Thanks SWF.com!!! New 90gal

gregghia

gregghia

Member
Well its finally done. My 90gal is up and running. Many thanks to all those that have anwsered questions and posts for me. I have read so much and learned tons since November of last year. Without reading I would have made 5 times more mistakes than I already did!
. But here is a pic of my sumpless 90gal. Its really a FOWLR and I have two corals but I doubt it can be classfied as a reef but we will see where I go in the future. The tank looks great and the life is happy. I guess I am blowing my own horn but just happy about the results of my patience and the joy of the hobby in general.
My tank is;
90gal
280 Emporer and 500 Aquaclear
RemoraC skimmer
3 powerheads
a makeshift fuge in the tank
Outer Orbit 48" MH setup with T5 and 18 lunar lights.
My stock is;
2 Green Chromis
1 Royal Gramma
2 False Percs
1 Scooter Blenny
2 Cleaner Shrimp
Host of snails, hermits and yes a big aptasia (which is soon vacating)
Thanks again for the help and great site!
Ghia
 
barchtruong

barchtruong

Member
your patience is very hi, good job.
I started reading and setting up at the same time since Nov. Luckily, everything's going pretty good with my tank.
Keep us posted on your progress.
Oh, I use the same light as yours.
I am afraid you will have a prob with increasing in water temp due to the light is set to close to the water surface. I set mine 8" above water line and water temp is still going up everynight by 3,4degrees.
You might want to get a big fan by the tank and blow the heat from the light away.
 
mpls man

mpls man

Active Member
having a sump will be a good investment as well as helping the water stay cooler because of more water evaporation therfore cooling the water, having a fan will help also.
how high are your lights above the water line?
how high are you talking temp rise?
a couple degrees wont make too much difference.
how warm are you talking?
most people keep their tanks between 78*-82*
mine stays at 78* at night and may go to 80* with MHs and actinics on during the day.
 
bill109

bill109

Active Member
helli have been waiting for one of these cus its the same as my tank basically
so with ur powerheads. you have 3can you name he ones and how big and where you put them cu si cant figure my flow out yet
ohh anb bte how old is it .. it looks very nice
 
barchtruong

barchtruong

Member
Originally Posted by MPLS MAN
having a sump will be a good investment as well as helping the water stay cooler because of more water evaporation therfore cooling the water, having a fan will help also.
how high are your lights above the water line?
how high are you talking temp rise?
a couple degrees wont make too much difference.
how warm are you talking?
most people keep their tanks between 78*-82*
mine stays at 78* at night and may go to 80* with MHs and actinics on during the day.
my tank is 77 when the light's off.
afew months ago, I didn't have to turn the floor fan on cuz it was still in the winter time, room temp was really cool so it was about 80 when MHs were on.
Now, it's spring, and the room is warming up, so the water is jumping up to 82 when MHs are on. So I got freaked out, brought in the 22"fan and blow away the heat. Water temp stays around 78. If there's no floor fan, I think the temp will go up to 86 or even more. AC in the house runs very constant and the room is still pretty hot cuz of MHs.
So, in gregghia's case, I think he will have a more serious prob than mine.
 
mpls man

mpls man

Active Member
you may want to bump the heater up a degree or 2 so there is not too much flucturation in the temp, that way your tank will stay betwween say 80* and 82*, keep the fan going over the tank if possible. try mounting a fan to blow across the top of tank, instead of on the floor, that will help a lot.
a chiller may be an investment..
i have 1 i run during the summer during the hot months.
hope this helps.
 
gregghia

gregghia

Member
Originally Posted by barchtruong
your patience is very hi, good job.
I started reading and setting up at the same time since Nov. Luckily, everything's going pretty good with my tank.
Keep us posted on your progress.
Oh, I use the same light as yours.
I am afraid you will have a prob with increasing in water temp due to the light is set to close to the water surface. I set mine 8" above water line and water temp is still going up everynight by 3,4degrees.
You might want to get a big fan by the tank and blow the heat from the light away.

I am already creeping up to 85 degrees! I need to raise this thing. What did you do to raise your lighting? I have the ceiling mount but not sure I can do that now that I have the tank in its set place. I have to do something creative...
 
maxalmon

maxalmon

Active Member
Homedepot or Officemax have those desk fans with huge clips, pretty easy to attach one to the side or back of your tank to blow air across water, the evaporative effect is great at reducing temp, downside is you need to top off the tank a lot more and it's better to do it several times a day or have a autotop off system as you don't want your SG fluctuating.
 
gregghia

gregghia

Member
Everyone I am getting up to 85 degrees with just actinics on. I keep my AC at about 76 in the house... use to it being a littel warm. I am not opposed to lowereing AC but I don't think that is the main issue.
1. I could do a ceiling mount but with the lights being that high the average person standing there or sitting on my couch is going to get blinded by two MH lights on. Unfortunately the tank is in my living room next to me LCD TV. The lights too high would be bad.
2. I could do a canopy I guess. What does the average canopy raise the height of the lights approximately??? Is that enough to not effect temp.
3. I never really wanted the MH lights. I like the shimmer but not priority. I am use to Compact Flourescents. I also do not like that the lights on the tank cover the entire top of the tank itself. I know if I went back to CF lights the fixture would be have the size. Despite difference in light would I get the same heating problem with CF of that size? Keep in mind I am only keeping few corals.
 
mpls man

mpls man

Active Member
one other thing ?? what do you have your temp set at for your tank ?
is your heater working properly?
just a thought.
if you have your house at 76, i don't see how your tank can be close to 85* with just the actinics on ? just some things to check ?
 
barchtruong

barchtruong

Member
hey Gregghia, I had to built a custom piece that looks like a hood but no lids.
Just the wood going around the edge of the tank.
I used 5.5"x3/4" pine board to build it.
And then I set the light on to of it.
The light has 4 lil legs about 4" hi.
So that gave set the light pretty much 10" above water surface and I am still running a big fan by it to cool blow the heat off it everytime MHs are on.
check out my tank on the link below
https://forums.saltwaterfish.com/t/252748/here-is-my-baby
 
gregghia

gregghia

Member
The heater is set to 76 right now. I have two thermometers in there and they are both showing same temp so they are right. I guess I will unplug the heater for a day or so just to make sure. I was wanting the target temp to be 78-82.
I agree and am trying to fingure out how temp can be that much higher with house AC at 76? Almost 10 degrees....
 
barchtruong

barchtruong

Member
Originally Posted by gregghia
The heater is set to 76 right now. I have two thermometers in there and they are both showing same temp so they are right. I guess I will unplug the heater for a day or so just to make sure. I was wanting the target temp to be 78-82.
I agree and am trying to fingure out how temp can be that much higher with house AC at 76? Almost 10 degrees....
my house is set at 71degrees and the light still keeps my bedroom where it's located at 80degrees
It's your light that caused the overheating prob. not ur tank heaters.
 
mpls man

mpls man

Active Member
haven't herd of any, i haven't had vho to know , i have pcs for actinics.
i wouldn't think so.
what are the wattage of them ?
 
gregghia

gregghia

Member
Well I have about 600+ watts total with this Outer Orbit now but I never cared for this fixture. i was thinking of going VHO/T5. Smaller fixture and less heat. Just wanted some opinions.
 
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