My New 150 SPS Starphire Tank

[Archie]

Hi all. Just want to share some images of my new 150 gallon (48x30x24) Starphire tank from Inter-American. Transfered everything over from my 72 Bow-front over the weekend.

[Archie]

Angled shot from the right side:

[Archie]

View from right side:

[Archie]

Green Montipora Capricornis

[Archie]

Purple Acro:

[Archie]

Mid left section

[Archie]

mid right section

[Archie]

centre section

[ajx22]

Looking GREAT Archie!!

Some WICKED aquascaping going on there too!

Thanks for the update...keep us informed as things progress!

Cheers,

[Flatlander]

Thats beautiful Archie.

[Dman]

Yowza Nice tank, I bet it took the better part of a day to move all of that livestock. You have some sharp looking Acro's there. Let us know when and if some (ahem) falls off.
Dman
:spin:

[Mitchell]

Archie :cheers:

Cheers to you !!

Great tank and corals. Like DMan said

"Let us know when and if some (ahem) falls off"

Im looking for sps frags for my 50 gallon.

[Jay]

wow!

That is a BEAUTIFUL! tank!

[jb1974]

I wondered what your tank looked like! It is amazing as I thought it would be! Looks like the upgrade was a success :) Your corals look very healthy and vibrant...keep us updated on growth!!
Janine

[Archie]

Thanks everyone for your kind and encouraging words. I'll definitely keep you posted on the development of this new system.
My next upgrade will be towards 2x 400 watt 20k Radiums with PFO HQI ballasts (thanks to the recommendation of jb1974). I actually have the items ready to go, just need the right adapter cable to fit the newer PFO ballast to the older molex plug in my current fixture.
Also planning on a connecting frag tank.

Current specs are:
150 gallon Inter American tank:
Starphire glass on the front and side panels, black indicoat back panel, dual overflows, perimiter Euro bracing (w/ rear brace drilled to accomodate 2 sea swirls).
--FYI, Mitch's ETA was bang on. I am extremely impressed with his work.

5-6" DSB - 70% Aragamax/20% Aragamax Select/10% Reef Sand
(340 lbs total weight)
230 lbs LR - mixture of Samoan, Fiji, Tonga and Indo-Pacific

2x 250watt 10k Hamilton "Euro" Belgian lamps
2x 250watt PFO ballasts (thanks to Dman)
2x 110watt URI super actinic VHO

54 gallon Sump-
Aerofoamer 830 skimmer w/ mag24 (thanks to coralmorphian)
2x Mag12 w/ 2x 3/4" Sea Swirls for circulation and wavemaking
Precision Marine Calcium Reactor
Vario Doser dosing pump for kalwasser top-off
CSL 1/4 h.p. Powercooler w/ dual stage controller

Livestock acquired from Oakville Reef Gallery, Reefquarium, Jay's Aquaculture, Aquarium Depot, AquariumPros, Saltwater Connection, Blue Ocean, and Aquarium Services Scarborough and Mississauga.

This message board has been very resourceful, informative and a key factor in the development of my new system. You folks are what makes this hobby so much more enjoyable.

[Mitchell]

I vote you for reef tank of the month. Great stuff. Im glad that aerofoamer is being put to good use. Now get your hands back into the tank and accidently break off a few pieces

:D :D :D :D :D :D :D :D :D :D :D :D :D :D :D :D :D :D

:cheers:

Cheers to you , once again

[Dman]

I second Mitchs suggestion on getting back in there. I'm glad the dual PFO worked out, and just so you know I have a friend that is selling his 400W 20,000K setup. Email me for info.
Dman
:spin:

[jb1974]

Archie: Are you sure you want to go with radiums?? After looking at your tank I would say you don't need them :) The colors on your sps are as good if not better than any radium pics I have seen. If you want to see what they look like in person you are welcome to come by and visit and see if you still want to make the switch (I have both types of ballasts running them and there are differences)...you already know how radiums look in pictures right (more blue than in real life)?
J

Edit: I see in your post you mention you already have the bulb and ballast...you won't be disappointed! I can hardly wait to see how the corals react! Remember to post new pics about 4 weeks after you change bulbs (it takes about that long for any color difference to occur) :)

[Archie]

Janine, I'd love to see your tank. From the pieces I've seen you bring home from Tom and Flavio's and the others that I've seen in your posts on this forum, I'm sure you've got one of the best setups in town.
What is your opinion of the two different ballasts? Are the E-ballasts much different from the PFO HQIs? Have you tried running other bulbs on these ballasts? Sorry for all the questions. It's just nice to hear from someone with a great deal of experience in the hobby.

Archie

[Lukan]

What a beautiful tank. I like all the aquascaping and all the sps.
I would like to see it in person one day.:dance:

[wishiknew]

what a beatiful tank!!!!!!! that tank is definitely OFF THE HOOK!excellent job on the aquascaping.

[stephane]

realy nice tank!!!!!!!!!!!!:bigeek: I vote it tank of the month!!!!!:blob2:

[jb1974]

Hi Archie :) I will post some pics here later on tonight to show you the differences between the ballasts and how they fire the radiums.

