Ismael's 220 gallon

[FSU]

I should have before I put everything in there....but the sump is full of water and sand now...so no way I am moving that...could possibly paint around it...LOL...talk about ghetto....LOL

But thanks for the compliments all...

Now I am waiting for what I did wrong...I have thick skin....I can take it....as long as someone doesn't say...HEY MOVE that tank...then I am good to go...LOL...and personally if I owned this house it would be going into the wall from inside the garage....but...it is what it is...LOL

If you need any help, just holler at me! I am right around the corner and would be glad to help!

[FSU]

Btw, just don't let me glue anything!

[engwife36]

Ya, I wish I owned my house so I could do the in wall thing.....but then again I can't complain...free housing, water and electric, I think I can wait a little longer.

Don't forget to let us know about your lights, pumps, etc......

need the details man......

[ismvel]

Ya, I wish I owned my house so I could do the in wall thing.....but then again I can't complain...free housing, water and electric, I think I can wait a little longer.

Don't forget to let us know about your lights, pumps, etc......

need the details man......

Oh I hear you on the base housing thing....can't beat that.
I decided I am going to get going with what I got....and this is what I have right now....

• Tank
• Stand
• Sump (an old 45 gallon, I beleive...it is a flat back hex tank..similar to mharmon's tank, but smaller)
• Mag 18 for the return
• 200 lbs of rock inside the tank...another 50 plus pounds in my 30 gallon...but I will wait until my tank has cured before I start moving the rock over.
• I have a 1.5 - 2 inch sand bed in the display...and a 6 inch in the sump
• (3) 250w MH with 20K radium bulbs and the cheap spider reflectors...not ready to fork out for those nice lumenarcs

and that's it....

What I am going to get...

• I have a lead on a huge double beckett skimmer that someone had running for over 500 gallons worth of water...but I had been thinking of having ace build me one of his...difference is Ace can build me one that would fit under my stand and run with a mag 12...the other one I would need to plumb it and bring it in from the garage (as it is about 4 feet tall) and get a dart or something to push it.
• (2) Seio's 2600
• and maybe down the road....not sure...a tunze wavebox....not sure on that.

Pretty simple set up....I will add more as time moves on...first thing is making my canopy and deciding on which skimmer I will go with!!!!! I was not thinking when I made the stand and made it 30" tall.
Well my thoughts were that I was going to make it viewable height from sitting on the couch....limits what I can really put under the tank....oh well...just have to make some adjustments in my future planning for additions.

[ismvel]

I have 3 MH with the normal reflectors. How tall should my canopy be? I was in between three different heights...

Because the tank is viewable by both sides, I need to completely enclose the canopy (will be accessible from both sides). I will have fans at the top of the canopy to help ventilate, but that is about it....

• 12" (but then my lights would pretty much be on top of my water and cooking the tank....no chiller)
• 15" (a little relief)
• 18" (allows me to get in and work on whatever I need to without fear of burning my arms or head on the lights......too often )

Any recommendations?

[JeffCo]

You really need to think about your access to the tank. How about adding some type of pulley system so you can raise and lower the lights. Keep it lower for the corals, then raise it when you really need to get in the tank. I used a sliding rail system and I can completely pull the lights out from over the tank. But, I think the 15" would be fine for the corals.

[Bill S]

I had a pulley system - it was a pain.

Try the yo-yos they sell on fleabay for folks growing "medicinal" drugs. I have them and they work OK - not great, but OK.

[ismvel]

You really need to think about your access to the tank. How about adding some type of pulley system so you can raise and lower the lights. Keep it lower for the corals, then raise it when you really need to get in the tank. I used a sliding rail system and I can completely pull the lights out from over the tank. But, I think the 15" would be fine for the corals.

I had a pulley system - it was a pain.

Try the yo-yos they sell on fleabay for folks growing "medicinal" drugs. I have them and they work OK - not great, but OK.

I will have to take a look at these and how I could incorporate them into the canopy...Bill, I remember your set up...you wouldn't happen to have that seller's Id on ebay would you?

I measured the reflectors and they are 6" tall...so it would sit 9" (on a 15" hood) and 12" (on a 18" hood) off of the water..the tank itself is 24" from front to back, so I still have plenty of room to get in there and move things around as needed.

The 12" canopy is now no longer being considered.

[Bill S]

No, I really don't remember - there are MANY. Just search for "reflector hangers".

[FSU]

Any updated pics?