JASON's 250g shallow reef

[jason angel]

to tell you the truth I havent seen him/her eat anything besides algae of the back wall yet.... I have a theory that it comes from a country with no corals or clams lol

 

[jason angel]

Hey Jason, could you post some pictures of how you wired all your floodlights? Thanks

Hi Gigem. Lights are wired up in 2.5mm2 Flex cable. (I am an electrician).
I have the blues wired on one circuit, most whites on another, and the UV and 2 x 10w 6500k on a third cct.
This leads to a Photoperiod as follows;

1000 - blue on
1030 - UV + 2 x 10w 6500k on
1100 - White on
2100 - White off
2130 - UV + 2 x 10w 6500k off
2200 - blue off

I hope this helps.

 

[Gig 'em]

Yes thank you, I didn't know if you could wire them in a circuit or if each one had to be individually plugged into a timer, which would be really annoying and cluttered. I did order one 10W blue floodlight and a 10W cool white floodlight yesterday from China so I am excited to test them out over my tank!!! Thank you for the inspiration. And if anything I'll use them in my fuge or QT tank :thumbsup:

 

[Gig 'em]

Sorry to post so many questions, but I have noticed in your posts you refer to your lights being up for several weeks, exactly how long have your corals been under this light set up?

 

[Thanksgramps]

Gorgeous tank Jason. Are you planning to put a screen on top to keep the fish from jumping out? Also, how did you chose the color spectrum from those lights? Was there a graph that showed wavelength output somewhere you referenced?

 

[peppie]

Bit of work this weekend on the tank....

Stand finished... its over engineered but you get that...

Hate to be a Debbie Downer, But the design of this stand will cause your tank to fail in the future.
The only thing that is supporting your custom glass tank is the 4 posts at the corners of the tank. If that partical board top gets wet, it will swell then it will disintegrate.

Your lights and corals are awesome.
Your stand NEED to be dealt with!!!

 

[jason angel]

Hate to be a Debbie Downer, But the design of this stand will cause your tank to fail in the future.
The only thing that is supporting your custom glass tank is the 4 posts at the corners of the tank. If that partical board top gets wet, it will swell then it will disintegrate.

Your lights and corals are awesome.
Your stand NEED to be dealt with!!!

You Sir/Madam should think before you speak (type).
There are joists under the particle board, made of
45mm x 90mm treated pine, spaced every 200mm.
There is also, very cleary visible in the photos, perimeter beams made of
200mm x 50mm treated pine.
Also, if you managed to soak the particle board, you have bigger problems than what your stand is made of
FYI it is Flooring particle board, and the top side is waterproofed.

In future Peppie it might pay to ask questions before you go assuming things and making a fool of yourself!
:thumbdown:

 

[Mangodude]

Incredible tank! man I wish I had the room to do a tank like yours.

few questions,

Those chinese powerheads I spy?

And I've been thinking bout ordering some floodlights for a while, but do I have to have a driver for them? Or do I just wire them to a plug and plug it in to the wall?

 

[peppie]

You Sir/Madam should think before you speak (type).
There are joists under the particle board, made of
45mm x 90mm treated pine, spaced every 200mm.
There is also, very cleary visible in the photos, perimeter beams made of
200mm x 50mm treated pine.
Also, if you managed to soak the particle board, you have bigger problems than what your stand is made of
FYI it is Flooring particle board, and the top side is waterproofed.

In future Peppie it might pay to ask questions before you go assuming things and making a fool of yourself!
:thumbdown:

WOW !!
Those are some pretty strong words
How long have you been working with wood???

 

[Gig 'em]

Incredible tank! man I wish I had the room to do a tank like yours.

few questions,

Those chinese powerheads I spy?

And I've been thinking bout ordering some floodlights for a while, but do I have to have a driver for them? Or do I just wire them to a plug and plug it in to the wall?

I'm pretty sure, and Jason you're the pro so correct me on this if I'm wrong, you wire it directly to a power cord or wire multiple of them in circuit to a power cord.

 

[mfinn]

I would want some side to side racking support before I put anything heavy on the stand.
You used alot of wood, but all in the wrong places.

 

[eww]

You Sir/Madam should think before you speak (type).
There are joists under the particle board, made of
45mm x 90mm treated pine, spaced every 200mm.
There is also, very cleary visible in the photos, perimeter beams made of
200mm x 50mm treated pine.
Also, if you managed to soak the particle board, you have bigger problems than what your stand is made of
FYI it is Flooring particle board, and the top side is waterproofed.

In future Peppie it might pay to ask questions before you go assuming things and making a fool of yourself!
:thumbdown:

Did you really need to rip into guy just trying to help out by pointing out a few basic stand building pointers? Peppie has valid points there. Waterproof or not particle board surfaces don't mean anything on the edges unless you have resealed them after cutting. If they get wet, they swell and disintegrate from the inside out. Also your outer "rim joists" are not supported by anything under them. Did you at least glue between them and the upright 4x4 posts? Relying on screws to hold the rim joists all by themselves will lead to sagging over time and uneven pressure points on the bottom pane of glass of your aquarium... Not good. All opinions and pointers are only meant to be with good intentions.

And please believe me when I say, your aquarium is utterly beautiful and worth every bit of praise everyone gives it.

 

[Reefpestsolutio]

Did you really need to rip into guy just trying to help out by pointing out a few basic stand building pointers? Peppie has valid points there. Waterproof or not particle board surfaces don't mean anything on the edges unless you have resealed them after cutting. If they get wet, they swell and disintegrate from the inside out. Also your outer "rim joists" are not supported by anything under them. Did you at least glue between them and the upright 4x4 posts? Relying on screws to hold the rim joists all by themselves will lead to sagging over time and uneven pressure points on the bottom pane of glass of your aquarium... Not good. All opinions and pointers are only meant to be with good intentions.

And please believe me when I say, your aquarium is utterly beautiful and worth every bit of praise everyone gives it.

Ya what they sed!

 

[mfinn]

and please believe me when i say, your aquarium is utterly beautiful and worth every bit of praise everyone gives it.

+1

 

[jdargonaut]

absolutely beautiful tank. And as a matter of constructive criticism from the point of view of a framing contractor, the stand may work for a while but is not a structurally sound design. Could be corrected very easily. Love the shallow reef concept, I have a smaller version and don't think i'd ever go back to a deeper tank. Very nice, thanks for posting your build!

 

[kpiotrowski]

Just WOW! nuthin like getting your head bit off for trying to save a guy from a huge oversight! Since there is no holding back from speaking free here. The stand sucks. why would you risk using it? we look to forums for advice.... to learn from eachother, not just to brag. It seems an apology would be appropriate!

 

[jason angel]

Incredible tank! man I wish I had the room to do a tank like yours.

few questions,

Those chinese powerheads I spy?

And I've been thinking bout ordering some floodlights for a while, but do I have to have a driver for them? Or do I just wire them to a plug and plug it in to the wall?

Thanks Mango dude!
In answer to your questions; Im not sure what country powerheads are made in, and driver is built into LED fitting, they simply plug into wall socket.

 

[jason angel]

I would want some side to side racking support before I put anything heavy on the stand.
You used alot of wood, but all in the wrong places.

:lol: my stand is fine. it is rated for over 2000kg

absolutely beautiful tank. Love the shallow reef concept, I have a smaller version and don't think i'd ever go back to a deeper tank. Very nice, thanks for posting your build!

Thanks mate.

nice scape

Thanks brother. Its pretty basic really. I hope that eventually corals completely hide the rockwork

 

[peppie]

Maybe I should have given you a little background on what I know and what I dont.
I have made my living for the past 30yrs as a carpenter, cabinet maker, furniture designer/builder. I have many many pics and refers to validate this statement.
I did not intend to challenge your capability of building a structurally sound stand. Most people who do hobby work dont take the proper time to research the some of the most important aspects involved in the hobby.
So trust me when I say I have done 30years of research on how to build a structurally sound stand.
There may even be a person or two here on RC that can back that up .

Reading some of the replies that have been posted today leads me to believe that I am not the only "FOOL" to think your stand has been constructed improperly.

I even found more fools here
http://www.reefcentral.com/forums/showthread.php?t=2259492

So it may be best you do some much needed research before you lash out at a fellow reefer trying to give GOOD SOLID ADVICE.

 

[jason angel]

Maybe I should have given you a little background on what I know and what I dont....

Peppie. I dont care about your back ground.
This is my tank journal, and does not concern you at all.
I am asking you now to STOP COMMENTING ON MY TANK JOURNAL.
Your comments are unsolicited and they are clearly not welcome.
Go bug someone else.:celeb1: