[Mattfish]

First, thanks again to Ryan for the camera! All pictures courtesy of the RB Fish-Cam!

First pic:
Underneath - left side - chiller, CO2 bottle, Calcium Reactor (partly hidden), return pump and edge of fuge section.


Second Pic:
Clearer pic of left side of underneath


Third Pic:
Right side of underneath: fuge, skimmer, tank overflow feeds with diatoms


Fourth Pic:
Focus on skimmer section and overflow feeders


Fifth Pic:
"Back" side of tank, nearest to wall with a few cleaners showing - nasarius, hermits, etc.


Sixth Pic:
"Back" side again with a better perspective

[Mattfish]

The canopy, and likely the fish, inverts and corals are coming next Thursday, so more pics then.

And thanks again to Ryan for the camera - it's awesome and has incredible clarity!

2 more pics:

Seventh Pic:
"Back" side from outer edge, showing wavemaker return


Eight Pic:
"Front" side with long perspective

[stephaniesquires]

Very nice Thanks for the pics, cant wait to see it with fish

[glampka]

It's about time!!! Looking good! But where are the lights?? I take it that the overflow is on the end of the tank with the blue? We definitely need more detail on all of this Mike - pumps, what skimmer, chiller, etc........

Great pictures from that camera too!

[Mattfish]

Oh crap - the lights! I knew something was missing - it seemed so easy to get into, I forgot all about that!

OK, so the canopy will be here next week and they'll mount the Solaris in it with the power units, so it'll all be up above.

I'll post the tech details later today when I get done with theusual Friday work phone calls, but thanks Gary and Steph for the compliments - it's really coming together.

[rlcline76]

Cool beans!

[plecosword]

wow the solaries, that is gona look awsome!
Cant wait!!

[Mattfish]

Originally Posted by rlcline76

Cool beans!

Thanks Becky! I've always been proud of my beans.

[WILLIAM1]

Cant waitto see some more pics nice job.

[dfurbee]

Nice job, and nice camera; waiting to see pics of lighting. Have been wanting a Solaris for a while now. But $$$ is the problem.

[Mattfish]

More pics definitely coming. But the Solaris is an easy sell based on the size of your tank - several steps:

1. Mentally convince myself I want it (that was easy...)
2. Figure the cost of MH bulbs for the size of your tank - effectively, buying the Solaris is like paying for all of these up front, based on it's life. Also, bulbs will continue to escalate in cost like everything does.
3. Figure in how much power you're saving and the cost per KWH. This too is rising like floodwaters these days.
4. Figure in the cost of a chiller you may not need because the lights are so much cooler. This worked until we ended up getting a chiller as you see in the pics, but wasn't planned when I bought the Solaris. So technically, my argument worked for me....
5. Figure out what the technology is worth to you - i.e. the ability to automatically vary times, colors, seasons, etc. You can buy an external control for your MH's, but some of these shorten the bulb life, none are as flexible, and of course they cost money too
6. Go back to step 1

If this process doesn't work for you, particularly steps 1 & 6, then MH's aren't so bad, right? The #'s of course will work better with a large tank that's not too deep. Why? Because the 250W equivalent Solaris (G-Series) costs less than the 400W (H-Series) unit, and because the more light you need, the more the MH's will cost, where the Solaris is somewhat static in price - that is, not too muc cheaper for a shorter unit.

Make sense?

[stacef]

It's looking great!! Can't wait to see upcoming pics.

[plecosword]

Originally Posted by Mattfish

More pics definitely coming. But the Solaris is an easy sell based on the size of your tank - several steps:

1. Mentally convince myself I want it (that was easy...)
2. Figure the cost of MH bulbs for the size of your tank - effectively, buying the Solaris is like paying for all of these up front, based on it's life. Also, bulbs will continue to escalate in cost like everything does.
3. Figure in how much power you're saving and the cost per KWH. This too is rising like floodwaters these days.
4. Figure in the cost of a chiller you may not need because the lights are so much cooler. This worked until we ended up getting a chiller as you see in the pics, but wasn't planned when I bought the Solaris. So technically, my argument worked for me....
5. Figure out what the technology is worth to you - i.e. the ability to automatically vary times, colors, seasons, etc. You can buy an external control for your MH's, but some of these shorten the bulb life, none are as flexible, and of course they cost money too
6. Go back to step 1

If this process doesn't work for you, particularly steps 1 & 6, then MH's aren't so bad, right? The #'s of course will work better with a large tank that's not too deep. Why? Because the 250W equivalent Solaris (G-Series) costs less than the 400W (H-Series) unit, and because the more light you need, the more the MH's will cost, where the Solaris is somewhat static in price - that is, not too muc cheaper for a shorter unit.

Make sense?

i like the way your head works, exept im not clear on what your thinking. Are you saying that the cost of the solaries will be cheaper overall to the MH? I kind of agree!

