200G AGE inwall with fishroom

[dipan]

That's 200G as in Gallons, not Grand or Gazillion or Googolplex $$$ though it may feel like a moneypit sometimes ...

I thought I'd start this as a new thread from here (http://maast.org/forums/showthread.php?t=50280) since the fish room is actually under construction now. I wasn't sure I wanted to spend the dough on the room, but I think it will be worth it. The plan has changed a little. The room is actually larger, around 5' x 12'. I have yet to order the tank, but there seems to be plenty of setup to do still and I will wait until precise opening dimensions are known for where the tank goes. I'll probably mirror much of this on the bigger (nonlocal) reefer site.

http://i592.photobucket.com/albums/tt6/dipanlokenpatel/roomconst1.jpg

http://i592.photobucket.com/albums/tt6/dipanlokenpatel/roomconst2.jpg

Where the tank will go from behind:
http://i592.photobucket.com/albums/tt6/dipanlokenpatel/roomconst4.jpg

The overall layout:
http://i592.photobucket.com/albums/tt6/dipanlokenpatel/equiplayout.jpg

The "business" wall en face:
http://i592.photobucket.com/albums/tt6/dipanlokenpatel/fishrmworkwall.jpg

[JimD]

Dang dude, thats gonna be sweet!

[dustint21]

Nice planning! Tagging along!

[LoneStar]

Looking good. Are you going to have climate control or humidity control in the tank room?

Also it looks like you have to relocate the attic access as well?

[dipan]

Thanks guys!


Looking good. Are you going to have climate control or humidity control in the tank room?

Also it looks like you have to relocate the attic access as well?

Climate control is via a small inwall AC/heat unit right over the door exhausting into the garage. I figure that should be enough and didn't want to add exhaust fans on top of that. The condensate from the AC should be going to drain. Do you think 8000BTU cooling and ~3500BTU heat will be enough? The combo AC/heat units are much more expensive than even larger AC only units, but I wanted to make it didn't get too cold in winter, even here in Texas!

The attic access is being removed altogether. There is a walk-in access to the same space on the second floor ... Texas basement style.

[Bill S]

A couple of points:

When you do your electrical work - put in a whole group of outlets behind each of your GFCIs - make it like 8 or more.

You won't like cooling into your garage, unless you ventilate your garage. These work like any other unit - you remove heat from one room, and dump it into the other. The temperature differential is critical to efficiency - you want the difference between the 2 rooms to be as small as possible. A 120 degree garage is going to make your electric bill skyrocket & your A/C to work itself to death.

[CoryDude]

Very nice planning and well thought out. However, Bill is spot on in his assessment.

From having an in-wall/fishroom set up, I can give you the following advice.

- Personally I'd go with the less expensive cooling unit and just use a space heater on the few days you'd need heat. Along with aquarium heaters, I've only needed extra heat from a space heater for maybe a few days out of the year.

- do not vent the ac unit into the garage. I made the same mistake. Garage was constantly a million degrees, the ac unit worked too hard and eventually went out.

- Install a good sized CFM vent to move air and humidity outside the house. Heat and excess humidity will be a problem and will cause issues with any chiller or other electronic devices in the room.

- You can never have enough elect outlets. Bill is right, install banks of outlets. Try at least 3 outlets per bank (6 total plugs per bank).

These are all mistakes I previously made, so hopefully you'll avoid these things and save yourself the trouble and $$$ down the road.

[CoryDude]

Didn't see it on your plans, or maybe I missed it, but a drain helps also. If you can, tie into an existing drain line to handle RO waste line and h2o changes. It'll save you the leg work of lugging the h2o outside to dump it.

[JeffCo]

Nice, your on one of my favorite stages, the planning and putting together of the tank/room. Much better to plan everything out like you have.
Very good points here already on the electrical outlets and vent exhaust. I also second the getting the cheaper A/C unit only, you probably will not use the heat at all.
Drain line outside makes it soooo much easier for water changes. Also if you plan on siphoning the bottom of the tank, adding an open drain line that you can attach the hose to while your siphoning is also very good.

With all the outlets, you might also want to look into a DJ light swith to control the turning off/on of your pumps etc. It makes it much easier than trying to hunt down the right cord to shut something off.

Very nice start, keep us updated.

[dipan]

Thanks for all the points. I was concerned about the inwall AC venting into the garage, but I'm not sure I have any other alternative. The fish room borders the garage interior on two sides, the dining room on one side, and the kitchen on the last. I'll talk to the contractor about the vents. I'm not doing this myself because of time constraints, but have a contractor that I trust.

I already have the AC/heat unit, but now don't know if I can use it, which is a bummer. Maybe my only recouse is to add a ventilation fan to the garage to run during the day? It gets hot in the garage, which is on the west side of the house. This will be my first summer in this home.

As far as the outlets, I'll add some more. I wasn't too concerned because I have 18! Profilux controlled outlets (3 powerbars) to plug stuff into.

[robalv]

http://www.minisplitsystems.com/cgi/display.cgi?item_num=AS12-115V13H

Summer Special *16 SEER* High Efficiency* Variable Speed*

Click Here to View Our Ambiance Eco-Green R410a
12,000 Btu Air Conditioner Heat Pump for Only $895.00

Ambiance 12,000-Btu Air Conditioner Heat Pump Kit

I have installed these before the work great and are very efficient this particular
unit is will handle 400 to 600 square feet and does both heat and cool some models do just cool.

[dipan]

Thanks for the link Rob, and what looks like a good deal on that mini split system. My problem is that there is no way to easily put the outdoor unit outdoors, just like there is no way that an inwall system will vent to the outside. I think my only other option will be to ventilate the garage ...

[Bill S]

I second the drain idea - ours is next to our wet bar. All kinds of stuff under there!

Here's the timer I built for my return pump and skimmer. Turns them off for 10, 20, 30, or 60 minutes:

http://www.maast.org/forums/showthread.php?t=35654&highlight=timer

[dipan]

There will be a sink with accompanying drain guys ... Just no floor drain, but I've got an idea for floods ...

[fishypets]

Nice build! I like the Profilux with 3 power bars. That set you back some jack but well worth it on a top notch build like this. By the way are you using Kingfish for the A.G.E.? If not you should, John and Brian are first class all the way.

[Bill S]

but I've got an idea for floods ...

My wife would GREATLY appreciate it if you could share this idea...

[LoneStar]

You can always run an exhaust fan through the ceiling and dump it into the attic. Or run a small run of duct work to the side of the house and install a dampener vent (the kind that shuts automatically when the fan is off).

[dipan]

My wife would GREATLY appreciate it if you could share this idea...


Oh, it's nothing elaborate. Since the fish room is in the garage, I'm going to seal all the walls where they meet the floors and epoxy paint the floors. I was going to leave a hole in one of the walls on the garage side in the baseplate stud so the water could escape. That way if there is a leak/flood, the water can preferentially drain out that hole and onto the garage floor which is sloped to the outside.

[dipan]

You can always run an exhaust fan through the ceiling and dump it into the attic. Or run a small run of duct work to the side of the house and install a dampener vent (the kind that shuts automatically when the fan is off).


Won't that just dump the humidity into the attic where it can cause other (roof) problems? I suppose I could run and exhaust to the roof or to an existing roof vent, if there is one. Still doesn't solve the air conditioning problem, though, right? Or are you suggesting I not air condition and just do the vent?

[CoryDude]

Roof vent would be a good option since no outside wall is available. Just make sure you trust the contractor to do it right.

You'll want cooling and ventilation. A good ventilation system will help most of the time, but on those hot summer days, you'll need some cooling.

[LoneStar]

Won't that just dump the humidity into the attic where it can cause other (roof) problems? I suppose I could run and exhaust to the roof or to an existing roof vent, if there is one. Still doesn't solve the air conditioning problem, though, right? Or are you suggesting I not air condition and just do the vent?

You take showers with an exhaust fan right?


That's why I mentioned running a seperate exhaust vent that runs outside....
This would just help the humidity, not the overall ac.

[Bill S]

I have an exhaust fan over my tank. It was set on a thermostat. Frankly, it didn't help that much, because it sucks the 100 degree heat out from above the tank, and replaces it with 100 degree heat seeping thru the walls!

[CoryDude]

I have an exhaust fan over my tank. It was set on a thermostat. Frankly, it didn't help that much, because it sucks the 100 degree heat out from above the tank, and replaces it with 100 degree heat seeping thru the walls!

I cut a hole and installed a vent from a pantry that is adjacant to my fish room. That's how I got around that problem. Brings in nice amounts of cool air from the pantry, instead of the attic or in between the walls.

[Bill S]

But Cory - where did the air come from that replaced the "nice cool air"?

Outside...

This reminds me of the "IQ Test Question": If your kitchen is small and sealed off from the outside, and you have a BIG refrigerator, can you cool it by opening your refrigerator and freezer doors?

Of course not! The heat exchange between the fridge and room gets netted out. Then, since the fridge will keep running - and it's not a 100% efficient system, it will just heat up the air even more. Don't forget the First Law of Thermodynamics!

[dipan]

But Cory - where did the air come from that replaced the "nice cool air"?

Outside...

This reminds me of the "IQ Test Question": If your kitchen is small and sealed off from the outside, and you have a BIG refrigerator, can you cool it by opening your refrigerator and freezer doors?

Of course not! The heat exchange between the fridge and room gets netted out. Then, since the fridge will keep running - and it's not a 100% efficient system, it will just heat up the air even more. Don't forget the First Law of Thermodynamics!

But it sure feels good standing in front of it!!!


J/K ... I know what you're saying ...

[dipan]

Looks like I'll have to figure out a way to get an exhaust fan installed ... I'm tempted to just exhaust into the garage and also have a garage ventilation fan installed rather than vent to the roof and have to cut the roof open.

[Bill S]

I know they are expensive...

But, dollar for dollar, your best choice IS going to be a chiller. You can plumb it 20 feet away, if you want.

