My plan of a 125 gallon build

[SimonSKL]

It has been a busy weekend of staining and sanding. Good thing I was using waterbased stain so it didn't take long to dry between coats. The color turned out a little darker than I want but not too much. Here are some pictures of the skin panels and canopy stained and finished.

BTW, Reeflo is sending me a new BlowHole 1450 pump with a new bearing core which is supposed to make the pump run a lot cooler. The current pump runs dead silent in low and medium speed and the pump housing is just warm to the touch. With everything running, the only sound that I really noticed is my MP40es:strange:

 

[SimonSKL]

Ammonia up to 1 ppm and nitrite 0.25 ppm. The raw shrimp is speeding the cycle for sure. I wonder how long it will take for the cycle to complete!

 

[Trademark]

Taking shape for sure!!!!!!!!!!!

 

[Bigbluebh]

WOW!! Nice work!!

 

[SimonSKL]

Santa Claus came early this year! Five packages came by DHL today.:bounce1:

Two Eshine CREE LEDs 48x3W and controllers. Very well packaged and no damage from shipment. The units appeared to be well made and use of good quality materials.

The controller allows each light to have different intensity for blue and white throughout a 24 hours period from 0 to 100%.

I have replaced 4 of the blue with red to see if I can give the red corals a boost in color.

I did not see anything on the outside to indicate CREE leds were installed and there are two paper stickers sealing the back panel that reads "Void if removed" which I guess meant warranty will be voided if back panel is opened. Hmm.... I will find a way to find out what exactly was installed.

One significant defect was noticed as I was programming the controller for one of the lights. There are two buttons, a "+" and a "-", to increase or decrease the input values. The "+" button does not work. However, the "-" button allows me to cycle thru the numbers so I could still complete the programming. An email was sent to Eshine asking them for a replacement. There was no such problem with the other controller.

Another negative is something that I am aware of but hope they have improved in the 4G version is the clock memory. If power goes out, the time will not be retained and reset back to 00:00. However, the sunrise sunset programming is retained. But since the clock returns to 00:00, the programming starts as if it was midnight:hmm6:

More pics after I installed the lights over the tank.

 

[Trademark]

Those look like very nice lights. The controllers look very large. What is the measurements of them.

 

[SimonSKL]

With a removable top panel in the canopy it was pretty easy to install the lights by drilling 8 holes and ran the hanging wires through them. Here are some pics of what the tank looks like with the lights at 70% intensity.

Here is a short video.



Overall I am really pleased with the lights. These pictures really don't show the actual color of the light in the tank. The video is a little too blue than actual. I am really looking forward to having some corals and fish in the tank to see how they look.

 

[SimonSKL]

Those look like very nice lights. The controllers look very large. What is the measurements of them.

Trademark, the controller measured 8"x5"x2". Yes it is somewhat big but it is very light. Here is the top of the canopy showing how I hang the lights through 8 holes and how I placed the controllers. At the far end is a wireless access point for connection to my RKE Net module. You can also see two computer fans in case I need to exhaust the warm air out.

 

[SimonSKL]

Not much is going on with the tank. Ammonia still at 1 ppm and nitrite at 0.25 ppm. How long does it usually take to cycle a new tank?:hmm2:

I also played around with the RKE Net module and learned a lot about port forwarding. I now can have all my equipment operational condition, PH, and temp available on my iPhone which is pretty cool!:thumbsup:

A fellow CIMA reefer asked me to build him a stand for his 24x24x8 frag tank so I have been working on that in my "spare time". I hope to have that done by Saturday morning.

Since I have no fish or corals to look at, here is a picture of my tank with LED lights at 30%.

 

[Lawenforcer]

I am really liking this build. Makes me want to upgrade my 75 gal., lol... I can't wait to see coral under them LED's and see how they do. I have been thinking really hard on changing over from my 6 bulb T5's to LED's. Great job and hope you the best as you start adding to your tank.

 

[jg210302]

Looks great!!! It takes forever for a tank to cycle, just like watching water boil! Never fast enough...

 

[SimonSKL]

Lawenforcer and jg, thanks for the complement and feedback. I am hoping to have something live in the tank in another week besides bacteria. You think that's too soon?

 

[RichieT]

Hey Simon, when I come out tomorrow you want me to bring a frag of zoas so you'll have something look at in that big tank. I have tons. Nothing fancy, but under those LEDs it will be pretty.

 

[SimonSKL]

Hey Simon, when I come out tomorrow you want me to bring a frag of zoas so you'll have something look at in that big tank. I have tons. Nothing fancy, but under those LEDs it will be pretty.

Rich, the tank is still cycling with ammonia and nitrite. Do you think your zoas will survive in that?

 

[Trademark]

I have some frog spawn and maybe a few hammers I would be able to donate to that lonely tank.

 

[RichieT]

These are some pretty tough zoas. I'll only bring a small frag. I've been letting them sit in the dark for a few days anyway. I'm sure they'll like your tank better.

I did cut a small frag for myself earlier in the week and these guys have colored up very nicely. When I threw them in my main tank they were brownish. Now I have a really cool mint green zoa, and something that looks very similar to a space monster. LEDs are the way

 

[rick rottet]

Rich, the tank is still cycling with ammonia and nitrite. Do you think your zoas will survive in that?

i would not put anything live in a tank that was still showing ammonia. nitrite is questionable, but my own practice is to wait until that is down to -0- also.

keep in mind, this is just the nitrogen cycle. tanks also experience all kinds of continuous cycles, through the diatoms and other micro algaes, fine green algaes, larger macros and plants, tiny crutaceans and echinoderms. add a fish, the bacterial population has to adjust. add snails, the bacterial population has to adjust. as populations of the tanks inhabitants grow and decline, the bacterial population has to adjust. all are "cycles", or at least mini-cycles.

 

[kevonstl]

is that cool white or warm white you have there simonskl. i'm thinking order 3 of those for my 180 cube. maybe add 2 uv violet with that 4 red that you have. Did you tell them where to space the red or they automatic do for you simonskl???

 

[SimonSKL]

is that cool white or warm white you have there simonskl. i'm thinking order 3 of those for my 180 cube. maybe add 2 uv violet with that 4 red that you have. Did you tell them where to space the red or they automatic do for you simonskl???

Kevonstl, I have the standard cool white as I like the bluish look of my tank. The standard is cool white and royal blue. The optional white is warm white or white. You can also have blue instead of royal blue or red. All of these colors are CREE LEDs. You will have to ask them about uv violet as I don't think they are CREE.

Just be aware the red are much brighter than blue if you replace blue with red. Or you can replace white with red. Yes, you will need to tell them exactly where to place the red. I just circle the spots where I want the red in the picture.

 

[SimonSKL]

Tonight ammonia started coming down from 1 ppm to 0.5ppm and nitrite going up from 0.25 ppm to 0.5 ppm. All are expected

Diatom started to show up on sand and rocks as well. Not very pretty. I hope they will go away soon. All part of new tank cycling.