LAK's 15g Cube

OMG... what did he do to her stand??? :lol:

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Haha.. I sanded everything between coats, but really didn't like the finish on the top surface, so I got a little more aggressive with it.

Just finished the 2nd coat.

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After getting frustrated trying to get the correct top bend for the rack, I realized that I had some conduit fittings lying around. Worked MUCH better, and getting the correct dimensions and angles was a lot easier. Since the pendant will hide most of the fitting, I didn't mind using the fittings this time.

Now it's ready for paint, as well as the back of the tank.

The bottom of the light will sit about 20" off the water's surface to start, since it's such a shallow tank, and considering the livestock Laura is planning on keeping.

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Looks great. I have a suggestion, why dont you turn the fixture around and cut the plug off the end of the power cord, Then loop it up into, and through the conduit where you can reconnect it?
I would cut the cord close to the fixture so it could be spliced in the 90 degree access cover by feeding the other end up from the bottom of the conduit. I think it would provide a great way to make the cord disappear and the 90 would provide a safe junction box. Just my 2 cents.
 
Thanks... yeah I've thought about that, and it was actually suggested that I do that on my rimless tank as well. However, I don't want to cut the cord... resale value and all... plus it's been my observation that a few black zip ties will accomplish the same effect.
 
Yeah you're probably right. I went back and looked at the pic of yours and it really disappears with the conduit sprayed black.
 
Most likely... 250 watts over a 14" deep tank (M80 ballast). I'm going to take some PAR readings to confirm, but my experience with LPS and these fixtures thus far shows that she will be more than ok at that height.

We don't want to melt her corals. ;)
 
Thanks... as of right now I'm not planning on drilling it. Eventually I probably will though. For now I'm just going to hook up a float switch and top off reservoir.

Also, was digging through some extra bulbs that were given to me when I purchased my extra pendants today... and Laura's tank may be starting with an Ushio 20k bulb, although I may keep that for my own trials. If I do, then she will end up with an XM 20k.

Other bulb choices could potentially be:
- Pheonix 14k
- Aquaconnect 14k plus
 
Tj brought the tank to my house last night and we started to set it up. I still need to make a few purchases before we get water into it ,though. He has some corals coming this morning, but either later today or tomorrow I'm going to pick up a heater, powerhead, sand and some rock (have a few pieces I bought sitting in Tj's system already) and then were good to go. I'll be picking up a skimmer eventually, too.

I think TJ might have a heater and a powerhead that I can use so hopefully I'll be able to save some cash. This has been a very inexpensive build thread though, since he had so much stuf laying around and I didn't have to pay for any labor :D. I'm very thankful for that.

The 14k bulb he gave me for my pendant looks like it's going to be awesome. He might be regretting that decision now :).

I'll post some pics of it filled soon!
 
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