LED lighting in my pico reef

[Chelsey]

Per Steve's request I'm going to cross post my spring break project on this forum as well Most, if not all, of this first post is going to be a copy-paste of the other thread, but I'll update both thread simultaneously If you haven't seen my thread before, enjoy. If not, then welcome back! Now for the thread:

3-18-06
Ok, so while lurking around random reef forums tonight I came up with a wonderful idea - I'm going to start a pico reef. Ok, big deal, right? It's going to be lit by LEDs! I mess around with computers quite a bit, so I'm familiar with LEDs (my computer is modded, so it's got all kinds of cool stuff in it). They're very efficient, don't put out much heat, and have the potential to be as bright as MH when the right mcd and number are used. This tank is going to be a nice little experiment. Spring break starts next Friday, so I'll be picking up the tank on my way home from MU. I'll be sure to post pics of the whole process, but in the meantime check out these threads:

http://www.nano-reef.com/forums/ind...showtopic=57855

That's the thread about the LED lighting.

http://www.nano-reef.com/forums/ind...pic=69501&st=80

If you read through the LED thread it states that 200-300 10,000mcd LEDs = ~70 watts of MH. I'm hoping to be able to do some SPS in this tank...it will definately be a long ongoing experiment! I found a place to get 26000 mcd LEDs, so I think it'd be safe to assume that 50 of these 26k mcd LEDs would = ~70 watts MH. We'll just have to wait and see!

 

[Chelsey]

3-20-06
Another thing I'm looking for (prematurely I know, but I like to have all of my ducks in a row) is Monti frags, either digi or caps. I'll buy them obviously, but I don't know of anyone around here that has some or what colors for that matter. Thanks in advance
I've got a slight update for everyone tonight.

I made the grid for the LEDs, but I still have to drill the holes. I also ordered the MJ400 for flow.

3-21-06
Ok, so I came up with a perfect solution to my wanting a rock wall and a black background. I'm going to have an eggcrate and LR rubble wall to hide my heater and MJ400 (I'll leave a hole for the output so that it can still provide flow for the tank). I think this is a great idea Here's what I've got so far for the aquascape and stuff:

3-22-06
I'm doing 8 LEDs per square inch. The array is going to be used on a 2.5 gallon pico. I want to mess around with SPS and I don't have enough lighting in my other tanks, so I think this will be a good alternative. (by SPS I mean montis...not acros or anything)

My boyfriend is actually the one working on the lighting stuff...he's great with electricity. I should be, as I build computers, but he'd be a better one to answer questions if anyone has any regarding LEDs.

 

[Chelsey]

3-25-06

Yesterday at 10 am spring break started for me. Here's what I accomplished yesterday:

Today my goal is to paint the back of the tank black and paint the canopy. Tomrrow I might seal the canopy if I feel like the paint is dry enough and doesn't need another coat.

I've ordered all of the materials I need (LEDs, MJ400, black sand) and now I'm just waiting on them to get here. I'll update as soon as I've made progress.

LATER.....

Here are the updated pics for tonight:

I don't know if you can tell by the pics, but this stuff REALLY reflects. I have an LED flashlight that I used to test its reflectiveness, and I think it'll work great. Kinda ghetto I know, but whatever works, right? The reflector stuff is waterproofing tape used in roofing I believe. I just went to the paint section of Wal Mart and this stuff caught my eye. I'm going to polyurethane over it, but it's supposed to be waterproof.

 

[Chelsey]

3-28-06
I got quite a bit done today! I went shopping at CPE and Gateway (my first visit) and got a bunch of cool new stuff, and I got my rock wall finished! I finally found some eggcrate at Lowes. Here's my wall:

I'm not sure what I'm going to be doing about the remaining exposed eggcrate. I might leave it and hope that it gets covered in coralline or I might cover it with something.

My blue LEDs came today too! I was complaining to Letmegrow about the slowness of the LED companies and when I got home they were waiting for me. The white LEDs won't be here for a while, so I can't start wiring, but at least they're here! Once the sillicon dries I'm going to put water in the tank along with my live rock and sand...I'm ready to get this party started!

 

[Chelsey]

And finally, today's update!
I put a few more tiny pieces of rock in places where the eggcrate was exposed and put a little more silicon in places where the rock was loose. My sand came today too. Tomorrow, after the silicon has a chance to dry, I'll put the sand in and live rock and officially start the tank

I thought while you guys were checking out this thread I'd give you some eye candy. These are my kick butt cloves from Gateway:

 

[Letmegrow]

AWESOME Thread !

