Mojo's 75g rimless build

I am about ready to order LEDS for the build. I may start another thread on just the ATI diy retro but I am not sure of that yet.

So far I have these 2 boards. Each will hold 24 cree 3 watt LEDs. The boards are also setup to use PLED6S 's. These I orderd 50 of from Newark. These will protect the LED and also allow the other LEDs to stay on in case 1 LED goes out. Basicaly the same way most fixtures are assembled. Now the real question is what color Led's do I want to go with. I will be removing the 2 t5 bulbs from the center of the fixture and placing a 4in wide heatsink of some sort inbetween the other 2 t5 bulbs. My boards are only 2 in wide but will not be running optics. Iam thinking all royal blues and then run 2 ati aquablue t5 bulbs. But also thought about mixing in a couple blue and whites of some sort too. Maybe 4 whites, 12 blues and 32 royal blues. Once I get the Leds ordered I will figure out what I am going to do for drivers.
 
so mojo how do you like your new avast skimmer. Did you use the sicce psk1000 pump that they offer with the package? I have been curious about these skimmers. Mainly how silent the pump is and what you think about the skimmers production. I am setting up almost the exact same setup as yours, but the setup will be in my master bedroom. Not far from the bed, and my constraint is the silence. I need there to be silence, or my wife will be ****ed. Is this avast skimmer and sicce pump a good choice for silence? Or would another pump skimmer combination be better for silence for a similar setup? I was looking into a red dragon pump, but couldn't justify dishing out $750 for a pump.
 
The Avast skimmer is great. The psk1000 is a really nice pump and works really well. The skimmer is a bit large for my 75 right now as I dont have muchof a load. I think a heavy 90 would be about as small as I would put it on. No need for reddragon. I am using the jns sk2 and it is really quiet and the sea side aquatics skimmers use the psk 600 and 1000 pump too and have a foam pad the pump sits in to make them quiet as well. But the Avast is not a small skimmer.

Ok I am really having a hard time with lights. What to do. LEds no leds some LEDS or all leds. Just not sure.

More to come soon.
 
I'm really intrigued by the LED boards you have. Does your friend do other custom designs? I have a design for a PCB that I'd like made. I'm hoping to fit 16-20 3w Cree's in a very small footprint to allow full color mixture and spectrum without banding...more like a single point source, similar to a halide. Any info on the board designer would be great!

Anyway, loving the tank!
 
He designed these and I used to work for a place that made boards. So I told him about it and he had them made here local.The leds are in pods of 4 and there are 4 channels. so you can control them if you like.
 
Hey mojo if you still have the SC-150 skimmer would you interested in parting with it?? I would like a second pump in cone SC-150 to play around with.
 
mojo~ said:
He designed these and I used to work for a place that made boards. So I told him about it and he had them made here local.The leds are in pods of 4 and there are 4 channels. so you can control them if you like.
Click to expand...

Sounds cool! Yeah, the idea I had (which I'm sure tons of others have had the same :p) is using a board to mount a decent amount of diodes in a small area. The problem with them being reflowed on these stars is that they can't be mounted very close to one another. That's fine, except for the fact that the colors don't mix well (especially red) unless they're very close and sharing a reflector or lense. I believe that's why the Radeons by Ecotech have such good results. They mount the LED's close and have the cluster share one reflector to maximize the blending.

Anyway, if someone could streamline the process to easily be tailored for custom color temps (i.e. 10k to 20k with accenting tones) and they had a good design for the board, you could make made-to-order modules for the hobbyists, tailored to their specific needs at a reasonable price.

Sorry for the getting off topic! I tell you all of this so to see what your thoughts are, especially as someone who has been in the industry (making PCB's). Again, sorry for the change of topic. :)
 
well the tank is plugging along just fine. I am really going through all the lighting options here lately. I put up some halides but not thinking about it they spill a lot of light out being its a rimless tank. If I had a canopy they would be great. I am seriously thinking about going with the ecotech Radions. This will have to wait till after the first of the year.
 
I am back to halides as I sold my ati fixture. I did this until I figure it all out. I bought a dual hamilton reef star 150 hqi fixture.

Its really slim but has great spread. Thinking about putting a Reefbrite xho on the side and calling it good for a bit.

Holding this elegance for a buddy.... My clowns made it home.

IMAG0342.jpg
 
Just a quick update. Been Checking out LED fixtures still... and trying to figure out what I want to spend. IT just depends on what features I want. I really Liked my AI but not sure of I go that route, the ecotech, or just a non controllable fixture. THe evo's are pretty nice as well. or do a mixture.

I stil have my jns skimmer but trying out a ASM gc2 hybrid cone cylider skimmer as well. Too early too tell on this one. But so far so good. I need to run it a little deeper than it is right now.

Ill have to get some updated pictures of everything this weekend....

Mojo~
 
Nice looking tank Mojo! I'm about to pick up the same tank this weekend and I'm still debating if I want to do a complete bare bottom or if I want to use the fine sand from marco rocks. Are you still using the avast skimmer? I'm going to be downgrading to the 75 and I'm curious if my current alpha cone 200 skimmer might be over kill for the 75g with a 55g sump. I don't want to spend more money on another skimmer but worst case scenario I will sell the alpha cone if I need to get a smaller one.

Also how do you adjust the water level on the tank?
 
THe alpha is too big for sure. I like the jns sk2 on my tank...

There is a baffle in the overflow that you can move up and down over the front teeth.

I would be careful as it is low iron glas and it does scratch easier than reg glass. I went with white starboard. I would go bare bottom or a more coarse sand like Tropic eden reef flakes.
 
Im currently running 2 reefbrite actinic stips along with a 250 halide and the output on them is awsome, if you are going with led's the blues are alot nicer than any whites you may get. This is because it is very difficult to make a broad spectrum white led. White leds are made using a combination of rgb or using phosphores to change the output of a blue or similar led. the use of phosphores generates heat and lowers the intensity of light. the technology of white leds is still slightly behind so halides or t5s are still possible your best bet for a white light source.
 
sharing my thoughts. I am still running 2x150w halides. I have an opportunity to buy a really nice Aquatinics solar flare. 6x54 but am a little concerened about them being overdriven. Wearing out the bulbs more often and the extra heat.

what do you all think ? Should I hold out for Radions ? Ai sols, The new AI's, some evo's or what ?
 
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