a miracle delivery... need advice

[Capt_Cully]

Jeeze Lang! Put some fish in that thing!!!!

Looks awesome! Very innovative and progressive.

 

[pascal32]

Looks good...just need water now

 

[solRNY]

Great updates... considering that both those Ecoxotic Pendants and the Plasma fixtures are both very new to the aquarium industry, it'll be great to hear about your thoughts on them and how well they sustain the corals long-term.
Your build has been a long process in the making, but with all of the time and dedication will come an amazing work of art.

thanks so much for the very kind words Johnny
these fixture are exciting to me, but they also come with risk, i will keep this thread updated on the long term outcome.

to be honest, with these cominbination of fixtures i am thinking that they will NOT produce the brillant sps colors as i have seen in many of the URS tanks running the tried and true metal halides, but more so a washed pale rendition, will be a very pleasent suprise otherwise

Real nice Lang.
Any chance you ran a par meter under the exotic led fixtures?

thanks Steve, i have not taken any par numbers for the leds, i will try to get some tonight, at least then i can fine tune there location, as i see it now there is alot of light spill.

Jeeze Lang! Put some fish in that thing!!!!
Looks awesome! Very innovative and progressive.

hehhe, thanks for the kind words and encouragement Mark! you have to update your superb 200dd build as we are waiting to see your fts

Looks good...just need water now

thanks Pascal, i am thinking serveral more months we will have water in it

 

[solRNY]

while i was building the many DIY reflectors for the plasma fixture, i needed to know which design was better for my appilcation,
i ended up getting this Apogee Quantum Meter model MQ-200, it is not a everyday tool like a refractometer, but it has been very useful to me,

 

[solRNY]

the top half of the pic shows the par data from Straylight stock reflector, vs the bottom half of the pic shows data from the lumen bright style DIY reflector,

the data was taken from the bottom of the tank to where the two plasma fixture was hanging,
i dont remember the height as this data was taken months ago, and up to recently the height has been changed.

the data shows Straylight stock reflector to have pretty even spread, unlike what i thought initially,
the DIY reflector data shows alittle more light is concentrated towards the middle, pretty much i was shooting for.

this DIY reflector is extreamly fragile, it is comprised of 8 individual pieces, unlike the larger version where using rivits is possible, it is not at this smaller size.
i have gone thru many interations of this reflector build, and after every i try to improve its construction, like using tabs to interlock the 8 pieces, using thicker fins for spring tension, tried using folds to hold pieces together but for this material folds just break, so ended up with a lot of tape! none will work like rivits for keeping the shape together, shape is incredibly important as i found out recently...

for this DIY reflector build, i am pretty happy with it, i just need to find a better way to make it hold its shape, maybe a different material that will fold without breaking... any suggestion would be greatly apprecated

 

[solRNY]

this pic shows par data from the North LED on at high power,
data show a smooth gradient, my initial impression was that it is not showing me the peak, that the fixture center/peak point is not within the tank,

the pic below shows par data from the South LED on at high power,
its even more evident that the North LED center/peak is not within the tank,
seems like i need to move the fixture closer towards the middle of the tank, lots of light spill, and wasted energy,

the pic below shows par data from both North and South LED on at high power,
data shows some tunning is required, i need to find the center/peak point, i have to push the tank over to center the LED fixture and take more readings, and adjust accordlingly,

 

[solRNY]

this pic show the par data with East and West Plasmas on at high power,
the plasmas fixture is equip with the DIY reflectors, the data show it is not very symmetric probably due to it not keeping its shape, but more so my craftmanship,

 

[solRNY]

this pic show par data with both LED and both Plasma on at high power,
seems to me there still alot of work left to reduce light spill, and fine tune the DIY reflector for better center concentrated spread, yay more work!!:hammer:

 

[naprestsleep]

Still missing water....

Really all I can say is your attention to detail is amazing.

 

[solRNY]

Still missing water....
Really all I can say is your attention to detail is amazing.

thanks you! i believe it is a flaw as well, as i go round and round about lots of things but only accomplish a few... i am so glad my wife has patients for me

 

[block head]

your build is crazy lang. that light reminds of field trips to the plantarium.

 

[Gravesj1s]

Lang ,thanks for such detailed information.-Steve

 

[solRNY]

your build is crazy lang. that light reminds of field trips to the plantarium.

thanks so much for the kind words! it is a forever long, coming on 2 years, crazy adventure, i am glad i can share it with you wonderful URS people

Lang ,thanks for such detailed information.-Steve

np Steve btw, your zoo is sprouting 3 new polyps already!

what do you guys/gals think of the numbers?
personally i think there low numbers both for the leds and plasmas, and worst there no water too, so i expect the numbers to be even lower...

 

[Gravesj1s]

np Steve btw, your zoo is sprouting 3 new polyps already!

what do you guys/gals think of the numbers?
personally i think there low numbers both for the leds and plasmas, and worst there no water too, so i expect the numbers to be even lower...

Lang, honestly,I was thinking the same thing.I would have thought par numbers to be much higher ,especially without water.Dont think I'd believe it if you didn't show the pics grid out like that.

Glad the zoas doing well for ya' Ive been having some moments lately,but ones I got from you are doing ok,no growth yet though.
GL -Steve

 

[Crypsis]

I love your tank! The lighting looks incredible. I would have thought the par numbers would have been higher though. I'm interested to see what kind of numbers you'll get with water in the tank.

Also could you get some numbers near the surface and maybe half way down. Since your Sps aren't going to be directly on the tank bottom you might not have a problem.

 

[solRNY]

thanks for the kind words
i have some new pars numbers for readjusting the cannons 4" towards the center, will also adjust the plasma reflectors and gather some more numbers halfway up from the bottom in a few days, stay tuned

 

[Capt_Cully]

Lang, I'm winning.....

 

[solRNY]

thats its Mark! i am turing it up a notch, hehehe

 

[pmemmer]

I like how invisible the water is... it's like it's not even there.

I'd *love* to do a middle-of-the-room tank like this, but I probably couldn't afford any livestock after the alimony payments that would be required to make it happen.

 

[solRNY]

I like how invisible the water is... it's like it's not even there.

lol, i think that is due to the starphire glass making everything all so clear, j/k :rollface: