Diy frag tank

[Regan_tyler]

Okay so I'm gonna be building a a 10 gal rimless frag tank with a DIY led fixture and hopefully you guys can help me answer my question. My first question is how would be the best way to de rim a 10 gal?

 

[Mebbid]

De rimming a tank generally isn't the best plan as the rim on tanks is functional. Removing it will place stress on the seams of the tank giving a potential for them to fail.

That being said, I would imagine a putty knife would work.

 

[Regan_tyler]

I was planning on putting in so more braces on the top. Do you think that would take less stress off the seams? And I'll be keeping the bottom rim on just the top one I'd like to remove.

 

[Mebbid]

I imagine braces would help but you would need a cross going across the top to have adequate bracing for it. Is there a reason you want a rimless frag tank?

Frag tanks are usually meant to be pretty utilitarian in nature and are there for performing a function rather than looking pretty. Adding bracing to the top and derimming it would also create a few other issues such as accessibility and blocking light from getting to the frags.

 

[Regan_tyler]

I personally just like the look of a de rimmed tank and it'll be plummed into my 90 gal system and I'm have my racks on the sides so the bracing won't really have an effect on the corals idk I might or might not depending on how I setup my egg crate

 

[Regan_tyler]

Pretty much my fish store in anchorage has a rimless frag tank an that thing is amazing

 

[Regan_tyler]

Here's what I've got going so far.

 

[Regan_tyler]

Got it drilled. I've got some questions about LEDs I plan on building my own light system if anyone has any knowledge about LEDs?

 

[Sniperhank]

This looks really nice and clean so far! In terms of LEDs, I have not DIY'd any myself. I have read through the threads others have done this with and besides the 3 watt LEDs, one common thing I have pulled out of their statements is not to skimp on the parts you put into it, like heat sinks as an example, as the cheap parts have failed on them and had to go back to the drawing board and rework things.
Any thoughts on the color spectrum you are wanting to run?

 

[Mebbid]

I made a Cree led fixture for my 10g planted tank and it wasn't too difficult. I used some aluminum angle stock as my heatsink and 2 computer fans for cooling.

 

[Regan_tyler]

I plan on just ordering some stuff from rapid LEDs I plan on doing probably 8 royal blues a and 4 cool whites but I'm new to LEDs not sure if that's over kill or not what would you guys recommend for a 10 gal frag tank?

 

[Regan_tyler]

I also have a question for all the saltwater people do you guys prefer refugium or a phosban reactor and if refugium what would you put in there?

 

[Regan_tyler]

Any advice on how man LEDs I should do or anything ?

 

[Ericwm]

I plan on just ordering some stuff from rapid LEDs I plan on doing probably 8 royal blues a and 4 cool whites but I'm new to LEDs not sure if that's over kill or not what would you guys recommend for a 10 gal frag tank?

Right now I have one of the panels for my 90 gallon over my 29 gallon tank. I have the lights dimmed to ~ 50% whites and ~60% blues. And with my lps I wouldn't go any higher. The panel has 10 blue 9 white and some green red and violet mixed in. I hope this helps.

 

[Regan_tyler]

What would you recommend for a 10 gal?

 

[Ericwm]

That is tough. The LEDs only dim to 30 to 40%. You could probably get away with 5 blue and 4 white. With these you would only need one driver and a way to dim the lights. It would be pretty affordable.

 

[Regan_tyler]

What all am I going to need to get I got the LEDs, end plug, cement, heatsink, hanging kit, What all do I need to get it running like the ac or adapter I'm kinda confused on that part

 

[Ericwm]

You will need a power supply, it will plug into ac and provide doc power. They come with instructions for adjusting them for the proper current, you will need a multimeter for that as well. Depending on the number of LEDs you are using and the control you want you will need to select the power supply. http://www.rapidled.com/dimmable-drivers/
I am using the 48p drivers, you can run 8 to 14 LEDs with this. If you want independent control of the colors you could go with the 27p or d drivers, they run 5 to 8 LEDs. Selecting the p or d is a personal preference depending on how you want to control them. You can get a dimmer knob for the d and just use a simple timer. I have the p and use an arduino micro controller to control the driver with a pwm signal. I have it programmed do fade on in the morning and out at night. It can be done fairly easy with any programming experience.