Slow 75 gallon build (just for fun) (1 Viewer)

[rlpardue]

Hey Felix, nice job on the external overflow. That's one of those things that I would do if I were more awesome If your wife doesn't mind the snooping, could I come take some pictures of how you do your new stand? I want mine to look nice so I don't have to do another tank-build for 5 years. That's my goal

 

[flexrac]

So photography gets hotties in the house? Hmmmm.........

why yes, yes it did.

Cool!
So no more half nekid hotties (besides the wife) in the house, eh? Bummer.

don't rub it in, I love shooting models, i will find my way back to it.

 

[flexrac]

Hey Felix, nice job on the external overflow. That's one of those things that I would do if I were more awesome If your wife doesn't mind the snooping, could I come take some pictures of how you do your new stand? I want mine to look nice so I don't have to do another tank-build for 5 years. That's my goal

I welcome anyone to stop by and see my system. there is nothing to see right now though in terms of stands. read my email response to you, i look forward to hearing from you.

 

[flexrac]

just a quick update, i finished the tank, and now i am in the process of building the stand.

 

[flexrac]

overview of what i did to the tank:
removed top trim and center bracing to install dual overflow
drilled 5 1 inch holes in the back of the tank
painted the trim and back glass black
removed inner silicone and re-did it.
installed low profile internal overflow
and bean animal external overflow.

tank is now sitting in 3cc garage where i will be building the stand, since i no longer have a garage.
side note: i know a lot of people see me there often, even see me helping customers, let's be clear. i do not work there, i am not on the pay role.
Brian is a good friend and i have known him for some years now from when he first opened 3cc at the old location.
i have other friends/associates that have stores that i would do the same for. (FJW, rock n reef, and strictly marine)

stay tuned for the stand build........

 

[flexrac]

so i'm almost finished with the stand, pics coming soon, i just have to design the doors and face frame. (will have some pics this weekend, most of you can see it and the tank this sat at the frag demo)
but for now here are some p[ics of the led build i am going to be doing.
the casing is a t-5 4ft tek wave body i got from 3cc, for whites i went with the new phillips 11 watt leds from steve leds, i can drive 3 of these on a ldd-100h with no issue.
then i will blend it with an array of royal blues and either blue or deep blue along with True violet and one other color i have not determined yet.
i have room to add more drivers for more colors, but i would have to build a diy controller that has 8 channels, which will run me easily over $100
there are cheaper options like the typhon which only has 4 channels and a diy bridge to connect these drivers to an apex controller which i do not own.
still shopping my diy controller options, so more on that later, for now here are some pics.

2 ldd 1000h for whites and royal blues, will add 2 more for the blue and more royal blues, as one can run up to 14 leds with head room IIRC.

3 ldd 700h for colors


for size comparison

12v step down convertor, this little guy will take high voltage and bring it to 12v or less to control my fans.


this is how they will look when i mount them into the case. (silver bar in image is the U-channel i will use as heat sinks for this build) I have four more not pictured.

 

[flexrac]

only thing i have left to do is the doors, drawers and electrical closet. ran out of time today and wood.
after that i will find some nice trim and the build will be done. nothing a pro would do, but i am proud of it, a big step up from 2x4 stand builds and much nicer than my 225 stand build.
not sure if i will brave staining it or just paint it.

 

[Diesel]

That stand is awesome Felix.
I disagree with your wording................(nothing a pro would do)...........it's exactly a pro would be doing.
Btw, I do like your new workshop.
Now, if this build is finished you and I need to join forces and do a plywood tank build just as we discussed the other day.

 

[flexrac]

Thanks, but i was referring to all the wood you do not see in the pics that i used for this, i made some minor mistakes, I call this one version 1.0, next build will be way better.

if you supply the material, i would be willing to start on that project.

 

[jhill9]

Count me in for wood working projects. I even come with my own tools if the food and beer is free!!!

 

[Diesel]

Thanks, but i was referring to all the wood you do not see in the pics that i used for this, i made some minor mistakes, I call this one version 1.0, next build will be way better.

if you supply the material, i would be willing to start on that project.

