Svynx's biocube 29 thread
- Thread starter svynx
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svynx
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Sand is in. Water is mixing. Progress made on the hood. I'm stopping at the hardware store to get buckets for water transport and screws to mount the puck. Once that's done, I have a little wiring to do, but it doesn't look too hard.
I still have a few pieces of rock that I could put in. Haven't decided if it needs any more though.
Question: The LED's will be on heat sink tubing with a pusher fan blowing through them. I am installing the drivers inside the hood to keep as much contained as possible. Should I add a second fan to the other side? Part of me thinks it will be ok as air will be brought in one side and pushed to the other through the tubing. However, another part of me sees this as not enough since the drivers won't get any direct airflow, and adding a second fan may or may not help with this. I have thought about cutting the tubing back and placing the drivers right next to the outlet so the pusher fan is blowing on them.
I still have a few pieces of rock that I could put in. Haven't decided if it needs any more though.
Question: The LED's will be on heat sink tubing with a pusher fan blowing through them. I am installing the drivers inside the hood to keep as much contained as possible. Should I add a second fan to the other side? Part of me thinks it will be ok as air will be brought in one side and pushed to the other through the tubing. However, another part of me sees this as not enough since the drivers won't get any direct airflow, and adding a second fan may or may not help with this. I have thought about cutting the tubing back and placing the drivers right next to the outlet so the pusher fan is blowing on them.
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soulpatch
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I have my drivers outside of my hood due to concerns on heat. Though that said I mounted my fans as in and out and the hood is cool to the touch so i probably could have left them in with the fans mounted that way.
For me it was easier to pull the drivers out and have wire wrap on the thin lines so as to not worry about the heat o plugging into my apex. You are going to have either bulky driver power cords or the thin wires when wrapped together look like one power cord.
For me it was easier to pull the drivers out and have wire wrap on the thin lines so as to not worry about the heat o plugging into my apex. You are going to have either bulky driver power cords or the thin wires when wrapped together look like one power cord.
svynx
New member
I'm using two Mean Well LDD-700H and two LDD-1000H drivers (http://www.rapidled.com/mean-well-ldd-700h-dimmable-driver/). All four are installed on LDD -H-4 driver board (http://www.rapidled.com/ldd-h-4-driver-board/). Being small, I suspect that heat from these won't be very high. And I mean small. The driver board, which holds all 4 drivers, is about the size of a playing card.
If they fit in the hood, I don't see much of a reason to not put them in there. Just make sure that they have good air flow, and that the inside of your splash guard is nice and dry (no signs of salt or corrosion).
I have my drivers (the bigger meanwells, also needed 0-10v control instead of PWM) mounted upside down on the inside of my stand where my controller is. I ran out of space on the walls because of the RLK and it's equipment on one side and dosing pumps and containers on the other side. I guess running out of wall space is a good problem to have?
I have my drivers (the bigger meanwells, also needed 0-10v control instead of PWM) mounted upside down on the inside of my stand where my controller is. I ran out of space on the walls because of the RLK and it's equipment on one side and dosing pumps and containers on the other side. I guess running out of wall space is a good problem to have?
soulpatch
New member
I have my drivers (the bigger meanwells, also needed 0-10v control instead of PWM) mounted upside down on the inside of my stand where my controller is. I ran out of space on the walls because of the RLK and it's equipment on one side and dosing pumps and containers on the other side. I guess running out of wall space is a good problem to have?
I dont know who copied who or if we are just 2 great minds who think alike:
svynx
New member
I got some wiring done over the weekend. Not finished yet though. I gave up trying to get the existing fan working with the new setup so I purchased 2 60mm fans. I will need to decide if I'm going to wire them into the controller or keep them as standalone. Looking back at things, I should have just purchased the entire Aurora retrofit. The only thing left from the StevesLED's setup is the heatsink.
Tank is filled. Salinity if off as I ran out of salt, but that's easy to fix. It's cloudy right now with all the dust from the sand. I'll let it sit until tomorrow.
Tank is filled. Salinity if off as I ran out of salt, but that's easy to fix. It's cloudy right now with all the dust from the sand. I'll let it sit until tomorrow.
I don't recall hearing it or intending to copy you, and I really wanted to mount to the sides, but this is where I had room. I probably unconsciously remembered seeing it in your thread.
I don't share pics often enough, but hopefully this one makes some sense of my room requirement. Who knows, maybe I'll even start a build thread to show my progress now that I figured out how to make these simple links from my picasa album (edit: had to attach it, it was WAAAAY too big when just adding in the img link).
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soulpatch
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I still need to wire in my other DC8 and find a spot for that then clean out the stand a bit more.
Svynx - You are coming along and it is cool so seeing everything coming together. hindsight is 20/20 for us all. If I could go back in time I would have gone Radion or such instead of my RapidLED light kit and gone open top. With all of the portions cut from my hood at this moment I might as well be open top. But hindsight applies to us all...
Svynx - You are coming along and it is cool so seeing everything coming together. hindsight is 20/20 for us all. If I could go back in time I would have gone Radion or such instead of my RapidLED light kit and gone open top. With all of the portions cut from my hood at this moment I might as well be open top. But hindsight applies to us all...
svynx
New member
LOL. Like I should have rinsed the sand, or like I should have waited until I had the tank in hand before building the stand, or forgetting the refractometer and mixing anyway (I need to adjust a little)...
Yeah...been there.
svynx
New member
I knew I wanted to have a lip all the way around the tank, plus have room underneath for a 5 gallon bucket and other random things. However, since I didn't have the dimensions before I built the stand, I really oversized things. The height is good, which I planned for as it matches the two desks I have in the office. However, the top of the stand is 32" wide, and 31" deep. I've got almost 7" on both sides, and roughly the same on the front. I could have gone smaller.
svynx
New member
To continue the hindsight conversation, I'll add in that my salinity (because I didn't take my meter home with me) was almost 1.400. Not a big deal. Came in today with 10 gallons of RODI water. Siphoned 5 gallons out of the tank, added 5 gallons of fresh water. Let it sit for a little, stirring occasionally. Tested again. Exactly 1.024. Not sure how I got that one to work out, but who cares. So, the heater is in, and the main pump will go in tomorrow morning. At that time, I'll take a rock or two out of the existing tank and throw them into the cube.
And if the USPS tracking is correct, the last pieces for the lights will be here tomorrow. I guess I'll have something to do while I'm off Thurs/Fri from the wisdom teeth surgery after all. I had planned on just sitting around watching movies and playing Destiny (yes, I'm a 32 year old gamer).
And if the USPS tracking is correct, the last pieces for the lights will be here tomorrow. I guess I'll have something to do while I'm off Thurs/Fri from the wisdom teeth surgery after all. I had planned on just sitting around watching movies and playing Destiny (yes, I'm a 32 year old gamer).
soulpatch
New member
I am a 33 year old gamer. LOL. Hell at the motorcycle track we will set up a projector and game with guys MUCH older who still got it.
Best is when someone brings an older nintendo and we rock out to goldeneye...
svynx
New member
Question for you biocube people. I just plugged the main pump in. It's not that noisy, and it hasn't seen water for a few weeks, so a little breaking in is to be expected. If things don't quiet down some, I'll be looking for something different. I'm not worried about increasing the flow, but definitely don't want to lower it. Any suggestions on a pump that will flow the same or just a little more, but runs quieter? Flaws in the stand design and location are showing up little by little. With the open back, and placement in a corner, any noise that is able to transfer down through the tank and into the stand is amplified. If you are an audio guy like me, think of the stand as a subwoofer box, and the corner of the room defecting all sound out around the stand. It would be a perfect setup for a real sound system. Not so much in this case.
Stupid answer, but have you tried jiggling the pump around? I find that if I raise my hood and it pulls on the cord for the pump, sometimes it gets loud. I just tug on the cord or jiggle it around and it usually will re-settle the pump in a quieter position.
I know what you mean about the sound amplification. Too bad the sound you're amplifying is undesirable
. You can always do what you do with the hifi and just add acoustic paneling/dampening material... Also something that you might consider is adding a sheet of outdoor/weatherproof drywall behind the stand. I did this in my last tank after seeing the wall-rot in the prior owner's wall from the 120g tank/sump. Right at the back of the sump it had peeled away the paint and stucco on the wall and was wearing through the drywall. Closing that up, combined with some acoustic material, might not be a bad idea.
I know what you mean about the sound amplification. Too bad the sound you're amplifying is undesirable
. You can always do what you do with the hifi and just add acoustic paneling/dampening material... Also something that you might consider is adding a sheet of outdoor/weatherproof drywall behind the stand. I did this in my last tank after seeing the wall-rot in the prior owner's wall from the 120g tank/sump. Right at the back of the sump it had peeled away the paint and stucco on the wall and was wearing through the drywall. Closing that up, combined with some acoustic material, might not be a bad idea.
