malawian Posted March 4, 2011 Share Posted March 4, 2011 Here it is...the BC 29 here it is as it stands with stock Power-Compact lighting, a pair of 36w bulbs. livestock: -two ocellaris clownfish -2 trochus snails -3 nessarius snails -1 astrea snail -1 fire red blood shrimp -3 red leg-hermits -1 sally lightfoot crab corals: -1 torch coral -2 frogspawn (5 heads/mouths) -green star polyps -1 blastomussa wellsi -1 unnamed green zoanthids (still recovering) hardware: -75 watt crap heater -maxi-jet 900 for return flow -siccee voyager 1 powerhead -stock filtration + filter floss -Hydor flow deflector other: -25 lbs sand (approx. 1.5 in. depth) -32 lbs live rock other pics a Trochus on the Hydor-go-round Michelle, the blood shrimp (and yes, Michelle is a boys name ladies...) a little dedication to Mr. Oscar, the poor little watchman that passed under my care (he lived happily for a few weeks then wasted away in the midst of good food he liked two days before with no toxins and no scars while everything else flourished...poor guy) Now... LEDs!!!! omgomgomg omgomgomg ok... first of all here are your LEDs...here are your LEDs on crack... I burned 5 LEDs when they shorted to the board and turned the circuit from an 8 LED to a 5 LED circuit in a second. poof gone. so i did some fixing and I got this. then I got more LEDs and I got this this is my other hardware dimmers (linear potentiometers are just cool...) a pair of TRP 700mA 40 watt drivers some fans to keep it cool and here is a good look at the heatsink im putting it all on. nanocustoms makes a good heatsink but be aware that its not made to fit the stars I used. I had to very carefully overlap the heads of the screws to hold down the stars. if youre using thermal adhesive you shouldnt have any problem. THE BUILD ok first I gutted the entire hood here is a good look at the inside of a BC29 hood for anyone else doing mods to theirs HOLY WICKED WIRES BATMAN everything wired up and then I said...let there be LIGHT! full blast over the tank full blue (LOL) and full white about where I keep it Ill get some good pics with the DSLR once I get it back Cheers! Thanks for looking! Link to comment
malawian Posted March 5, 2011 Author Share Posted March 5, 2011 LEDs are officially on the tank...too tired to post pics now, will post tomorrow hint: it took me 5 hours to install it (many hours of build before that) and looks F'ing SICK! Link to comment
malawian Posted March 7, 2011 Author Share Posted March 7, 2011 pics updated! LEDs are on the tank in the hood corals are looking GREAT! they love this! will post new pics of them when I get my DSLR back Link to comment
qbical Posted March 7, 2011 Share Posted March 7, 2011 looking good, how have your corals responded thus far? Link to comment
malawian Posted March 7, 2011 Author Share Posted March 7, 2011 great, my torch effectively doubled in size basically overnight! everything is beutifully extended and plump. ive also been able to move everything from up high to the sandbed. zoas are looking better, frogspawns are loving life....its been an impressive transformation overall. Link to comment
msujeff Posted March 7, 2011 Share Posted March 7, 2011 Nice retro! I have the 5.6 edison strip led kit coming soon from nc. I'm very excited to get these stock pc bulbs out of my tank. Link to comment
malawian Posted March 8, 2011 Author Share Posted March 8, 2011 do it...the difference is SO huge! my corals didnt look this good under the MHs at the store and some corals that were kind of hating me for a while sent me a thank you note yesterday Link to comment
Kazakoff Posted March 8, 2011 Share Posted March 8, 2011 Your Tank looks amazing!! I love the scape! Link to comment
malawian Posted March 8, 2011 Author Share Posted March 8, 2011 thanks! Ill post some new pics probably on wednesday once I have my camera back, tank looks much better now! moved all the corals around, their positions look better and they look MUCH healthier! Link to comment
msujeff Posted March 8, 2011 Share Posted March 8, 2011 do it...the difference is SO huge! my corals didnt look this good under the MHs at the store and some corals that were kind of hating me for a while sent me a thank you note yesterday I ordered it in December. I really like the torch. Going to be adding SPS or sticking with LPS and softies? Link to comment
malawian Posted March 8, 2011 Author Share Posted March 8, 2011 definitely getting some SPS now that I have the light for it. first on my list is some kind of monti cap. and maybe a birdsnest. with the pricetag on this upgrade, my new RO/DI and maybe a tank controller they may have to wait though. eventually the goal is a couple montis some acros, a clam and an anemone if I can get them to fit. the torch is great, it has extended about 50% more under these lights. the FS's havent extended much more but the polyps are much fatter. Link to comment
malawian Posted March 10, 2011 Author Share Posted March 10, 2011 UPDATE: first SPS is in the tank! its LOVING life! Its a montipora digitata, already nicely extended. Pics coming tonight or tomorrow. Link to comment
lohitha Posted March 10, 2011 Share Posted March 10, 2011 What light combination do you have? RB with CW or NW? I have RB, CW and NW and now feel that I should have gone with RB and NW. I want more red to pop. My LED retro is less than 2 weeks old and I am still at 50% intensity. So far my corals love it. Link to comment
malawian Posted March 10, 2011 Author Share Posted March 10, 2011 I have 5:4 RB:Whites (CW and NW), so thats 15 RB 6 NW and 6 CW all run at 700mA. I probably like a little more white then most people and with both channels even I love my color, bluish but not too blue. I am also at 50% (but keep in mind im at 700mA) and things are doing amazingly well, the change is nothing short of stunning, especially considering it has only been a few days. starting this weekend I will start upping the light just a tad. Link to comment
Atomic081 Posted March 11, 2011 Share Posted March 11, 2011 I love the tank. The rockwork is gonna be great!! Link to comment
malawian Posted March 11, 2011 Author Share Posted March 11, 2011 Thanks! I have the cichlids to thank I think they're going to look great once I get some more coraline, although the coraline on the center rock (which is highest in the tank in the very center of the array) has bleached a bit. its still looks kinda cool, very pale purple. hopefully it will turn around. my poor blastos have been suffering though, since before the lights changed. at first i thought the new lights were helping then but now Im not so sure...I may move them this weekend. also, another new coral! add a beautiful green bird's nest to the list (I just couldnt resist), its also loving life under the LED sun. Link to comment
malawian Posted March 12, 2011 Author Share Posted March 12, 2011 Ive turned down my lights to about a quarter, the SPS still seem to like it fine. I think my softies were starting to suffer a bit so I lowered the lights and they seem a bit better. Im going to keep 25% until about monday then go up to a little less than 50% Link to comment
malawian Posted March 30, 2011 Author Share Posted March 30, 2011 here is my tank now!! looking much better. still playing with color balance on the camera, its looking a little funky right now. the SPS are doing GREAT! growth has been awesome (the digitata is growing a fist! i think there are 8 points starting to grow from one spot). the milli glows neon pink too! new corals are: monti digitata (upper left) green birdsnest (mid left) encrusting milli (upper right) NEW FTS Uploaded with ImageShack.us The forgspawns (looking much better) Uploaded with ImageShack.us zoas (also looking much better) Uploaded with ImageShack.us GSP Uploaded with ImageShack.us digitata Uploaded with ImageShack.us digitata and GBN Uploaded with ImageShack.us encrusting milli Uploaded with ImageShack.us thanks for looking! Link to comment
malawian Posted April 7, 2011 Author Share Posted April 7, 2011 ive realized ive lost almsot all of my coraline with the LEDs...kind of a downside. i guess its just because they are so intense? my corals are doing great though and calc, alk, and Mg all check out...oh well Link to comment
malawian Posted April 12, 2011 Author Share Posted April 12, 2011 here is a new FTS, still working on getting decent shots with the DSLR under LEDs. any recommendations? corals are growing great though (look at the birdsnest and digitata) theyre growing new limbs like its going out of style. the milli hasnt grown much but its doing ok. got a beutiful favia. watching it carefully since it was cut just before i took it home. so far its doing great (its been 5 days). i had it near the zoas the first day and i think the zoa got stung pretty bad that night. they havent opened up much since but im hoping they come out soon. Uploaded with ImageShack.us Link to comment
jfarabaugh Posted April 12, 2011 Share Posted April 12, 2011 everything is overexposed which is washing your picture out. Also turn your pumps off Link to comment
drgreenz Posted April 12, 2011 Share Posted April 12, 2011 Very nice, the torch and FS look sweet. Link to comment
malawian Posted April 12, 2011 Author Share Posted April 12, 2011 good idea on pumps...that should have been obvious. problem i have is that when i expose less i get much better contrast but its overly dark. i have alot of experience doing B&W photography in a dark room but all this digital stuff is over my head. Link to comment
latteslave Posted April 12, 2011 Share Posted April 12, 2011 Very nice led build. Can't believe you fit everything in the hood! Glad to hear I am not the only one having trouble with pics under this kind of setup. I had better success after some advice from others. Definitely turn off powerheads. The shimmer is cool but not so good for pics. Start with whites only and set the White balance. Turn blues back on and get your pics. Can't wait to see some more photos. Link to comment
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