[CoryDude]

If you end using halides, you'll want something in the room to move air. But, a vent in the garage will help in most other cases.

BTW, I'm not saying this will keep your tank cool, but venting is a part of the process. You'll want some kind of cool air replacing the hot air being exhausted, and as pointed out, a chiller to remove most of the heat from the aquarium.

Whether Bill agrees with me or not, this idea works.

I've got 95F air leaving the exhaust area, and 80F air entering the fishroom from the pantry vent. The exhaust keeps the room 10F cooler than without.

The major benefit is that my chiller doesn't run as much, and the fishroom is bearable to work in when needed.

Bill, are you talking about the the increased outside airflow into my house and the strain on my central a/c? If so, that is a problem I have not encountered with this setup. I'm still rubbing the sleep out of my eyes, so maybe I'm missing your point.

[Bill S]

Cory, you are exactly right.

However, if an energy engineer found you venting 100cfm of air out of your house during the summer, he'd go nuts. That then has to be replaced with 100 degree outside air (this week!) from the walls, etc. and then cooled. So, you are swapping the running of your chiller, for the running of your air conditioner.

As long as your exhaust fan only kicks on above say 90, it probably doesn't make that much difference. If it runs all the time... But, you do have to remember that when you get rid of hot air out of the house, it has to be replaced somewhere. And that CAN really make a difference.

We ran the tank for quite a while without a chiller. We found that adding the chiller saved quite a bit on our electric bill - and cut WAY down on the humidity.

[dipan]

I know they are expensive...

But, dollar for dollar, your best choice IS going to be a chiller. You can plumb it 20 feet away, if you want.

Oh, that's not the problem. I already got a chiller used locally off here, actually. It's greenmako's old 1/2hp chiller. I'm just talking about climate/humidity control for the room itself here ...

[LoneStar]

You can also connect the exhaust fan to a humidistat so that it will turn on the fan at a certain humidity reading.

[robalv]

if you can access the garage from the room you can install a mini split I know the cost is greater but it will solve all your problems with cooling , heating , humidity.. An Air Conditioner is naturally a dehumidifier its job is not to cool the air it is conditioning its job is to remove the heat and moisture thus you get condensation. Dipan if you would like for me to stop by and check it out I have no problem helping you out. Advise is always free
I have been in the A/C Trade for over 25 yrs ain't much I haven't seen.

[CoryDude]

Take Robert up on his offer. Very good A/C tech and very knowledgable.

Bill, this really hasn't been an issue with my setup, but I also have a fresh air intake in the room from the garage, so not all the air is being pulled from the house.

Plus, I'd wonder how this increase from the outside air coming in, compares to the radiated heat from the windows and walls in my house already. If your house were a perfect energy system, your ac would run only once and then never come on again.

But, since cool air escapes and hot air enters via crevices around the house and heat is radiated in, then your a/c is constantly fighting a losing battle.

[Bill S]

Oh, that's not the problem. I already got a chiller used locally off here, actually. It's greenmako's old 1/2hp chiller. I'm just talking about climate/humidity control for the room itself here ...

Well CARP! That changes everything.

If the chiller is outside, go for the room a/c - you should be fine.

I would be hesitant about putting a chiller in a garage. Most really need 95 degrees or less - and some void the warranty over 95.

Cory, I really do understand what you are doing - my posts were really so others could see possible pitfalls - BTW, I also have a 100cfm exhaust fan. It kicks on when the tank hits 84 - when the other fans kick on. That should ONLY happen if the chiller fails.

[CoryDude]

Yeah, mine is hooked up to my halide timer, so it's only on for part of the day.

Well, that leads to the next question. Where is the best place to locate a chiller in a set-up like this? Companies will also void a warranty if you install the chiller outside the house.

[dipan]

OK, I was planning on just having the chiller in the room and letting the AC deal with it. If the AC is installed properly (I'll contact Rob), I don't think this will be a problem. I don't really want to make a plumbing run to put the chiller outside. At the most I would put it in the garage right outside the fish room.

[Bill S]

Well, I hate to say this. BUT. Outside is really the best place to put it.

If you put it in the fish room, then you will have to "pump" the heat out to the garage with the A/C, and from there out of the garage. That will double up on the work the A/C will have to do, as will putting it in the garage (where the chiller and the A/C will compete for heat exchanging).

Putting a BIG chiller outside - anything above 1/3 hp - is really the best way to handle them. Build a covered shed with plenty of air flow around it (you can put a fan in that also runs when the chiller runs, if you need to). That's what I did, that's what Ace did. The long run stinks, but it will save your chiller, save your A/C, and cut your utility bill. Run a line of 1" or more PVC, then wrap it with insulation. YOU WILL BE MUCH HAPPIER IN THE LONG RUN.

[dipan]

Well, I hate to say this. BUT. Outside is really the best place to put it.

If you put it in the fish room, then you will have to "pump" the heat out to the garage with the A/C, and from there out of the garage. That will double up on the work the A/C will have to do, as will putting it in the garage (where the chiller and the A/C will compete for heat exchanging).

Putting a BIG chiller outside - anything above 1/3 hp - is really the best way to handle them. Build a covered shed with plenty of air flow around it (you can put a fan in that also runs when the chiller runs, if you need to). That's what I did, that's what Ace did. The long run stinks, but it will save your chiller, save your A/C, and cut your utility bill. Run a line of 1" or more PVC, then wrap it with insulation. YOU WILL BE MUCH HAPPIER IN THE LONG RUN.

Somehow I knew you were going to say something like that. I do appreciate your help with this ... I'll have to think about the setup a bit further down the road and see how I can implement a chiller outside.

Rob ... If you didn't get my PM, give me a ring at 3267712 or 7640067 when you get a chance ...

[BIGBIRD123]

I will say that the chiller outside is best. My chiller is in my tank room and when it is on, it is almost unbearable in there...meaning the chiller is working harder. I still haven't put the A/C in the tank room but I already see a problem with the garage being miserable, too. I will be running mine outside and insulating on Monday. I have a 1/2 hp.

[dipan]

Thanks for everyone's advice regarding the AC. I asked Rob to come over and take a look. He thought a mini split would be the best solution, but I'm going to hold off on it for now. It's just too much more than a regular wall unit right now. I know that it will be much more efficient, but I have other stuff I need to apply the funds to also. I'll upgrade down the road and will definitely contact Rob at that time. In the meantime, I'll try to DIY the chiller outside somehow. Things are coming along. The electrical is in. There will be a final framing inspection tomorrow and then drywall goes up ... the moisture rated stuff. The plumbing is also in for the sink and a spigot for the RO to tap into.

[robalv]

ALL YOUR INPUTS ARE DEAD ON THATS WHY I RECOMMENDED HE GO WITH A MINI SPLIT
NO NEED FOR A CHILLER THE WHOLE ROOM WILL BE CONDITIONED AND DEHUMIDIFIED, ONLY THING IS COST EFFECTIVENESS DOES IT WARRANT THE COST OF INSTALLING THE MINI SPLIT. WHEN YOU LOOK AT COST IN THE LONG RUN I WOULD SAY YES, YOU CAN PURCHASE A 16 SEER MINI SPLIT OR A 9 SEER WALL UNIT. EACH SEER POINT IS APPROXAMENTLY 7% ON YOU COOLING COSTS SO A 16 SEER WILL SAVE YOU APPROX:49%. OVER THE LIFE SPAN OF THE SYSTEM IT WILL PAY ITSELF OFF.
NOW TO INSTALL THESE MINI SPLITS SYSTEMS CAN COST YOU A SMALL FORTUNE SO ITS NOT FOR EVERYONE. DOST RANGE FROM 3K-4K DEPENDING ON THE APPLICATION, AS I TOLD DIPAN NO OVERHEAD MEANS A SIGNIFICANT SAVINGS.

[robalv]

IT WAS A PLEASURE TO MEET YOU AND YOUR FAMILY DIPAN.
THANK YOU FOR YOUR HOSPITALITY & GOOD LUCK IN WHATEVER YOU DECIDE.

[dipan]

IT WAS A PLEASURE TO MEET YOU AND YOUR FAMILY DIPAN.
THANK YOU FOR YOUR HOSPITALITY & GOOD LUCK IN WHATEVER YOU DECIDE.

Great to meet you as well. In no time we'll be sharing frags! Hehe ... look forward to that day. I might just have to try to grow enough frags to pay for that mini-split! ...

[phippsj]

if you can access the garage from the room you can install a mini split I know the cost is greater but it will solve all your problems with cooling , heating , humidity.. An Air Conditioner is naturally a dehumidifier its job is not to cool the air it is conditioning its job is to remove the heat and moisture thus you get condensation. Dipan if you would like for me to stop by and check it out I have no problem helping you out. Advise is always free
I have been in the A/C Trade for over 25 yrs ain't much I haven't seen.

Man Rob, I wish I had realized you were in the AC business sooner! I had some serious headaches with mine that just recently got solved!

[robalv]

I am here to help when I can, Hope you got everything solved. I am pretty much available
for A/C work till this coming Monday then I will be out for 6-8 weeks having surgery on my shoulder. If you ever need something just shoot me a PM.

[z28pwr]

That is going to be a nice setup. Wish I had space to build a tank room, my biggest problem is heat and humidity. I can solve humidity but then I get heat and vice a versa. I don't want put a chiller since my electricity bill is already high and I can't easily add another circuit since there is a bathroom upstairs, but I'm getting good results with fans.

[robalv]

where there is a will there is a way, you may be able to make a chase or fur down to run an A/C duct over the tank. I didnt ask when I went over last time but it is a possibility....

[dipan]

While the room is being built I tried to figure out a good layout for the sump. Any input is always appreciated. I tried to incorporate a rock tower on the right back hand side behind the sump. I wanted a large refugium so that's there on the back left. Some space for equipment is in the middle.

