240 Tank Re-Build Thread

[adova]

I also have a holding tank for fresh RO water and also for mixing saltwater for monthly changes. The tank holds an upwards of 65 gallons or so and eventually gets plumbed directly to a bulkhead in the rear of the tank (via that 1.5" pipe in front of it) to pump in fresh saltwater.

 

[adova]

Taking a step back, you can see that that pipe is connected to the rear of the tank and then into the main house plumbing so I can just crank open a valve and empty 50g+ of water for the monthly changes:

 

[adova]

Moving on to the other project in progress still - lighting. I currently have my old lighting up, which consist of 3 x 400 MH with some attinics on either side of each MH. Part of a package setup.

 

[adova]

They are nice units, but I am really trying to reduce heat and electrical consumption, so I wanted to go LED. Of course LED's are expensive (unless you are a lawyer with hookups - Mr. Drumm), so I started the process of learning to build them. Thanks to everyone on the LED Writeup thread for info.

We start with Cree Royal Blue and Cool White LEDs ($6 each). I am going to be building 3 main sections and each section is meade up of two smaller section. Each of the smaller sections will have 12 white and 12 blue LEDs where are spaced about 2.5" apart and are dimmable seperately.

Here is an idea of the LED, which in itself is only about the diameter of a pencil eraser, then mounted on a star board about the size of a quarter:

 

[adova]

They are mounted on a heatsink which I am drilling here to screw down the LED to. There are 4 heatsinks per each of the 3 sections. In the future, I think I will limit this to just 2 per section and change the length. Also, I have decided to forego drilling and screwing and use some thermal tape I found for this application.

 

[adova]

After mounting all of the LEDs and attaching the drivers (Meanwell 60-ELN-48d - $32 each - 1 per every 12 LEDs), it is ready to fire up. 1 down - 6 to go.

 

[adova]

If anyone has any questions about this LED build, feel free to ask - the writeup thread is great, but a little overwhelming. All I can say so far is that I am really happy with the first run at this and it is SUPER bright. Here is a cost breakdown for the one (of six) sections:

Heatsinks - 2 x $ 37.50 = $75
Drivers - 2 x $32 = $64
LED's - 24 x $6 = $132
Optics - 1 x 24 = $24
Thermal adhesive pads $.30 x 24 = $8

Project wide costs:

Dimmer Power Supply (only need one for whole project) - $20
Wire & misc - $25 for project
Aluminum Rails for hanging lights - $100
Good quality sodlering station - $70

So, you are looking at about $300 per section so $1800 for the tank plus another $200 for the railing to hold it or $2000 total...

Not bad if I can sell my old lights and eliminate a chiller and AC unit running in the fish room, not to mention my electric consumption for the lights and the reduction in bulb replacement.

Oh, and I get a full dimming range to get whatever color mix I want.

 

[reefsafe]

Good to have you back Shawn. Looking great! You need to come over and get a cup of sand from me to populate your tank.

 

[::PixelFish::]

I'm not usually a fan of the foam rock wall build but yours looks fantastic!

 

[outlaw60]

Looks awesome Shawn! Glad your back.....

 

[HndMafia]

love the build pics! I'm sitting here laughing at your first post & pics of the drill press in the house--reminds me of my place. My current girlfriend showed up during the winter months while my Buell was in the living room, when the look of disdain showed on her face I told her the bike stayed and a word out of her about it being in the house would cause her to leave

 

[adova]

LOL - Actually, I have a full workshop, but it was too damn cold still to go outside for a few hours and I didn't want to fire up the heater. Anyways, without a wife, I can do whatever the hell I want these days - well, almost...

 

[Eel-byte]

Cant wait to see the results with your leds. I'm planning on using t5's for my 120g project, but am leaning more to led's. I built a small 12led test fixture to get my feet wet. The wife likes the savings on energy

 

[adova]

I hope to get the second section built by this weekend and then get the PAR meter to look at some numbers compared to the MH's I have. I have already orders teh LED bulbs and the meanwell drivers for the other units.

I am also using the thermal tape for this next section - so far, it looks like it is going to make assembly MUCH easier and I think I will get a better contact to the heatsink and better heat transfer. At about 30 cents per light, the value is definitely there...