135g Oceanic Build

[robertcedgar]

Very well designed and eye pleasing build!

 

[BigCountry74]

very cool build , what do you think of the lights so far, i`m thinking of getting a set for my 40 breeder, its time to replace the t5 bulbs anyway.

Soon as I get some coral I will let you know via this thread. They are very bright I know that. They pretty much light the entire kitchen up. The canopy will fix that though. It's almost too bright in there right now...

Long as you get 3w LED I guess it does not matter which chinese black box you go with, they are more than likely all the same.

You would only need 1 of these boxes on a 40 breeder. For sure.

 

[BigCountry74]

Very well designed and eye pleasing build!

Thanks Robert. When I first rolled this tank up in the kitchen, my wife was like "oh no what have I let my husband do...." lol but she is starting to really like the way it is panning out. It looks better each week.

 

[Nonameben]

Those lights are sweet! That's going to look real nice once finished

 

[Triton_Z]

Nice build. Looking good.

I see a Foxface (Siganus vulpinus) and a Niger triggerfrish (Odonus niger) in your tank. Any other fish in there?

I like what you did with the LEDs, hangers, timers, and power strip. Looks clean and will likely be easy to manage down the road. They do look very bright.

I had a Lifereef HOB overflow with a siphon tube and never had any loss of siphon during power outages or when I had to stop the pump in the 6 years I ran the tank. I did fight some air bubbles getting trapped in the rube and this usually was the only reason causing me to pull the tube. Getting them flowing again was not a whole lot of fun.

 

[BigCountry74]

I have a green congo puffer and a clown. The puffer I started in a 10g tank (the 10g that is now the skimmer sump) for the kids. It was originally a brackfish but we acclimated him to 100% salt. We all feel in love with the puffer. Definitely one of the smartest fish I have owned. Kids call him "Rocky", he has 9 lives....been stung by the foxface 3 times because he cannot swim that well...jumped out of the 75g I had before this tank (thought for sure I had lost him after that fall)....but he is alive and always kicking! lol

I dunno how he will do with reef. Will be sad to give him back to the LFS if he shreds any future coral.

And yup, the HOB overflow is pretty bulletproof. Like yourself, the only time I remove the tube is for 5-10% water changes or an air bubble when I restart the siphon.

 

[Sinclair81]

Sweet build, you moved to that quick! Also good to see another reefer from the queen city. You on Rasoc.org? Also are your lights dimmable, are you using a controller? And finaly question, how is the flow on those aqueon circ pumps?

Jim

 

[BigCountry74]

Yeah I would be lying if I said this was not addictive...lol

Lights are not dimable. Could not afford those.

I like the aqueons actually. I am going to buy 2 more. They are a good bang for the buck. I have had zero issues with them in 2 months of running.

Almost done with the wooden hang on wall canopy. Will try to get some pics up this weekend. I have to finish wrapping it in beadboard, trim it, then stain it. I have never cut trim before. I bought enough so I can make a few mistakes...lol

 

[BigCountry74]

Hang on wall canopy is almost completed. I need to wrap it in beadboard, trim and stain it. I am also going to mount some moonlight leds from the salvaged CF light fixture in it. It's coming together nice. Very light weight and portable. I decided not to install any doors on it, since it can easily be lifted to and from the wall (if I need to adjust the lights).

 

[BigCountry74]

Build is completed! Was able to salvage the LED moonlights from the CF fixture that fried. Also added 2 more powerheads. Ran the power cord thru the wall for the canopy etc.

The stain was darker than I was expecting, but I can live with it....I have not stained cheap wood in a long time, so lesson learned - always get a few shades lighter than what you think you need....lol

 

[DavidKulzer]

Nice looking setup. My wife is letting me setup my old 125 after about 5 years of it sitting empty in a shed. It's going to be used as a room divider in our new house. I'm also having to get everything approved before I make any decisions.

 

[BigCountry74]

Room divider? NICE!!!

That will look great....plus should be a lot of fun DIY involved with that.

I hear you on the approval. Here is the guide I use:
http://www.reefsmagazine.com/forum/reefs-magazine/72039-fish-tales.html

That article is hilarious....but SO true.

 

[Dog boy Dave]

Hey Big Country! Here is a video of my tank man, Don Altman gave me your name when he droped by the other day. My mains in game name is Salinity Now and i do trade coral for isks..... Drp me a PM in game and we can hook up on ts. Nice build so far, now you need to fill that baby up.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lJ0toB6hfXE&feature=g-upl&context=G2976b28AUAAAAAAABAA

 

[BigCountry74]

Word! I am in Goonswarm alliance. Corp is Wildy Inappropriate.

Heck I have been afk'ing EvE atm training for capitals due to this tank build!

I will PM you and we can trade eve mail brotha.

 

[radbluesfan]

Nice job, BC. I am just beginning to start my first ever 125g project. I came across your build on the Chinese Lights thread. I am going to build a canopy. At first I was thinking of a sit-on-the-tank style but I like the way you did yours. Couple questions: Do you get a lot of light bleeding out---does it seem too bright? Also, is there a reason you kept the lights below the canopy level and not higher in the canopy to cut down on light escaping into the room. Was it difficult to get the 3 lights to hang evenly--in a couple pictures they looked a little off---I guess it wouldn't make a difference. Are the lights you have running at 2w or 3w. I saw a lot of the LEDs use three watt bulbs but only power them to 2 watts. How is the canopy mounted--did you pick up the studs in the wall through the long 2X4 on the back of the canopy frame? Sorry for all the questions but I'm deep in it---probably similar to your position a couple months ago!!

 

[BigCountry74]

Update over the last month or so:

Finally figured out how to work my camera....lol

Added 2 emerald crabs, a LTA and a dwarf angel (which is hard to photo, it WILL not stay still, which is a good thing thats the nature of the fish). I tried a powder blue tang off liveaquaria (29.99 Weekly Special) but lost it in my QT. That fish is definitely not for rookies like me, it's a tricky ich plagued fish it seems. Flip side is it's so beautiful of a fish its very tempting to try, and bruise egos...

Tank is going awesome. The LTA is doing really well (looks magnificent in the blue lights) considering I almost lost if the first 24 hours due to way too much water flow (blew it off a rock and it floating into a powerhead!).

I am over my diatom phase, lasted about 5 days. I have a few cool blennies via liveaquaria coming tomorrow, will get some pics of those if they make it.

 

[BigCountry74]

Nice job, BC. I am just beginning to start my first ever 125g project. I came across your build on the Chinese Lights thread. I am going to build a canopy. At first I was thinking of a sit-on-the-tank style but I like the way you did yours. Couple questions: Do you get a lot of light bleeding out---does it seem too bright? Also, is there a reason you kept the lights below the canopy level and not higher in the canopy to cut down on light escaping into the room. Was it difficult to get the 3 lights to hang evenly--in a couple pictures they looked a little off---I guess it wouldn't make a difference. Are the lights you have running at 2w or 3w. I saw a lot of the LEDs use three watt bulbs but only power them to 2 watts. How is the canopy mounted--did you pick up the studs in the wall through the long 2X4 on the back of the canopy frame? Sorry for all the questions but I'm deep in it---probably similar to your position a couple months ago!!

My fist pics of the lights were horrible. I figured out how to adjust my camera so check out the pics above and that's a MUCH better gauge on the light bright/blueness.

The black boxes I went with are 3w bridgelux. They are 120w @ 40 leds @ 80 lumens per watt. Your after 80+- lumens per watt for led. Anything below that and it's not worth the money I think.

I picked studs on the wall and screwed 2x4s horizontally onto that. And then hung the shelving vertically on the 2x4s, and then hung the lights on the shelving. I have the light boxes hanging lower than I originally thought simply for testing atm. I might raise them a few inches back into the canopy later on.

I hung the box canopy onto the wall via leftover shelving bracket (you can see the black brackets in this pic),

I spaced some 2x4 scraps in-between and the canody slide in and out etc. The goal on the canopy was to make it light and portable. It's literally nothing more than a shadowbox to cover things.

Once everything was mounted I drilled 2 holes and ran the power cable that drives everything behind the wall (similar to hanging a LCD TV).

looking back I would raise the canopy a few more inches, so I can dump a 5 gallon bucket of water into the tank completely. Right now it only dumps so much before it gets stuck. hehe

All and all it worked out good though. I wanted something clean and open, that i would get my arms and hands in and out of easily. I did not want anything enclosed.

 

[BigCountry74]

Also make sure you get a lighter stain for the wood than you think you need. Learned that the hard way also.

 

[radbluesfan]

Thanks for the reply. I am watching your progress closely as I think you are 2 or 3 months ahead of me and my 125 Oceanic project. I bought someones neglected system for $500. Nothing would live in it, guy did 2 water changes a year whether it needed it or not, and had that bad red algae all over it. He did have 150 lbs of nice looking rock though. Gonna start from scratch, power wash and let the rock sit and dry, give the tank a good vinegar whirlpool bath with all the plumbing laying in it, and redo the stand and paint it black. Been looking for a canopy idea and LED lights which led me here. I might do a build thread but I do not know yet---picking it up this Saturday.
One question still about the light spill that I am concerned with; the tank will be in my living room where we have or main TV. Do you think the light that is created with a canopy such as yours will make me feel like the sun is shining out of the corner of our eyes. Also is there a lot of light escaping on top of your canopy as well? Thanks. The pics can be misleading and I wonder what your opinion is.

 

[BigCountry74]

The lights are pretty bright I am not going to lie. But you will be fine. My wife sits about 20 feet or so in the other room on the couch and watches TV. I would estimate she is a good 1-2 feet under the lights at that distance and they do not bother her. And since you will be sitting closer that puts you at a greater sitting height.

And definitely start a build thread. It's more of a personal blog for you if anything else to look back on, enjoy and reflect.