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PCS & Stuart M. Grant - Cichlid Preservation Fund - Details here


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Whats Going On And Whats In The Pipe Lines.


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#1 Neakit

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Posted 18 January 2012 - 06:36 PM

Ok cause of Nick and Gareth wanting pics i will divulge what im in the middle of planning and what i currently have.

First up heres some pics of a setup im half way through the build with.

Its a 3x3x2 sumped. Lighting is still up in the air cause im doing a diy led build very soon but thats another story.



and with panels on.


Heres most of the stand build, i had a chippy mate do the technical stuff im just a mechanic who prefers to work with metal, its just metal would look crappy with cedar.



starting making the top



heres the base

one side done

and heres the 3/4 finished product.

and this is how far i have gotten with this project.


Now this stand has been made to come apart into 3 pieces cause 1100mm cubes dont fit through doorways. Its going to have removable cedar panelling cause i think it will look orsom. Its also missing the strengtheners in the back and sides but i will get there, my mate is annoying me to finish it so we can get onto the cedar panels.

#2 Neakit

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Posted 18 January 2012 - 06:54 PM

more to come soon i just have to make dinner for the missus.

#3 Gareth

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Posted 18 January 2012 - 07:32 PM

Awsum....

What DIY LED's u going for?

Why have ur overflow box so short? Wouldn't it be better to make it stretch as far as possible accross the tank so it has better surface skimming?

What equipment are u planning on using? (return pump, skimmer, refugium lighting, wavemakers etc)....

Any idea how much ur spending? Got a budget?

#4 Neakit

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Posted 18 January 2012 - 09:51 PM

The leds im going to use are from the link i posted for you earlier, http://www.rapidled....vlet/StoreFront
Im going to be building a 48 chip array using dimmable drivers and this day light controller http://www.rapidled....ntroller/Detail

Now for water movement i have 2x 6101 tunze wavemakers and a tunze 6055 and the multi controller.
My skimmer is a Skimz sk181
My return pumps, i have a eheim 1260 and im allowing myself a second return if i wish to have a chiller so i can plumb it inline with a second pump and not worry about how much water is getting back into the display.
I have allowed myself some room for me to run a calcium reactor if i want/need to, and there is also room for fluid bed filters to run Gac (Granulated Activated Carbon) or some phosphate media in them.
Lighting will be either T5 + Metal hallide combo or Led T5 combo. the jury is still out on leds for me and till i personally see results im always going to be a little sceptical.
As the sketchup pics show there is a 18" cube thats going to be a rdsb (Remote Deep Sand Bed) so i can take it offline if it starts causing me issues.
The sump has a refugium built into it. and lighting will either be power compacts or leds.

Now the reason i have a short wier is cause i bought the tank second hand a few years ago and its never been used. As for a budget i honestly dont care, i have over a few years been collecting this equipment, tanks, lights and new ideas.

If you want a break down of the cost i can sort of give one.
tunze pumps because of the way i bought them about 2k
skimz skimmer is around the 450 mark
eheim return about 300
I have a mh t5 combo light i got for 200 second hand.
The cube and sump i got made by Paul at morley aquariums a few years ago so i have no clue on cost.
the fluid bed filters are about 40 each (i have 2)
I think the tank was around the 400 mark second hand but that was so long ago as well.
The stand wood stand to date has cost 200 and 2 bottles of jacks.

Edited by Neakit, 18 January 2012 - 09:52 PM.


#5 sandgroper

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Posted 18 January 2012 - 11:30 PM

Being a cabinet maker i'd just like to say that your mate did a nice solid build of the stand, to many people build flimsy stands. so well done to your mate and i look foreward to seeing the end result cheers Steve

#6 Anka

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Posted 19 January 2012 - 10:36 AM

I can't see the images?

#7 Neakit

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Posted 19 January 2012 - 07:51 PM

i forgot to mention i have a tunze osmolator for an ato.

Now todays update. I have picked this tank off of a member here a bit over a week ago, i have added some different equipment but its still pritty much the same, i will be adding some base rock i have lying around a bit later to do a proper scape.


Heres just a pic of the 2 6101's and a fluid bed filter from the top, being stored in the 18" cube of course.


I have done a lot more research with this new setup, ill post some pics from my first marine and mention some of the things i have done wrong or could have done better.
Image shack is being a tool but you get the idea, it needed more clearance for the sump and the return had some issues i later rectified. Also this was a single drain this spurred my love of silent overflows, no more falling asleep to the sound of flushing water for me.


Now here is my first lighting hood for my first marine, 2 yes thats 2 400w metal halides with magnetic ballasts and 4 39w t5 globes. (this was bulked out to 6 later) What i learned here was aside from halides being orsom and power being expensive, is never think oh "Yeah i can live with that little hum made by the ballasts its not that bad" >_> Also this was made back in the days when t5's were the new thing and super expensive, so i had to try them.



My next learning curve was the calcium reactor, this unit was both joyous and soul draining. It kept my calcium and alk stable, but it also kept my phosphates high. I had been battling green algae at the time and started looking at everything, I found it cause one day i ran out of co2 and i was lazy so i waited 2 weeks to refill it (i was dosing cal and alk in the mean time) and funnily enough the algae subsided and my phosphates dropped down to .1 from 2.


