Building my 150 Gallon U-shaped Room Divider Tank

benztech858

Member
I just wanted to introduce myself and keep you updated with my build progress. I have currently decided on a 150 gallon U-shaped room divider tank. I plan on setting the tank up as a Reef tank. Any advice you can give me would be much appreciated, thanks!
Any suggestions on a all-in-one Reef light for a 60" tank?
 
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brandonsivek

Guest
How deep is your tank going to be? That will give you a starting point on how powerful your lighting will need to be, also what type of corals you are going to want to do. On a tank that big I would go with medal halides and hang them above the tank especially if its going to be a reef tank, I always thought that looked cool, but thats just my opinion.
Cant wait to see some pics of this!
Welcome to the board!
 

acrylic51

Active Member
Welcome.... My first question will determine a lot of equipment planning. What are of corals are you planning to keep? You stated a reef, but that is rather broad!!!:laughing:
 

xcali1985

Active Member
All I can say is DIY LED KITS. These are extremely easy to build and you can usually build one for the same if not less than a MH structure. There are sites that sell 24" led kits with 48 LEDs. With that structure you can cover about 36" long by 24" wide with it about a foot above the tank. Youtube has builds that walk you through every step in great detail. All you need is basic soldering experience.
If you need direction to a good one I can send you a link. But LEDs allow you to do so much, including create thunderstorms, moon phases, lighting effects, sunrise/sunset, clouds ect. when hooked to a Controller. With a 150 you can probably run 2 24" heatsinks with LEDs and be plenty. You also are able to add red LEDs for another spectrum. The jury is still out on red LEDs but you will always have that ability to add them later.
The best part is they last approx 11 yrs. and even they they still work just lose about 1/4 of there power. Compare the cost of yearly bulbs and the initial fixture and LEDs win by a longshot.
 

1snapple

Active Member
Welcome to SWF and LED DIY builds are awesome, like stated above, why type of coral do you want?
 

benztech858

Member
Thank you for the encouragement and help with LED lighting. I agree with the LED lighting, plus I have mechanical skills so I should be fine. I take it the LED lighting systems provide the correct lighting for the corals?
 

xcali1985

Active Member
Quote:
Originally Posted by benztech858 http:///forum/thread/383277/building-my-150-gallon-u-shaped-room-divider-tank#post_3351141
Thank you for the encouragement and help with LED lighting. I agree with the LED lighting, plus I have mechanical skills so I should be fine. I take it the LED lighting systems provide the correct lighting for the corals?
It's more than capable. But you will need to take into consideration of what you want to keep. I am going with 1/2 blue 1/2 white arrangement. There are some that say you should go 2 to 1 combo if keeping SPS and/or Clams. Your going to have to do some research and decide for yourself.
 

benztech858

Member
So... the fishtank is suppose to be delivered tomorrow! The only problem, we are getting hammered by a snow storm right now. Sounds like a sick day tomorrow!
 
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