Nick's Miracle Build

btw, how you like my trimming skill? :D
Had to trim the back of the tank(overflow side) opening so I can set up the sump behind it. It will be impossible to do the trim after the sump has been set up. Will do the rest of the trims and doors after I get the floor down.
 
Basement finish looks really nice! Those radium bulbs should be awesome. And heat your house in the winter :)

Seriously, the aquascaping looks beautiful - I'm exciting to see it get covered in some living things.
 
The myth, the legend, the Radium.
Time for me to experience this legendary light.
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Nice, real reef lighting! Does the Spectra use the m80 ballast?
 
Basement finish looks really nice! Those radium bulbs should be awesome. And heat your house in the winter :)

Seriously, the aquascaping looks beautiful - I'm exciting to see it get covered in some living things.

Thanks. I never had any issue with metal halides heat even with the current tank upstairs. I actually welcome it since it allows the heater to take a break. I keep my tank at 76 degrees.

Ah, light! Typically followed by "let there be algae!"
Hopefully nothing nasty but that will be a sign of life!

Nice! Cannot wait to see this full stocked!
Tell me about it! I'm so tempted to trap some fish in the Elos and put them in the new tank. I have to stop myself AND my wife from doing such thing. I'm planning on doing a final cleaning on the Elos for a final update and then do the slow transfer. Most likely the LPS are going first since they're the easiest to transfer. SPS colony will need to be scraped off the rock and re-glued. Not sure what to do about the fish. There's an order that I would like to put them in the new tank to avoid any aggression but capturing a specific one is a tough challenge. Maybe the fish will go last. We'll see how it plays out.
 
Sounds like a plan. How are you jump starting the nitrification cycle in the new tank?

"Today is Day 1 of the Miracle 360 gallons tank. I will add a couple of sand from the Elos to seed the tank. And maybe a a piece of rock if I can find a clean pieces without any coral on it. I finished filling the tank and sump up and the system is fully running with a skimmer since last night. One of the MP60QD is DOA and I'm working with Ecotech on a replacement. Flow is always a difficult thing in a peninsula set up. I'm going to get another Vectra M1 and use that as my return as I don't need an L1 power for the return. I will use an L1 coupled with an Ocean motion and plumb the output to the other side of the tank and run it as a closed loop system. I got 4 drilled holes on the Eurobrace o the other side for a reason. I do not want any powerhead on the other side of the tank."

Nevermind found my own answer :D

I have used the Instant Ocean BIO-Spira on new tanks and added corals < 2 weeks with excellent results.

http://www.bulkreefsupply.com/instant-ocean-bio-spira.html

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Sounds like a plan. How are you jump starting the nitrification cycle in the new tank?

Jeff,
To be honest, none of this is scientific. I had 150lbs of dry Fiji rocks from BRS sitting in a rubbermaid bin with my waterchange water running for over a year. I also bought rocks from various members. They just sit there with a pump. I don't usually check on it.
http://www.bostonreefers.org/forums/forumdisplay.php?2-Reef-Talk
I did test the PO4 in the bin to be 0.1ppm before I put the big a** BBK skimmer on it for about a week. The BBK initially pulled out some real nasty stuff then it stopped. I just assumed there's nothing left to be pulled. The rocks look really good so I used in the new tank. I don't know how many pounds in total I have but I still have two 5-gal buckets full of smaller pieces.
In the Elos, I used the Nature's Ocean Bio-Active Livesand. It was good but it was expensive and a little to fine for me. For this tank, I used Carribsea Special Reef grade dry sand. About 1/4" of the water is some the Elos in the new tank. The new tank has been running over a week. I will have to do some testing before I can add anything in there. I can also add some sand from the Elos but I kept saying that but haven't done so.
I will keep the Elos running even after everything has been transferred. Just in case I need to bring them back.
 
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Nice, real reef lighting! Does the Spectra use the m80 ballast?

The Spectra has the MH ballasts externally and it doesn't usually come with the ballast unless you're asking for it. It's up to the user to use which ever ballast he/she wants.
I'm using a Luxcore 400W selectable E-Ballast at the 250W setting. I know this is under driving the Radium and the M80 ballast will drive the bulb correctly. However, the 400W Luxcore has a 250W HQI setting which drives the bulb closer to the Radium spec.
I've used this 250W HQI setting on the DE pheonix 14K and it over drive the bulb to a very nice white.
http://www.coralvue.com/luxcore-400w-selectable-wattage-electronic-ballast

Straight out of Premium Aquatic explaining Radium bulb.
https://premiumaquatics.com/articles/radium

" 250w Mogul Base

The 250w Mogul Base Radium is a unique lamp in that it’s actually rated as a 270w lamp and is specified to be ran off of an M80 Magnetic HQI ballast. This is one of the very few metal halide lamps on the market which are single ended that are spec’d for this particular ballast. This does not mean that the lamp can only be ran off of a magnetic M80 HQI ballast though. Other ballasts that are very common to run this lamp with are standard electronic ballasts such as the ReefBrite, old IceCap, or the Vertex ballast. With the introduction of the somewhat new “Select-a-watt” ballasts that are now on the market such as Lumatek, and even better the Luxcore brand, you can choose to run this lamp at standard 250w, closer to spec of 270w with the “250” or “250 HQI” settings that are on these select-a-watt ballasts.

When running the lamp off of a magnetic M80 HQI ballast you will pump a good amount more of white light through the lamp, which is easier to see with the naked eye. This is the result of the lamp running at a slightly higher than intended wattage, at 330w. Please note that actual wattage to the lamp will be slightly less due to power loss through the wiring. This makes the lamp have a very good mix of white and blue light, and excellent PAR numbers for a bulb that is heavier weighted to blue side of the spectrum.

Running the lamp on the standard electronic 250w ballasts will produce the most blue out of the lamp that you can get. The wattage does drop down on the lamp to approximately 245w, and the more visual white light is more subdued to the naked eye. PAR levels do decrease, but you do gain some in terms of coral coloration that is displayed.

When using an electronic ballast that has a select-a-watt setting on it and running it on the “250 HQI” you split the difference in output between a standard electronic 250w setting and the magnetic M80 HQI numbers. This gives a very good balance of blue and white mix to the lamp, and splits the difference between PAR numbers that generally equate to growth, and more blue light, which usually helps with maximum coral coloration.

250w specs are as follows:

Lamp Wattage: 270w

Ballast Spec: ANSI Code M80 Magnet HQI

M80 Magnetic Wattage: 330w

Electronic 250w Setting: 245w

Electronic 250w “HQI” or Super Lumens: 300w

Average Lamp Life: 9-10 months @ 8hrs/day"
 
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its best to add fish with bio-spira it works best that way .if not the bacteria has nothing to eat and only some survive .ive used my times and had best results with dummping it in waiting 5 mins add fish and coral all done. :)cant rember last time i waited 30 days to add anything. tank is coming along great.every time i look at this build it gives me motivating to clean my tank .keep up the good work
 
Looks great!!! Trim work is fun, except for crown molding... unless you naturally think upsidedown and backwards.

The part where you trimmed and it's higher than the tank is that to provide reach across access to the overflow etc? You planning on a door on the other side of that?

Looks like space for cord management for the light - I built a box out of thin MDF and ripped boards that butts against the light - if its just exactly so, the light looks integrated into the wall - but looks that they went UP instead of over on that fixture which complicates matters.
 
Thanks Steve for stopping by to check out the new tank.

Thomb,
I thought the opening would allow easy access to the overflow(and it does) but if I want to isolate the fish room and sound, I would have to do something. I'm not at that point where everything is finalized yet. My fish room is nothing as planned lol. I drew out a sketch of what and where I want things and it's totally not a lot different than what I actually can do. I'll post pics later.
 
Draw it out!?!?!

My wife was just explaining to me as I was complaining that I am the worst at fabricating...Most engineers etc. draw things out
before they start doing things or buying tools. And that if I'd drawn out the stand first, it the tank would be centered not oddly offset.

What does she know?
 
Update on the tank.
The tank has been running for ~3 weeks. Livestocks have been settling down for the last two weeks. No casualty so far. In fact, I've added 3 more yellow tangs and 5 more Lyretail Anthias. I love big group of fish. I rather have a group of the same specie fish than individual of different species fishes. The interaction among the group is very fun to watch.

I shouldn't have taken pictures with the feeding being active since it draws all the fish to one side of the tank.
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