In no way do I (or should anybody for that matter!) claim to be an 'expert' in this hobby, but I do communicate extensively with other successfull reef keepers, building off their opinions to form my own.
Topics:
Unfortunately, money plays a significant role in big hobbies, and this one is no exception... Count on about $30 per gallon to set up a reef!
My aproximate costs,
(in 1999 dollars) :
120gal AGA reef ready
$600
Cabnet/canopy (DIY)
$450
Lighting $500
Pumps $300
Calcium Reactor $250
Sump and plumbing
$200
Electrical (GFI's,
timers, plug strips) $200
Salt $50
RO/DI unit $200
Auto top-off $100
Temp controller $100
Test kits/refractometer
$100
Liverock $800
Livesand $100
Misc. feed clips,
thermometer, turkey baster, etc.
_______________________
~$4000 Not
including any livestock!
...And it doesn't end there!! Here are the upkeep costs for my 120g broken into monthy payments:
Electricity
- The pumps alone (return, recirculation, reactor, skimmer) draw about
300W 24/7=7000watt-hours. The lights (VHO, MH, PC) add about 8000
w-h daily. Heater, maybe 500. So, the total for electric would
be ~ 15 Kw-hours, or about $1.30 per day (@$.087/Kw-h)=$40 per mo
Additives-
I used to go through a gallon of Bionic a month (~$30), but the Ca rxr
only runs about $5 for CO2 and media ($15 every 3 mo).
Water- 1.3
gpd + 5 gal weekly purified water (runs about 60 gals per month).
Hmmm.... considering 1:4 RO efficiency, this adds up to about 250 gals/month
only about $.50 (@ 2.11/1000 gals). The real cost hear is filter
replacement, which is about $60/yr or $5/mo
Food- A good
$10 in food per month.
Supplies- includes
lamp replacement every 10 months ($200/10mo=$20/mo), periodic pump replacement,
misc. supplies like GAC
lets say about $40
Total for my tank: $100 per month UPKEEP costs!
I usually only use tank lighting, but sometimes at "night" or if I want brighter color I'll use the built in flash on the camera, shooting at a slight angle to the glass to get rid of reflection. For full tank shots, I try and use a tripod, and spot metering to set exposure to the brightest section of the tank that I don't want to be washed out.
It takes a little practice
to get the hang of it, but here's my experience:
-As said earlier,
keep everything as still as possible for slow shutter speeds.
-Clean the glass (or
acrylic) very well, both inside and outside
-Big one... Get rid
of any reflections in the room. I take all my pics when it is dark
outside, and turn off all room lights. If your camera is auto focus,
it's important that it looks through the glass, or everything will be blurred.
In the summer, I try to keep the house below 78. In the winter, if the room temp falls below 67 the 150w heater can't keep up during the nighttime hours.
If you don't have ac, then you should at least try to keep the room air dry, because evaporation is reduced with higher humidity. I noticed a big difference in cooling efficiency between 76 moist and 76 dry room air (and in summer compared to winter)
If the tank water goes over the temperature setpoint, I turn the fans on. Currently, the canopy fans run independent of the lights being on, and are only enabled by water temperature. I built the canopy so that the fans blow room across the water (towards each other) and the heated/moist air exits at the top near the lights, so even when the lights are on with no fans there is convection cooling (a good feature in case the fans stop working). When the fans and the lights are off, there can be condensation in the hood if the room temp is cooler, but it is pure water and doesn't cause damage that I can see.
The problem with leaving the fans on all the time is that you will evaporate when you really don't need to, and then the heater may come on- the power of cooling by evaporation is pretty significant. I currently only have to top off about 1.3 gallons a day.
How far above your tank are the lamps
and is there a cover glass? In canopy or hanging? I guess
what I'm really asking is how do you keep temps acceptable as a whole without
big money on a chiller?
The 175w MH are about
6" from the water, and the VHO actinic are about 4"
How often does your front of tank need
coralline scraping?
About scraping the
glass; if I keep nutrients high (corals look better, but more algae grows
on glass) I use a magnetic scraper every day on the glass. Once a
month or so I'll scrape the corners with a plastic card or razor blade.
I find that the daily simple cleaning prevents heavier scraping.
The pics aren't clear on this, but I put a 3/4" backing board on the inside of the back of the cabinet to keep the structure vertically rigid (to keep the "box" from becoming a parallelogram). This back piece still leaves 12" of the lower portion of the back open for wires, etc. Unfortunately, by putting the board on the inside instead of outside, it did interfere with the overflow plumbing, and had to be notched out.
2. I have seen your diagram for the canopy and love the way it looks as well as its functionality. Did you make the reflector portion for the metal halides or did you buy that as one piece?
I bought the reflectors from the lighting company, and trimmed/bent to get it to fit in the canopy. The part I love the most about the canopy is the two doors that swing up for tank access. Each one is not that heavy, and in most of the setups I see you have to lift the lights along with the top of the canopy.
3. How does the canopy sit on the tank-most have wooden strips of some sort but I noticed none in the picture. It appears that the canopy is simple box construction with a piece cut out of the top for the reflector is this true? Details if you can.
It is a simple box. I built the canopy out of the materials left from the cabinet, which is what determined its height (lol). The piece cut out of the top was to compensate for not allowing enough room in the main portion (a big oops), since the original box was only about 8" tall, and 12" is really needed for metal halide. The side construction is out of 1x8 pine, which of course is really only 3/4" thick, and it rests directly on the tank. The top is partical board (poor choice!). Everything is sealed in 2-part epoxy paint.
4. Obviously you liked the 120 probably due to the increased front to back room. Has this proved essential in the success and visual beauty of the tank? Also I will be buying an All Glass tank because I prefer the curved overflow(s). How have you liked your tank and do you have any opinions here? My main concern with all glass is the top cross members and continual long term lighting. Opinion?
I love the front to
back space, although my LFS set up a 90 gal that looks great, especially
if you don't use 1.5lbs/gal of live rock. The main reason I went
with the 120 was that I wanted to be able to view the tank from 3 sides,
and the overflow took up too much room on the side of the 90. Also,
I liked the idea of having 2 overflows, because it is possible for one
to "hang up" causing a big problem.
As far as the plastic
cross piece, I coated it with wide white electrical tape, to reflect the
UV light that might weaken it with time.
5. There is what appears to be a small square or circular hole on the right rear side of your stand what is that and what is it used for?
I have a 3" fan blowing out continuously through this hole. It is near the ballast's (keeps heat from accumulating) and it also keeps the humidity down in the cabinet.
6. I have looked at stands at 3 LFS and they don't have near the internal supports as yours or the stand that you referenced.(the 4x4 almost seam like overkill)
Yes, it probably was
overkill, but it is strong! (I was a little paranoid of the thing falling
down if the kids ran into it, and it does weigh about 2000lbs). For
a 90g, 2x4's are definitely strong enough. Just use your common sense
to build a strong box...
Points to consider:
-Most people leave
the top of the cabinet open, with only the frame of the tank sitting on
a 2x4 frame. I decided to put an extra 3/4" particle board on top,
mainly for extra structure, and to insure the tank is sitting on a perfectly
FLAT surface.
-Keep your plumbing
in mind so you don't do something like put a structural piece across the
overflow or return holes (like I did).
-Try to keep the doors
as big as possible. Some people header the front top so there's no
vertical board in the way of gaining access to the sump area. I originally
put a removable (fastened w/ brackets, no glue) front support, but I didn't
want to seam the siding, so it is now permanent.
I didn't want a complicated sump. Just an area to put the pumps, heaters, and skimmer in, as well as a means of mech. filtration (opinions vary) and carbon (which I run 24/7). 1#/gal is an acceptable ratio by many. I do have a ton of rock, but nitrates are 0 even with a dozen fish. I may however take some out one day...
I currently live
in a home with no means to run water directly to my tank for TOW do you
have any suggestions for me. The current small tank requires very
little so this has not been a problem. With the increased size and
subsequent increased evaporation I need to figure something out.
I love the convenience
of having water on-site. It would be worth running the 1/4" tubing
similar to a TV cable along the walls to have this feature!
In your sump did you just cut holes in
the bottom of the dishpan to let water run into the sump itself?
Is there any support under the dishpan or is it just hanging on the ledge?
I cut the entire bottom
of the dishpan out except for a 1/2" perimeter lip. In this I tyrapped
a piece of perforated eggrate which allows draining. Very simple.
A lot of people are getting away from any mechanical filtration, so I only run 1/2 of the water through floss or cloth. Always safer to stay somewhere in the middle, then on one of the extremes!
What brand of protein
skimmer did you purchase with what pump
I have a Berlin Classic
venturi skimmer, which I run off a Mag7 after trying the RIO 2500 and 3100.
This seems adequate, though I'm only pulling a few ounces a week out.
I've never been thrilled with the circulation in this tank. It seems that I need to keep upping pump size in order to keep flow as the corals grow. Not sure what my next steps here will be.
I started off just plumbing a water line to my TWP in the cabinet, but was using up the DI too fast (3 weeks), so I finally broke down and got an RO. I got a great deal on a unit on Ebay for $130 complete with a drinking water kit and shipping. Now the TWP cartridge lasts 6 months!
I "T"d the ROoutput to both the fridge and the tank, using the milky white poly tubing. I currently fill my wc buckets at the tank, but you could do some nifty plumbing to be able to do it in the basement, or in conjunction with a float switch
What I ended up doing in the cabinet was drilling a hole big enough to run a shutoff valve through, and then run a barbed hose to
For AC fans, you take
the two wires that come out from the wall plug and...
In parallel wiring,
each fan has two wires that respectively join to these.
In series, the power
runs through one fan and into the other, which effectively cuts the voltage
cleanly in half.
I decided it was easier to draw a diagram
NOTE: I am now using DC fans in all locations. They are 24vdc, but I run them all off a 15v powersupply, which keeps them quiet.