As the pictures will show, the HQI ballasts do "over-drive" the bulb and as a result the radiums appear whiter on the HQI's than on the blueline-E ballasts. I have heard that the draw-back to this is that the bulb life is compromised and bulbs may in fact last only 6-8 months as opposed to 9-12 on the blueline-E ballasts. Personally, I think the bulbs on the HQI ballast look PERFECT in everyway, nice white, crisp, no actinics needed (why not throw another 400watt halide on there instead of the actinic??! LOL!). Since I am running so many of these darned things I am supplementing with 250watt Iwasakis throughout the majority of the photoperiod, that was I only have to run the radiums for 6 hours cutting down on hydro and bulb change expenses. The iwasakis also make it easier to show the true color of the radiums on photographs (these bulbs do NOT photograph well...the resulting photos always look way too blue and not how they appear in real life), so you may want to consider keeping 1 250watt iwasaki for these purposes.

You need to let me know when you are selling frags!! I see some sweet peices in your tank that I would pay a pretty penny for LOL! Also, when you see pics of my tank it looks pretty barren as most of my sps are frags and I have only about 9 colonies...wish my tank looked like yours!!!! ;)
I will post on this thread later on tonight then!
J

[Archie]

Janine,
This is great. I can't wait to see those pics. You'll be the first to know when I frag my colonies. You've got some beautiful colonies as well that I'm very interested in. Let me know when you've got a Rose clone ready too.

I still havent been able to hook up the Radiums and all is well with the existing 250s. I've noticed some extra growth in the capricornises with the switch over to the new tank. I have a green with purple rim colony that is starting to colour up nicely. Can't wait to see what effect the radiums will have on them.

[jb1974]

Here some photos of the Radiums on HQI ballasts. The pink acro millipora was beige/peach when we bought it and know you can see how it has coloured up. The rose also keeps her colour under the Radiums (I'll let you know when she splits :) , she's trippled in size). We will switch over the ballasts over to the blueline ballasts tomorrow night and take some more pictures. Remember that the photo's look bluer in than in real life.

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[Archie]

WOW!!!:bigeek:

Only two words came to my mind when I saw your photos: FRAG SWAP :laugh:

You have a beautiful system.:)
Looking forward to more!

[ajx22]

FANTASTIC!!!!!

You have an AMAZING tank Janine! Breathtaking to say the least!

I am in :crush:LOVE:crush: with your Rose BTA!!!

If you do get some clones - do let me know (I guess I'm in line after Archie ;)) - as I would love to have one in my tank!!!

Thanks again for sharing your tank and expertise...it is greatly apreciated by all!!

Good Reefing to all.......

[Archie]

Here are some shots after a fulll month of having 2x 400 watt 20k Radiums set up with Dual PFO HQI ballasts. Colour and growth are impressive. This bulb and ballast combo is the best I've experienced yet. Some pieces glow like light bulbs under this lighting.

[Archie]

Left side

[Archie]

Mid Left

[Archie]

Right Side

[Archie]

Far Right

[Archie]

Lower left

[Archie]

Lower right

[Archie]

Staghorn macro

[Archie]

Pocillorpora

[Mitchell]

Outstanding!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!:cheers: :D :bigeek:

[Dman]

Someday,
when I grow up I wanna have a tank just like that one, your tank and SPS diversity is absolutely spectacular
Dman
:spin:

[jb1974]

Oh my God it looks GREAT!!!! The greens, purples and blues really are spectacular under the radiums aren't they?? Your tank just blows me away :)

Archie, I would LOVE to see your tank in person someday!! Let me know...
Take it easy,
J

[rottn]

Stunning tank Archie! Absolutely breath-taking. I can only dream that one day mine will be half as nice! :)

[2Oceans]

Archie thats spectacular, the variety of colour is beautiful !!!!!:thumbsup:

[IJO]

very nice...

I find it tough to find setups I actually like... your is definately one of em :)

IJO

[kasia]

Your fish must be in heaven!

[Trent]

Compliments to the Aquarist. I can only wish I could aquascape near that good. Very pleasing to the eye. Vibrant healthy colours.
Well done.

[afss]

Trent.. give yourself some time:D

Archie.. AMAZING tank :cheers: .... Do you frag much? :D I see some corals that i would LOVE to get a frag of to start in my tank

Scott

:thumbsup:

[Archie]

Thanks all, for the nice comments.

The Radiums are definitely doing a great job in both the growth and colour departments. I'll be fragging within the next couple of months or so, once I can set up a propagation system.

Scott, I'll let you know as soon as some are ready.

[afss]

Will be waiting to hear and trying not to drool into my tank while i think about them:D

Again.. great tank

Scott

[stephane]

Originally posted by Archie
Thanks all, for the nice comments.

The Radiums are definitely doing a great job in both the growth and colour departments. I'll be fragging within the next couple of months or so, once I can set up a propagation system.

Scott, I'll let you know as soon as some are ready.

Hi achie any new about your propagation tank! :blob: