My 500 + gallon system. Last 13 years to now. Build, Aquascaping & more. Lots of pics

[slief]

I got my new articulating light mounting setup mounted to my tracks.. Only thing left is to make the brackets that will attach to the back of the fixtures so they can be hung from my mounts.

This little 190 watt bad boy arrived today.

I won't have the rest of the lights for another week or 2 but having this one allows me to finish up my fixture mounting brackets as well as a chance to play with the light and software.

My plan is for one of these on each side of the tank where my existing halides are and another pair of 90 watt fixtures for the sides of the overflow in the center of the tank. The total will be 570 watts of dimmable cree lighting to replace 800 watts of hallide. I know I won't be running these things near full potential so my wattage savings should be at least half of what I currently run if not even less.

From what I have seen, these lights put out a lot of light and have great spread. The coverage should be ideal. Of course this is all theory so we will have to see. Since I have plenty of room above the tank to raise these as needed, I should be able to adjust the spread by having them a bit higher off the water if needed. Since I dont have SPS corals, I dont think lighting will be at a shortage and should have the capacity to be overkill at the higher output settings. One thing is for sure. I cant wait to have a sunrise and sunset that dims on and off and moves from east to west. Also cant wait to see my electric bill drop some more. Since the sump upgrade and new pumps, i have already cut my electric bill nearly in half. Another 400-500 watt savings should be signifigant at months end.

I won't have the rest of the lights for another week or 2 but having this one allows me to finish up my fixture mounting brackets as well as a chance to play with the light and software.

More updates to come this weekend.

 

[gambitcobra]

Nice LEDS, did Rafal send you the FREE unit to promote his wonder LEDs?

 

[Marc]

I got my new articulating light mounting setup mounted to my tracks.. Only thing left is to make the brackets that will attach to the back of the fixtures so they can be hung from my mounts.

This little 190 watt bad boy arrived today.

I won't have the rest of the lights for another week or 2 but having this one allows me to finish up my fixture mounting brackets as well as a chance to play with the light and software.

My plan is for one of these on each side of the tank where my existing halides are and another pair of 90 watt fixtures for the sides of the overflow in the center of the tank. The total will be 570 watts of dimmable cree lighting to replace 800 watts of hallide. I know I won't be running these things near full potential so my wattage savings should be at least half of what I currently run if not even less.

From what I have seen, these lights put out a lot of light and have great spread. The coverage should be ideal. Of course this is all theory so we will have to see. Since I have plenty of room above the tank to raise these as needed, I should be able to adjust the spread by having them a bit higher off the water if needed. Since I dont have SPS corals, I dont think lighting will be at a shortage and should have the capacity to be overkill at the higher output settings. One thing is for sure. I cant wait to have a sunrise and sunset that dims on and off and moves from east to west. Also cant wait to see my electric bill drop some more. Since the sump upgrade and new pumps, i have already cut my electric bill nearly in half. Another 400-500 watt savings should be signifigant at months end.

I won't have the rest of the lights for another week or 2 but having this one allows me to finish up my fixture mounting brackets as well as a chance to play with the light and software.

More updates to come this weekend.

Wow nice units, how much did you spend in all for the new LED's? Also is Jim making a new video yet with your tank or with the LED's?

Marc

 

[RootsRockReefer]

That rack will be pretty cool. You did exactly what I did first with the closet wheel idea. Mine worked but was 'tilty',as in, hard to track and stay level.

I came across some very affordable used "linear rails and bearing blocks" worked like night and day difference in stability, using the linear rails you have to try and make the rack un-level.

You tube video of the rack in motion is about halfway through my video, I haven't posted much so it should be easy to find.

The dimensions and style of your tank is absolutely awesome. Good luck with light set-up I will be watching to see it in motion!

 

[slief]

Wow nice units, how much did you spend in all for the new LED's? Also is Jim making a new video yet with your tank or with the LED's?

Marc

We will be making a new video next week. Part one will cover the new light rack and how it was built as well as a brief overview of the new LED fixture and how it mounts to the new rack. Part 2 will be shot in a couple weeks once I get the rest of the fixtures will include removing my existing light rack with the halides, installing the new rack and setting up the new LED's.

As far as the price. I can't comment at this point but they did make a worth while offer that made it so I had nothing to loose.

I just fired the light up and at full power is absolutely blinding. :smokin:
I looked in the general direction of the light for a few seconds and even after several minutes, my eyes are still whacked. Note to self... Do NOT look into the liiiiight....

I dont think there will be any shortage of lighting at this point and dont think I will ever need or want to run them at full power. Of course that remains to be seen. I need to get a par meter so I can measure my exisiting par levels with the halides and compare them to the LED's as the LED's appear to have infinately more par potential than my current setup. I will also note that I LOVE the dimming sunrise and sunset. That will be a real nice feature as opposed to one halide turning on and then the other.

That rack will be pretty cool. You did exactly what I did first with the closet wheel idea. Mine worked but was 'tilty',as in, hard to track and stay level.

I came across some very affordable used "linear rails and bearing blocks" worked like night and day difference in stability, using the linear rails you have to try and make the rack un-level.

You tube video of the rack in motion is about halfway through my video, I haven't posted much so it should be easy to find.

The dimensions and style of your tank is absolutely awesome. Good luck with light set-up I will be watching to see it in motion!

Edit: I just checked out your video. Very nice setup. I love those solar tubes! I wish I could have gone that route!

Thanks for the compliments too! I will continue my updates as I progress.

 

[frish85]

the tank is amazing how much did the leds cost

 

[slief]

the tank is amazing how much did the leds cost

As I said above, I can't comment at this point about my cost but they did make a worth while offer that made it so I had nothing to loose. .

 

[Jason F]

Still waiting your address... It could be too hard to give....

 

[slief]

There has been some progress on the light rack that I might as well post. I got my brackets made. Below is one of 180 watt fixtures hanging from its new mount in the rack. It can be slid back and fourth to adjust its coverage. There will be a matching one on the opposite side of the rack and a pair of 90 watt fixtures fixtures on either side of the center where the overflow is. Those will be hung from Ram Mounts. Each one hangs from 2 of them and will allow me to tilt the middle fixtures as that space is narrow and I tilting them will allow me to adjust the lighting to illuminate the rocks and sand while limiting the light on the viewing pane.

Here is one side of the rack with the fixture set in place.

There is also a new video up. It covers some of the recent coral additions that I think I mentioned previously.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RLhKv0waQ5M&feature=feedu

We shot some footage of the new light rack and how it was assembled in a simlified DIY fashion tonight. We also discussed the fixtures and the basic idea of LED's and why. That should be up in a week or so.

I am still a week or 2 out before I cut the old rack out and move the new rack and LED's in. At the moment, I only have one light. The second of the 180's should arrive any day with the 2 smaller ones a couple weeks out.

I must admit, I am getting a bit anxious. I might just rip out the old setup and set the new one up with the 2 180 watt fixtures and mount the smaller ones when they come in.

 

[slief]

My light rack is now pretty much finished. I got the second of the two 180 watt fixtures this weekend. Now I am just waiting for the pair of 90 watt fixtures and we will be good to go. The 2 smaller fixtures will mount to the aluminum plates in the center section of the rack. Each fixture will be suspended below the rack via a pair of ram mounts so that I can tilt them as needed to adjust my coverage on the sides of my overflows. The ram brackets are all made up. I just need to attach them to the aluminum plates and bolt the other ends to the fixtures when they arrive.

The led fixtures on each end can be slid to and away from center to adjust the lighting as needed over the ends of the tank.

 

[slief]

There have been some new additions to the tank in recent weeks. My soft coral collection has been growing. I added a handful of decent sized colt corals, a couple fingers, a huge flower pot and a couple other things. Since my photography skills are lacking and its really hard to get any perspective on the tank with a picture, I decided to take some video with my iPhone which to my surprise came out pretty good.

Lets see if I can make the video link work.
<object width="640" height="390"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/TxQlbqBM_JQ?fs=1&hl=en_US"></param><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"></param><param name="allowscriptaccess" value="always"></param><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/TxQlbqBM_JQ?fs=1&hl=en_US" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowscriptaccess="always" allowfullscreen="true" width="640" height="390"></embed></object>

There is also another LA Fish Guys episode.
<object width="640" height="390"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/tUkCJ2u8b2U?fs=1&hl=en_US"></param><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"></param><param name="allowscriptaccess" value="always"></param><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/tUkCJ2u8b2U?fs=1&hl=en_US" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowscriptaccess="always" allowfullscreen="true" width="640" height="390"></embed></object>

 

[Marc]

Hey Scott,

Whats your secret to such great coraline algae growth? What changes have you made to get these fantastic results? I am happy to see soft coral reefs such as yours thrive so well. Do you use a calcium reactor and if not what supplements do you use?
Marc

 

[slief]

Hey Scott,

Whats your secret to such great coraline algae growth? What changes have you made to get these fantastic results? I am happy to see soft coral reefs such as yours thrive so well. Do you use a calcium reactor and if not what supplements do you use?
Marc

At this point, no reactors or suppliments. Just my automated daily 3.5 gallon water changes. My water is RODI and my salt is the cheap Instant Ocean. I do think I need to start adding some iodine. I also expect that in the near future, I might have to start a dosing regemen due to my increased number of corals. First thing I will probably do is increase my water change volume.. Truth is that I hardly ever test my water with exception to when there is a problem or when curiosity gets the best of me. :hammer:

None the less, I have the calcium, soda ash etc along with additional pumps for my Litermeter so I am prepared to dose. I also have my old large Knop calcium reactor and Co2tanks that I have had for years so thats also there if I need it. I just dont want to "have to use it".

I also just (yesterday) started increasing my Mg using Kent Marine Tech M to kill off some of the bryopsis. I did that once before and it worked like a charm. Within a week, most of it was on the decline if not dead.

 

[bullitr]

Wow the elegance fully open up

 

[Marc]

At this point, no reactors or suppliments. Just my automated daily 3.5 gallon water changes. My water is RODI and my salt is the cheap Instant Ocean. I do think I need to start adding some iodine. I also expect that in the near future, I might have to start a dosing regemen due to my increased number of corals. First thing I will probably do is increase my water change volume.. Truth is that I hardly ever test my water with exception to when there is a problem or when curiosity gets the best of me. :hammer:

None the less, I have the calcium, soda ash etc along with additional pumps for my Litermeter so I am prepared to dose. I also have my old large Knop calcium reactor and Co2tanks that I have had for years so thats also there if I need it. I just dont want to "have to use it".

I also just (yesterday) started increasing my Mg using Kent Marine Tech M to kill off some of the bryopsis. I did that once before and it worked like a charm. Within a week, most of it was on the decline if not dead.

The added addition of Mg probably explains the flourishing coraline algae.

Marc

 

[slief]

The added addition of Mg probably explains the flourishing coraline algae.

Marc

I'm not so sure. I only dose Mg for a handful of days. Its been several months since the first and last time I added it and only used Mg to address bryopsis. I started my Mg dosing yesterday. I will dose daily until I get my Mg up to between 1500 and 2000. At that point the Bryopis starts to die off. I should be done dosing in about 5 to 7 days unless my Mg levels are lower than I think they are. I will test for Mg tomorrow to get a baseline and then test the next day to gauge my increase. Once I get it to the target level, no more Mg until somebody tells me I need it for my corals or until I decide to erradicate some more bryopis.

The coraline started growing as soon as I started my automated water changes which was prior to my first Mg dose.

 

[Marc]

I'm not so sure. I only dose Mg for a handful of days. Its been several months since the first and last time I added it and only used Mg to address bryopsis. I started my Mg dosing yesterday. I will dose daily until I get my Mg up to between 1500 and 2000. At that point the Bryopis starts to die off. I should be done dosing in about 5 to 7 days unless my Mg levels are lower than I think they are. I will test for Mg tomorrow to get a baseline and then test the next day to gauge my increase. Once I get it to the target level, no more Mg until somebody tells me I need it for my corals or until I decide to erradicate some more bryopis.

The coraline started growing as soon as I started my automated water changes which was prior to my first Mg dose.

I amazed at your results since Instant Ocean sea salt has a base line of 280ppm of calcium. Thats why I use Seachem Reef salt cause it holds at least 450 ppm of calcium. So it had to be the low PO4 as well as the addition of iodine replenishment from the constant water changes. The Mg dosing had to have helped. So I guess that proves that low calcium levels with the addition of Mg accompanied with low PO4 levels is all you need for coraline to growth!

Marc

 

[slief]

I amazed at your results since Instant Ocean sea salt has a base line of 280ppm of calcium. Thats why I use Seachem Reef salt cause it holds at least 450 ppm of calcium. So it had to be the low PO4 as well as the addition of iodine replenishment from the constant water changes. The Mg dosing had to have helped. So I guess that proves that low calcium levels with the addition of Mg accompanied with low PO4 levels is all you need for coraline to growth!

Marc

Now you have me thinking... I might just have to run a full gammet of tests tomorrow. If I do, I will update this thread. I wouldn't be surprised if my Ca was on the low side. I like the cheap salt though as it keeps expenses down.

 

[Powederblue]

one heck of a light rack

 

[Marc]

Now you have me thinking... I might just have to run a full gammet of tests tomorrow. If I do, I will update this thread. I wouldn't be surprised if my Ca was on the low side. I like the cheap salt though as it keeps expenses down.

Instant Ocean is a good salt that is widely used in public aquariums cause of the cheaper price in bulk but Instant Ocean is specifically formulated for Fish Only systems. The Reef Sea salt is of course specifically formulated for reefs because of the additions of trace elements as of Mg and Ca that Instant Ocean does not have. Adding Mg to Instant Ocean prevents Calcium and Buffers to precipitate out of solution. Instant Ocean turns into a milk shake when Calcium and buffers are added without first adding Mg.

Marc