[stephaniesquires]

Originally Posted by Mattfish

More pics definitely coming. But the Solaris is an easy sell based on the size of your tank - several steps:

1. Mentally convince myself I want it (that was easy...)
2. Figure the cost of MH bulbs for the size of your tank - effectively, buying the Solaris is like paying for all of these up front, based on it's life. Also, bulbs will continue to escalate in cost like everything does.
3. Figure in how much power you're saving and the cost per KWH. This too is rising like floodwaters these days.
4. Figure in the cost of a chiller you may not need because the lights are so much cooler. This worked until we ended up getting a chiller as you see in the pics, but wasn't planned when I bought the Solaris. So technically, my argument worked for me....
5. Figure out what the technology is worth to you - i.e. the ability to automatically vary times, colors, seasons, etc. You can buy an external control for your MH's, but some of these shorten the bulb life, none are as flexible, and of course they cost money too
6. Go back to step 1

If this process doesn't work for you, particularly steps 1 & 6, then MH's aren't so bad, right? The #'s of course will work better with a large tank that's not too deep. Why? Because the 250W equivalent Solaris (G-Series) costs less than the 400W (H-Series) unit, and because the more light you need, the more the MH's will cost, where the Solaris is somewhat static in price - that is, not too muc cheaper for a shorter unit.

Make sense?

I'm posting these steps on my fridge - for a 96" tank I think I'm looking at about $5K right??!!! That's some serious convincing I gotta do!!!

[Mattfish]

Yeah, that's some serious convincing, but you gotta play all the angles. There's the technical side, the power saving/green side, the investment in the future side, the latest and greatest side, etc. Figure out your strategy, get the game face on, and go to town!

Remember, this isn't just a hobby, it's an investment. And how much bigger of a single investment can you make than this? Also, you'd probably be the first on your block to have one..... what's that worth?



But I like your spirit in scheming to go after something!

BTW, we checked the water, found everything good, and cheated by getting a Royal Gramma in there. He's fine for now, but found nice little hole to hide in..... He''ll come out tomorrow when he's hungry.

[Mattfish]

Had a chance to catch up today and get the list of what actually is in the system, although I see I still need a few questions answered....

Tank - TruVu 130g - 72.5" x 18.5" x 24"
Wavemaker - SeaSwirl 3/4"
Light - Solaris G-72
Rock - 100 lbs. Tongan
Live Sand - 240 lbs. CaribSea
In-tank Pump - Rio 2100
Sump/Fuge - Custom TrueVu - 48" x 15" x 17"
Particle Filtration - 5 micron Diatom Bags (2)
Skimmer - EuroReef RS-135
Heater - 300W Digital
Live Sand for Refugium - 40 lbs. CaribSea
Seaweed for Refugium - Chaeto
Live Rock Rubble for Refugium - Tongan
Return Pump - Rio 2500
Calcium Reactor - Korallin C1502
Calcium Reactor Pump - Eheim
CO2 Supply - 5 lb. bottle (from Praxair)
Chiller - 1/4 hp TradeWind
Chiller Pump - Rio 1100
Stand - Custom 36" height Honey Maple
Canopy - Custom 24" height Honey Maple

That's it - a few details missing but the main stuff.... All the water parameters look good, although we had a mismatch when we brought a sample to the lfs, so I got a new pH and Alk kit and our numbers still look good. Canopy and corals on Thursday, fish a week later..... or maybe next weekend.

Amazing how quickly the diatoms clean the water, and how much more efficient the EuroReef is. Although the switchout cost a lot, we sure learned even more...

[Mattfish]

Finally got the canopy, and the corals, inverts, and the rest of the fish home. Some of our friends didn't make it - the sebae anemone, a Banggai Cardinal, my Rainford's, and a Mandarin, but the rest are doing fine, and I found a nice Sebae today. Knowing our clowns, sometime in 2009, they'll figure out it's there and decide to live in it...

[Mattfish]

And some more..... Still pretty barren - we'll be working on the corals, clams, a few more specific small fish, and gotta get the tank side panels, etc.

But it's looking pretty cool after all the time and money, so it's a start.....

[RyanG]

Can you take pics of your equipment? (sump,etc.)

[Mattfish]

They're here in this thread at the bottom - more happily taken if you let me know what I should shoot:

http://www.reefbuilders.com/forums/r...ank-setup.html

There's probably a "linkback" or something easier than doing it that way isn't there?

[e_baer]

Tank looks really really nice! I live the depth of the tank from the side view.

[NATIVEVAMAN]

Mike, you need to take lots of pics if Ryan asks so he can get his money's worth lol.

[RyanG]

3 Threads have been merged.

[RyanG]

So who set the tank up and everything? Your LFS?

[Mattfish]

Originally Posted by e_baer

Tank looks really really nice! I live the depth of the tank from the side view.

This thing makes our previous tank look like the bad experiment it was. It's also right next to the couch so it adds a whole new perspective to couch potato.... We're really happy, and right back out there thinking about every new coral and invert we can find, and just a few more special fish....

Originally Posted by NATIVEVAMAN

Mike, you need to take lots of pics if Ryan asks so he can get his money's worth lol.

No joke. I'll take pictures of anything Ryan asks me to! (I can already see two or three of you getting your replies ready for that one.) But seriously, the camera corrects for the light color, is much, much sharper, and has much better control for depth of field, etc. It really makes it easy, and I'm really indebted to Ryan for the camera.