50g SPS build
- Thread starter cpllongjk
- Start date
This picture shows the front of the unit with the led readout of the % which the reefbrites are running at. It also shows the manual dimming knob.
This picture shows the back of the unit with the selector switch for going from manual to controller mode. If you have it set on controller mode then the knob doesn't work and the lights can only be controlled via a controller.
The three cords are for:
1. Incomming power from a single power supply.
2. Outgoing power to the reefbrite(s). The outgoing can be split, I think, as many as 3 ways. So a single power supply can power 1, 2, or 3 reefbrites. I had to ask PremiumAquatics if the power supply would power 2 and they said sure no problem.
3. The last picture is of the connector that goes into a VDM or Speed control slot. It's just an ethernet connector with 4 wires inside, "made a mistake when I said 2 wires," This can be taken off and remodified to fit other 0-10v controllers I'm sure. You can see that 1/2 of the ethernet connector is unused meaning that you will lose 1 full slot to run a tunze or controlling port. But if you modify the jack, I am sure you can get another plug on there. I plan on taking a tunze stream cord and modding it so I can put the dimming unit on the same one so I can run my 3 6055s and all will be controlled.
The dimmer will take it all the way down to 1% which some controllers and LED lights won't do. I plan on using the dimmer to run a lunar schedule instead of adding moon lights to my tank. What do you think?
This picture shows the back of the unit with the selector switch for going from manual to controller mode. If you have it set on controller mode then the knob doesn't work and the lights can only be controlled via a controller.
The three cords are for:
1. Incomming power from a single power supply.
2. Outgoing power to the reefbrite(s). The outgoing can be split, I think, as many as 3 ways. So a single power supply can power 1, 2, or 3 reefbrites. I had to ask PremiumAquatics if the power supply would power 2 and they said sure no problem.
3. The last picture is of the connector that goes into a VDM or Speed control slot. It's just an ethernet connector with 4 wires inside, "made a mistake when I said 2 wires," This can be taken off and remodified to fit other 0-10v controllers I'm sure. You can see that 1/2 of the ethernet connector is unused meaning that you will lose 1 full slot to run a tunze or controlling port. But if you modify the jack, I am sure you can get another plug on there. I plan on taking a tunze stream cord and modding it so I can put the dimming unit on the same one so I can run my 3 6055s and all will be controlled.
The dimmer will take it all the way down to 1% which some controllers and LED lights won't do. I plan on using the dimmer to run a lunar schedule instead of adding moon lights to my tank. What do you think?
sahin
Ultimate Reefer
Since you can dim the Reefbrites down to 1%, I would assess how bright it is in the night...if its the same brightness as a bunch of those tiny LED's they use for moonlights, then by all means use it that way and I see no reason to add moonlights.
I am really liking these Dimmable Reefbrites!
I am really liking these Dimmable Reefbrites!
I will be honest, even at 1% with 1 reefbrite xho it seems like it just might be a bit too bright. I haven't owned moon lights in a few years and am not used to it yet. I bet it would be a lot less with a TECH reefbrite since they have 12 leds as opposed to my XHO's 18 leds.
When the reefbrite was dimming last night from 22:00 to 24:00 from 100% to 1%, I could barely notice it dimming to be honest. I kept thinking, "is this thing working?" The dimmer was going down slowly but the lights are so bright that it takes a lot of time to get the brightness out of the tank. Once I got down below 20% the tank really started to get dim. Then when I finished at say 1-2% it was really dim.
Should I take a picture of 1% and 100% without the flash to show the difference?
sahin
Ultimate Reefer
Taking a photo wont probably help because the camera wont show a true representation of the brightness...try it though...if it looks close enough then post it up.
You can probably run the XHO at 1% until 12AM and thereafter have complete darkness for the corals until morning time. But to run as a complete lunar cycle...hmmm I'm not sure if it will be too bright for the fish and corals.
Parameters for 14 days after I did most of the clean up from negligence. The tank has been stable for 2 weeks now. The spike in phosphate was probably due to over feeding the fish then measuring the phosphate that evening or the next day. I remember over feeding one of those days. The 2 tester corals are in, will probably brown out due to iodine, and polyps are already coming out and extending a bit.
On another note, I let my wife look at VIVIDAQUARIUMS.COM and pick out some corals. The basket is at $1032. Believe it or not, I said "ARE YOU CRAZY WOMAN?" She said to me, "If I was working full time I would have ordered them right now." I said, "Get a Full-Time job then." LOL!
I think the most I ever spent at once on corals is 200-300 bucks. I cannot imagine just getting every frag I wanted all at once.
Hope all is well with the community,
Jared
I was a bit worried about the Mg since my son lost my kit but bought a new kit last night and I was very happy. I don't test for Nitrates that often because of zeovit and I have always looked at the health of the tank as an indicator for Nitrate and phosphate. I do test phosphate only because I have a meter.
I was very happy to see the red sea dKH test kit was in the same vicinity as my alk meter by hanna. Always a good thing to test meters against something else.
Need some advice on hooking up my frag tank.
Option 1: Pulling the 40g breeder out and drilling it. Major PITA but less chance of cracking the tank because more room to work. You can see there is no wiggle room to get the tank out, I would have to completely remove the front braces of my stand to the upper level holding the top off water and water changing station. It's not that big of a deal when the tanks are full since the stand is screwed into the studs as well. The problem comes in getting the tank out of my closet. The tank is 36.5" long and my room is approx 38" long. I had a devil of a time getting it in there it will be crazy getting it out lol.
Option 2: Drilling the tank where its at. Could this be done if I am extra careful?
Please let me know what you think before I bust out the hole saw and start drilling in a few weeks.
Some Pictures of the situation!
Here you can see the FTS of the frag tank. I had cut out a rectangle in the stand when I built it for a possible overflow in tank or even out the back if needed.
Right side
Left side
Option 1: Pulling the 40g breeder out and drilling it. Major PITA but less chance of cracking the tank because more room to work. You can see there is no wiggle room to get the tank out, I would have to completely remove the front braces of my stand to the upper level holding the top off water and water changing station. It's not that big of a deal when the tanks are full since the stand is screwed into the studs as well. The problem comes in getting the tank out of my closet. The tank is 36.5" long and my room is approx 38" long. I had a devil of a time getting it in there it will be crazy getting it out lol.
Option 2: Drilling the tank where its at. Could this be done if I am extra careful?
Please let me know what you think before I bust out the hole saw and start drilling in a few weeks.
Some Pictures of the situation!
Here you can see the FTS of the frag tank. I had cut out a rectangle in the stand when I built it for a possible overflow in tank or even out the back if needed.
Right side
Left side
sahin
Ultimate Reefer
If you dont take the tank out, you cannot have a flow of water over the drilling area between the drill bit and the glass. Most people place the tank with the surface to be drilled facing up and use plumbers putty to build a small "well" to hold the water.
Here is a video of a tank being drilled with the tank upright, but as you will see, a constant stream of water is being applied to keep the drilled areas wet.
<iframe width="853" height="480" src="//www.youtube.com/embed/r9x9vV2cXRY" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe>
I hope others will put in their 0.2cents but I cant see it being done any other way.
Here is a video of a tank being drilled with the tank upright, but as you will see, a constant stream of water is being applied to keep the drilled areas wet.
<iframe width="853" height="480" src="//www.youtube.com/embed/r9x9vV2cXRY" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe>
I hope others will put in their 0.2cents but I cant see it being done any other way.
Sahin,
What about drilling the bottom from the inside? Essentially making an overflow box like in my main display but smaller of course.
sahin
Ultimate Reefer
Oh, drilling the bottom from the inside is fine. Make sure all the measurements are double checked etc and take your time. Its going to be hard drilling in that confined space. But completely feasible.
I would watch a video or two on Youtube about drilling etc to get an idea what to expect etc.
Ok, new addition.
Problems:
I had an issue with waste RODI water being used and consumed at a very high rate.
Before adding my "Bypass Line" I was changing out TWO DI cartridge every month to 1.5 months.
I also had a few issues with the RO unit that are now resolved.
RO Problem 1: The flow regulator was 90 gallons per day (I got my unit a very long time ago for free from a local guy and it came from ebay.) The flow regular now matches my membrane at 75 gallons per day.
RO Problem 2: Because my only line fed the DI and I had to go through the DI in order to even clean out my 10 gallon top off and salt water mixing station I would go through the DI like its crazy. I literally throw away 20-30 gallons of water when I do a water change because I clean the salt water container so I do not get any dirty water added back to the tank. This change will allow me to bypass the DI stage and save me a lot of money in replacing the DI over time. I expect to get 4-6 months out of my dual DI setup now as opposed to 1.5-2 months that I get now. We will see what happens in the end.
Here is a simple picture of my new setup.
The only thing I have to figure out now is how to drain the water to the outside of the house so I don't have to use a big bucket, my back is starting to hurt. LOL. I would also like to figure out a way to do water changes a bit easier, it will save my back in the long run I think.
Problems:
I had an issue with waste RODI water being used and consumed at a very high rate.
Before adding my "Bypass Line" I was changing out TWO DI cartridge every month to 1.5 months.
I also had a few issues with the RO unit that are now resolved.
RO Problem 1: The flow regulator was 90 gallons per day (I got my unit a very long time ago for free from a local guy and it came from ebay.) The flow regular now matches my membrane at 75 gallons per day.
RO Problem 2: Because my only line fed the DI and I had to go through the DI in order to even clean out my 10 gallon top off and salt water mixing station I would go through the DI like its crazy. I literally throw away 20-30 gallons of water when I do a water change because I clean the salt water container so I do not get any dirty water added back to the tank. This change will allow me to bypass the DI stage and save me a lot of money in replacing the DI over time. I expect to get 4-6 months out of my dual DI setup now as opposed to 1.5-2 months that I get now. We will see what happens in the end.
Here is a simple picture of my new setup.
The only thing I have to figure out now is how to drain the water to the outside of the house so I don't have to use a big bucket, my back is starting to hurt. LOL. I would also like to figure out a way to do water changes a bit easier, it will save my back in the long run I think.
sahin
Ultimate Reefer
Cant you run the RO waste drain near a window and out? Or connect it to a nearby sink waste pipe? Or even run a long line to the garden?
Yeah, but we're talking a good 20+ ft distance. The only reason I didn't do this was because of the kids and the chance of them messing with it is so high.
sahin
Ultimate Reefer
Hmm...what about buying enough tubing to pump the water from the collection bucket/vat to the nearest sink/window etc and pump it out? Still not a good fix, but saves your back?
Hmm...what about buying enough tubing to pump the water from the collection bucket/vat to the nearest sink/window etc and pump it out? Still not a good fix, but saves your back?
Yeah I can.
On another note, the corals I picked up over this past weekend are already lightening up. I placed them near the bottom or on the bottom of the tank, one in direct light and the other off to the side. I noticed the one in direct light started to lighten up and become a bit more blue yesterday but is really stating to get blue on the tips and the shafts are also lightening up. I thought it was starting to bleach but I don't that's the case anymore. Instead of turning white, the blue has really lightened up like a piece of ORA hawkins I used to own a few years back.
Current pictures. What do you all think? Coloring up or bleaching? In past experience I would say coloring up but I'm shocked because I dipped them with Tropic Marin Pro Coral for 15 minutes on Saturday when I got them. I have slowly noticed the pigment lighten up a tad each day. Today when I got home from work was a big change. Everything is starting to look baby blue even the polyps.
This acropora is directly under the lamp but on the sand bed.
This one is 2" above the last frag but is 2" left of the bulbs (off center).
Am I just seeing things or do you all notice the slight changes too?
This acropora is directly under the lamp but on the sand bed.
This one is 2" above the last frag but is 2" left of the bulbs (off center).
Am I just seeing things or do you all notice the slight changes too?
