180 Gallon

brickwood · #1 04-07-2009, 10:57 PM

Time for some more updates. We used a small PLC to control all the lighting. The whole setup cost about $300. The PLC can be plugged into the pc and the program can changed and adapted to whatever we need. Blah......blah.....blah.....it's a glorified light timer. It controls all the halides and the 2 seperate T5 circuits as well as the moonlights. I might even do the same thing for a wave controller. I know you can buy all these things in stores but going this way can be cheaper and far more customizable. I can write the program to do whatever and whenever I want. The box hasn't been mounted yet and the receptacles are not in the wall yet so more pictures to follow. We went and purchased some strip LED's from Ikea today.......yeah Ikea. They will act as the moonlights. I looked at getting the Coralife moonlights but by the time I finished paying for the 4 or so that I would need, it was cheaper and cleaner looking from Ikea. Not sure how they will work out but it was worth the money to find out. I actually got the idea from Niloc. He used the same thing on his tank and it looked great.

Ripwoop · #2 04-08-2009, 02:37 AM

ROFL i heard about that coffee!! Wish i could have been there to see his face LOL

brickwood · #3 04-08-2009, 02:45 AM

This is not a cricket eating thread. This thread is about my tank build. Maybe this will clear that up.

brickwood · #4 05-12-2009, 06:11 AM

Update time. The tank has been running for a couple of months and I have slowly been stocking it week by week. We are adding a Schuran calcium reactor. It's only rated for tanks up to 158g but it's close enough. It will do the job just fine. I can always upgrade to something else later if needed. There is also plans to put in two Vortex MP40's. Just have to pick them up from Dan at Aquatic Addictions.

We have a couple of Koralia #4's in there but they just aren't enough.

I have added more live rock since this picture was taken. The coraline is going crazy in the tank. I have just been dosing with a little Liquid Reactor until the calcium reactor is up and running.

She has a little ich on her but it's all cleared up now.

The two Bangaii's seem to have "hosted" this plate. They usually live around spiny urchins so I guess this makes them feel safe.