You got it!
We make a list of needed materials and I'll make sure we have it.

 

[flexrac]

what dims are we shooting for?

 

[Diesel]

120 (4x2x2) Lets talk to B to see what he needs in his new store for a show tank.
What kind and size of glass we have at the store?

 

[flexrac]

got some wiring done today, still have to purchase led's and the power supply as well as the controller.
I was going to go DIY, but i don't like the current setups with the stacking of boards and the use of bread boards for some, i just want a simple led controller, i have found one new build that i like, but so far no word from the creator if he is going to make it open source, which would be perfect because it is a 16 channel led controller. so for now i am going with 4 channels and controlling it with a typhon led controller.

Since i was using 22 awg wires and the drivers are 1amp i went with a diy twisted pair to put me over 1 amp with head room so i don't run into any issues. 1x 22awg is ruffly 0.96 amps IIRC. the LDD's that i have are 1000ma( 1amp)

dc to dc step down to power the fans and the controller ( this will take 36v and step it down to what ever i like) so i will run them at around 9v, maybe 12v)

blue and green are positive and black negative respectably. the other side is reserved for the LEDs.

 

[flexrac]

just a small update
i received the power supply from stevesleds to power up my leds yesterday and today i received my controller from reef central member 02surplus.
i also have another controller that i will be beta testing as soon as i get it from another reef central member Baconbiter
here is the pics for the typhon led controller with 4 channels to control

back

I still have to order some leds, but i am getting closer to finishing the light.
i need to order 3 12 watt royal blue from steve as well as the new violets he has in that can run a 1000ma
i am still undecided on what other color to get. might do a combo on the last string of deep reds, cyan and another color all running on 500ma.


I did say slow build, people!

 

[Diesel]

You running all colors on different a channel?
With the four channel controller that should be good.
Does that controller comes with a box or is it just WYSIWYG?

 

[flexrac]

this one comes as you see, there are only two people that i know of that made custom boxes for them, their threads on nano reef are old, and i have not gotten a response from them, plus this particular one was custom made, so the connections are diff.
here is what the original look like:

FYI, boost led is not the original designer of this controller either. if you love diy, reef central has the parts list to build your own, the original designer is DWZM on reef central.
my version was modified by 02surplus on RC.

like i said above, i have another controller coming in that should have a case for it.
see links above.

the case i tried to get:

http://www.nano-reef.com/topic/279758-typhon-led-controller-kit-is-now-available/page-3

 

[flexrac]

well i had a slight mis-hap, had my wiring wrong, and fried one driver, i accidentally wired power to the pwm input. another member on here suffered the same faith and informed me of our mistake.
all is good now and i will be ordering a replacement driver. also hooked up the controller and that worked great, i used the step down converter that will provide power to the controller as well as some fans.
now i just need to work on my led layout.

you can see my buddies build here:
http://www.nano-reef.com/topic/325839-evil-cluster-build/

more to come!

 

[flexrac]

today i got in my second controller which i am beta testing for reefcentral member bacon biter
i give you the storm

• 2x16 LCD Display
• 6-Channel 8-Bit PWM
• 256 Dimming Levels
• Real-Time Clock
• Manual Sunrise/Sunset Time
• Geolocated Sunrise/Sunset
• Staggered Sunrise/Set Delays
• Intuitive Wheel Interface
• SmoothRamp Dimming
• SmoothRamp Clouds
• Cloud Channel Clustering
• Lightning Storm Effects
• Upgradeable via FTDI (Arduino compatible)

nob, which i will use once i get the case that is currently being redesigned and should be here shortly:

pwm connections

the unit came preset to my time zone and based on longitude, latitude and time zone, the controllers preset will control my lights from dusk till dawn.

i had a connector made at work for the pwm channels

the unit came well packaged and included a power supply as well.

once i get the rest of my leds in, i will give more details on this controller.

 

[flexrac]

this is what the complete unit looks like: