buddy08
SPS Addict
didnt make it to the pet store today, unfortunately my corals are looking worse... :[
And We're Live! Buddys 75g Setup
- Thread starter buddy08
- Start date
buddy08
SPS Addict
dodged a bullet (according to how accurate the pet stores test were), aquarium has no copper traces in the water. some of my corals look great, some look terrible.. only thing i can assume now is that the sudden increase in alk and calc with two part has thrown them through a spell so hopefully they will pull through.
My LED's are expected to arrive tomorrow, so I should have the new lights under construction soon.
My LED's are expected to arrive tomorrow, so I should have the new lights under construction soon.
BL1
.............
That's good to hear about the copper Buddy.
buddy08
SPS Addict
he tested it twice, the first time the color was off the charts but he used scissors to stir it, he did a second test using a different container (similar to saliferts test vials) and swirled the mix instead of stirring with scissors :shock: then poured it back into the square vial and it read 0 so i was relieved for that matter. i still have starfish, crabs, shrimp, and snails walking around in the tank alive so thats a good sign as well.
Question, is it possible to have a diatom bloom 9 months later after tank has been set up? coraline looks to have patchs of brown in certain places on the rock and the back glass.. not sure what it is, looks similar to diatoms though so i thought id ask. water pars look great
1.025 salinity
79.7 temp
ph 8.2
ammonia 0
nitrates 0
nitrites 0
alk 9dkh
calc 460
mag 1450
and now copper =0:bounce:
just added 4 more turbo snails to the cuc, i think ive lost 1 or 2 over the past 9 months its been up and running so i figured i could add more.
Question, is it possible to have a diatom bloom 9 months later after tank has been set up? coraline looks to have patchs of brown in certain places on the rock and the back glass.. not sure what it is, looks similar to diatoms though so i thought id ask. water pars look great
1.025 salinity
79.7 temp
ph 8.2
ammonia 0
nitrates 0
nitrites 0
alk 9dkh
calc 460
mag 1450
and now copper =0:bounce:
just added 4 more turbo snails to the cuc, i think ive lost 1 or 2 over the past 9 months its been up and running so i figured i could add more.
buddy08
SPS Addict
Leds are here and my next project is underway!
What I received:
2x 5.9x16" heatsinks
24x royal blues cree leds
24x cool whites cree leds
48x 80 degree optics
25ft of blue wire
25ft of white wire
thermal paste/adhesive
4x dimmable drivers
1x color control kit
48x precut wires
They also included a led tester to ensure all lights are working.... I'm still seeing spots :shock:
I highly recommend rapid led, they were a tremendous help and shipped the same day I made my purchase.. A+
Since it will take me a few days to finish the fixture, I decided to go ahead and administer the "black out" method to try and fix my red slime issue before it gets to far out of hand. as you can see, the top is now on the floor in this picture... lights out fishes!
went ahead and removed the wiring and guts of my older diy t5's, not sure what I will do with those. may try to sell them locally or at least use 2 of the 4 in my new fixture to add some purple to the color. (not sure yet):grumble:
I will be reusing my fans as they are practically new, run quiet, and were pretty expensive when I bought them months ago... thought I'd save a little money, also the temp probe on these fans will help conserve energy as the fans speed will adjust based on the heat being produced.
Ispent all day running errands and purchasing things to get this thing underway, unfortunately I ran out of time as it is now pretty late. my ole lady doesn't appreciate me using power tools at this hour so had to call it a night. I started working on the frame of the fixture, I'm using aluminum tubes and braces to hold everything together. I will have to return to lows tomorrow and exchange a piece as its a 1/4 inch short of what its supposed to be. this is where i left off, will exchange one side piece tomorrow and assemble it when I get home from work; then I shall start tinning my wires.
Super excited to see how this looks once completed!
