scolley's Big Little Nano – yet another build thread

[codyreed29]

So would you change back to MH or do you think leds are the way to go. I was sold on leds liking mostly that 99 reflective light the cost is about the same as mh I would say. But for some reason They seem to grow less algae to me and as i used a par 30 on my little 10g. i worked but sps wouldn't grow that much lps and everything else was doing pretty good with decent growth. Due to the sure length of the time they last makes them great and is another thing I like.

So your running 125 watts Do you think you need more??

At 125 watts the cost is just as much as a good t5 or mh fixture Right?
It just makes me think of known results and 250 watt MH is just that Grows corals and works like a beast.

I have basicly decided to eat the cost of MH and t5ho bulbs, Cause they do the job how i want.

Oh and love your tank I think it's awesome nice use some would say overkill but I like overkill your tank has got me thinking of ats and am considering runnning one on my next tank. I'm against the whole skimmer thing. but The ats sounds like a great call.

 

[scolley]

So would you change back to MH or do you think leds are the way to go...

I'm very, very happy with my LEDs.I used to run MH Radiums w/PC actinics over the 29g that preceeded this tank. The fact that that was years ago, and I've not switched back kinda tells the story.

I've got no idea what it all costs - but I listed most of the parts - easy enough for someone to add it all up. But it was not cheap. As I recall, some fixtures like Reef Breeders and RapidLED Oynx were actually cheaper. But mine's both bright enough, AND has what I feel to be a nearly ideal LED color combination.

That said, if my tank were not SPS dominant, I'd switch. IMO LEDs are difficult for many LPS, whether the wrong color or too bright, I don't know. But my LPS have not fared well under my light. And a search will show you that I'm not the only person that's come to this conclusion.

Also, LEDs - as I've often said - are difficult to photograph with the correct white balance. AND I do believe my tank could have better coloration. I have zero doubt that turning down the LEDs and supplementing with a good selection of small T5s bulbs would be even nicer looking. But that's just too much hardware hanging over a hood-less tank for my tastes.

And speaking of taste, "maxed out" is exactly the look that I'm striving for. Yes, it's old school. But in my many years of planted tank keeping I've proven to myself that I can create nice minimalist aquascapes... where "less is more" and "what's not there is more important than what's there." Been there, done that. Just not on a reef tank. This is harder - cramming lots of corals into a tight space. So that was my objective.

Maybe I'll do minimalist after my Pokerstar takes over the entire tank, and I'm forced to re'scape.

 

[AngeloM3]

Not sure if you talked about this somewhere in the 17pages of this build....

What do you have in place to help with a power outage? I noticed your return lines are well below the water surface.

 

[scolley]

The return lines are just high enough so that on a power outage (or return pump shut down) that just enough water back siphons so that the sump does not overflow. With such a small sump, determining that extra sump water volume volume was a critical consideration in the level of the sump's return section "set level" - as held consistent by the Tunze ATO - and determining the height of the return lines in the DT.

As far as backup, I've got two electrical sources. One is a normal 120v AC (GFCI), and a UPS fed 120v. The UPS is 1 Kwatt, and the Apex has a auxiliary power supply plugged into the normal 120v AC. So when the power goes out, the Apex sees that, but keeps working because it's primary power is on the UPS. Since the lights, return, heater, chiller, etc are on the UPS, the Apex automatically dials down power consumption sa needed and sends me a text and an email. Those messages get through because all my network gear is also on its own UPS. In fact, if my primary WAN connection drops too (Cablevision) due to power problems down the line, my router powers up its backup WAN connection - a cellular modem - that connects to the nearest ATT cell tower. That tower will be running because they are on UPS's also.

So my email and text always get through. And I know I've got about 1 hour to do something before the power drops out. That might give me time to pull out my Honda portable generator from the garage. And if something happens to that, I've to two massive marine batteries (fully charged every six months as a part of my tank maintenance routine) that can be hooked to an inverter, and power my tank for a day or two. If those batteries run out, I can hook the inverter to a car. That said, the Honda generator is reliable enough, and I keep enough fuel on hand, that I should be good for a couple of weeks without power if need be.