The skimmer has an output with an elbow. I'm guessing that it's so that skimmed water can be directed into the next chamber eliminating the possiblility that the water, just having been skimmed, can be reintroduced into the skimmer inlet.

http://i592.photobucket.com/albums/tt6/dipanlokenpatel/sump1.jpg

[dipan]

oops ... labelled the skimmer "sump" ...

[dipan]

I'm thinking about adding filter socks to the setup instead of the rock tower ...

[dipan]

Well, I'm overdue to update this thread, but the fish room is basically finished. Nice counters and cabinets in there now. AC was just an inwall exhausting into the garage, but with garage and fishroom vents exhausting into the attic. I may reroute the fishroom exhaust to the outside instead of into the attic freespace to prevent moisture issues with the roof plumbing, but there should be continuous circulation and it is an enormous attic space because it's a 12/12 rise basically 45 degree roofline (and it's a big house).

I'm installing the RO/DI in there now and have to order some storage tanks for freshwater storage/topoff and for automated saltwater water changes daily. Anyone have recommendations? Residential freight is expensive!

Oh, and I ordered the AGE tank this week through Gabe and hopefully will have the CAD plans for it soon. That was a big step, though after having the fish room built, it doesn't seem so big.

I'll have to snap some pics tonight or tomorrow ...

[dipan]

Picture update!

http://i592.photobucket.com/albums/tt6/dipanlokenpatel/fishroom1.jpg
http://i592.photobucket.com/albums/tt6/dipanlokenpatel/fishroom10.jpg
http://i592.photobucket.com/albums/tt6/dipanlokenpatel/fishroom11.jpg
http://i592.photobucket.com/albums/tt6/dipanlokenpatel/fishroom12.jpg
http://i592.photobucket.com/albums/tt6/dipanlokenpatel/fishroom13.jpg
http://i592.photobucket.com/albums/tt6/dipanlokenpatel/fishroom14.jpg
http://i592.photobucket.com/albums/tt6/dipanlokenpatel/fishroom2.jpg
http://i592.photobucket.com/albums/tt6/dipanlokenpatel/fishroom3.jpg
http://i592.photobucket.com/albums/tt6/dipanlokenpatel/fishroom5.jpg
http://i592.photobucket.com/albums/tt6/dipanlokenpatel/fishroom6.jpg
http://i592.photobucket.com/albums/tt6/dipanlokenpatel/fishroom7.jpg
http://i592.photobucket.com/albums/tt6/dipanlokenpatel/fishroom8.jpg

[dipan]

Why can't I edit my first post? I was just going to add an update to pictures on the sixth page?

[princer7]

The rule for editing posts has change to only allow a post to be edited within the first hour.

[uriah]

Nice progress, cant wait to see the finished product! Looking good so far.:applause:

[LoneStar]

That looks great so far. The fish room looks great.

As for water containers, check out your local Tractor Supply. They have a good range of agricultural water storage tanks.

[Beverly]

Super nice..

[DrMark]

Well, I'm overdue to update this thread, but the fish room is basically finished. Nice counters and cabinets in there now. AC was just an inwall exhausting into the garage, but with garage and fishroom vents exhausting into the attic. I may reroute the fishroom exhaust to the outside instead of into the attic freespace to prevent moisture issues with the roof plumbing, but there should be continuous circulation and it is an enormous attic space because it's a 12/12 rise basically 45 degree roofline (and it's a big house).

I'm installing the RO/DI in there now and have to order some storage tanks for freshwater storage/topoff and for automated saltwater water changes daily. Anyone have recommendations? Residential freight is expensive!

Oh, and I ordered the AGE tank this week through Gabe and hopefully will have the CAD plans for it soon. That was a big step, though after having the fish room built, it doesn't seem so big.

I'll have to snap some pics tonight or tomorrow ...

I believe mine came from Plastic Mart, the pick up location was not far from you. Many shapes and sizes to choose from.
Try looking them up, if you cant find them let me know and I will, research further for you.
mark

[DrMark]

Well, I'm overdue to update this thread, but the fish room is basically finished. Nice counters and cabinets in there now. AC was just an inwall exhausting into the garage, but with garage and fishroom vents exhausting into the attic. I may reroute the fishroom exhaust to the outside instead of into the attic freespace to prevent moisture issues with the roof plumbing, but there should be continuous circulation and it is an enormous attic space because it's a 12/12 rise basically 45 degree roofline (and it's a big house).

I'm installing the RO/DI in there now and have to order some storage tanks for freshwater storage/topoff and for automated saltwater water changes daily. Anyone have recommendations? Residential freight is expensive!

Oh, and I ordered the AGE tank this week through Gabe and hopefully will have the CAD plans for it soon. That was a big step, though after having the fish room built, it doesn't seem so big.

I'll have to snap some pics tonight or tomorrow ...


here you go:

http://www.plastic-mart.com/class.php?item=1462

call them and can pick up neaqr you.
mark

[dipan]

Thanks for all the comments! I'll check out plastic mart when I get back from Yellowstone :)

[robalv]

Hey dipan looks great, big diff. From when I saw it last. Great job

[Dee]

Wow...makes me want to do this. I have thinking about my next upgrade being a peninsula style tank so we can see three sides nicely, but this is a pretty sweet idea also. Can't wait to see the finished product! Great job!!!

Dee

[dipan]

Going to carry over a few posts from RC ...

[dipan]

Plan from AGE came in finally. Was thinking about moving the corner return holes for the OM 4-way closer to the corners, making the Calfo shorter (vertical height of 12"), and adding a fourth bulkhead in the Calfo to streamline return plumbing. Any other suggestions? Guess I'm getting much closer to tank build! I think they just need me to approve the plans ...

http://i592.photobucket.com/albums/tt6/dipanlokenpatel/DSCN2105.jpghttp://i592.photobucket.com/albums/tt6/dipanlokenpatel/DSCN2103.jpghttp://i592.photobucket.com/albums/tt6/dipanlokenpatel/DSCN2104.jpg

[dipan]

A couple of pics from inside the garage during construction and after:

Before from the first page:
http://i592.photobucket.com/albums/tt6/dipanlokenpatel/roomconst1.jpg

And as it is now:
http://i592.photobucket.com/albums/tt6/dipanlokenpatel/watertanks007.jpg

I've built that stand since the last posts and have stacked a couple water storage tanks. The top will be RO/DI water and the bottom salt storage. I have yet to plumb them. I don't even have a tank yet. Sheesh I think I may have gone crazy, but hopefully all the work will be worth it.

Those are 250 gallons EACH, by the way. PLENTY of water storage. I'm planning about 5 gallon water changes daily. By my calculations (in Spock fashion), I estimate there should be enough water for automated daily changes of 5 gallons for 50 days ... almost a couple months. I'll have to mix up 250 gallons at once every 50 days or so. Probably more like 45 days because the bulkheads are not quite at the bottom and there will be some water in there still that won't come out through it.

Couple more shots:
http://i592.photobucket.com/albums/tt6/dipanlokenpatel/watertanks006.jpghttp://i592.photobucket.com/albums/tt6/dipanlokenpatel/watertanks005.jpg

[dipan]

I started planning the controlled outlets. I figured I needed to plan this out more formally on (digital) paper as the project progresses. I thought 18 outlets would be plenty, but I'm almost maxed out!

http://i592.photobucket.com/albums/tt6/dipanlokenpatel/profioutlets.jpg

[dipan]

http://www.tripplite.com/shared/product-images/lg/APS750-FRONT-L.jpg
Ordered one of these today for power backup. Should do well with the $90 deep cycle battery I picked up from Autozone today also. The battery's reserve capacity is 180. That should blow the pants off any regular UPS.

It can attach it to any number of 12 volt batteries in parallel for power. Deep cycle marine batteries are perfect. While your AC line is live, it passes it on to your equipment as is and maintains charge on the batteries. When power drops below 75 to 105 volts (user determined) or over 135 to 145 volts, it switches to PWM sine wave power inverted from the car batteries. We need the sine wave simulation for our AC motor pumps. I just picked up a big deep cycle battery from autozone and a box to put it in. The battery's reserve capacity is 180 minutes ... meaning it will sustain a 25 amp load for that long before dying. I'll test it out when the system is finished to see how long it will run the return pump (Dart Gold). I'll have the above powerbar connected to it as well as the Profilux computer also. This way the whole system should have flow for I hope a couple or more hours.

I got it through Amazon for about $300 shipped and the battery was less than $100. This one is good for 750 watts +, but for a bigger system there is a 1250 watt + model.

[dipan]

180 minutes reserve capacity is defined as how long the battery will run a 25 amp load.

Power = Voltage X Current
Power (in watts) = 12 X 25 = 300 watts

Reeflo Super Dart Gold consumes 165 watts average.

So if the battery will run 300 watts for 180 minutes (or 3 hours), then it should run 165 watts for 300/165 X 180 which is 327 minutes (or about 5.5 hours). Thats not bad at all and much more than I figure a comparatively little battery in a computer backup would run.

At least in theory, anyway :)

[dipan]

Well, tank's apparently been done. I was supposed to get some pictures, but communication between my LFS and AGE is lacking. Oh well. I'm figuring it will just show up one day soon. Sump should also be done soon with a week or so.

