Keith's new 120 build. (1 Viewer)

[kgk]

Cool fixture. I like the warm white better than the cool white. I think it looks better.

That was one of the things I figured out about my first LED fixtures. Too much cool white & royal blue makes anything red look brown. You need to have some "warmer" color LEDs in there to get those colors.

 

[kgk]

Right fixture done & connectors installed. I have the left one fully wired as well & just need to install the connectors. I'm using standard RC-style Dean's connectors.
I ordered a bunch of 80/20 to build a frame to mount them in my canopy.
Getting excited to fire these things up!

 

[fjwaquarium]

Looking good Keith

 

[kgk]

Well, the fixtures are up & working. I did something stupid & managed to blow up 8 of the Royal Blue LEDs, but besides that little snafu, everything fired up & worked the first time. I only have 2 left so I had to order some more from Steve's LEDs.
The 80/20 should be here on Monday, so maybe I'll have this thing totally done by the middle of next week.

 

[kgk]

Got started on the tank again. Determined to get nearly done by the time I get back to work in the new year.

I am in the middle of painting the back of the tank black.
Things I need to do after:
- woodwork in the stand. Need to build a barrier for the right side of the stand, to separate electronics from water. Also need to put a vent hole in the right side, and mount the shelf for the ATO on the left side.
- build a 12vdc fan rig for three 120mm fans, and mount them. One in stand, two in hood.
- build the frame for mounting my lights in the canopy out of 80/20 that I have.
- mount all the electronics in the dry side of the stand
- plumbing!
- build the scape out of the dry rocks I have.

Plus a ton of stuff I am sure I am overlooking.

 

[flexrac]

Got started on the tank again. Determined to get nearly done by the time I get back to work in the new year.

I am in the middle of painting the back of the tank black.
Things I need to do after:
- woodwork in the stand. Need to build a barrier for the right side of the stand, to separate electronics from water. Also need to put a vent hole in the right side, and mount the shelf for the ATO on the left side.
- build a 12vdc fan rig for three 120mm fans, and mount them. One in stand, two in hood.
- build the frame for mounting my lights in the canopy out of 80/20 that I have.
- mount all the electronics in the dry side of the stand
- plumbing!
- build the scape out of the dry rocks I have.

Plus a ton of stuff I am sure I am overlooking.

I have a 2000ma 12v power supply with multiple connections if you need it. unless you plan on doing a fan control instead.

 

[kgk]

I have a bunch of random ac/dc converters laying around ... My plan is to just use one of those. Thanks for the offer!

 

[kgk]

Working on the electronics mounting...

 

[kgk]

I can't believe it's been 6 months since I have worked on this tank. That's sad.
I hope to have this thing done by the end of August. Really, I don't have much to do. Finish the plumbing, do the scape, leak test, fill it with water. I am sure that's oversimplifying it, but hey, that's OK.

edit: Looks like the pictures of the tank and stand have disappeared, as I killed my webhosting a couple months ago... I'll add some newer ones soon.

 

[kgk]

Bumping this because I'm working on this again. Kids, job, golf, etc, all have conspired to make this the slowest build ever. End of August, ha. Ha.
I built the plumbing manifold tonight & am pretty much done with the plumbing. I need to flash the Apex with the latest gobbledygook (Fusion), and then I think I'm pretty much done with the technical "must get done" stuff before I fill this thing with H2O.

I am having an internal debate about styles, though. I had planned on bare bottom, dry rocks and build from there; kick-start the tank with Dr Tim's. However, I really think I'll miss the microfauna - tunicates, sponges, etc, that come with live rock. So I'm going back & forth between all dry rock (it's laid out on my dining room table now), all dry and seed with some live rock later, or something like "The Package" from TBS. Opinions here would be welcomed.

 

[kgk]

Plumbing done. I had to redo the return a couple times because of airhead mistakes but it's fine now.

 

[flipside]

Awesome man! Glad to see you're back at it.

Those are my favorite type of valves. I like your choice there.

As for rock, you know how that goes. I did Pukani this time around. I seeded it, in a bare bottom 120g. When it got over ran with HA, I added a massive CUC from reefcleaners.org. During the seeding process, I grabbed some LR from two buddies to get some coraline going. Now, the rock looks fantastic, and Pukani works miraculously when dealing with the whole, "where should I put this damn frag" issue. I also used acrylic rods to "float"the rocks, as to avoid detritus buildup.

TB rock is awesome, as are their packages, but I just didn't want to deal with hitchhikers. Hindsight being 20/20, I probably didn't save much time. Removing hitchhikers vs. waiting on seed time, that is.

I would go with a rock that you love aesthetically. In about a year, it won't matter anyway. All we'll be looking at is the coral.

Again, welcome back!

 

[kgk]

Thanks Flip.

 

[kgk]

.....

 

[kgk]

The larger of the two rock structures is nearly done. I am using Marco rocks and mortar. Takes forever because you have to wait on stuff to cure...

 

[kgk]

Rockscape v1.
The left side arch is mortared together. The right side is just placed.
Feedback would be nice as I could still change some of it. Hell, I could change all of it... I have about half again as many rocks still on the table.

Flip, I tried the floating rock look but want a fan of the shadows under the rocks. Thought I would like it, but in practice I didn't.

My wife is already making fun of me for not having any sand.

 

[flipside]

To each their own, bro. It's all good.

That looks simply fantastic, btw! Loving the way it's looking!

 

[Jason]

Rockscape v1.
The left side arch is mortared together. The right side is just placed.
Feedback would be nice as I could still change some of it. Hell, I could change all of it... I have about half again as many rocks still on the table.

Flip, I tried the floating rock look but want a fan of the shadows under the rocks. Thought I would like it, but in practice I didn't.

My wife is already making fun of me for not having any sand.

I like it! Looks great!

 

[TexanReef]

Sweet!

 

[kgk]

Thanks guys.
TexanReef, let's grab a beer sometime.