220g Home Centerpiece
- Thread starter realbrit70
- Start date
realbrit70
New member
Sorry, I've put the dimensions so many places I've forgotten where and when. Anyway the tank is 72" x 32" x 24". It has a single 8" wide rim around the top of the tank for support, no center brace as that kind of got in the way of the center overflow. The acrylic is 3/4" thick.
My concern with the lighting is getting coverage across the 32" width. I'd love to find a single all in one fixture but the larger fixtures I'm seeing are about 15" wide and probably are made to cover tanks that are 24" wide.
The lights will be hidden within the wall and so I'd be open to making a retro setup myself. In fact I was thinking of doing something with T5's and some LED's. I found these on eBay. The same seller also has lower power moonlight LEDS. Can anyone speak to their suitability to a reef aquarium?
My thought was to create two 30-36" fixtures, each covering half the length of the tank, and arrange the lighting something like this:
T5 White, T5 Blue, LED Moonlight, T5 White, T5 Blue, LED 20K DayLight, T5 Blue, T5 White, LED Moonlight, T5 Blue, T5 White
I'm seeing the width of the fixture being about 24". Do you think this is possible? Also do you think it's a reasonable idea?
My concern with the lighting is getting coverage across the 32" width. I'd love to find a single all in one fixture but the larger fixtures I'm seeing are about 15" wide and probably are made to cover tanks that are 24" wide.
The lights will be hidden within the wall and so I'd be open to making a retro setup myself. In fact I was thinking of doing something with T5's and some LED's. I found these on eBay. The same seller also has lower power moonlight LEDS. Can anyone speak to their suitability to a reef aquarium?
My thought was to create two 30-36" fixtures, each covering half the length of the tank, and arrange the lighting something like this:
T5 White, T5 Blue, LED Moonlight, T5 White, T5 Blue, LED 20K DayLight, T5 Blue, T5 White, LED Moonlight, T5 Blue, T5 White
I'm seeing the width of the fixture being about 24". Do you think this is possible? Also do you think it's a reasonable idea?
realbrit70
New member
Lighting
Lighting
Ok, so I've ordered the lights. I'm using LEDs from here. After discussing my needs with the owner I've decided on the following LED tubes:
4 x 28" long each containing 35 LEDs, these are narrow beam width LEDs for penetration to the bottom of the tank. The tubes will contain 28 white and 7 blue LEDs to give me a color temp of around 10,000k.
2 x 12" long each containing 12 LEDS, like the 28" tubes these contain narrow beam LEDs and contain 10 white and 2 blue LEDs to give a 10,000k color temp.
6 x 12" long each containing 12 LEDs, they will contain only white LEDS to give a color temp of 6500K. They will be wide angle LEDs that don't penetrate as deep but will give an ambient lighting level to the whole upper part of the rock.
4 x 8" long each containing 12 LEDs, they will contain 10 blue and 2 red wide angle LEDs to provide an ambient moonlight.
4 x 8" long each containing 12 LEDs, they will contain 10 blue and 2 white wide angle LEDs to provide additional moonlighting.
By using all these individual tubes I can either control them through timers or integrate into a Reefkeeper system to allow me to control when each tube comes on. I should be able to simulate gradual night/day changes and maybe even moon phases.
The best parts are the total cost for the LEDs - $450 - and the power usage.
Keep watch in a couple of weeks for the manufacture of the light fixture.
Lighting
Ok, so I've ordered the lights. I'm using LEDs from here. After discussing my needs with the owner I've decided on the following LED tubes:
4 x 28" long each containing 35 LEDs, these are narrow beam width LEDs for penetration to the bottom of the tank. The tubes will contain 28 white and 7 blue LEDs to give me a color temp of around 10,000k.
2 x 12" long each containing 12 LEDS, like the 28" tubes these contain narrow beam LEDs and contain 10 white and 2 blue LEDs to give a 10,000k color temp.
6 x 12" long each containing 12 LEDs, they will contain only white LEDS to give a color temp of 6500K. They will be wide angle LEDs that don't penetrate as deep but will give an ambient lighting level to the whole upper part of the rock.
4 x 8" long each containing 12 LEDs, they will contain 10 blue and 2 red wide angle LEDs to provide an ambient moonlight.
4 x 8" long each containing 12 LEDs, they will contain 10 blue and 2 white wide angle LEDs to provide additional moonlighting.
By using all these individual tubes I can either control them through timers or integrate into a Reefkeeper system to allow me to control when each tube comes on. I should be able to simulate gradual night/day changes and maybe even moon phases.
The best parts are the total cost for the LEDs - $450 - and the power usage.
Keep watch in a couple of weeks for the manufacture of the light fixture.
realbrit70
New member
Quick Update
Quick Update
I haven't posted in a while because we have been moving into the new house and getting organized. I'm starting to work on the plumbing and will have a plumbing update soon. In the meantime here are a couple of pics of the skimmer that came in last week:
Quick Update
I haven't posted in a while because we have been moving into the new house and getting organized. I'm starting to work on the plumbing and will have a plumbing update soon. In the meantime here are a couple of pics of the skimmer that came in last week:
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wildman6809
New member
i would go with the hammerhead in the basement. it should give you more than enough flow and you can throttle it back. also the darts are very quite, i have one on my closed loop and you can not here it running with the stand door closed
LINCOLNZ34
Member
cant wait to see the final!
reeferboy83
Member
that gives me an idea when I build my house!