I've been drilling holes in the nice new cabinets and in the walls of the nice new fishroom. Wish I had taken more pics before the drywall went up. I always seem to need an extra hole or two to find a good spot. Gotta get some of water lines run for the automation. I did plumb the 250 gallon RO and salt reservoirs together and attached a pump for recirculation. Some big peristaltics are going to do the actual pulling/pushing of water from the reservoir for ATO and AWC (Automatic Water Change):

http://www.automatedaquariums.com/sp300.jpg

[dipan]

Laid out a preliminary plan for the light rack today. Decided finally, after much thought, on a 400w metal halide pair for this almost 4ft wide tank, but very tall at 36". I was going to put a couple 39w T5 strips for dawn/dusk actinic effects, on each front and back. I know it's not much, but when those halides kick in it will be BRIGHT. Or so I hope. I've decided that I want to try to keep mostly SPS with some LPS/soft corals. I want to try to grow some large colonies of nice corals. As a side benefit, this will allow me to have some butterflyfish and maybe angelfish in addition to the nice tangs available.
http://i592.photobucket.com/albums/tt6/dipanlokenpatel/lightrack.jpg

[dipan]

For water changes, I decided to go a little DIY. Water will be pumped out via the above listed peristaltic once a day. At 600mL/minute, that pump works pretty quickly and fairly quietly. The regular non-DIY available options, at least as I saw them, were Spectrapure's Litermeter 3 and a ReefFiller. The former does 250mL/minute and is pretty quiet, from what I gather. The latter can do 30 gallons/day, which is only about 80mL/minute, and is quite noisy. I just wasn't sure that the Litermeter could be controlled well with an external controller as it seems to have its own built in programming/logic.

So I created this. The box is just some nice quality pine, painted for water resistance. The pumps are from automatedaquarium and can each do 600mL/minute! Now they are not silent, but are consistent, reliable, and I can get replacement tubing from them no problem. I wouldn't be surprised if it's just one of APT Instruments peristaltics, in which case I can probably just get replacement tubing from them.

Now, it flows more than twice the max rate of the Litermeter, and way more than the ReefFiller. I'm sure it's quieter than the latter, but is probably slightly noisier than the former, but will have to run for less than half the time.

I'm planning about 5 gallon water changes daily, which is, in effect, a continuous small percentage water change (probably about 1% daily). The first peristaltic will drain 5 gallons from the system. I will time this and calibrate it to 5 gallons so I know how long to run it. The second will put 5 gallons back from a premixed container of saltwater. The third is basically backup. Because, you know, stuff happens ...
http://i592.photobucket.com/albums/tt6/dipanlokenpatel/wcperistaltics006.jpg
http://i592.photobucket.com/albums/tt6/dipanlokenpatel/wcperistaltics007.jpg
http://i592.photobucket.com/albums/tt6/dipanlokenpatel/wcperistaltics008.jpg
http://i592.photobucket.com/albums/tt6/dipanlokenpatel/wcperistaltics009.jpg
http://i592.photobucket.com/albums/tt6/dipanlokenpatel/wcperistaltics010.jpg

[olaggie01]

What are you using the Profilux dosing pumps for? I'm sure I missed it somewhere.

[dipan]

What are you using the Profilux dosing pumps for? I'm sure I missed it somewhere.

2 part, magnesium, and maybe VSV down the road ...

They can only do 60mL per minute, so 10 times slower than the larger peristaltics above. In order to do a 5 gallon water change, one of those would have to run for over 5 hours, whereas the above would do it in ~1/2hr.

[ErikH]

You may want to make a Calfo like Richards. It has about a 1/4 slit for the water to go through rather than just flowing over the top. Keeps fish and other items from entering your Calfo. Just a thought. It looks great man, gotta love that profilux. You using Visio for your plans?

[dipan]

You may want to make a Calfo like Richards. It has about a 1/4 slit for the water to go through rather than just flowing over the top. Keeps fish and other items from entering your Calfo. Just a thought. It looks great man, gotta love that profilux. You using Visio for your plans?

Thanks. Who's Richard and what's his Calfo? J/K ... I did do a search here for Richard and Calfo, but couldn't figure out what you meant. The tank does have an external Calfo with teeth so non-water stuff does stay in the tank.

[ErikH]

Teeth should work! :p Richard is ReefCube, sorry should have specified. :)

[CoryDude]

Saw your skimmer and sump over at Gabe's today. Like Borat, niiiiice!!! That's going to be a top shelf system.

[mabel_photo6]

HOLY CRAPOLA IS THAT THE SKIMMER AND SUMP?!?
THAT THING IS HUUUUUGE!!!!!!!!!!!!

[dipan]

:bigsmile: My tank's over there too! Did you guys see the crate? I'm working all week (right now actually) and can't get it in my house yet, but hopefully very soon.

[fishypets]

They can only do 60mL per minute,


60ml/minute is the factory default settings but they can pump more than that FYI.

[CoryDude]

Yeah, I talked Gabe into letting me take a peak at your tank! Hopefully I didn't get too much drool in it. Those counter sunk holes for bulk head fittings on the bottom are nice.

Love the idea of viewing the tank from two sides! You'll have to add your setup to the parade of tanks, sometime in the future.

[dipan]

60ml/minute is the factory default settings but they can pump more than that FYI.

I did not think they had a variable flow rate. Where is this information? What is the max flow? 60 ml/min is what they claim as the average flow rate of their pumps ...

[dipan]

Yeah, I talked Gabe into letting me take a peak at your tank! Hopefully I didn't get too much drool in it. Those counter sunk holes for bulk head fittings on the bottom are nice.

Love the idea of viewing the tank from two sides! You'll have to add your setup to the parade of tanks, sometime in the future.


Thanks! Now if I can just get it into my place!

[mabel_photo6]

I only got to see it in the box. lol
They hadn't opened it but I stared at the sump for a little bit. lol

[dipan]

I only got to see it in the box. lol
They hadn't opened it but I stared at the sump for a little bit. lol

The sump may be bigger than the tank! It's at least longer anyway ... It's not 3 feet tall though ...

[apedroza]

Wow this is an awesome build, wish I had the room for that!!

[Paul28]

Yeh i was over at gabes and wow that thing is insane also man your skimmer is worth more then my car haha very very very nice set up you got comming cant wait to see the build

[dipan]

Looks like Gabe might have time on Sunday morning to deliver the tank! Getting a tank is supposed to be one of the first things that you do in a build thread, right? Hehe ... any chance I could bribe some folks with pizza and beer to help us out with this Sunday 10AM-12PM ??? It looks HEAVY.

[barderer]

is there a reason no one in the hobby runs vented sealed lights? I see grow shops etc. there lights are setup sealed and vented. Keeps a lot of the heat out. Why do we run our lights open?

[Paul28]

I can help you move it meet at gabes at 10am ?

[dipan]

is there a reason no one in the hobby runs vented sealed lights? I see grow shops etc. there lights are setup sealed and vented. Keeps a lot of the heat out. Why do we run our lights open?

Simplicity I guess. Lumenarc sells their reflectors with an A/C option which ventilates the reflector via 2 x 4" ducts. A bunch of ducting out in the open would be unsightly I'm thinking, but wouldn't be a problem for an in-wall or tall canopy setup ...

[Neptune@gabesfish]

I can help you move it meet at gabes at 10am ?


Anyone that can help please meet at store 10am Sunday ..

[dipan]

I can help you move it meet at gabes at 10am ?

Whoa I missed your post! Sorry ... Yeah @ Gabe's @ 10 is perfect! Thanks!

[dipan]

Today is Tank Day!!!

[Paul28]

Nice meeting you Dipan , wow great set up you got there, you have alot of fun ahead of you good luck :) i loved the setup i could only wish

[CoryDude]

I like the smell of SPS also.....oops, wrong forum. :bigsmile:

[dipan]

Nice meeting you Dipan , wow great set up you got there, you have alot of fun ahead of you good luck :) i loved the setup i could only wish

Good to meet you too dude ... Thanks for all your help!


I like the smell of SPS also.....oops, wrong forum. :bigsmile:

Hehe ... :)

[dipan]

Here are some pics of the tank, some pics of the sump in it's place in the fish room, a pic of the remote display and control for the battery backup system that's above the cabinets, and a couple of Reeflo pumps that need to be installed, one for CL and the other for return ...

http://i592.photobucket.com/albums/tt6/dipanlokenpatel/tank006.jpg
http://i592.photobucket.com/albums/tt6/dipanlokenpatel/tank007.jpg
http://i592.photobucket.com/albums/tt6/dipanlokenpatel/tank008.jpg
http://i592.photobucket.com/albums/tt6/dipanlokenpatel/tank009.jpg
http://i592.photobucket.com/albums/tt6/dipanlokenpatel/tank010.jpg
http://i592.photobucket.com/albums/tt6/dipanlokenpatel/tank011.jpg
http://i592.photobucket.com/albums/tt6/dipanlokenpatel/tank012.jpg
http://i592.photobucket.com/albums/tt6/dipanlokenpatel/tank013.jpg
http://i592.photobucket.com/albums/tt6/dipanlokenpatel/tank014.jpg

[dipan]

http://i592.photobucket.com/albums/tt6/dipanlokenpatel/tank018.jpg
http://i592.photobucket.com/albums/tt6/dipanlokenpatel/tank019.jpg
http://i592.photobucket.com/albums/tt6/dipanlokenpatel/tank020.jpg
http://i592.photobucket.com/albums/tt6/dipanlokenpatel/tank021.jpg
http://i592.photobucket.com/albums/tt6/dipanlokenpatel/tank022.jpg

[vman181]

I haven't read any of this thread just yet but after seeing these pictures I'm going to have to go to page one and start from the beginning.

[fishypets]

Gotta love low FE glass... If it weren't for the flash one wouldn't even notice the glass!

[JeffCo]

Sweet setup! Really a nice custom look. Great setup in the sump, nice layout.
Only suggestion I have is to screw some acrylic pieces on the wall that's directly around and above the tank. The saltwater will eventually eat away at your wall causing it to bubble up and drop into the tank. Looking forward to see the finished product.

[ErikH]

Man that is sooooooooo nice. Great job for sure. It's just stunning, and there's not even water in it yet!

[txav8r]

Awesome build! Can't wait to see it 'scaped and stocked!!

[dipan]

Sweet setup! Really a nice custom look. Great setup in the sump, nice layout.
Only suggestion I have is to screw some acrylic pieces on the wall that's directly around and above the tank. The saltwater will eventually eat away at your wall causing it to bubble up and drop into the tank. Looking forward to see the finished product.