Sorry. Long answer. But I've got that one covered. :thumbsup:

PS - I've got to put in a plug for buying a crazy expensive Honda generator, vs. generic Home Depot varieties found at less than 1/2 the cost. A quick survey of construction sites revealed a very large percentage of them using Honda portables. And a casual search here or Google uncover a LOT of people with low cost generators that do not work long term. And the last thing you want in a generator is for it to not work when you need it. So I took a clue from the construction sites, and bit the bullet knowing that when I pulled the starter cord on the Honda, it was highly likely to fire up. Has every time so far... finger's crossed.

 

[SantaMonica]

A new thread sounds fine.

Did you use FW for cleaning it?

 

[scolley]

A new thread sounds fine.

Did you use FW for cleaning it?

Outstanding! I've got a jam packed day today, but should be able to find the time to set one up tomorrow. Not that starting a thread is hard. It's the clearly and accurately organizing and posting all the records of what has happened. But I'm delighted to have the help. Thank you. :thumbsup: 'Cuz like I stated earlier, I'd be DELIGHTED if this would work.

As for the cleaning, no. But only because in four months there's never been a cleaning. Never got anywhere near that much growth. Therein lies the rub.

I'll post at link to the SURF2 thread here tomorrow (most likely).

 

[scolley]

I'll post at link to the SURF2 thread here tomorrow (most likely).

Did I say today? Shame on me. Underestimated the amount of "busy" happening. Maybe tomorrow. Could be as late as next Wednesday. LOTS of balls in the air at the moment.

Sorry for the delay. But will happen soon...

 

[scolley]

Sorry about the delay on starting the new SURF2 thread. As I wound up being busier than expected, that was topped off by a Windows crash on my PC, followed by replacement by Ubuntu, followed by a crash of THAT OS. Have now restored Ubuntu, and hope to have my photo library up and working soon. ALL that is a prerequisite to having the photo documentation I need for said SURF2 thread.

Sorry. This kind of stuff happens every once in a while.

 

[feh]

scolley's Big Little Nano "“ yet another build thread

Why Ubuntu of all Linux distros? Also what kind of router are using that has what sounds like hot standby capabilities?

 

[scolley]

Why Ubuntu of all Linux distros? Also what kind of router are using that has what sounds like hot standby capabilities?

Well, I'd rather not get into a Linux distro discussion in this thread, but I wanted something simple, reliable, accessible to a Linux newbie, and provided good support for non technical people. There may be other distributions that also fit that bill, but Ubuntu certainly does too.

The router is an Asus RT-AC68U. I believe there are other Asus routers that support dual WAN ports as well, including the 66U. And I can tell you from experience, that you want to look up Asus' list of supported cellular modems and buy one from that list, or you are opening yourself up to a possible world of frustration. You can do a Google to find their support forum website. Then go into their Wireless subforum, search for "scolley" and/or RT-AC68U, and you'll get detail documentation on that. Just as I operate here, I tried hard to pass my findings along to that community.

But once you get it working, it's golden. :thumbsup:

 

[feh]

Well, I'd rather not get into a Linux distro discussion in this thread, but I wanted something simple, reliable, accessible to a Linux newbie, and provided good support for non technical people. There may be other distributions that also fit that bill, but Ubuntu certainly does too.

The router is an Asus RT-AC68U. I believe there are other Asus routers that support dual WAN ports as well, including the 66U. And I can tell you from experience, that you want to look up Asus' list of supported cellular modems and buy one from that list, or you are opening yourself up to a possible world of frustration. You can do a Google to find their support forum website. Then go into their Wireless subforum, search for "scolley" and/or RT-AC68U, and you'll get detail documentation on that. Just as I operate here, I tried hard to pass my findings along to that community.

But once you get it working, it's golden. :thumbsup:

Kewl thanks. I have a Cisco 1721 I'm using right now. Its EOL I think, may look into if it can do a HS and possibility of getting a Wic for it. Was just curious what you were using. Its not very common to see Soho equipment with that capability.

 

[dillct]

Interested in hearing your experiences with the Surf2. I also have one of these and so far the growth has been minimal. Really hoping it takes off soon.