I'm Baaaack

[buck27]

well,

after what seemed to be the perfect job falling through and law school absolutely not panning out I am getting a promotion at work that will put me here until retirement. I have some great stuff in the works that everyone will enjoy seeing (fishroom addition, tank redo ect.) hang on for the ride. More to come soon. I have recently purchased a Vertex Alpha 250 skimmer, Tunze 6105, 6205 and controller, started my diy led build and am currently building my own controller that will monitor PH, ORP, Salinity, Temp and lights. Ill post what I can as I go but the build is going to take some time. I just had my first estimate this evening for the fish room add on. happy reefing everyone.

Josh

[hobogato]

glad you are sticking around!

[Kristy]

Whoa....! Guess this falls in the category of some things happen for a reason. Can't to see what you do next! :)

[jrnannery]

It's fate, I tell you...fate!

[Europhyllia]

That's awesome! :)

[buck27]

Just got my second estimate from a contractor today :) I am hoping to have the 2 bids on the addition by Friday and the money for the project by end of the month if everything goes right. I know I can count on SoLiD for some help as well as Kenny1 for sure. I stoked that I will actually have a "fish room". I planned so far for a mop sink and a drain in the tile floor. I told the contractors I wanted the room to be 8'x12'. I should be able to fit a nice sump, random tank stuff and decent frag tank in that room hopefully. More to come guys.

[Squiers007]

Hey Josh, glad to hear you will be sticking around for a while. Let me know if you need help with anything, us Iowa guys gotta stick together!!

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[buck27]

heck yeah man, I wish I would have gotten that job in Missouri but hey Texas is okay LOL. Being a trasplant isn't so bad.

[rrasco]

Haha, that was quick. Welcome back!

How far are you in your controller build? I am building one right now too. I was curious if you figured out what probes you are going to use.

[buck27]

I have so far ordered everything and recieved the first shield board from a buddy in colorado. The shild I got has temp, ph, orp, and salinity on it plus a real time clock. I ordered the Arduino Mega board and a large LCD blue back lite screen to go with it. I also will probably have enough left over to make a second board on the Arduino Uno that I have on hand. Here is a photo of the shield board.

[rrasco]

Did he build that shield? Do you have the actual sensors/probes yet? I just finished soldering my RTC breakout and LCD shield. Gotta figure out what I'm doing for sensors.

[buck27]

Yeah, he built the shield but I haven't gotten any probes yet. I'm still waiting for my lcd, board, transistors, resistors, 10v junctions and a few other things. Send me some photos of your breakout man, I really don't know exactly what I'm doing yet, I've been winging it with the electronics since I have no real experience with it until now lol. Any help is appreciated. We keep talking about this board here and they are gonna move us to a diy thread lol

[rrasco]

Hey, it's your build thread, you can talk about whatever you want, especially if it's something you are building for your tank.

[buck27]

Good point rasco. I had a couple things happen in the last few days, one bad and few good. First thing Monday morning I check my bank accoun to find that someone had fun with my money in Europe at loss to me for about 906.87 :( On a good note, I got approval today from the veteran land board on the build and will be moving forward within the next week or two. I also recieved some of my parts for the controller build and am only missing two more things that should be here this week end or Monday. Ill post some photos of the parts I have so far Rasco so you can see where I'm headed.

[rrasco]

Ouch, that's no fun. Hope you are getting it returned. I've had that happen, but only for about 1/9th the cost and I had my money back in 7 days.

I tested my LCD shield today. To my surprise it worked without issue.

http://www.rrasco.com/AquaticPics/210reef/IMAG0150.jpg

[buck27]

sweet man, here is a photo of the mess I have right now LOL. Uno board, Mega board, male/female jumpers, resistors, transistors, usb cable, small lcd shield, and the shield I had built. probably some other stuff in the photo too.

[rrasco]

Haha, at least your parts are organized. My stuff is filling up my garage and fish room! Does your LCD shield have buttons on it too? It looks like it but I can't tell.

[buck27]

cant wait to get the last two items and Ill be ready to rock, here is the LED's Im building. I have two more to build then I will be really getting somewhere.

[buck27]

yeah it has buttons but that lcd is not the one I wanted, I ordered the larger version and I plan to put a keypad on it.

[rrasco]

What are the dimensions of your heatsinks? You are building three, correct? And this is for your 215?