Wow that wouldn't be good. Know of a local source of black sheet acrylic? Thanks for the tip!

[dipan]

Thanks everyone. I'm still working on getting some plumbing. There's still a secondary fuge and frag tank pending.

[JeffCo]

Regal plastics or any other local acrylic shop should have it.

[dipan]

Cool thanks Jeff ... I'll check them out soon.

[dipan]

Photo update. Phase one of who knows how many phases of plumbing ...

A pic from the hall that I forgot to post earlier. This is what I see when coming out of my bedroom in the morning and looking back before retiring in the evening :) ...
http://i592.photobucket.com/albums/tt6/dipanlokenpatel/plumbing007.jpg

Someone took a picture of me in said tank. It looks small until you realize that I'm not a particularly small person ...
http://i592.photobucket.com/albums/tt6/dipanlokenpatel/plumbing006.jpg

I have to add some unions to the bottom of these vertical drain runs so that I can have access to the closed loop behind them. Probably not the best access to the CL, but just what I've got to work with. I wanted a clean look at the front of the DT without any cabinet doors or anything to detract from the tank ... There are three 1.5" drains and I'm planning on using Beananimal's drain design. The smaller 1" line on the left is the return, routed through the Calfo:
http://i592.photobucket.com/albums/tt6/dipanlokenpatel/plumbing008.jpg

http://i592.photobucket.com/albums/tt6/dipanlokenpatel/plumbing009.jpg

http://i592.photobucket.com/albums/tt6/dipanlokenpatel/plumbing010.jpg

http://i592.photobucket.com/albums/tt6/dipanlokenpatel/plumbing011.jpg

http://i592.photobucket.com/albums/tt6/dipanlokenpatel/plumbing012.jpg

http://i592.photobucket.com/albums/tt6/dipanlokenpatel/plumbing013.jpg

[fishypets]

Any updates on this bad boy?

[joelb]

must be nice!! tagging along, i cant wait to see the finished product. you did a great job!

[Goofball310]

tagging along as well for updates.

[twychopen]

Any updates? It has been a while.

[jesserettele]

Yes, this is the epitome of my jealousy.

[Paul28]

Yeh how is the tank doing :)

[dipan]

Well, slow progress? Well certainly slow and certainly progress. Here are some pics from just now. Talk about a lot of plumbing. I don't know what possessed me when I decided I might need 5 media reactors. Sheesh. Anyway ...

The tank is still half full of water and still not leaking. Not much to see there. I'm making some headway on plumbing. I'm uploading some pics to photobucket as we speak. Lights are probably going to be all LED ... plans here (http://www.reefcentral.com/forums/showthread.php?t=1769574).

[dipan]

http://i592.photobucket.com/albums/tt6/dipanlokenpatel/fishroom2010001.jpg
http://i592.photobucket.com/albums/tt6/dipanlokenpatel/fishroom2010002.jpg
http://i592.photobucket.com/albums/tt6/dipanlokenpatel/fishroom2010003.jpg
http://i592.photobucket.com/albums/tt6/dipanlokenpatel/fishroom2010004.jpg
http://i592.photobucket.com/albums/tt6/dipanlokenpatel/fishroom2010005.jpg
http://i592.photobucket.com/albums/tt6/dipanlokenpatel/fishroom2010006.jpg
http://i592.photobucket.com/albums/tt6/dipanlokenpatel/fishroom2010007.jpg
http://i592.photobucket.com/albums/tt6/dipanlokenpatel/fishroom2010008.jpg
http://i592.photobucket.com/albums/tt6/dipanlokenpatel/fishroom2010009.jpg

[Mr Cob]

This setup is so sweet. Thanks so much for documenting it all. Some serious reefing! Great work so far.

[ErikH]

what are those quick releases for? See I want my tank plumbed nice and done right when I get it. I need to know! :p

[ErikH]

I was assuming the media reactors but then wondered where their outputs are going to hook up.

[dipan]

Yeah, for media reactors. The reactors will be in the sump next to the refugium and just below the outlet from those quick disconnects. They point down into the sump at a slight angle. They are these fittings from USPlastics in 1/2" size:

http://www.usplastic.com/catalog/images/products/tubing/60684p.jpg

Available here ... (http://www.usplastic.com/catalog/item.aspx?itemid=23027&catid=743)

I wanted the reactors in the sump in case of a leak. The quick disconnects are so that they are easily serviced. I won't even have to turn the ball valves off. I can set them to the right flow rate and just disconnect at these sealed fittings. Then I can take the tubing and reactor to a more manageable location to empty and refill. But five reactors? I really don't know what I was thinking. The pipe at the end of the reactors continues outside the fishroom and into the garage where I have to mount the chiller. It's on ball unions also for serviceability and flow adjustment.

Don't you guys sleep? :D

[cbianco]

Spectacular setup!

It's going to look sweet once you get some water in there.

Christopher

[twychopen]

Wow! are you gonna be giving tours to MAAST members!?!?!

[Paul28]

WOW man that set up is insane you still have alot of fun ahead :)

[Bill S]

Insane. Very, very nicely done. WAY different than mine...

Are you SURE you want to go the LED route?

[jesserettele]

Wow! are you gonna be giving tours to MAAST members!?!?!

YES, I wanted to ask the same thing!

[dipan]

Insane. Very, very nicely done. WAY different than mine...

Are you SURE you want to go the LED route?

Yo Bill ... I've past the point of no return. Order placed with Cutter for all the LED's ...

Are you not so sure about LED's?

[dipan]

Wow! are you gonna be giving tours to MAAST members!?!?!


YES, I wanted to ask the same thing!

MAAST members are free to come by and take a look ...

[twychopen]

MAAST members are free to come by and take a look ...

Sweet! Next time I am headed to SA I will definately PM you!

[jesserettele]

Thanks for the hospitality and offer. I will PM you this weekend possibly.


MAAST members are free to come by and take a look ...

[rockmp]

WOW!!! Awesome progress!

[dipan]

Sweet! Next time I am headed to SA I will definately PM you!


Thanks for the hospitality and offer. I will PM you this weekend possibly.

You might do better waiting to see the tank when it gets setup. Unless hardware is your thing. I def like that part of it, but am feeling serious cravings for a tank!

[fishypets]

So what is your target date of getting this thing wet?

[twychopen]

You might do better waiting to see the tank when it gets setup. Unless hardware is your thing. I def like that part of it, but am feeling serious cravings for a tank!

I'm 3 hours south anyway, I won't be up there for a couple of months I don't think. I'm just sayin if your available, it would be awesome to go see!

[jesserettele]

It is no problem to wait and I don't mean to rush you, but yes hardware is my thing right now since that is the stage that I am in. I am turnin gover in my head, closed loop systems, filtration, lighting, and aquascaping to name just a few. My wife has convinced me that I have a problem (and I fear that she may want to put me in a box on the front porch like Mrs.Cob did with Mr.Cob!:wink_smile:) I love DIY and installs. Thanks anyways, I have liked following this thread and I appreciate the detail that you are investing. What an awesome build. :applause:


You might do better waiting to see the tank when it gets setup. Unless hardware is your thing. I def like that part of it, but am feeling serious cravings for a tank!

[CoryDude]

You need to charge an admission fee to recoup some of your costs!

[dipan]

I'm 3 hours south anyway, I won't be up there for a couple of months I don't think. I'm just sayin if your available, it would be awesome to go see!


It is no problem to wait and I don't mean to rush you, but yes hardware is my thing right now since that is the stage that I am in. I am turnin gover in my head, closed loop systems, filtration, lighting, and aquascaping to name just a few. My wife has convinced me that I have a problem (and I fear that she may want to put me in a box on the front porch like Mrs.Cob did with Mr.Cob!:wink_smile:) I love DIY and installs. Thanks anyways, I have liked following this thread and I appreciate the detail that you are investing. What an awesome build. :applause:

Don't get me wrong guys! You're still welcome to come by anytime ... I didn't mean to suggest that you couldn't ...

[jesserettele]

How are things looking with your build? Any new additions?

[dipan]

Wife helped me put some rocks in the display. It's gonna take a few days to layout the scape to my satisfaction. Also, I want to make sure there's not too much rock. I know we need enough for filtration, but it's space that I want colorful corals taking up instead (years from now). I'll take some pics soon. Plumbing is nearly done. Just chiller (will do in summer) and return line to tank need to be done. I wish I had a hole drilled between the Calfo and the tank for the return. Now, I either have to drill my own hole or go over the top. I was planning on going over the top, initially, but didn't know that the Calfo would have this really neat black acrylic cover on top ... that I now have to make a hole in for the return line to the tank. The return line is routed through the Calfo.

Lighting ... well this is getting real challenging now. I'm still toying with the plasma bulb, and planning on adding 24 royal blue LED's to the top of it. I've also gone overboard with DIY LED. I'm going to be building 10 LED modules. My plan is to have them high up with optics focusing light where needed. Don't get me wrong, the entire tank will be lit pretty well, but I will be able to concentrate light in some spots more or decrease light in other areas. Here's a rough sketch ... parts have already been ordered and are en route ...

http://i592.photobucket.com/albums/tt6/dipanlokenpatel/LED2.jpg

[dipan]

How are things looking with your build? Any new additions?

Hiya Jesse ... too bad we couldn't meet up ... Maybe next time you get a chance ...

[RayAllen]

Absolutely stunning and its empty. Rivals professional aquariums.
Talk about putting all your card out on the table.
Cant wait to see it up and running.

[twychopen]

update....update...update... (everybody cheer)

[dipan]

Not much progress to report. Still waiting on the LED's from Australia. Not looking forward to the soldering.

[ReefCube]

really like the setup BK skimmer red dragon pump..top notch build

[corruption]

Can't wait to see what you do with the LED's -- thats a pretty extensive plan. Should be fun to watch... And a plasma arc bulb? You're really sparing no expense :) I like it!

