn't get to take pics of the progress. It's all doubled up 2x4's, glued and screwed. Face framed in 1x6's and painted black.

[sgarron]

Here's some pics of the sump, the skimmer section is 18x18, the refugium is 17x18, the rest is the baffles and return section. It's a 65long acrylic tank from glasscages.com, I cut and installed the baffles myself, that's why you see glue streaks all over the place. It''s not for show so I don't care about the streaks.

[gimmito]

Nice set up. Did you get your sump design from melev ? I just did a 40 gal sump/fuge and I hated glueing the middle baffles. I'm planning on doing a 180+ in wall in the future...so I'm taking notes ! What livestick are you planning ?

[sgarron]

Did all the plumbing today and put the 2-korlia 3's and 2 korlia 4's in place. Started filling the tank, seems like it's gonna take a week to fill.