I'm curious because that's really close to what I'm doing, building 3 units of 36 LEDs for a 210.

[buck27]

yeah I am actually. I am building 3 banks of 36 leds. the sinks are 6x20 and fit perfectly. I put 40 degree optics because of the depth of 29".

[buck27]

does anyone out there have a nifty program to design rooms or one of the programs people are always using to show 3 demensional tanks and stuff? I don't even know where to look. I want to design some of my fish room but need some help.

[buck27]

The sinks are 6x20

[rrasco]

Use Google Sketchup, it's free.

[buck27]

Yeah, I got sketch up last night. Gonna have to learn it.

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[buck27]

Sweet, just got my large lcd screen for the controller rasco! I'll post a photo after class tonight. Just need my 5v relays and its time to play

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[rrasco]

Awesome. I'd love to see what you chose. I originally wanted to use a large or graphical LCD, but decided against it for now. The beauty is you can always upgrade later. One thing I really want to add at one point is Xbee so the device is wireless.

I'm excited too, my nylon hardware and taps came in so I can finally mount my LEDs!

[buck27]

Sweet man. I'm stuck trying tyi figure out the wiring on this mega and glcd

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[buck27]

http://img.tapatalk.com/616af821-dc09-815c.jpgFinally, let there be light !!!

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[buck27]

Ok, I figured out that this GLCD is in fact KS0108 compatable but the arduino library for it is not that great so I ordered a new GLCD.

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[buck27]

Ok, getting my final quote on the fish room build by end oif the week. I plan to close this deal by tge 26th of this month if all goes as planned. I'm adding a 9x12 fish room, a 12x12 concrete foundation for the pergola that will build myself and french patio doors to the patio. Should be nice. I can't wait to get that tank in the wall!

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[rrasco]

Awesome. I kind of wish I went in-wall, but it wasn't really feasible without remodeling. One day.

What are you going to build your pergola out of? Cedar?

[buck27]

Preferably cedar

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[rrasco]

Right on. That's the way to go IMO.

[buck27]

Ok, sup today I removed about 150 square feet of sod so I can dig my drain trench tomorrow. The architect is coming tomorrow to take measurements for the drawings for the final bid :)

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[buck27]

Architect should have my new floor plan and drawing by wednesday week next week. Once he has them done they go to a wind storm engineer for final approval and I get my final bid for submission to my lender so I can get a closing date. After that its only a matter of time. I have chosen to do all the painting, trash removal, haul off my old concrete slab and dig the drain pipe trench so I can save about 1700.00 bucks to put towards recess lighting in my living room, a sink and faucet with new garbage disposal in the kitchen and french doors on my fish room and patio entrance for easier access with buckets and stuff. the lights and sink are part of my deal with momma so I can get my fish room lol. I may have them replace the carpet in my bedrooms too. I will post some before photos this weekend.

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[buck27]

Alright! First new piece of equipment arrived today http://img.tapatalk.com/616af821-f2af-1ff8.jpg

Vertex Alpha 250

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[kkiel02]

Wow Skimmer looks good! Can't wait to see the final product.

[buck27]

I also picked up a used tunze 6205 and a 6105 with multi controller.

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[LuckySingh]

Very nice and strong skimmer ...
That's in my buy list aswell in few months


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[buck27]

Ok, new tank might be in the works so this project may take longer than expected. The new tank demensions if I can swing it will be 96x36x30 from reef savvy in miami with a starfire front. I should be closing my construction deal in about a week. Any thoughts?

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[rrasco]

I talked to Felix from RS yesterday, even though his quote was over my budget he went out of his way to try and cut the cost and try to help me find a tank and get his as cheap as possible. I didn't even buy anything from the guy and he was more than willing to help me out any way he can. If I ever get the chance I will definitely send some business his way.

[buck27]

New update. Haven't closed on the addition yet due to paperwork issues on the contractor side. I have however been considering building a plywood tank in the demensions of 84x41x30. I know texreefer had one at one time bhut I'm not sure of the size. I also know there is a build thread on here somewhere of one. Any thoughts?

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[SoLiD]

I think you should just put in a swimming pool. It will be cheaper!!! Just come look at my tank when you have withdrawal's and we can swim in you pool when I get bored.... or find the time to be bored... :what_smile: J\K of course.

[buck27]

Ok, new build thread going up, please close this one.

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