Jnam's JBJ Picotope of softies (maybe some LPS and SPS...)

[Jnam]

and by not last long i mean that they last about 6 months and then the actinics begin to degrade PAR remains more or less the same. They should definately be replaced once a year

 

[Jnam]

I am BACK!!

So its been a while, I check in from time to time but havent posted in a while. Just thought I would do an update:

Tanks going good I had a ton of hurdles
First was I just couldnt keep fish in the tank, I had 4 carpet surfers so i am left with just the six-line and that is plenty.
Got a nasty case of flatworms I mean FREAKING CRAZY amounts so much so I couldnt see throught the glass. Sucked em all out did a massive full water change everyother day for 2 weeks. Cleaned out my AC50 fuge and clipped out the Cheato. Got all the nasty out of control nutrients in check. Then i fought algae hair and cyano... killed it. Cyano is back but thats cuz i need to trim back the chaeto again its blocking the flow on the ac50.

All in all its been fun once I get it all sparkled I post some uncrappy pics

this is the most recent but its still out of date the Acans are moved back to the 36 and the powerhead is no longer there and the glass i clean LULZ

 

[Zer0]

That's a sweet pico! So crowded and full of glorious life! Excellent work i must say, especially the dedication it must have taken to overcome all the obstacles. Knowing myself.. i probably would have tore it down and restarted at the very first signs of trouble lol..

 

[Jnam]

Naw thats the best part of the whole thing, fixing the shiz you broke. I didnt get it cleaned out last night so no picks today. I spent the whole night cleaning out the 36 and moving some corals around. I have a baseball size frogspawn that needed to get beat with a hammer cause it was stinging everything.
I have a planned upgrade coming... going for LEDs. I want to move in some more acros. But I still have to deal with a few issues as far as water quality goes. The flow in the Pico is sub par even with the AC50.

LEDs
3x RB Cree
2X CW Cree
2x 1000mA dimmable buckpucks.
No optics
I want to get creative with the heatsink...

From what I hear Mushrooms arent big lovers of LEDs... anyone wana chime in?

 

[Jnam]

Piterz!!!

The 36 bow just cause

 

[melosu58]

The tank looks pretty good. You could hardly tell you had problems. Are you still having problems with the flat worms with the sixline in there?

 

[Jnam]

Flatworms are gone, been having some spots of cyano that I need to get rid of. One loss though has been my CUC I can only count 1 maybe 2 ceriths left to clean the sand and nothing left to pick at the rocks. The sixline is always picking at stuff on the rocks so it could be flatworms, but nothing liek the previous infestation! Woot.

 

[Jimbo7]

LEDs
3x RB Cree
2X CW Cree
2x 1000mA dimmable buckpucks.
No optics
I want to get creative with the heatsink...

From what I hear Mushrooms arent big lovers of LEDs... anyone wana chime in?

Want to explain how you are going to wire those all together? I'm finishing my LEDs tonight, so ill let you know how my shrooms respond in a couple days.

 

[Jnam]

In series one puck for the blues and one for the whites. Two separate POTS for independant dimming, that way I can tweak the color temp to what I like, (I heartz the blooz)
Later the POTS will be traded our for an adruino MC.

 

[Jimbo7]

In series one puck for the blues and one for the whites. Two separate POTS for independant dimming, that way I can tweak the color temp to what I like, (I heartz the blooz)
Later the POTS will be traded our for an adruino MC.

12V power supply? Im interested in doing an arduino setup but am still doing research on everything. Took me awhile to compile enough info to feel OK with just the LEDs.

 

[Jnam]

Ill be running them on two seprate 24V power supplies, and I may just end up going with the meanwell drivers since they are powered by AC

 

[Jnam]

I will happily include you on the build when the time comes. The Arduino will be the fun part, which side are you most uncomfortable with? The programming or the electronics?

 

[Jimbo7]

Your going to get a lot of back voltage with a 24V if you use a seperate PS and driver. I still don't completely understand the meanwells and how they regulate everything so I don't know what to tell you on that.

 

[Jnam]

Meanwells are constant current drivers as well, but they are AC line units so the PS is built into the driver, cost wise they are cheaper than the pucks once you throw in the PS costs. I have been really considering them as the alternative. The less wall warts of have the better lol.

 

[Jnam]

Side note, the back voltage is mostly bled off by the puck, running it a 26v is merely allowing me to upgrade in the future. Pucks like the voltage drop to be at a minimum 2v over... I swear. =)

 

[francophone]

Any news? I'm really wanting to start one for my desk at work. I'd love to know how your tank's doing now, and what you'd recommend doing and not doing. Thanks!

 

[Jnam]

The tank worked out fantasticly, but due to a recent move i took it down. Here are my learnings:

1. Auto top off is a must Evap on these with a decent light is insane
2. Flow, design your scape to best utilize what ever manner of flow you decide on not the other way around. I had some dead spots behind the rocks that detrius would build up in.
3. New lights, dont use the stock light its crap.
4. 1 fish no more that that.

 

[francophone]

Cool, man, and thanks for the quick reply!

Is there a fixture that you prefer, or would you recommend modding something for it?

I'm thinking one fish definitely, and probably some sexy shrimp. I have them in my 29 at home, and they crack me up dancing all over the place. I've been thinking about a clown goby or something of that sort.

Thanks again for the quick reply....hope you get back into it soon!

Douglas

 

[Jnam]

I had good luck with evil66 par38s from nano tuners or a simple pc light with -a 50/50 bulb then later you can mod it for LEDs