ZeeSparrow
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^^what he said. [emoji1]
40 Gallon Breeder reef tank build...
- Thread starter mmittlesteadt
- Start date
mmittlesteadt
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Sorry for the poor pic, and I literally just set the light on my old strip light tray and took the pic. No adjustment to the light was done.
It is sitting about 3" above the water. When I held it up to about the height of the top of my canopy (where it will be mounted) it covers the entire tank side to side, but the corners are shaded, which is exactly how I want it to be. I can't believe this much light comes from this little light that is smaller than a soda can.
It is sitting about 3" above the water. When I held it up to about the height of the top of my canopy (where it will be mounted) it covers the entire tank side to side, but the corners are shaded, which is exactly how I want it to be. I can't believe this much light comes from this little light that is smaller than a soda can.
mmittlesteadt
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mmittlesteadt
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I need to get this mounted properly. The shimmer is very relaxing, and my walls and ceiling are shimmering now too. Need to get the canopy back in place.
ZeeSparrow
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Every day is a good day. Today is a shimmering good day!
mmittlesteadt
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Here's a quick video of it with it turned almost completely down and the spectrum adjusted to just a tad above actinic...
Really poor video with my cheap camera...
Shimmer
You can see how low the light is. With the canopy over the tank and the light shining through an opening I'll make when I mount it, the light will sit about 8" higher and the whole tank will be lit, except in the corners (where I don't want the light anyway).
Really poor video with my cheap camera...
Shimmer
You can see how low the light is. With the canopy over the tank and the light shining through an opening I'll make when I mount it, the light will sit about 8" higher and the whole tank will be lit, except in the corners (where I don't want the light anyway).
ZeeSparrow
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I need to watch this again on my PC. But it looks pretty darn amazing on my phone. Can't wait to see it all set up!
mmittlesteadt
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I thought the exact same thing! LOL. Far beyond head shop black light posters, huh? :spin2:
mmittlesteadt
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Videos online (all of them, regardless of quality) just do not do justice to the beautiful, relaxing effect it gives off. The rock and sand in the tank just looks like one were snorkeling or scuba diving in the real ocean with the sun shining through the waves at the surface.
While the light does help this effect because of it being almost more like a spot than a flood or a strip light, it is the turbulence of the water surface that creates it. Want it to be more active? Just increase the turbulence at the surface. Less? Dial back the flow to the surface.
Martini5788
New member
When I first moved here and setup my tank the military police came to my house to make sure I wasn't growing anything illegal haha. I live on the main road in the neighborhood( it's on base) and apparently quite a few officers called them so they had to come check it out lol
Kyle461
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I always feel like officers will pay me a visit soon due to the amount of water I'm discarding in the yard and the equipment I'm dragging into the house constantly.
mmittlesteadt
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Careful...they may never leave! LOL. It really does have a hypnotic effect.
mmittlesteadt
New member
Last night I could not put my lift-off canopy over my tank with the light sitting over the tank. I'm not leaving it there anyway, but seeing the shimmer on the walls and ceiling got me thinking.
I still want to use my canopy, and originally I was just going to cut a hole in the top for the light to just be set on it and shine through the opening. But everytime I wanted access to the tank I'd have to take the light off, then the canopy.
Now that I've seen the shimmer (and the wife loves it too), I'm going to use the top off one of my old mic stands (I'm also a musician) and attach it to a board running up the back of my stand. Won't need to buy a gooseneck then.
Then I'm going to cut a large "U" shape out of the top of the canopy so there will still be a shelf running around the top of it, along front and sides, but completely open in the middle. We like to put plants and such on the canopy because it helps make the entire tank, stand and canopy look like a nice piece of furniture. I'll also be able to just slide the canopy off when needed and leave the light in place. I can then also easily feed without taking the canopy off and we will still get the added benefit of the shimmer.
I still want to use my canopy, and originally I was just going to cut a hole in the top for the light to just be set on it and shine through the opening. But everytime I wanted access to the tank I'd have to take the light off, then the canopy.
Now that I've seen the shimmer (and the wife loves it too), I'm going to use the top off one of my old mic stands (I'm also a musician) and attach it to a board running up the back of my stand. Won't need to buy a gooseneck then.
Then I'm going to cut a large "U" shape out of the top of the canopy so there will still be a shelf running around the top of it, along front and sides, but completely open in the middle. We like to put plants and such on the canopy because it helps make the entire tank, stand and canopy look like a nice piece of furniture. I'll also be able to just slide the canopy off when needed and leave the light in place. I can then also easily feed without taking the canopy off and we will still get the added benefit of the shimmer.
mmittlesteadt
New member
Testing 1, 2, 3...
A benefit of being a musician is having some spare band parts lying around. I didn't buy the gooseneck for mounting my Kessil light fixture. So I used one of my old mic stands.
Completely adjustable in all directions including the height. I'm going to cut an opening in the top of my canopy so I will still get the shimmering effect on the walls and ceiling, which we enjoy a lot. I mounted the stand to the back of my tank stand/cabinet.
A benefit of being a musician is having some spare band parts lying around. I didn't buy the gooseneck for mounting my Kessil light fixture. So I used one of my old mic stands.
Completely adjustable in all directions including the height. I'm going to cut an opening in the top of my canopy so I will still get the shimmering effect on the walls and ceiling, which we enjoy a lot. I mounted the stand to the back of my tank stand/cabinet.
mmittlesteadt
New member
Cycling is moving along. Should be able to add a small CUC soon.
Ammonia - 0
Nitrite - 1.0 (down from 5.0)
Nitrate - 10.0 (down from 20.0) Added a ball of chaeto from my LFS for $5 and my nitrates are already down.
Things are going the way I thought they would.
Ammonia - 0
Nitrite - 1.0 (down from 5.0)
Nitrate - 10.0 (down from 20.0) Added a ball of chaeto from my LFS for $5 and my nitrates are already down.
Things are going the way I thought they would.
mmittlesteadt
New member
I still wanted my canopy over my tank, but I also still wanted the shimmer on the walls and ceiling, so I made a cutout in my canopy. I needed to anyway as I wanted to be able to pull my canopy off without having to remove the light. But I made it circular so the light on the ceiling is this rounded shape of shimmering light.
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