36" Dual 150W MH Sunpod for 90 Gal and more.

[edpete97]

I got a great deal on a 36" Dual 150 MH Sunpod. I only paid $250 (45 days old). It should be here Wednesday. From what little I could find, these run pretty cool. Can anyone confirm? I have a standard size 90 gal tank with 80 lbs LS and 100 lbs LR. I'm running a sump w/ a Berlin Protein skimmer. I've got plenty of flow. Current lighting is PC's, dual 96W actinics/daylights which I intend to replace with the new lighting. Tank is 7 months old. Current stock is 1 lawnmower blennie, 1 Coral Banded Shrimp, 1 Cleaner Shrimp, what's left of my original cleanup crew. I've had the current livestock since the tank was 1 month old. I want to add a sebea or bubble tip anomone and a gold stripe maroon clown. Will my new lighting be sufficent? Did I get a good deal?
A little more history, at two months, I added two clowns from LFS that died in two weeks-parameters-0 Amonia, 0 Nitrites, 5 Nitrates, temp 78, salinity 1.024, Phosphates 0.
At three months, added Flame Angel and Cole Tang. Died in two weeks. Water parameters the same as above, nitrates slightly higher at 10.
Placed an order with SWF yesterday for a new cleanup crew, some gobies, a marron clown, and an anemone. It's been 3+ months since I've added anything new. I've continued water changes at 10% per month since month 2. Water levels kept at normal with RO water. I use Tropic Marin for saltwater changes. At month three I did put new lights in my PC's because they were over a year old (I got them used). I've never had an issue with the blennie, either shrimp, or cleanup crew for the most parts.
LFS has attributed all the deaths to "Bad Luck". They even tested my water and called it great. I'm feeding Thera +A pellets and algae pellets on opposite days. No gurantee on fish from LFS so now I'm ordering from SWF. I aclimated my LFS fish per the instructions at SWF. Hope I have better "luck" with my fish order from SWF. Feel free to critique so I can find out if I'm doing okay with my habits.

 

[drew2005]

Originally Posted by edpete97
I got a great deal on a 36" Dual 150 MH Sunpod. I only paid $250 (45 days old). It should be here Wednesday. From what little I could find, these run pretty cool. Can anyone confirm? I have a standard size 90 gal tank with 80 lbs LS and 100 lbs LR. I'm running a sump w/ a Berlin Protein skimmer. I've got plenty of flow. Current lighting is PC's, dual 96W actinics/daylights which I intend to replace with the new lighting. Tank is 7 months old. Current stock is 1 lawnmower blennie, 1 Coral Banded Shrimp, 1 Cleaner Shrimp, what's left of my original cleanup crew. I've had the current livestock since the tank was 1 month old. I want to add a sebea or bubble tip anomone and a gold stripe maroon clown. Will my new lighting be sufficent? Did I get a good deal?
A little more history, at two months, I added two clowns from LFS that died in two weeks-parameters-0 Amonia, 0 Nitrites, 5 Nitrates, temp 78, salinity 1.024, Phosphates 0.
At three months, added Flame Angel and Cole Tang. Died in two weeks. Water parameters the same as above, nitrates slightly higher at 10.
Placed an order with SWF yesterday for a new cleanup crew, some gobies, a marron clown, and an anemone. It's been 3+ months since I've added anything new. I've continued water changes at 10% per month since month 2. Water levels kept at normal with RO water. I use Tropic Marin for saltwater changes. At month three I did put new lights in my PC's because they were over a year old (I got them used). I've never had an issue with the blennie, either shrimp, or cleanup crew for the most parts.
I have the 36" Sunpod myself and i will say it is a great unit. I love the color spectrum it puts out and its is surprisingly quiet. And the price you paid is great. I paid $425 for mine last April. Not that im really questioning you, but ive never seen a 36" long 90 gallon tank. I always see ones that are 48". Did you get the right size?

 

[edpete97]

You're absolutely correct. My 90 is 48" wide. The PC's I have are 36" wide with a custom PVC stand I created for it to sit on my glass tops. I plan on doing the same thing with the new 36" MH Sunpod when I get it. Good question!

 

[drew2005]

Originally Posted by edpete97
You're absolutely correct. My 90 is 48" wide. The PC's I have are 36" wide with a custom PVC stand I created for it to sit on my glass tops. I plan on doing the same thing with the new 36" MH Sunpod when I get it. Good question!
Just a suggestion. Its not a good idea to run MH lights with the glass tops. You run the risk of possibly breaking the glass from the heat of the halides and also the glass will kind of act like a magnifying glass and really heat the water up. Plus without the glass tops you'll let the transfer oxygen and co2 do its thing. Im not expert though, so maybe someone else will chime in. In any effect good luck and get some pics up of your system.

 

[edpete97]

Would it be okay to just take off my class tops and retrofit the enclosure into my tank hood? Back to my original questions also.

 

[drew2005]

Originally Posted by edpete97
Would it be okay to just take off my class tops and retrofit the enclosure into my tank hood? Back to my original questions also.
If you bought a retrofit kit from Current im sure that would work fine. I know they say not to put this unit under canopies or enclosures.

 

[edpete97]

I've got plenty of airflow in my hood. The back is completely open and the top has a slot in it. I thought the sunpods were supposed to run cool. I got the fixture as a 45 day old demo tank unit. I thought 250 was a great deal. Apparently I was right.

 

[drew2005]

Originally Posted by edpete97
I've got plenty of airflow in my hood. The back is completely open and the top has a slot in it. I thought the sunpods were supposed to run cool. I got the fixture as a 45 day old demo tank unit. I thought 250 was a great deal. Apparently I was right.
If its not completely enclosed then its ok. The unit does generate a nice amount of heat. The heat comes out of the top where the ballasts are and it gets pretty hot. I mean you can hold your hand on the unit a few seconds before you have to take it away. Thats not too bad. If you can make a 36" unit fit under a canopy thats 48" then go for it. And you did get a great deal. Im setting up a 75g in place of my 46g and i have to get the 48" unit. Now they make it with 250w bulbs, so im going for those. Cheapest i found the unit was $525.

 

[edpete97]

Here are pictures of what I have going.

 

[drew2005]

Nice setup! I like the rockwork.

 

[edpete97]

I like it. It's been 7 months and I'm ready to start 'really' stocking it. I just want to make sure the lighting I'm getting will be sufficient. I also want to turn a 16gal tank I have into a fuge. Any thoughts?

 

[drew2005]

Originally Posted by edpete97
I like it. It's been 7 months and I'm ready to start 'really' stocking it. I just want to make sure the lighting I'm getting will be sufficient. I also want to turn a 16gal tank I have into a fuge. Any thoughts?
Im kinda new to the whole sump/fuge thing. Im trying to learn myself. I have a 46g with a wet/dry right now. Im setting up a 75g reef ready with a 30 or 40 gallon sump/fuge. Im building my own stand and canopy. Its my project for the next couple weeks.

 

[edpete97]

So what you're saying is that 16gal won't do crap for my 90gal tank. I was kinda thinking that, but I want some thoughts from you all.

 

[drew2005]

Originally Posted by edpete97
So what you're saying is that 16gal won't do crap for my 90gal tank. I was kinda thinking that, but I want some thoughts from you all.
I really don't know. I mean im sure it will work, but i would do the biggest size sump you can fit in your stand. The bigger the sump, more water volume, less room for errors and what not. Thats how i look at it.

 

[edpete97]

Per my pictures, I have a wet/dry system under my drilled tank. My goal is to add another tank where I can grow microalgae to help combat nitrates. I have an extra 16gal bowfront that I wanted to use, maybe cut some plexiglass to make some baffels as I've seen others do and somehow get some flow from my main tank into the refugium and back into the tank again to just make my tank better. Anything anyone can suggest would be a great help.
Erik