-Justin

[ErikH]

Sooooo, you gonna sell me that other light? :angel:

You won't need it, or miss it , I promise!!!

How do you find all of this cool stuff?RC?

[dipan]

Sooooo, you gonna sell me that other light? :angel:

You won't need it, or miss it , I promise!!!

How do you find all of this cool stuff?RC?

I have already given it (the light) to my brother-in-law. One of the internal T5 ballasts went bad and the factory sent me another bad (used) one. Sheesh. Their (Sfiligoi) customer service sucks, IMNSHO. Fancy brand or not. I had to beg for help for months also. Lots of unreturned emails. Anyway, that was my freshwater setup. I had a 10K bulb in it. Was going to try it with the saltwater build, but decided it wouldn't be enough. Actually got a couple new Advance ballasts that I was going to install into it, but didn't get around to it. If my brother-in-law decides not to use it, I'll let you know.

I'd like to put my vote in for a canopy-less setup for you also! The tank looked really good pseudo-rimless (it has a euro-brace so is not really rimless).

I don't remember where I heard of the brand at first. Probably RC.

[ErikH]

Cool, let me know! Really anxious for updates on your tank! Mine will be coming soon enough.....

[dipan]

Sure, will do. Leaning towards committing to a full LED setup also, so I might sell the plasma-arc light with Lumenarc III reflector modded to take 24 Royal Blue LED's. Any day now I should be installing them. Should warn you, though, I'm slow ...

That won't be particularly pretty either, though. Maybe if the outside of the reflector is painted black? For that matter, you could potentially paint the outside of your existing Lumenarc mini's black. I was a bit creative with ballast placement when I had that tank in the old house. In order to make it look super stealth I had the power wire going straight up, through the drywall into the ceiling, and into a little bit of space in the ceiling. Not quite a crawlspace. I had the ballast up there also. I had to obviously run power to it, and I put it on a switch in case of emergency and I had to cut power. Also put a dummy vent over the hole in the ceiling. Got one that matched the others in the house and it looked perfect ...

This really looked nice. No nasty power cords or boxes lying around. What's above your tank spot?

[dipan]

http://i592.photobucket.com/albums/tt6/dipanlokenpatel/planted002.jpg
http://i592.photobucket.com/albums/tt6/dipanlokenpatel/planted001.jpg
http://i592.photobucket.com/albums/tt6/dipanlokenpatel/planted003.jpg

Wish I took more pictures after growout. I changed much of the hardscape in there and plants were regularly leaping out of the tank (with fish). You will seriously have to consider a cover to prevent skittish fish from jumping.

[ErikH]

It will only have my current docile fishies. You gave me an idea with the paint! I can probably do a conduit pendant holder. Nothing is above it's future home, but attic access would be a pain. Hmmmmm.. thanks!

[dipan]

Big order came from Cutter today. I think I'm now committed :) There was a slight mixup in regards to the blue LED mix I ordered, but they are going to fix it. Unfortunately I've got to ship all of them back.

http://i592.photobucket.com/albums/tt6/dipanlokenpatel/led001.jpg
http://i592.photobucket.com/albums/tt6/dipanlokenpatel/led004.jpg
http://i592.photobucket.com/albums/tt6/dipanlokenpatel/led003.jpg
http://i592.photobucket.com/albums/tt6/dipanlokenpatel/led002.jpg



Lots (LOTS) of Meanwell drivers came from nanotuners.com couple weeks ago also. That's one of two boxes ...

http://i592.photobucket.com/albums/tt6/dipanlokenpatel/led007.jpg
http://i592.photobucket.com/albums/tt6/dipanlokenpatel/led008.jpg



Also more recent pics of the tank and aquascape in progress ...

http://i592.photobucket.com/albums/tt6/dipanlokenpatel/led005.jpg
http://i592.photobucket.com/albums/tt6/dipanlokenpatel/led006.jpg

[hobogato]

this is a great build thread of what will be an insane setup! thanks for taking the time to keep us up to date :)

[Big_Pun]

now I know why I couldn't order any meanwells from them, you cleaned them out, all I wanted was one lol

[corruption]

http://reefbuilders.com/2010/02/08/meanwell-eln-60-dimmable-led-driver-nanocustoms-sort/

...You've singlehandedly put a temporary halt on many DIY projects, it appears :rofl:

-Justin

[dipan]

now I know why I couldn't order any meanwells from them, you cleaned them out, all I wanted was one lol


http://reefbuilders.com/2010/02/08/meanwell-eln-60-dimmable-led-driver-nanocustoms-sort/

...You've singlehandedly put a temporary halt on many DIY projects, it appears :rofl:

-Justin

:bigsmile:

I'd like to think that, but I special ordered these months ago. Chris had some in stock which I didn't get, but he added what I needed to his next order and gave me a good deal. Even without me these sell like hotcakes ...

[dipan]

Managed to work on a plasma light fixture for this build (hopefully) with some blue LED's. Thought I'd post a minor update. The LED's work, and with half of them running, it seems to improve color temperature quite a bit. Now as long as spread is good, this should work out fine. The blue LED's are Cree Royal Blue's ... 24 of them, 3 on each 20mm round MCPCB from Cutter in Australia, obviously serially wired. Each one is on a small round heatsink, also from Cutter. I'll probably attach a largish fan to the top of the plasma heatsink and the airflow should run through these small round heatsinks as well since everything is so tightly clustered in the top panel of the Lumenarc reflector. 12 run off each Meanwell that I plan on using to adjust color temperature to desired with their analog dimming function via a controller.

Pics ...

http://i592.photobucket.com/albums/tt6/dipanlokenpatel/plasmaled001.jpg
http://i592.photobucket.com/albums/tt6/dipanlokenpatel/plasmaled002.jpg
http://i592.photobucket.com/albums/tt6/dipanlokenpatel/plasmaled003.jpg

[Big_Pun]

very cool, i now see the light, lol. this is very cool i think your the only person ive seen using plasma and LED, your ahead in the light game

[Mr Cob]

Very cool thread/build. Can't wait to see more.

[ReefCube]

do you plan to do sps with these LEDs?

[dipan]

do you plan to do sps with these LEDs?

Yes, but this light will be supplemented with more focused LEDs ... Why do you ask? I'm open to the possibility of needing lenses if unfocused LEDs on this fixture don't work out.

[ErikH]

PLASMA!!! Oh my, that is uber cool. Did you ever test the par off it? Wowowowowow

[dipan]

Do a search on glassbox. They've got some of my measurements on there, but no over tank measurements ...

[Europhyllia]

Honestly half of the technical stuff you are talking about I have no clue about.
But it looks beautiful and I like how everything looks so organized and clean. This is going to be a really fantastic set up.

[dipan]

Thanks Karin ...

Erik ... Here's the link with some PAR measurements ...

http://glassbox-design.com/2009/diy-plasma-light-aquarium-luxim/

[mabel_photo6]

That's some serious stuff right there.
Lookin' GOOD!

[dipan]

Some more progress ...

The blue seems to make a difference (obviously), but I'm not sure if it will be enough. I shot some pictures with a Nikon D200 manual mode with white balance at manual 6300K and aperture fixed at f6.3. There was no postprocessing other than sizing and RAW-jpg conversion. The floor shots with the paper and glass are shot at 1/200 shutter.

http://i592.photobucket.com/albums/tt6/dipanlokenpatel/plamaled003.jpg

Plasma with LED:
http://i592.photobucket.com/albums/tt6/dipanlokenpatel/plamaled004.jpg

Plasma alone:
http://i592.photobucket.com/albums/tt6/dipanlokenpatel/plamaled005.jpg

Shots of the lights inside the reflector follow. First is at 1/400s shutter:
http://i592.photobucket.com/albums/tt6/dipanlokenpatel/plamaled006.jpg

1/1000s:
http://i592.photobucket.com/albums/tt6/dipanlokenpatel/plamaled007.jpg

1/2000s:
http://i592.photobucket.com/albums/tt6/dipanlokenpatel/plamaled008.jpg

1/8000s:
http://i592.photobucket.com/albums/tt6/dipanlokenpatel/plamaled009.jpg
http://i592.photobucket.com/albums/tt6/dipanlokenpatel/plamaled010.jpg

Plasma alone @ 1/8000s:
http://i592.photobucket.com/albums/tt6/dipanlokenpatel/plamaled011.jpg
http://i592.photobucket.com/albums/tt6/dipanlokenpatel/plamaled012.jpg

[Europhyllia]

what's the story about the plasma? It looks dim and yellow in the pictures. What is the advantage of this type of light?

[dipan]

It may look dim, but that's because I was taking pictures with as fast a shutter speed as I could. The faster the shutter speed, the dimmer it looks. Even with a shutter speed of 1/8000 of a second I couldn't actually capture the plasma bulb itself. Just a small halo of light around it. The LED's on the other hand were easily imaged.

As for plasma as a technology, it's not all that new, but advances in the driver unit have been made that make it practical. It's efficiency is higher than that of metal halide. This 250 watt bulb the size of a tic tac puts out light equivalent to a 400 watt metal halide. Of course I had to go mess up that efficiency by putting 72 watts of blue LED's in the fixture. I'm still below 400 watts of consumption and probably higher in PAR than a 400 watt metal halide.

The LED's will effectively not ever need replacing. The plasma bulb may need replacing in 2-3 years. So less bulbs to change vs T5 and metal halide also.

Mostly, I'm just trying to mess with new tech, though :)

[dipan]

And for the "other" lighting that I'm working on:
http://i592.photobucket.com/albums/tt6/dipanlokenpatel/LED_Sink_Sample_Top2.jpg
http://i592.photobucket.com/albums/tt6/dipanlokenpatel/LED_Sink_Sample_Bottom2.jpg

Some UV LED's from Japan (yes I know we go to great lengths to prevent corals from getting UV from metal halides):
http://i592.photobucket.com/albums/tt6/dipanlokenpatel/NichiaUV003.jpg
http://i592.photobucket.com/albums/tt6/dipanlokenpatel/NichiaUV004.jpg
http://i592.photobucket.com/albums/tt6/dipanlokenpatel/NichiaUV005.jpg

[dipan]

Managed to finish the aquascaping today. I'm using dry Pukani from BRS. Have some left over too. This stuff is light. The individual pieces were laid out freestanding. Then I used mostly pond foam to bind them all together. The bottom two pieces that form the "tower" on the right are also fixed together with a piece of PVC and drilled channels in the rock.

