Tank Journal Archive
Well that was a good friday. Spent the day pulling down the light system and arduino control and starting to put together the new LDD drivers and some new exotics.
I've set aside the 4 day break to get it all working. Very pleasurable day so far, all going to plan.
The draw I kept all the electronics in has certainly got some more room now. But now I've got a box of drivers and bits and pieces left.
The DT is being lit by my Yasha lights - it's like mood lighting for the fish for a couple of days :)
Oh well, go and watch the footy now and do a bit more tinkering.
I've set aside the 4 day break to get it all working. Very pleasurable day so far, all going to plan.
The draw I kept all the electronics in has certainly got some more room now. But now I've got a box of drivers and bits and pieces left.
The DT is being lit by my Yasha lights - it's like mood lighting for the fish for a couple of days :)
Oh well, go and watch the footy now and do a bit more tinkering.
Got the lights all working now and all fully programmed.
Just doing some last adjustments to the hardware and will put the lights up tomorrow.
I'm waiting for a mega to arrive this week so that I can get the new LCD screen up and running.
It's really good now being able to cycle right down to zero
I think the fish will appreciate not getting a light flash every night at bedtime also.
Just doing some last adjustments to the hardware and will put the lights up tomorrow.
I'm waiting for a mega to arrive this week so that I can get the new LCD screen up and running.
It's really good now being able to cycle right down to zero
I think the fish will appreciate not getting a light flash every night at bedtime also.
Yep, so far so good :)
I've done an initial set of times for the 5 strings to see how they look. I'll see how it goes as the lights come up through the day.
So far the OCW's really set it off, they say they compliment the white/blue mix and I reckon they're right, the lighting now looks really rich in colour.
One thing I did notice while putting the whole thing together, it didn't hurt the system to have all the drivers powered up and not have all the LEDs connected.
So that answered my question about putting a physical on/off switch for each of the strings between the drivers and the LEDs. I haven't done it, but I may.
I'll put some pics of the setup up as soon as I get my mega and my LCD going later in the week.
I've done an initial set of times for the 5 strings to see how they look. I'll see how it goes as the lights come up through the day.
So far the OCW's really set it off, they say they compliment the white/blue mix and I reckon they're right, the lighting now looks really rich in colour.
One thing I did notice while putting the whole thing together, it didn't hurt the system to have all the drivers powered up and not have all the LEDs connected.
So that answered my question about putting a physical on/off switch for each of the strings between the drivers and the LEDs. I haven't done it, but I may.
I'll put some pics of the setup up as soon as I get my mega and my LCD going later in the week.
Well, lights are all finished and installed.
They went perfectly through their cycle today, it was so good to have the lights dim down to 0.
Might have to tone down the whites a bit during the day. The OCW added a bit more intensity.
The new purples really look great and boost the corals in moonlight mode.
Anyone else got their LDD's up and running?
They went perfectly through their cycle today, it was so good to have the lights dim down to 0.
Might have to tone down the whites a bit during the day. The OCW added a bit more intensity.
The new purples really look great and boost the corals in moonlight mode.
Anyone else got their LDD's up and running?
Tank update:
My red goni that looked great, then retracted for a couple of weeks, then finally slowly came back is now looking really sad due to my blenny deciding to use it for his perch. I've moved it down a bit so that it's not the nice high spot for him to oversee his domain but it didn't like all the touching and is starting to receed. :(.
Everything else is doing well under the new lights (just some additions to the previous lights).
I'm just playing a waiting game to see if the zoas and palys get acustom to the change in lighting. Apparently they are tough and will adapt and open back up soon.
My xenia has moved from its rock to the back wall and is proceeding to split apart and spread itself across the back of the tank. :confused: At least I can keep it under control and just blade it off when it gets too much.
My red goni that looked great, then retracted for a couple of weeks, then finally slowly came back is now looking really sad due to my blenny deciding to use it for his perch. I've moved it down a bit so that it's not the nice high spot for him to oversee his domain but it didn't like all the touching and is starting to receed. :(.
Everything else is doing well under the new lights (just some additions to the previous lights).
I'm just playing a waiting game to see if the zoas and palys get acustom to the change in lighting. Apparently they are tough and will adapt and open back up soon.
My xenia has moved from its rock to the back wall and is proceeding to split apart and spread itself across the back of the tank. :confused: At least I can keep it under control and just blade it off when it gets too much.
Thanks, maybe if the blenny leaves it alone for a while it might recuperate, but the membrane is damaged so I don't think so.
Good to hear your goni showing some improvement, slowly but shirley.
They reckon they are really hard to keep. The weird thing is I have green goni right next to it going gangbusters!!
Good to hear your goni showing some improvement, slowly but shirley.
They reckon they are really hard to keep. The weird thing is I have green goni right next to it going gangbusters!!
Final got everything finished on the new LDD setup :)
This the draw for the controls, certainly less crowded than before. The fan over the drivers works a treat, it's tied in with the heatsink fan.
Photo with the cover on the arduino so the wiring can't get accidently pulled out. All nice and neat.
I built this power board so that I could easily/quickly turn the most used components on/off with ease. The back of it is a row of plug-ins so that I can easily plug in or change what ever component without having them hard-wired in.
Just a basic LCD to show me what the light settings are at through the cycle.
Latest FTS - photos not much chop but it shows the layout.
This the draw for the controls, certainly less crowded than before. The fan over the drivers works a treat, it's tied in with the heatsink fan.
Photo with the cover on the arduino so the wiring can't get accidently pulled out. All nice and neat.
I built this power board so that I could easily/quickly turn the most used components on/off with ease. The back of it is a row of plug-ins so that I can easily plug in or change what ever component without having them hard-wired in.
Just a basic LCD to show me what the light settings are at through the cycle.
Latest FTS - photos not much chop but it shows the layout.
Thanks
The power is 6 female plugs from Bunnings mounted on a board (had to reduce the width of each to squeeze them into the space) and then added a box section and then some plastic sheeting (bottom of wife's laundry basket :D ) on the front to mount the switches (JayCar). And it just plugs in like a regular power board.
I had a sparky mate show me how to wire it all up and Bob's your uncle.
It really keeps all the plugs and wires back out the road and makes switching my regularly used items on/off and unplugging them so much easier.
If you're thinking of making one I can show you how it wires up.
This is the back of it.
The power is 6 female plugs from Bunnings mounted on a board (had to reduce the width of each to squeeze them into the space) and then added a box section and then some plastic sheeting (bottom of wife's laundry basket :D ) on the front to mount the switches (JayCar). And it just plugs in like a regular power board.
I had a sparky mate show me how to wire it all up and Bob's your uncle.
It really keeps all the plugs and wires back out the road and makes switching my regularly used items on/off and unplugging them so much easier.
If you're thinking of making one I can show you how it wires up.
This is the back of it.
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