Welcome to S.L.A.S.H.

Im watching this thread to see all the updates, this project is really cool.

Thank-you for sharing with us.

 

[Chelsey]

No problem Steve I'm hoping that with all the views someone will PM me and offer to sell me some monti cap frags, as that's what's going on the back wall I should have water in the tank in ~12 hours!

 

[drgabe]

Nice tank.
No comments on the LED's, but I am eager to see how it goes.

I am really liking the rock wall/eggcrate set up. There are a couple on the nano forum, and they look very smooth.
As for the eggcrate, others have said it is hidden once there is water and lights in the tank.

Also, how did you attach the rock to the eggcrate?

 

[DrBDC]

I have a orange monti I'll break you off a piece if you'd like. I I have a couple ones on the lower part that would be good to break off. You can see a pic of the color in my gallery. Might have some zo's you may be interested in trying too. When evaluating the color in the pics that is under 10,000K XM bulbs with some pc actinic which isn't the strongest so it's heavy in the white color. I may have one in there of it with actinic only but I don't remember off hand.

 

[Chelsey]

drgabe: I attached the rock to the eggcrate via silicone. I'm not sure that it worked the best, because I've had to reapply a little bit in a few places, but I like the fact that it's clear and you can't see it once it's dry. You've just got to make sure the rocks are completely dry and clean (no extra sand or grit)

DrBDC: I'd love a frag of orange monti I won't be ready for it for a little bit as the tank doesn't have water in it yet (hoping to do that this afternoon) but when the tank is cycled and stuff I'd love to have a frag

 

[Chelsey]

I don't know if this is such a good idea, but here's my running total so far:

500 13000mcd 5mm White LEDs = $60.00
150 x New BLUE 5mm 6000mcd LED LAMP Super Bright LEDS = $14.88
Estes Black Sand 5 lb bag = $12.00
Marineland Maxi-jet 400 Submersible Pump/Powerhead = $19.15
2.5 Gallon glass aquarium = ~$10.00
Eggcrate = ~$11.00
Live rock = ~ $20.00
Silicon = ~$5.00
Running Total: $152.03

A lot of you guys that are thinking about doing this could probably shave some of the cost by using your own live rock, sand, and eggcrate along with whatever else you already have lying around.

Here's what I'm going to add before I'm finished:
-neon goby
-2 snails
-2 hermits
-monti digis and monti caps (already bought one digi, orange with pink polyps - $40)
-maybe a clam? I don't know if I'm going to do that or not, it just depends on what I think the tank and I can handle

 

[Chelsey]

I don't know if anyone is interested, but I just put a layer of black sand in my pico tank and I have half the bag left - will cover another 2.5 gallon tank as long as you don't want a DSB (3"+). I'd be willing to give it to someone if they wanted it, or if they had a tiny monti frag to trade that'd be cool too. None of my tanks (with the exception of this one) have black sand, so I can't just dump it elsewhere. You can PM me if you're interested.

 

[drgabe]

What one person did on the nano forum was drill a small hole into each rock and then use zip-ties to attach the rock. Permanent, reef safe, and allows one to use power tools. Can't get any better than that.

 

[Chelsey]

Yeah, I saw that, but I didn't want the zip ties visible. I also wasn't sure about the hole drilling with such tiny pieces of LR.

 

[Chelsey]

The tank is now filled with WATER

Here are some pics!!!

I don't know if you can tell by the pics, but there's a decent amount of flow going on in the tank

 

[fkbsar]

Hi, I hope I'm not intruding but I'm watching this thread as well because I'm having a 10x10x10 acrylic built. My question for you can fish slide behind the rock wall? How much room have you left behind the eggcrate for the maintenance of your Maxijet. Great thread by the way.

 

[Chelsey]

Nope, you're not intruding at all I imagine that the fish could slide behind the rock wall, but my only fish (a neon goby...don't have him yet) will be small enough to slip back into the main display as well. As for the room behind the MJ400, there's very little room, but I can slide the MJ off of its wall attachment and out of the tank.

 

[fkbsar]

I'm anxious to see the LEDs mounted into the hood. That is what you're going to do - right?

 

[Chelsey]

I'm mounting them into the acrylic sheet with all of the holes in it, then I'm dropping it into the canopy so that it sets on the ledge of the canopy just above the water.

 

[bigmayreefer]

Looks good, cant wait to see it with the LEDs. BTW: got some of the same cloves on a large rock with yellow seamat polyps from GWA. They are awesome lookin aint they?
Keep it coming,
Bigmay