custom 150 vs standard 120

[Josh23]

Teevee:
Just a thought before you start building a super deep tank, what kind of lighting are you using? 30 inches is a long way down,

I like the tank size 60x30 (deep) X24 (I was thinking of building one that size myself once I move out of mom and dads house.

Are you thinking of buying it from MITCH at Inter-American Pet Suppley in Calgary. If so keep us all updated on your progress. I would like to hear some thoughts on time, quality etc.

josh

[Josh23]

another question

If you buy a tank with 30 inches of depth, how does that affect your lighting set-up. As I understand it a MH bulb is good for about 2 feet X 2 feet is that correct. With this style of set-up would you not have a shaddow either in the front or back of the tank?

Josh

[StirCrazy]

a MH can give good coverage to a 3 foot span if mounted right and using the right reflector.. but in the case with a 30 inch wide tank I personaly would leave about 4" of sand around the reef that I don't need to light anyways.. how often do you see SPS growing on the sand? well unless you have looked at Brad's tank laitly


Steve

[Delphinus]

Originally Posted by StirCrazy

how often do you see SPS growing on the sand?

Ummm .... have you ever seen a real reef? Plenty of acros grow right out of the sand bed. Ok, I guess there might be a superstructure of rock under the sand but to the untrained snorkelers eye they look like they're gowing out of the sand.

[StirCrazy]

sorry I ment in our average tanks.. I personaly like to keep room open around the reef to clean the glass easy.. don't know about you or anyone else but if I had the room I would have a large sand bed for the LPS that don;t need 400 watts of baking MH but in reality I would probably end up with to much rock and fill that up also...

either way a MH can light a 30" didstance with little trouble.


Steve

[BC_Grl]

Steve, we got a new Mag 18 and it is quieter than the old one, but still noisy.

[StirCrazy]

Originally Posted by BC_Grl

Steve, we got a new Mag 18 and it is quieter than the old one, but still noisy.

weird, you are going to have to stop buy and see if it is much noiser than my two mag 12's..

Steve

[Quinn]

hey i appreciate all this input people. i don't want to screw this up and regret a rushed decision.

i will be running two 400w german 10k MH's over the tank, not sure if i want actinics yet (or perhaps i should say, i can't afford them off the bat). i will also be doing an approx. 4" DSB. i would like to add some contours so i may look into making it deeper in some spots. i won't be going nuts with the LR, rather than making a wall of it, i want to put down a sort of L-shape mound of it. if possible i would like to leave enough room for the fish to swim around the back, but i don't know if there will be enough space. the 48x30x30 will be 187 gallons, which is a heck of a lot, so i may go with the 48x30x24 (provided i decide to go 30 deep rather than 30 high, after i see des' tank).

i am dealing with mitch at IA, yes. so far everything seems very reasonable. the 120 quote i got from him was about $450, sump at $100. getting the tank edges ground and polished added $96, but i think that's both front and back, and i might only get the front done. i'm not exactly sure how it looks yet so i can't judge. he said that if i call in advance, i can drop by their shop, which i plan to do, perhaps the morning before i head to jon's before i head to the calgary meeting.

[Quinn]

:!: update :!:

ok the higher-ups within the home (dad and mom) have officially declared that i cannot put more than 120 gallons of water in my bedroom. if i want to do a bigger tank in the office downstairs that's fine by them, but i'm never down there, so... 120 it is, 48x24x24.

oh well, at least it will be cheaper!

[BCOrchidGuy]

My LFS can get you custom tanks at an amazing cost, I got a 48x24(front to back)x20 tall for $250, took a week to get it. If you want the phone number give me a private message.