300 gallon "Outside Corner" Reef

[Gregcoyote]

It's better than stringing beads. Second two are going much faster.


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[ms705jk]

Lol. Ive got a 13 year-old daughter who loves diy projects. All summer long we made duct tape wallets. Must have spent $200 on every kind of pattern tape there was. I was definitely ready for school to start if you know what I mean. It kinda worked out in the end. She sells them a school for $5.

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[Gregcoyote]

Shows my age, but I built most of the Heathkits in their catalog. Pre integrated circuits. Made my DIY skills pretty good since I was a kid.

You can make most anything out of duct (or duck, gaffer, etc) tape. Mythbusters has proven that. Pretty cool she's a entrepreneur.


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[ms705jk]

Yes it is. I hope she keeps up that attitude. Maybe she won't have to work for the man the way most of us do. She's already asked me if when she turns 16 would I buy her a couple bounce house's so she could rent them out on the weekends. Now how can a dad so no to that idea? We'll see a lot can change in three years. I told her I would do it but she had to save half whatever it cost for the bounce house's and I would buy her an old beater truck

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[redsea]

First DYI light installed in the center and tuned with the PAR meter to the same power the 200 watt Chinese panel was producing. Currently it is running Blue at 70% and White/colored at 50%. Will build the other two next week. Controlled by a Reefkeeper.
View attachment 250423


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I love your Yellow Tang and Yellow Coris Wrasse, they are so vibrant! Would you say they are pretty much the same shade of yellow is person? Sooo cool.

 

[Gregcoyote]

Yes, they are a very bright yellow.
Thanks!


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[redsea]

Yes, they are a very bright yellow.
Thanks!


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Nice! It must be fun having two fish that are the same color but different species.

 

[Gregcoyote]

Just finishing the build of three new fixtures with two dimming channels for the 300 gal reef.

The Cree leds are deluxe, the lenses work great as the fixtures are 18" above water surface and tank is 34" deep.

I have two Meanwell 0-10v dimming drivers, white and UV on one channel which is the maximum a RKE ALC module can handle. And the blues on another. That meant I needed three of the ALC modules at $75 each. One for each fixture. That stung a bit. Too late to consider Apex, but I would guess they have their secrets as well. But my RKE works. Power is now set at 75% blue and 50% white/uv and everything looks right. PAR measurements are encouraging and I will post those later.

In the end, some of this I would have had to deal with even buying ready to go fixtures. I now have a easily reparable system using new generation Cree 5 watt LEDs operating at a efficient operating current that should allow them to last.
108 leds total.

With the addition of lenses on the Cree emitters I have a lot more shimmer and more light gets to the bottom of the reef.

Pretty satisfied, but worn out. This is the first time this old reef has had a gradual sunrise and sunset.

And yes, I have one green, one red and 8 uv LEDs along with many more white and blue per fixture. The uv LEDs just expand the range of blue light I am providing. The red and green are just for accent and are run at low power.

May start a new thread:
This Old Reef



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[Sniperhank]

I'll be honest, reading this old reef brought a smile to my face. Loved this old house as a kid.
Anyway, any reason for the distance from the units to the water? I've been pondering things like that in regards to my radions and that either raising them or lowering the intensity would help some.


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[Gregcoyote]

The whole top of my hood (150 lbs) comes up on hydraulics like the lid of a beer stein. I used 80 deg optics to make it convenient to mount the panels safely away from the water.


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[Gregcoyote]

Lights are done. Several hundred solder joints later it all works.

PAR measurements at 75% blue and 50% white:

1" below surface 850
6" below surface 680
Midway 400
Bottom at 32" is 120

That's just about exactly where I wanted it. It doesn't look this bright by eye, that's why the PAR meter was important. These type panels can cook a coral quick and what looks right by eye tends to be a lot more than you think. These new panels produce more PAR and look dimmer than the old Chinese panels. At least at these power settings.

Some observations;

The light is more directional and dramatic with more shadows. The Chinese panels tended to be a very soft light without shadows, this looks more like sunlight to me.

The shimmer effect is much more pronounced.

There is a bit of rainbowing as each fixture went from 60 @ 2 watt LEDs to 36 @ 5 watt LEDs with lenses. I don't mind the look.

Very little visible effect from the two colored LEDs, but the UV LEDs in conjunction with the blues is gorgeous. The UVs seem to set off some colors I haven't noticed before.

Now we'll see how the corals like them.

With the ALC's needed from Digital Aquatics to control each fixture, each one with misc parts came in at about $325 each. I recon that each of these dimmable fixtures with the parts I used would retail for about $300, plus the $75 controller, so I saved some, but not a lot. What I got was customization and repair ability.


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[Gregcoyote]

Sitting here still taking in the new lights. Big deal to me because I have only changed lights three times in 22 years. The dramatic look of the tank is far better. The lenses focus the light in beams, rather than the more washed appearance of the older panels. This brings out shadows and details I had never appreciated in the corals. The UV and colored LEDs (2) add saturation to the colors. Maybe no effect on growth, we will see, but the overall look of everything is much better. Much like adjusting saturation levels on photos or your TV.


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[Gregcoyote]

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[paul87]

Those lights look real good. I'm jealous. Great job man!

 

[ms705jk]

You did an amazing job on those light man. 22 years is a major dedication. Definitely something I will strive for. My passion my swa is still in its infancy but because people like you are willing to share their experiences many of us newbies are learning the right way to keep a healthy reef. Thank you

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[Gregcoyote]

Being in the hobby most of my life, it has been interesting the changes. We've come a long way, but in some instances it has also gotten easier. My big hot MH bulbs seem like that nice 100 pound 25" Sony TV I can't stand to throw away but have no purpose for anymore. They both worked, but LEDs and flat screens are where it's at now. The only problem is the top of my hood looks like it's wired for explosives as all the drivers are mounted up there.


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[Gregcoyote]

Those lights look real good. I'm jealous. Great job man!

Don't be jealous. If I can do this a average raccoon can do it if he can use a soldering iron. If that raccoon can't solder there is a plug and play kit.


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[paul87]

Lol, sounds about right. Any way we can get a FTS?

 

[Darylb]

Greg quick question about your bonsai acro did you find it to be a skow grower?

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[Gregcoyote]

Very slow.


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