Hopefully the pond foam doesn't add too much "float" ... I tried to deflate it as it was curing a bit where it was ballooning out between joints.

I'm probably going to remove the single rock on the left to create a small open sandbed area (until corals start impinging on it that is :)). Any other advice would be appreciated. I'm not that great at design type stuff, but did enlist my wife to help me out in that regard ...

http://i592.photobucket.com/albums/tt6/dipanlokenpatel/aquascape006.jpg
http://i592.photobucket.com/albums/tt6/dipanlokenpatel/aquascape005.jpg
http://i592.photobucket.com/albums/tt6/dipanlokenpatel/aquascape004.jpg
http://i592.photobucket.com/albums/tt6/dipanlokenpatel/aquascape003.jpg

Sorry for all the glare. I'm sure some better pictures will come along when there's actually some lighting over the tank.

[txg8gxp]

Looks good, I really like the rock stacked up in the corner.

[txg8gxp]

Oyea, Great lighting. I love the setup.

[twychopen]

What is the latest with this tank?

[ErikH]

Move the rock that is by itself inbetween the two islands. It should give each island more definition from further away. I know the feeling, I spent four almost five hours placing, and re-placing rocks in my reef. I am about to re-do it all again and base it as best I can on the Golden Ratio.

That light is just WHOA-MY-GOD. This thread is truly great because you are not just bleeding edge, but also very painstakingly putting this all together. The depths that you are taking this to is truly admirable and inspiring.

I am going to keep the 110 by the way, I decided against selling it. I have some special plans for it. Why waste that footprint? :D

[dipan]

What is the latest with this tank?

No progress. I have the fishroom at a standstill because the manufacturer of the acrylic tanks in it is simply not getting in touch with me after I tried and even after the LFS tried. One of the upper tanks, my frag tank, needs additional bracing because of pretty significant bowing. Additionally, some other stuff that I had requested had not been done and he was supposed to remedy these. Do I sound annoyed? Anyway, there are other things going on at home (construction). This is almost squared away though.

I have all of the bare LED's needed for the lights, but I'm having some difficulty in figuring out how to connect them all to the aquarium controller (Profilux 3). Hopefully this will be sorted soon. The heatsinks are hopefully going to be milled soon also. I think I'm going to have a heatsink milled for the plasma also to get better cooling for the blue LED's around it. I don't think those little guys are cutting it.


Move the rock that is by itself inbetween the two islands. It should give each island more definition from further away. I know the feeling, I spent four almost five hours placing, and re-placing rocks in my reef. I am about to re-do it all again and base it as best I can on the Golden Ratio.

That light is just WHOA-MY-GOD. This thread is truly great because you are not just bleeding edge, but also very painstakingly putting this all together. The depths that you are taking this to is truly admirable and inspiring.

I am going to keep the 110 by the way, I decided against selling it. I have some special plans for it. Why waste that footprint? :D

Thanks for the suggestion. I think I'm going to take it out altogether. I may build another small tower in the back right where it will be visible mostly from the side face. Again, I want to leave plenty of room for corals to grow and get a nice "valley" effect between the main tower and rock wall. What do you think?

I would have kept the 110 as a frag tank, but couldn't take that much space away from the garage. The fish room needed to be long and skinny. Are you going to use it as a frag tank? It would be great for that I think!

[ErikH]

I think that would look wicked!

Frag tank eh? We were thinking along the lines of a ray.... :)

[aaronandjess]

wow tanks looking great...

[neogenix]

I really think this is going to look good :) what do you have in mind for automation / etc?

[dipan]

wow tanks looking great...

Thanks. Hopefully some progress soon.


I really think this is going to look good :) what do you have in mind for automation / etc?

Automation for everything I can think of. Lights, water changes, topoff, core feedings, storms, cloud effects, rainy days, dosing calcium magnesium alkalinity carbon(?), I'm sure I'm forgetting some other stuff ...

[StevenSeas]

So i might have missed it somewhere but what is with the UV LEDs what benefit do they pose? And your tank setup looks awesome like one I could only dream of one day owning congrats on an amazing tank build

[neogenix]

Automation for everything I can think of. Lights, water changes, topoff, core feedings, storms, cloud effects, rainy days, dosing calcium magnesium alkalinity carbon(?), I'm sure I'm forgetting some other stuff ...

So, I've a ton of questions ;) How're you going to simulate cloudy effects, and rainy days? Your closed loop, is that the only circulation method you have, or are you going to be adding powerheads too!? (if not, how are you going to simulate things using fine grained controls on your closed loop?) How are you going to effectively dose magnesium? (ESV?) As really you only dose to keep a certain level in the tank, there's not a magnesium probe I could find, and even so, how would you keep the level steady, from what I can tell, the ESV system basically doses out to increase the PPM by 100 per week (at least, last I recall reading, but it's late, and I could be wrong) so are you going to essentially dose in batches?

Which aqua controller do you have in mind? Are you going to automate the use of RO/DI? Any leak detectors going in?

[dipan]

So i might have missed it somewhere but what is with the UV LEDs what benefit do they pose? And your tank setup looks awesome like one I could only dream of one day owning congrats on an amazing tank build

Thanks! A small amount of real UV may be important for coral coloration. Corals apparently have some pigments that absorb UV as a protection mechanism and these pigments apparently are in part responsible for some coloration in some corals. I have read about this in Reefkeeping article somewhere. I decided to try to implement it to make sure that after all this effort I don't have poor coloration. Of course I can fine tune intensity to find a point that is not going to be harmful.

[dipan]

So, I've a ton of questions ;) How're you going to simulate cloudy effects, and rainy days? Your closed loop, is that the only circulation method you have, or are you going to be adding powerheads too!? (if not, how are you going to simulate things using fine grained controls on your closed loop?) How are you going to effectively dose magnesium? (ESV?) As really you only dose to keep a certain level in the tank, there's not a magnesium probe I could find, and even so, how would you keep the level steady, from what I can tell, the ESV system basically doses out to increase the PPM by 100 per week (at least, last I recall reading, but it's late, and I could be wrong) so are you going to essentially dose in batches?

Which aqua controller do you have in mind? Are you going to automate the use of RO/DI? Any leak detectors going in?

I already have a Profilux 3eX. I will dose at set amounts per day that I decide with measurements is the right amount. This will of course depend on what state the system is in. Early on it will probably not need so much in the way of dosing. The water changes of 5 gallons per day should be decent for replenishing much of the Ca and alk. Later as the corals grow I will have to increase the dosing quantity per day, again, based on measurements to determine what level of dosing maintains what level of parameter tested in the tank. I can do this with Ca, alk, and Mg. No probes for these. The probes will be pH, conductivity, redox, and last but not least, temperature. I'm planning on using the pH for obvious reasons, but not controlling anything based on it. Conductivity will be measured to make sure salinity is in check. If this starts to drift, I can set an alarm and figure out what's going wrong. Again, though, not an automated actionable measurement. Redox will control the ozone. Ozone will be used to maintain a set redox. This will be a directly actionable measurement. Temp probes will directly control heaters and chiller. Lights can be turned off automatically if things get very hot.

I'm going to use Bulk Reef Supply dry chemicals to mix my own Ca, alk, and Mg. These will be mixed in 5 gallon batches (maybe smaller to start with) and dosed daily with peristaltic pumps.

The storm stuff is still mostly thoughts in my head. Since almost everything in the aquarium is connected to a controller, lots of stuff is possible. I'll probably have three banks of lights. They can come on in series so light starts on one side, dimming up in intensity, then fill the light going to the other side, again slowly increasing in intensity. After noon it can go the other way for sunset. I have not messed with the idea of clouds directly, but shouldn't be a problem programming in a random cloudy day with lights dimming sequentially and then coming up sequentially. Lightning is controlled directly by the Profilux as a function, believe it or not. It uses some LED's flashing to simulate lightning. At the same time it dims the main lights. This could be random or at specific times. I'm trying to figure out how I can put a subwoofer under the tank to simulate some thunder also, but I need to figure out how to trigger that to play at the same time as the lightning. This could be on the computer in the fish room. There is a small laptop in there to manage the Profilux.

RO/DI will be stored 250 gallons worth. Another 250 gallon container will house mixed saltwater. Each can be pumped into the system independently, controlled by the Profilux. RO/DI will probably be turned on once a week or so for 12-24 hours just to keep the container full. This container will have a float sensor setup in it with 3 floats (from autotopoff.com), and the Profilux will control power to the RO/DI booster pump and a solenoid that will allow water into the RO/DI system.

Ask a lot of questions and you will get a lot of answers :)

You may have to see it for yourself when it is a bit further along and actually working ...

[dipan]

I forgot another thing. Rain. I've been trying to figure out a contraption, but a small Maxi or Minijet in the overflow box could be turned on by the Profilux for a storm and pump through some tubing to a rainbar, something like a PVC tube with holes in it, to simulate rain for the tank/fish. I'll have to play with this to see what effect it has. I was toying with the idea of an Ecotech pump MP40 in the back, turning on just to make some serious short lived turbulence along with the closed loop, again, just for the time the storm is going. Otherwise, I was not going to try to use powerheads at all. Just the closed loop on a Reeflo Super Dart Gold at 4300gph. The return should add another 500-1000gph flow also.

[ErikH]

A rainbar!?! WOW! Talk about a re-creation of nature. Your tank and your ideas are amazing and so inspiring!

[neogenix]

I already have a Profilux 3eX. I will dose at set amounts per day that I decide with measurements is the right amount. This will of course depend on what state the system is in. Early on it will probably not need so much in the way of dosing. The water changes of 5 gallons per day should be decent for replenishing much of the Ca and alk. Later as the corals grow I will have to increase the dosing quantity per day, again, based on measurements to determine what level of dosing maintains what level of parameter tested in the tank. I can do this with Ca, alk, and Mg. No probes for these. The probes will be pH, conductivity, redox, and last but not least, temperature. I'm planning on using the pH for obvious reasons, but not controlling anything based on it. Conductivity will be measured to make sure salinity is in check. If this starts to drift, I can set an alarm and figure out what's going wrong. Again, though, not an automated actionable measurement. Redox will control the ozone. Ozone will be used to maintain a set redox. This will be a directly actionable measurement. Temp probes will directly control heaters and chiller. Lights can be turned off automatically if things get very hot.

I'm going to use Bulk Reef Supply dry chemicals to mix my own Ca, alk, and Mg. These will be mixed in 5 gallon batches (maybe smaller to start with) and dosed daily with peristaltic pumps.

The storm stuff is still mostly thoughts in my head. Since almost everything in the aquarium is connected to a controller, lots of stuff is possible. I'll probably have three banks of lights. They can come on in series so light starts on one side, dimming up in intensity, then fill the light going to the other side, again slowly increasing in intensity. After noon it can go the other way for sunset. I have not messed with the idea of clouds directly, but shouldn't be a problem programming in a random cloudy day with lights dimming sequentially and then coming up sequentially. Lightning is controlled directly by the Profilux as a function, believe it or not. It uses some LED's flashing to simulate lightning. At the same time it dims the main lights. This could be random or at specific times. I'm trying to figure out how I can put a subwoofer under the tank to simulate some thunder also, but I need to figure out how to trigger that to play at the same time as the lightning. This could be on the computer in the fish room. There is a small laptop in there to manage the Profilux.

RO/DI will be stored 250 gallons worth. Another 250 gallon container will house mixed saltwater. Each can be pumped into the system independently, controlled by the Profilux. RO/DI will probably be turned on once a week or so for 12-24 hours just to keep the container full. This container will have a float sensor setup in it with 3 floats (from autotopoff.com), and the Profilux will control power to the RO/DI booster pump and a solenoid that will allow water into the RO/DI system.

Ask a lot of questions and you will get a lot of answers :)

You may have to see it for yourself when it is a bit further along and actually working ...

I'd love to come see it. You've already given me the idea for continuous water changes, with a large vat somewhere nearby. I'm thinking on a much smaller scale of doing 1G per day, with it being pushed into batches of 10 - 15 minutes per hour, until the amount needed is reached (as to try and ward off leaks, and huge swings should some of my numbers/values be out). The subwoofer should actually be pretty easy to do, but wouldn't you be worried about the masses of vibrations over long periods of time?

The Profilux stuff looks great, just way out of the amount of money I'd want to spend. I'm thinking either an aqua controller, or a reef keeper, but for the most part all I really want to automate is the majority of my daily tasks. I do wish i had a probe available for magnesium, calcium, nitrates, nitrites... it'd be much easier to graph these over time, and associate them with issues than running tests each time.


I forgot another thing. Rain. I've been trying to figure out a contraption, but a small Maxi or Minijet in the overflow box could be turned on by the Profilux for a storm and pump through some tubing to a rainbar, something like a PVC tube with holes in it, to simulate rain for the tank/fish. I'll have to play with this to see what effect it has. I was toying with the idea of an Ecotech pump MP40 in the back, turning on just to make some serious short lived turbulence along with the closed loop, again, just for the time the storm is going. Otherwise, I was not going to try to use powerheads at all. Just the closed loop on a Reeflo Super Dart Gold at 4300gph. The return should add another 500-1000gph flow also.

You could use a return pump and a sprinkler system tube with some interesting fittings to simply simulate water dropping down, however that'd probably be bad for your electrical bits. I was just wondering if you were going to use a mechanical wave maker, or a combination to create even more random flow? You could always plumb up another return to the side of the tank, and use a solenoid to turn off the main returns and push a large burst out of one or two places higher up in the tank?

[dipan]

I'd love to come see it. You've already given me the idea for continuous water changes, with a large vat somewhere nearby. I'm thinking on a much smaller scale of doing 1G per day, with it being pushed into batches of 10 - 15 minutes per hour, until the amount needed is reached (as to try and ward off leaks, and huge swings should some of my numbers/values be out). The subwoofer should actually be pretty easy to do, but wouldn't you be worried about the masses of vibrations over long periods of time?

The Profilux stuff looks great, just way out of the amount of money I'd want to spend. I'm thinking either an aqua controller, or a reef keeper, but for the most part all I really want to automate is the majority of my daily tasks. I do wish i had a probe available for magnesium, calcium, nitrates, nitrites... it'd be much easier to graph these over time, and associate them with issues than running tests each time.

You could use a return pump and a sprinkler system tube with some interesting fittings to simply simulate water dropping down, however that'd probably be bad for your electrical bits. I was just wondering if you were going to use a mechanical wave maker, or a combination to create even more random flow? You could always plumb up another return to the side of the tank, and use a solenoid to turn off the main returns and push a large burst out of one or two places higher up in the tank?

Good thoughts. I will probably try to rig something that doesn't make a mess. I was thinking about a single high flow circulation pump (like an MP40) that would be off most of the time, but kick on when the thunderstorms are activated. This should be easy to automate on the Profilux. Another user on RC had a great idea about the thunder activation. I can just have some thunder soundtracks looped on a computer, or better yet a little mp3 player, and just activate power to the speaker/sub with the Profilux when a thunderstorm is triggered.

Ah all this is well down the road, though. Still trying to get the fish room functional. Some work still needs to be done on the sump and frag tank. Then I need to run some significant plumbing and extension cords to all the pumps and controlled items. I was supposed to work on the lights this weekend, but didn't end up with enough time. Things will come together soon, though ...

[dipan]

Oh ... looks like I'm now a web member. Guess I forgot to pay annual dues. Time flies. One year down ...

[aquasport24]

I don't know if it mentioned yet, but you could add some strobe light to the thunder/lighting effect.

[Big_Pun]

a plasma fixture, your still one of the first, dont know if you have seen this article

http://reefbuilders.com/2010/05/15/sfiligoi-vision-lifi-light-plasma-arc-beautiful-fixture/

[kkiel02]

Bumping- Any new progress?

[neogenix]

We neeeeeeed UPPPPDATES!

[dipan]

You guys and me both need updates :)

Anyway, I had to bump the fishtank progress again due to unforeseeable circumstances. Reefone came by to help me out with fixing the quarantine/frag/fuge tank, but we are now stuck in the middle of that project.

I got a bunch of milled 7" square heatsinks for my custom 150watt LED modules back from a local machinist. Gonna work on that sometime soon. I'm probably going to switch drivers from Meanwells to som ELDO LED drivers because of DALI dimming controls and greater efficiency. Gotta build a light rack soon ...

[ErikH]

Your patience will pay off in every way.

[Reefer4ever]

Any updates?

[dipan]

Well I have had to take the tank down because of a crack. Fortunately there was just a slow leak, otherwise there would have been 200 gallons of saltwater on the main floor! It's been sitting idle for months now and there are only a few fish and no corals left. I have had to make some hard decisions and I going to be "taking a break" from the hobby. Never really thought I would say it, but there it is. Time is short nowadays and I have lots of other things I want to spend time on. I may get back into it in a more simple way, maybe planted discus tank. In the meantime, I still have to make the space pretty, so gotta take the tank down and clean up the space.

I will probably be offering up some sweet equipment for sale in the meantime. Gotta get my charter membership back to do that. The PAR meter I have been loaning out via Louis at Elegant Reef will be donated to all the MAASTards out there who need to measure their LED's. I will also be selling off a ton of LED's in case anyone is interested. I may have to resort to RC though because last time I tried selling some DIY LED stuff on here there was little interest.

Anyway, thanks for coming along on the ride. Maybe ... to be continued?

[aquasport24]

What a bummer...Sorry to hear that. I was hoping for a better outcome than that since the tank should be mature by now.

[Bill S]

Please see my PM. I have a bunch of discus stuff I'd be willing to trade. I just took my tank down this weekend, and I still have manzanita wood and fluorite, along with plants (amazon sword, val, crypto, anubia).

[alton]

Sorry to hear about your aquarium, seems like a bad year for tanks. Hopefully you can set something in the near future

[phippsj]

Well I have had to take the tank down because of a crack. Fortunately there was just a slow leak, otherwise there would have been 200 gallons of saltwater on the main floor! It's been sitting idle for months now and there are only a few fish and no corals left. I have had to make some hard decisions and I going to be "taking a break" from the hobby. Never really thought I would say it, but there it is. Time is short nowadays and I have lots of other things I want to spend time on. I may get back into it in a more simple way, maybe planted discus tank. In the meantime, I still have to make the space pretty, so gotta take the tank down and clean up the space.

I will probably be offering up some sweet equipment for sale in the meantime. Gotta get my charter membership back to do that. The PAR meter I have been loaning out via Louis at Elegant Reef will be donated to all the MAASTards out there who need to measure their LED's. I will also be selling off a ton of LED's in case anyone is interested. I may have to resort to RC though because last time I tried selling some DIY LED stuff on here there was little interest.

Anyway, thanks for coming along on the ride. Maybe ... to be continued? Just sent you a PM regarding the LEDs and such. Sorry to hear that you are getting out of the hobby... you have great vision for this type of work.

[350gt]

Sorry to hear......

i have to say thanks for lending us the meter, i've used it a few times and it came in handy.....

Hope all goes well..

[dipan]

Your welcome for the meter ... It will stay with MAAST for all to use.

Anyone else interested in anything else can come by tomorrow around 9AM at the address above...