What I received:
2x 5.9x16" heatsinks
24x royal blues cree leds
24x cool whites cree leds
48x 80 degree optics
25ft of blue wire
25ft of white wire
thermal paste/adhesive
4x dimmable drivers
1x color control kit
48x precut wires
They also included a led tester to ensure all lights are working.... I'm still seeing spots :shock:
I highly recommend rapid led, they were a tremendous help and shipped the same day I made my purchase.. A+
Since it will take me a few days to finish the fixture, I decided to go ahead and administer the "black out" method to try and fix my red slime issue before it gets to far out of hand. as you can see, the top is now on the floor in this picture... lights out fishes!
went ahead and removed the wiring and guts of my older diy t5's, not sure what I will do with those. may try to sell them locally or at least use 2 of the 4 in my new fixture to add some purple to the color. (not sure yet):grumble:
I will be reusing my fans as they are practically new, run quiet, and were pretty expensive when I bought them months ago... thought I'd save a little money, also the temp probe on these fans will help conserve energy as the fans speed will adjust based on the heat being produced.
Ispent all day running errands and purchasing things to get this thing underway, unfortunately I ran out of time as it is now pretty late. my ole lady doesn't appreciate me using power tools at this hour so had to call it a night. I started working on the frame of the fixture, I'm using aluminum tubes and braces to hold everything together. I will have to return to lows tomorrow and exchange a piece as its a 1/4 inch short of what its supposed to be. this is where i left off, will exchange one side piece tomorrow and assemble it when I get home from work; then I shall start tinning my wires.
Super excited to see how this looks once completed!
JustinsReefTank
Reefing newb
It looks Great. I wish my lfs would give me a deal on rock/sand like that. I am currently setting my 37 up and need at least 100lbs of rock.
Sir Alex
Dragon the eel (below)
Not really. :shock:
Mandarin66
Oh Hi
buddy08
SPS Addict
It's a preference really, I think smitty has close to 150 in his 29 gallon
buddy08
SPS Addict
continued my led fixture today and made some progress. I exchanged one brace that was 1/4" inch to short to discover once I got home, the new one was to short as well so I said to hell with it, I'll make it work... and I did. I am using 2x 48" corner braces of aluminum for the runners of the fixture, the joints in between these were made of 3 sided aluminum braces and I decided to mount the heat sinks to 1/4" x1/2" aluminum flat pieces. the braces and the flat pieces were cut to 7" long and its all held together with nuts and bolts, I figured it would hold up longer over the self tapping screws most people use. I based my design off of an old thread I found at reef central but the more I progressed, the more I had to wing it to make it work..Heres a few pictures of where I'm at now.
laying the pieces together, not all assembled and some braces are missing in this picture
the braces in between the runners or side rails (which ever you prefer to call em) before drilling and attaching to the fixture
after assembly
I decided to premount the heatsinks to the fixture before I started soldering and gluing because (as assumed) drilling the heatsinks would be pain, and they were! I plan to use 3x self tapping screws on each end to ensure they wont fall. As some of you may know, these think are heavy! This brings me to my next issue that caused me to call it another night... One of the self tapping screws broke as I mounted it to the fixture...
I seriously said WTF :frustrat:
So I took the heatsink off in attempt to remove the screw, I figured I would use the ole drimel and cut a notch in the remainder of the screw and turn it into a flat head screw so I could simply back it out
Didnt work!:grumble: So I took a break, a twix one at that
after much thought, I decided I will go purchase an "easy out" tomorrow in hopes to remove it and continue my project, I could always install a screw next to it but the thought of the other screw stuck in it would drive me crazy so I have to fix it... or buy a new heat sink:shock:
on a side note, I did a 20g water change in efforts of battling this red slime. When syphoning the bottom and removing some unwanted crushed coral on the sand, I bumped my torch coral therefore I had to fix it and set it upright... while doing so, I discovered 4 large flatworms, easily an inch long and a cm wide. they were peachy/tan in color and again, I said WTF... I did the best I could in removing them with my hands as the syphon hose was in the other room. I do have flatworm exit so I will begin dosing that as soon as I handle my Led's and hopefully its not to far out of control. Now I know what happened to my clam :|
Hopefully, I will be near finished tomorrow evening and have pictures of them up and running. We shall see
laying the pieces together, not all assembled and some braces are missing in this picture
the braces in between the runners or side rails (which ever you prefer to call em) before drilling and attaching to the fixture
after assembly
I decided to premount the heatsinks to the fixture before I started soldering and gluing because (as assumed) drilling the heatsinks would be pain, and they were! I plan to use 3x self tapping screws on each end to ensure they wont fall. As some of you may know, these think are heavy! This brings me to my next issue that caused me to call it another night... One of the self tapping screws broke as I mounted it to the fixture...
I seriously said WTF :frustrat:
So I took the heatsink off in attempt to remove the screw, I figured I would use the ole drimel and cut a notch in the remainder of the screw and turn it into a flat head screw so I could simply back it out
Didnt work!:grumble: So I took a break, a twix one at that
after much thought, I decided I will go purchase an "easy out" tomorrow in hopes to remove it and continue my project, I could always install a screw next to it but the thought of the other screw stuck in it would drive me crazy so I have to fix it... or buy a new heat sink:shock:
on a side note, I did a 20g water change in efforts of battling this red slime. When syphoning the bottom and removing some unwanted crushed coral on the sand, I bumped my torch coral therefore I had to fix it and set it upright... while doing so, I discovered 4 large flatworms, easily an inch long and a cm wide. they were peachy/tan in color and again, I said WTF... I did the best I could in removing them with my hands as the syphon hose was in the other room. I do have flatworm exit so I will begin dosing that as soon as I handle my Led's and hopefully its not to far out of control. Now I know what happened to my clam :|
Hopefully, I will be near finished tomorrow evening and have pictures of them up and running. We shall see
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JustinsReefTank
Reefing newb
Keep up good work
JustinsReefTank
Reefing newb
So what would you suggest then?? Im open to any suggestions.
Sir Alex
Dragon the eel (below)
If you want it to looks like smitty's tank then you'd need 100 pounds + rock. But you'd probably be fine with 50-80 pounds.
buddy08
SPS Addict
Lights are finished! I would have updated daily if it hadn't been for work and what little time I had to do the fixture. The tank was without light for 5 days so it was urgent to get the fixture completed. Heres the rest of the goods
I finished the framework and mounted the heatsinks to ensure it all fit nicely; later, I removed the heatsinks in order to attach the LED's
I tinned all of the LED's for ease of soldering, took me some getting used to as this was the first time soldering but needless to say, It turned out nice.
I laid the LED's out on the heatsink before I attached them to make sure my placement was right; I placed the blues/whites in and alternating diamond pattern
Heres all of them thermally adhered to the heatsinks
Next, after I returned the heatsinks to the framework, I began my wiring. Theres 12x LED's per string, and a total of 4 strings all together. If you build an LED fixture, definitely tin your wires and LED's as it makes this step much easier.
I used one string of LED's to tune my drivers current output, I have them capped at 900ma which is roughly 70% of their maximum power.
SIDE NOTE: Do not look directly into your LED's, I still see spots....
While I had the canopy off of the tank, I decided to add another coat of kilz latex primer to the inside of the canopy. This helps reflect light down into the tank as well as protect the wood from mildew and mold. I also mounted the fans to the canopy, debating if I should cut a whole in the top for more air flow. They are elevated 3/4" from the wood so air can be pulled through
I made the splash guard out of plexi glass and it is hung from bolts and a series of washers/nuts to hold it in place. I removed the protective white layer of plastic and laid the sheet ontop of the bolts and marked them with a sharpie on the plexi glass for accurate and neat drilling. Once I drilled the holes, I attached it to the bolts and spun the nuts opposite directions to tighten up on the sheet of plexi.
I installed my drivers in 2x project boxes from radio shack, they are currently under the stand. Still trying to figure out if I want to build or buy a larger box to consolidate all 4 in one box. The wire running from the fixture is ran through plastic conduit for a neater look (forgot to take a picture so I took one after the canopy was back up on the tank :shock: )
Now for the FTS pictures with LED's installed!!! :^:
I finished the framework and mounted the heatsinks to ensure it all fit nicely; later, I removed the heatsinks in order to attach the LED's
I tinned all of the LED's for ease of soldering, took me some getting used to as this was the first time soldering but needless to say, It turned out nice.
I laid the LED's out on the heatsink before I attached them to make sure my placement was right; I placed the blues/whites in and alternating diamond pattern
Heres all of them thermally adhered to the heatsinks
Next, after I returned the heatsinks to the framework, I began my wiring. Theres 12x LED's per string, and a total of 4 strings all together. If you build an LED fixture, definitely tin your wires and LED's as it makes this step much easier.
I used one string of LED's to tune my drivers current output, I have them capped at 900ma which is roughly 70% of their maximum power.
SIDE NOTE: Do not look directly into your LED's, I still see spots....
While I had the canopy off of the tank, I decided to add another coat of kilz latex primer to the inside of the canopy. This helps reflect light down into the tank as well as protect the wood from mildew and mold. I also mounted the fans to the canopy, debating if I should cut a whole in the top for more air flow. They are elevated 3/4" from the wood so air can be pulled through
I made the splash guard out of plexi glass and it is hung from bolts and a series of washers/nuts to hold it in place. I removed the protective white layer of plastic and laid the sheet ontop of the bolts and marked them with a sharpie on the plexi glass for accurate and neat drilling. Once I drilled the holes, I attached it to the bolts and spun the nuts opposite directions to tighten up on the sheet of plexi.
I installed my drivers in 2x project boxes from radio shack, they are currently under the stand. Still trying to figure out if I want to build or buy a larger box to consolidate all 4 in one box. The wire running from the fixture is ran through plastic conduit for a neater look (forgot to take a picture so I took one after the canopy was back up on the tank :shock: )
Now for the FTS pictures with LED's installed!!! :^:
buddy08
SPS Addict
excuse the crappy photos and blurriness, They were taken with an iPhone
Whites/Blues at about 5% power or 45ma (out of 900)
Whites/Blues at about 50% power or 450ma (out of 900)
Whites/Blues at 100% power or 900ma (These things can go even bright if needed but I'd prefer to make them last)
Blues at 100%
Whites at 100%
Thats it for now, Looking forward to seeing how my corals look after they acclimate to the new lighting. I'm currently running them roughly at 30% for the blues and 45% for the whites. Oh and the shimmer from these things is incredible! wish my camera could capture it, I will try and get a video of it tomorrow.
Whites/Blues at about 5% power or 45ma (out of 900)
Whites/Blues at about 50% power or 450ma (out of 900)
Whites/Blues at 100% power or 900ma (These things can go even bright if needed but I'd prefer to make them last)
Blues at 100%
Whites at 100%
Thats it for now, Looking forward to seeing how my corals look after they acclimate to the new lighting. I'm currently running them roughly at 30% for the blues and 45% for the whites. Oh and the shimmer from these things is incredible! wish my camera could capture it, I will try and get a video of it tomorrow.
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Smitty
Reef pro
It looks awesome...you've done a great job bro. Those lights get "super" bright.
little_fish
Moderator
Dang! Those look awesome! you want to build me some!
buddy08
SPS Addict
Thanks yall! Im satisfied overall with how they turned out, was beginning to think maybe I should have stuck with the t5's while I was building this thing but once it was finished and I saw the results, I was glad I made the transition. There is a HUUUUUGGGE difference.
BL1
.............
They look awesome Buddy! You're really making me want to put them on my 75 too now. You should see if you can borrow a PAR meter from someone to test them.
buddy08
SPS Addict
I will try to find one locally and see what my readings are. I have the optic lenses for the LEDs as well but am not currently using them. I am curious to see the difference between using the optics vs. no optics. The LEDs are about 8 inches above the water, I was afraid the optic lenses would give me spotlights or color bands.