Now skimmers, my first skimmer Aqua Medic turbo floter multi sl, Nice skimmer once setup and tuned properly, cant say id ever use one again or recommend them to people. Now my second skimmer, The reef octopus that was a brilliant skimmer the stuff that skimmer skimmed out was putrid, easy to setup and it was set and forget. The only maintenance i did regularly was get it to suck a cup of boiling hot water down each of the venturi's to clear any salt crystals. i cant really comment to much on my skimz other than the build quality is orsom and i cant wait to break it in.



One last thought, Sumps plan your sump, dont just go hey that will do cause eventually you will find out that no it wont and you will do what i did and replace it with one better suited to what you want to do.

#8 Anka

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Posted 19 January 2012 - 10:11 PM

how do i view the pics?

#9 dazzabozza

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Posted 19 January 2012 - 10:14 PM

U still overseas Anka? The network you're on might be blocking them.

#10 Anka

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Posted 19 January 2012 - 10:20 PM

Yep in Bali. Good hypothesis ;3

Will have to wait.

#11 Neakit

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Posted 16 March 2012 - 07:32 PM

Ok so i have finally settled on some leds, im going to do a diy and im getting my stuff from http://www.rapidled.com/
I will be using the dimmable 48 led premium kit, with DDC-01 PWM Controller for a nice sun rise and sunset.

I have also ordered some leds to make a refugium light as well, its just a 12 led kit from aquastyles. (they are just cheap and its only growing seaweed.)

I will be attempting to get some photos of the build up as well, minus the 240v section of course. The tank will also be going through a change, im going to be swapping my tank over to my sumped 3x1.5x1.5 and also at the same time installing my rdsb.

But all this has to wait till i get back from site, 7 days and counting.......

#12 Neakit

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Posted 23 March 2012 - 06:55 PM

So i am being held back at work, it sux knowing i have 2 packages sitting at home waiting for me to go and play.....

#13 ice

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Posted 24 March 2012 - 12:50 PM

Im in the process of doing the same thing! Just waiting on my bloody heat sink from RS. Hopefully they hurry the hell up!

#14 Neakit

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Posted 27 March 2012 - 12:30 PM

So I am home now and started my fuge light build. I ordered 5 white 5 royal blue and 2 red. I got 6 white, 6 royal blue and 2 red. So i used all 6 white and saved 2 of the royal blues.
The package turns up and im impressed with the packing, its solid but not too hard to open.

All the contents are well packaged

Nothing was damaged in transit. WIN. on another note they gave me spares and a led tester. EPIC WIN

I marked out my spacings apart and commenced the adhering to the heat sink.

I got carried away and forgot a few photos but here is the array soldered, A tip i got before doing mine was to tin the leds before gluing them to the heat sink.

I just attached the wiring for the driver and gave it a test, note blue is positive and black is negative. (NO ITS NOT 240V) Also they are blindingly bright.

I started putting the optics on after the test came up positive.

Here it is with all the optics on.

The kit come with these connectors im not sure if im going to continue with them or not but they are working for the moment.

And heres the finished product.


So all in all its a reasonable product, the leds aren't the best but its a fuge light so i dont care.

#15 ice

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Posted 27 March 2012 - 12:40 PM

Looks good mate! What is the red for??

#16 Neakit

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Posted 27 March 2012 - 12:45 PM

well its growing algae so i figured the more unwanted spectrum the better.

im going to take a break then ill get onto my rapid led order.

#17 Neakit

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Posted 28 March 2012 - 08:28 AM

So i got busy yesterday and started my rapid led build. the leds are 18 xp-g cool white, 6 xp-g neutral white, 12 xp-e blue and 12 xp-e royal blue.
As you can see well packed.




Now all the goodies are out, i didn't realize how big the dimmable drivers are till i saw them in person.

Cause rapid led have a option on their heat sinks that they can drill and tap holes for you (i did choose this option) i chose to use thermal grease and screws instead of thermal adhesive. Now in the pic below i have tinned all the leds before greasing and screwing down. i also spent a fair while trying to figure out how and where i want to lay the leds out. In the pic i have only done the white leds so there is still more to come.

I got the second one done.

I started wiring up the leds in series so + to - all the way.

here is one done, i just need to finish the second one off and then ill make a start on the blues.


#18 Neakit

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Posted 30 March 2012 - 09:57 AM

ok so the leds are taking a bit longer than i wanted, I have taken a break from making them and i decided to move my reef. I have changed the tank its in, got my skimz skimmer out, made it so i can use my fbf, and am currently just using some hallides while im still building the leds.
an overall pic, its not finished yet but you get the idea.

just a close up of the display.


#19 Neakit

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Posted 01 April 2012 - 10:14 PM

i went to vebas yesterday, what a bad place to go to, so much to choose from they had all sorts of stuff in store.
picked this one up.

this orsom nt clam.

a misc birds nest coral that has seen better days.

And finaly a bit of purple monti.
\
While photos were being taken i had a photo bombing clown, she seemed to be a cam whore.




More to come soon, just rolling with the flow. It might take a few days tho i have a funeral tomorrow.

#20 Anka

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Posted 01 April 2012 - 10:24 PM

photobombing clown lol

cool pics :3




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