JayBeDriften's Piece of the Reef. (Photographic Intensive)
My Piece of the Reef 135 gallon Reef Aquarium
After two days of settling into our new apartment nestled in the Throggs Neck section of the Bronx. My wife gave me the okay to spoil myself for a job well done during the move. The First order of business would be my Reef Aquarium but in a very large 2 bedroom apartment a 45 gallon aquarium seemed just too little..... after all I was spoiling myself. Well I realized that if I wanted a bigger tank I would definitely require a way to get it back home and I was already in the market for a family vehicle with my first born on the way in November 2007. So I went and purchased a Honda Element 4WD EX Sport Utility Vehicle. A great buy for $25,000.00 Then off to the local fish store to purchase the aquarium.
Photograph - June 15, 2007 - "2007 Honda Element 4WD EX" All that height just begin to be filled with a tall aquarium.
Photograph - June 15, 2007 - "2007 Honda Element 4WD EX" The suicide doors make getting in and out with an aquarium and supplies easy. The inside seat fold away for even more space..... you can almost consider it cheating.
My goal with this Reef Aquarium setup was to provide the best possible setup by focusing on patience, knowledge, and cost effectiveness to ensure an environement that would provide my aquatic buddies the with ability to thrive and not just survive! I have always been an impatient Reef Keeper but lately things have changed in my life that allow me to understand a very known phrase to use here in the Talking Reef, "Nothing Good Happens Fast!" Rob. Below are some photographs of what the setup looked like on June 17, 2007. I will get into more detail in later post to this thread.
Photograph - June 17, 2007 - My 135 gallon Reef Aquarium in the works.
Photograph - June 17, 2007 - My 135 gallon Reef Aquarium in the works.
Last edited by JayBeDriften; 07-18-2007 at 10:54 AM.
That is a really nice set up.You were comfortable disclosing the cost of the Element,what did the entire 135g set you back?
My next venture is a 125g with all the bell & whistles.
That is a really nice set up.You were comfortable disclosing the cost of the Element,what did the entire 135g set you back?
My next venture is a 125g with all the bell & whistles.
Larry Copperband, I don't mind disclosing the cost of the 2007 Honda Element 4WD EX because it is a standard price for the package included from the dealership. The SUV is full of practicality and almost seems as though it was designed for the Reef Keeping Community. The seats are water proof and the bed is plastic so you can easily clean out spilled water and sand or rock with a hose. As for the aquarium itself, I was only set back $435.00 which included a Non-Reef Ready Aquarium and three 20 lbs. bags of Araga Live Reef Sand from Carib Sea. The majority of the other equipment I already own from a previous setup but I should be upgrading the majority of it slowly. You cannot sacrifice quality to save a buck in my personal opinion. Thank you very much for the compliments on the setup!
Just amazed at the prices at my LFS these days.Looks like I'm gonna have to go "Pre-Owned".
I bought my 90g pre-owned for $600. Also bought my daughter a pre-owned 55g set-up for $300. Just the LS & LR, alone, would have cost more than $900 at the LFS. The 30g set-up I have now, everything bought all new, $1300.
Just amazed at the prices at my LFS these days.Looks like I'm gonna have to go "Pre-Owned".
Larry Copperband, I can completely relate. I drive to one of the best Aquatics stores that I have seen in the nation to make some of my purchases. "House of Fins" located in Greenwhich, CT. There livestock is always beautiful and healthy and their dry goods stock cannot be matched but your gonna pay for it. Example: One XM Metal Halide 10,000k Bulb goes for $260.00 in the store.
Hahaha, buy a car to haul a tank! Think I would have spent the 25k on a new tank. Your set up is looking good!
Saltyreef, I personally would have gone the same way but then I would be at home holding up a flag stating I surrendor. Besides I needed a family vehicle with my little boy on the way. Thank you for the compliments on the tank. It is no were near finished.
Thank you CarmieJo, your comments are always welcomed. I apologize for not being on for a while. I have had a really busy scheduled these past couple of weeks.
Coloration, Intensity and Getting the Shimmer of Lighting Just Right
I personally love the shimmer of Metal Halide Lighting and I love the intensity of T-5 VHO Lighting. So why not combine the best of both worlds. I found in my storage a Current USA Nova Extreme T-5 VHO rated at 436 watts (four 54 watt 10,000k T-5 VHO bulbs and four 54 watt 460 nanometer Actinic T-5 VHO bulbs and four 1 watt White Moonlights). But when driving home with it I managed to break four out of the eight bulbs. So while starring at this beautiful piece of plastic and broke glass I decided to take advantage of the situation and retro-fit my two Hello Lights 150 watt Metal Halide Lighting ARO Electronic Ballast (150 watt XM 20,000k Metal Halide bulb) into the Current USA Nova Extreme fixture.
The end result of my Frankenstein experiement is a combined lighting system totaling 520 watts (216 watts of T-5 VHO lighting and 300 watts of Metal Halide Lighting) and 4 watts of LED Moonlighting) supporting a 24 hour lighting scheme of Dawn, High Noon, Dusk and Night with the assistance of four Marineland timers.
Photograph - June 17, 2007 - 48 inches wide Current USA Nova Extreme Lighting fixture combined with two Hello Lights ARO Electronic Metal Halide Lighting fixtures.
Photograph - June 17, 2007 - 16 inchdes deep Current USA Nova Extreme Lighting fixture combined with two Hello Lights ARO Electronic Metal Halide Lighting fixtures sporting two exhaust fans to decipate heat.
Last edited by JayBeDriften; 07-18-2007 at 10:55 AM.
Circulation has always been a key factor in setting up my aquariums in the past and none could more more true with this setup. I'm aiming to eventually hold primarily SPS Corals with Clams and a few SPS Corals. I want to ensure that all my corals are delivered the nutrients the require. So I have turned to EcoTech Marine's VorTech Propeller to answer this call. At a cost of $350.00 it is definitely worth every penny. I currently only have one that is almost controlled to about half the power of what it is capable of and the circulation it provides is amazing. I may be looking to purchase one or two more of the units to reduce the stress load overall and create multiple points of failure within the aquarium.
Photograph - June 17, 2007 - EcoTech Marine's VorTech Propeller installed on the right pane of my Reef Aquarium and set at about 1,500 gph.
Photograph - June 17, 2007 - EcoTech Marine's VorTech Propeller view from the far left pane of my Reef Aquarium.
Photograph - July 20, 2007 - EcoTech Marine's VorTech Propeller view of the wet side.
Photograph July 20, 2007 EcoTech Marine's VorTech Propeller side view of both the wet/dry sides.
Photograph July 20, 2007 EcoTech Marine's VorTech Propeller side view of the dry side.
Last edited by JayBeDriften; 07-21-2007 at 04:18 AM.
Well I realized that if I wanted a bigger tank I would definitely require a way to get it back home and I was already in the market for a family vehicle with my first born on the way in November 2007. So I went and purchased a Honda Element 4WD EX Sport Utility Vehicle. A great buy for $25,000.00 Then off to the local fish store to purchase the aquarium.
icon under their name to add to their reputation. 
Besides I needed a family vehicle with my little boy on the way. Thank you for the compliments on the tank. It is no were near finished.
So while starring at this beautiful piece of plastic and broke glass I decided to take advantage of the situation and retro-fit my two Hello Lights 150 watt 
I currently only have one that is almost controlled to about half the power of what it is capable of and the circulation it provides is amazing. I may be looking to purchase one or two more of the units to reduce the stress load overall and create multiple points of failure within the aquarium.
