Georgi's 40B rimless

[terahz]

Georgi - you shoulda built your tank!

I was close! The only reason I didn't do it, was because I didn't want to deal with cutting glass.

Looks great Georgi! Good job! :thumbsup:

Thanks

You're dangerous!!! I'm contemplating an LED build because of you. Thanks a lot!

Lol, it seems like since I showed up in ARK, Joe, Steve, Jeff and now you are on your way to LEDs.

What do you think you would need lighting wise for a 24"cube if I was looking for a 14K-20K look equivalent to about a 175 halide and approximately what would the cost be?

We have a short FAQ on LEDs on the ark website, take a look there:
http://www.arksc.org/led-faq

Also, here is the latest summary of the mega LED thread:
http://reefcentral.com/forums/showpost.php?p=17368445&postcount=4260

Between these 2 links you should be able to answer all your questions.

whats the total cost of led setup?
Very good work by the way

Drivers + power supplies + leds + lenses + heatsinks + wire < $500. The general rule $10 per LED is pretty good estimate of cost.

 

[terahz]

Here is the MDF of the tank:

I built this on the side of the stand to store all electronic stuff in one cabinet. I might add the 2 part jugs in there as well since under the tank there is no space left

 

[ctreefer]

Thanks! That's a great write up. Exactly what I was looking for. Now off to more reading...

 

[RTMA]

That's a great little area there. Perfect for hiding all the stuff. How is the APC working out?

 

[terahz]

Ok, I took some more PAR measurements and contrary to all tanks, I have more PAR at the bottom! (The ulva in the middle is from my sump, I put it there so that the snails can eat something):
(Click for larger image)


In summary, all around my rocks I have between 230 and 330µmol. I've been reading that 200-400 is a relatively good range for most corals so I'll probably start with that. Joe's MH PAR seems to support that. I still have some room on the current of the LEDs so worst thing is I'll up the current more and as a last resort I can lower the fixture.

 

[terahz]

Some electrical data:
White LEDs: 74W/h
Blues LEDs: 63W/h
Eheim 1260+MJ900: 56W/h
Arduino: 3W/h
MP40wES: 10W/h

Total consumption: 203W/h

 

[terahz]

Operating temperature of various equipment:
PSUs @ 20V : 110F
White LED drivers: 140F @ 800mA (total LED Vfw 19V)
White LEDs: 118F
Blue LED drivers: 120F @ 600mA (total LED Vfw 19.5V)
Blue LEDs: 117F
Hydra controller (on top of PSU): 105F
Vortech controller: 90F
Vortech wallwart: 100F

 

[terahz]

Thanks!

Welcome

That's a great little area there. Perfect for hiding all the stuff. How is the APC working out?

Yep, works very well for now. APC is getting a new battery tomorrow and fits perfectly in there. It should provide backup for my return for quite some time if needed.

 

[Wheel of Time]

I dont understand how you can have more par at the bottom of the tank (further away from the light source) than the top. I didnt think that was possible.

 

[RTMA]

Pretty simple, its all about where the light sources intersect. Not so much a big deal with MHs, as they over lap closer due to the wider angle of output. LEDs with optics concentrate the beam, so much so that the intersections of multiple LEDs can be at the bottom of the tank. A coral at the bottom can get concentrated light from 4 leds where as higher up a coral may only get light from 2 LEDs. Albeit, a higher concentration, however it can still be less then a coral at the bottom getting light from 4..

 

[Wheel of Time]

I didnt know that. pretty cool. Just used to the mh par readings that are so high at the top and fall off rapidly at the bottom. Ive never seen it be the opposite. No wonder LEDs are becomming so popular

 

[HAMsmith]

Great build!

If you had wanted to place your lights lower, what do you think would be the closest you could have put them to the water without changing your setup (i.e. number of LEDs, optics)?

I'm considering building an LED fixture for my 40br and I like your build but I only have a limited amount of space in my hood for a fixture.

 

[terahz]

Well without changing anything you can still have them close to the surface, you will just have very little light on the perimeter, but that could look nice as well. Without any optics, the same setup can probably be a couple of inches above the water (with splash guard) and still work pretty well, though PAR at the surface will be in the 1500-2000 range.

You can use 60 degree optics pretty close to the surface as well and get a good coverage, or just space out the LEDs better. If you are within a foot of the surface, I'd probably suggest you try without any optics. If that doesn't work just attach 80-60 degree optics and you should be good.

 

[terahz]

Ok, time for a quick update. I've been busy programming the controller, but meanwhile I've moved all my coral frags, half of my zoas, the two clowns and after a 4 day fight the cleaner shrimp! I had to take almost all the rocks out of the tank to catch the little thing.

Corals have extended their polyps nicely within hours of moving them. The zoas seem happy as well. The clowns picked a corner and now that's their spot. Only thing is the male keeps "cleaning" the area causing mini sand storms, but he has reached the bottom of the tank now so not that problem is solved!

The shrimp seems a bit confused since I moved it. It barely moves around. I hope the transfer didn't trouble it too much.

For now, I'm planning to add the following fish over time:
1 small flame angel
1 blue/green chromis
2-3 tank bred banggai cardinals

I'm still researching on non-jumping fish but that should be good for starters.

All in all I'm happy how the tank is coming together. I need to add some sponges around the walls of the return section in the sump because the waterfalls from the sides add a little bit of micro bubbles. Hopefully the sponges will eliminate that problem. Also I need to put a black piece of acrylic in the fuge and turn the lights on before all the macro algae I have melts.

 

[terahz]

Arriving on Wed:
1x Flame Angelfish
2x small bluegreen chromis
2x pom pom crabs (finally )

Still waiting for some tank bred cardinals to become available and I'll order a couple of them as well.

 

[RTMA]

Arriving on Wed:
1x Flame Angelfish
2x small bluegreen chromis
2x pom pom crabs (finally )

Still waiting for some tank bred cardinals to become available and I'll order a couple of them as well.

Sweet, if you can catch my chromis, you could have them for free
Can't wait to see those PomPoms we talked about.

I assume you mean Bangaii and not Pajama

 

[terahz]

I think 2 chromis will be more than enough for me
Yes, I'm talking about Bengaii Cardinals I want to raise them and give them away so that they don't go extinct. They are on the IUCN Red list: http://www.iucnredlist.org/apps/redlist/details/63572/0

As for the crabs, I can't wait either! Everything is arriving tomorrow, so I'll be uploading pictures.

On a different note, today I did my full set of tests on the water (for the first time in this tank) and here they are:
Ammonia - 0
Nitrites - < 0.1
Nitrates - ~2.5
Phosphates - 0
Magnesium - 1305
Alkalinity - 8.6dKH/3.09meq/L
Calcium - 500
Ph - 7.7 <- need to work on that one but the alk and calcium are adequate to support it.

 

[RTMA]

I think 2 chromis will be more than enough for me

Ok, let me know when they jump out j/k. If I had to do it over, I'd not get the three that I have and save the Bioload for a single nicer fish. They used to shoal...not anymore. Now I have three green fish

 

[Obi-dad]

...
Ph - 7.7 <- need to work on that one but the alk and calcium are adequate to support it.

I have found in my system that pH by itself doesn't have much effect on how corals do. In the summer my pH is higher because I'm rarely in the room, while in the winter I am in the office all day breathing out CO2 and the pH is much lower. But my corals all do much better in the winter even with the pH low (due to my taking more care of them in the winter...).

I also had my pH higher when I was dripping 2-part than now with the Ca reactor. I don't think my corals did any better with the 2-part (although the 2-part and dosing pump sure did keep my ca and alk more stable - set the dosing rate and forget it, while the Ca reactor needs some tweaking as the media gets lower and after replacing the media, and as the effluent valves get dirty, etc).

I think the Ca/Alk/Mg stability is much more important than pH, at least IME.

 

[kyle1284]

sweet build!!! have you decided on the optics yet? i like the crisp look of one tank that has the optics and there is no light spillage into the room