180 Gallon In-wall build

[Psychedelic Fins]

Lights: During the BRS Black Friday sale, I purchased 3 of the 60" T5 retro kits (each kit comes with 2 fixtures) and bulbs to build a 6-fixture T5 setup. I am going to start (lights get turned on next month) with 3 ATI blue plus, 2 ATI coral plus, and 1 true actinic bulb. Based on all my research, that should give me all the light I need for my mixed reef goals.

I do like the shimmer of the LEDs but cannot justify the expense. I have played around with some LED par20 and par30 spot and flood light bulbs to try and get a little shimmer in the tank. I wired up three of the bulbs to add some shimmer to the tank. Not sure how well my video of these bulbs will work, but it gives a little shimmer. When the T5s are on, the shimmer is barely noticeable. I am still playing around with different bulb choices to see if I can improve on the shimmer.

 

[Psychedelic Fins]

Sump re-do: Seems early to be re-working parts of my build, but I'm thinking this won't be the last time. Watched the BRStv sump (fails) video this week and re-considered some of my design. It's tough hearing how many things I should have figured out with all the time I put into the design. After watching the video, I re-worked my filter sock area and am going to try and go with one sock vs. the two socks I have been running. Half the socks, half the cleaning, or so the thinking goes. So far, I have been pretty attentive to switching them out twice a week, so I am not anticipating clogging the single sock. Even if it does, my design allows for a spillover to the skimmer area without spilling out of the sump.

I attached a tupperware lid with a zip tie to the second filter sock to seal off one of the holes. While it may only be a temporary fix, I am not ready to commit to a single sock sump....yet. Time will tell if I need to re-open the second sock or if I even need a more permanent solution. We get a lot of mileage out of plastic and zip ties in this hobby.

The other change was from mesh to felt socks. I had already ordered a felt sock to see if I liked them better, but saw the recommendation from the brs guys, so I made the switch.

The one big flaw I haven't fixed is having my thermometer in the return section of my sump. I never thought about the possibility of draining all that water and getting the heater stuck on and burning up the sump. I can easily see it melting through an acrylic sump and wreaking havoc. Not sure what it would do to my glass sump, but I don't want to find out. My current heater doesn't fit well anywhere else in my sump in the current design, so I am not sure how to "fix" the issue. Maybe two smaller heaters (redundancy!) in place of the one large one I have now.