Tank Journal Archive

[marineclass]

i think you will be suprised from the spread of the leds with no optics. it is realy good. i wouldnt go for a sps display in the school room, to much maintence compared to a nice softy tank.

yea - SPS isnt a good idea for class - not yet at least ;) who knows what will happen in the future -

 

[slin1977]

Have you found whats been eating your zoas, chances its a Helican snail . Try lifting your affected colonys, look underneath to find a snail with a beautiful spiral pattern. Even a small one say 1 cm will decimate your zoas...

 

[marineclass]

Alright - here is my post holidays update!

Leds - the leds are all attatched and wired on the heatsinks, i just have to wire up the drivers and it will be done!

New phone - camera - im very excited because i finally upgraded my phone and now have the 1080p hd video and 8mp camera so i will have nicer pics/videos to observe:)

Tank - i have been donated a twin autofeeder from Eheim which is going really well and saves me coming in every day to feed the fish. I visited the tank every second day over the holidays just to visit and tinker with things, mainly because i missed it - haha. Any way it was my anniversary and thought - the tank is now pretty automatic, i might go away for a few days and the tank should be fine! Bad move! With the food and everything all ready for a 3 days with no visit, the cleaners came in and cleaned the windows - leaving the blinds open. This let in direct sunlight that is usually blocked and the tank had sunlight straight onto it for 3 days - lots of algea has grown on the glass and im not sure how high the temps would have gone on those hot days we had! But everyone is still alaive and feeding so after a good clean - all should be better.

I added a really nice new coral from darren, and even though small - i think it looks unreal and i cant wait to see it under leds! He told me the name of it but i completly forget - :confused:

Here are some update pics - they look a lot better in real life and for some reason the new camera give a very yellow tinge to the water - it isnt like this usually - i need to learn how to use it properly.

Ill add more once it has been cleaned a little more!

 

[marineclass]

Well my led is almost fully wired up - i just need 2 more 10 v power sources for the dimmable pots - then all 64 leds will be alight! I have had 42 of them going and damn it was bright. I have a few pieces of angled aluminium so this weekend it will be all finished and installed. Very excited however im starting to think i may have too many leds. Im upgrading from 2 t5 tubes to this! I am.going to start it off very low abd maybe not even.all of them plugged in - then slowly turn them up - do i have too many leds? Also, what kind of time period should i be looking at at slowly turing them.leds up as to not hurt the fish and coral

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[MTG]

Well my led is almost fully wired up - i just need 2 more 10 v power sources for the dimmable pots - then all 64 leds will be alight! I have had 42 of them going and damn it was bright. I have a few pieces of angled aluminium so this weekend it will be all finished and installed. Very excited however im starting to think i may have too many leds. Im upgrading from 2 t5 tubes to this! I am.going to start it off very low abd maybe not even.all of them plugged in - then slowly turn them up - do i have too many leds? Also, what kind of time period should i be looking at at slowly turing them.leds up as to not hurt the fish and coral

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I only have 32 LEDs over my 3x2x2 and that's more then enough!

 

[marineclass]

Can i have too many?

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[MTG]

Not really just dim them down. ;)

 

[MagicJ]

i just need 2 more 10 v power sources for the dimmable pots

You can use the one power source and hook it up to multiple pots.

 

[marineclass]

You can use the one power source and hook it up to multiple pots.

oh really - brilliant! That helps becuase now i only have to destroy 1 phone charger . haha Do i just run a wire or the charger and split it to both pots?

 

[marineclass]

Here is a pic of some of the strings lit up - this is tunred right down to minimum. Seriously i can tbelieve how bright they are - i had a play with using the optics and without and they definitely do help the light to penetrate further. Does using them make the light any more intense to the fish? I dont think ill need to use the optics but was thinking maybe on some of the blues to help the lgiht get right to the bottom of the tank.

 

[MagicJ]

oh really - brilliant! That helps becuase now i only have to destroy 1 phone charger . haha Do i just run a wire or the charger and split it to both pots?

Basically, yes. What are the specs for the phone charger you are planning to use??

 

[marineclass]

i think it was 9v - it is at home so im not 100% sure on that. I have read that as long as it is not over 10v it is fine.

 

[VaultBoy]

looks good just gotta get them mounted in the hood and they will be great! I really look forward to starting my own DIY led build soon

 

[MagicJ]

i think it was 9v - it is at home so im not 100% sure on that. I have read that as long as it is not over 10v it is fine.

It should be fine but I would test it with a meter first - these chargers are probabley not a regulated supply and you may find that it is putting out well over 9 volts, especially with no load applied.

You can use 2 pots - one to adjust the output voltage of the plugpack and then one to provide the dimming for your lights. Hopefully you can understand what I am talking about :D

 

[marineclass]

looks good just gotta get them mounted in the hood and they will be great! I really look forward to starting my own DIY led build soon

thanks mate - yea definitely do one - i found it completly confusing at first but once it was explained - its really simple. And the money it will save on bulbs and electricity will be a bonus too :) Just make sure you get dimmable ones, i love playing with the colour and tunring up/ down the blyuw to white raito

 

[marineclass]

It should be fine but I would test it with a meter first - these chargers are probabley not a regulated supply and you may find that it is putting out well over 9 volts, especially with no load applied.

You can use 2 pots - one to adjust the output voltage of the plugpack and then one to provide the dimming for your lights. Hopefully you can understand what I am talking about :D

haha - yea i do - i think. How would i attach the power to the plugpack?

 

[marineclass]

Led light pics. I still have 2 strings of 8 leds to wire up but i think it is bright enought already! Now to make a case for it to fit neatly inside:)

i look forward to seeing it over the tank!

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[marineclass]

And a couple of pics of the tank

And a shot of the right side with a lot of reflection sorry... Damn shiny surface of the desks

 

[slin1977]

Those leds are blinding me from here,lol nice diy job too.
PS that coral from Darren looks like a micromussa.

 

[MagicJ]

Looks good mate - nice variety of drivers you had to work with by the look of it ;)