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Starting a 650Xl Tank (1 Viewer)

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GWSS

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Hi All:

I have ordered my 650 Tank should be arriving next week.​

I am coming back to the Hobby...

I have had a tank before 'old school' wet/dry, with the 20 and 40% water changes for 15 years...back in The Netherlands , it was a fish only tank , and I was reluctant to all the work it entailed but the Mrs was very very much into getting an 'invertebrate' tank.

So here is the Plan, projected Timeline:

1 get the tank, stand, sump , skimmer set up first...
2 get all the hardware going
Pump​
Lights​
Vortex (if I find one)​
Heater​
All the Chemicals​
Wavemaker​
3 get my live rock (I am going for a minimalistic mushroom set up!)
4 get the sand
5 get the tank going!
6 Cycle it
7 Start population

So sit back and enjoy the ride all...I am very much psyched about it and I want to give a shout out to Oceanlife Aquariums for the advice and guidance so far. as Always I am totally open to suggestions/advice I want to make this an ultra clean look

So here is where the tank will stand than is 5 -2 opening here is 5-4 so perfect fit :)
Placement.JPG
 
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GWSS

GWSS

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UNdecided as of Yet...the trade off I had to make was I get the tank...the Mrs gets to fill it ...she wants loads of invertebrates, maybe a cowfish and some anemone fish and 1 marquee animal (either invertebrate or fish)...so she is browsing around :)
 

RR-MAN

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That's awesome!!!

One suggestion, drill a couple of holes in the back of the stand for air circulation. I even got my tools ready to drill but forgot when the LFS delivered and set up the tank. I'm thinking about removing the sump and drilling the holes but hate to mess with the plumbing. I recently got a 750XXL.
 
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GWSS

GWSS

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Ok so am doing my research now...here is what I want to do ! (emphasis on WANT)

I want an integrated system that controls, Pump Flow, Light Flow, WaveMaker and obviously my Parameters and all I want them all to talk to each other...
So, Neptune Systems go to for this? I mean I know trident, dosage, stuff...but I also saw them having the whole gambit of pump and wavemaking controls as well...
The question is...should I go for that or do a mix and match?
I mean getting all of that is going to be pricey...but it should cover all my needs...
Any ideas?
Thanks for your help/input!
Regards
Glenn
 

RR-MAN

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You can't go wrong with the combination of Neptune Apex & Trident except their WAV pumps. Most fail within a year or so.

Look into Ecotech MP pumps or Maxspect Gyre. If you go with the Ecotech MP pump - all you need is a WMX module to run it through Apex. The Gyre has it's own controller which works great.
 

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Profilux is the German controller. A little difficult to wrap your head around at first but once it goes, solid as a rock. Good luck with the setup.
 
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GWSS

GWSS

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Ok so quick update, No tank yet :( ....

But Got me my M2 pump, my 2 MP40's ready and I already have asked for the rocks to be overhang built, as I want to go for a clean look underneath...
I am still think about lights...I mean Radeon best ...I get it but it is going to set me back almost 3.6 K to have the right amount ...I am kind of hoping to maybe have alternative options...as I was thinking about going with some alternative LED (3 ) and then still fall back on good old blue t5 combo (T% simple are awesome for growing coral.
The Mrs wants a mostly Leather Coral setup but she also wants some fish in there and invertebrates...(queue the roll eyes hehehe) been trying to explain to her that nice shrimps are not nice they are food for fish :) ...but hardware first.

MP and pump.jpg
 

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You could try the RedSea LEDs, AI Hydras or Kessil's.
Some cleaner shrimp and other invertebrates will be a nice addition, plus remember, Happy Wife, Happy Life!
 
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GWSS

GWSS

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You could try the RedSea LEDs, AI Hydras or Kessil's.
Some cleaner shrimp and other invertebrates will be a nice addition, plus remember, Happy Wife, Happy Life!
Thanks for the input, and thanks for the MP's and Pump too btw :)
 
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GWSS

GWSS

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Ok got the tank!
1ea61bef87e089f3dcff4562c323935c.jpg



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GWSS

GWSS

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Now on to next set of hardware Lights and system for dosificación however the Mrs now tells me she may want a discus tank instead! I mean really?


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Cody

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Ok connected the piping, next up pump...
Got it all worked out?

And the wife asking for discus?! Get out of here! They're pretty for freshwater, but freshwater rarely even gets in the same league as saltwater.
 
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GWSS

GWSS

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Exactly my thoughts...I drew the line on that one :)
Connected piping now need to make my decision...I am still thinking of having the t5 and led combo...I am just not sold 100% on LED's only tbh
But Ic an be convinced otherwise
 

Cody

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Exactly my thoughts...I drew the line on that one :)
Connected piping now need to make my decision...I am still thinking of having the t5 and led combo...I am just not sold 100% on LED's only tbh
But Ic an be convinced otherwise
Having played with a lot of different types of lights, the take away is that LEDs are single point light sources. They're cannons. They're capable of a lot of par, but they don't spread the light around so well.

When LEDs hit the scene maybe ten years ago, people were making DIY units. They spread the leds out quite a bit, got great par, great spectrum, and great growth. However, where they lacked was called the "disco effect" or "banding issues". If you take a lot of single point lights and spread them apart, they don't blend. Essentially, your sand ended up looking like a disco with different colors and shades coming and going very quickly once the light went through the ripples of the water surface. Worked great for corals, but the humans didn't like the aesthetics.

Enters radion. They took all these diodes, put them on a compact circuit board, put the single point sources very close together, and solved the problems that the human users were concerned about. The different colored LEDs then blended together very well creating a single blast from a lot of cannons. However, the problem with taking a bunch of cannons and putting them close together was that they don't have the coverage of the same amount of cannons that are spread out. Their solution to the user was to just buy more clusters of cannons. Great for sales.

I said all that to say this. Radion has been reversing their strategy by taking the puck and throwing light dispersion on them to compensate for the failures of leds. LEDs are a great source of par, however, you'd be a fool not to supplements them with t5s. T5s are the epitome of throwing light around for great coverage. The other option is to cover literally every square inch of your tank with leds. You'd need black boxes for that.
 
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GWSS

GWSS

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Yes Red Sea 650 and thanks for the light advice going for t5 then


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Yes Red Sea 650 and thanks for the light advice going for t5 then


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I asked because the cabinet panels were installed incorrectly. You shouldn’t be able to see the screws from outside.
 

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Yes Red Sea 650 and thanks for the light advice going for t5 then


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I would recommend the hybrid option. LEDs pack a lot of punch and give great par. T5s compliment well because they fill in the coverage gap.
 
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