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coralfarm123's ~ 300 Gallon System Build


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Still haven't got everything mounted, but it is getting very close. I'm just trying not to fry everything and avoid bleaching. Here is a pic of the lighting I'm using. I made the light rack out of aluminum angle and tube. The three reflectors are lumenmax elite DE fixtures with 250watt 14k Phoenix bulbs. I am using magnetic m80 ballasts to fire the bulbs. Before setting up the tank, I had a sunlight supply ballast and one of the reflectors thanks to Luke. I tried finding a pair of new or used SLS magnetic ballasts but had no luck since Sunlight went electronic. There are fewer and fewer options for magnetic ballasts these days so I finally decided on a couple of the Aquamedic Reeflex Cube ballast. So far, I'm really liking them. The ballasts are housed in the room in my garage directly behind the tank.

 

For supplemental lighting I decided to start with a couple 72 inch VHOs since I had all the equipment laying around. I may add to them or switch them out some day. For bulbs, I had some Super Actinics, but have been wanting to give the new 454 bulbs a shot so I picked up a couple from Premium. They are definitely brighter than the super actinics and have more of a blue look vs the purple of the SA. I still haven't decided whether I want to run one of each or both 454s.

 

lightrack.jpg

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Here are some updated pics of the progress. As you can see, my sandbed is littered with unmounted coral and frags, but it is getting there slowly. The color is coming back on most pieces, but a few are still adjusting. I have to get the frag tank back online before I completely clear the sandbed, but I plan to have it completely free of coral eventually. I hope to have many sand dwelling fish and don't want sand all over the coral.

 

When mounting the coral, I've tried to give extra space between each piece for growth and for a few new frags in the future.

 

Anyways, here are some pics all taken yesterday.

 

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To be honest Ian, I am a little disappointing in your entire setup....all your live stock looks horrible. I think you should do us all a favor and just bring it to my house so I can enjoy...uhhh I mean, hate it everyday.

 

It really looks very nice and well planned. Nice job man....

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That sounds about right Luke:) I've shot lots of pics and videos over the years just havent been able to do much with them. Eventually I would like to put my decent quality videos together.

 

Here is a shot of my clowns spawning during the day fairly recently. I got the male from Booyahs maybe 4-5 years ago.

 

https://youtu.be/ZdbzEZfeiCE

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