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Coral Vue Hydros

DIY LED JBJ NC 28 -> Now with 100% more macros AND a NEW FTS! weeeeeee.....


dhraakoxr

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Wow your tank is looking great! thats a heck of alot of growth and coloration in just a few months. I love the aquascape as well. Great job..

 

Thanks i appreciate it! Ive also been happy about the growth. That green digi floors me with how fast it grows.

 

I love your build ive been following it since like the 2nd page.

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Kind of a neat picture. I had the blinds open so sunlight was just blasting onto the tank and it created a lot of neat colour situations. I think the best one was the following coral. It had violet pigments in it which was outstanding! Just ignore the right side of the coral.. it lives in a shadow.

 

IMG_12482.jpg?t=1298349945

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Great rock work! That last pic is pretty cool.

 

Thanks and thanks! I was impressed because it only has a small hint of violet and blue normally. I guess some wavelength in the sunlight brought out some extreme violet :).

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MOAR! I FINALLY got a view box from a buddy of mine:

 

Acan land cont:

 

This one I've NEVER been able to get a good pic since it's in the center of my tank. Top down defeated this problem:

 

Ignore the sand.. some jerk fish decided to throw sand around the place.

 

IMG_1358.jpg?t=1298357251

 

IMG_1360.jpg?t=1298357252

 

There's actually two different morphs in this one colony. As time goes on I'll get better pics. The view box is a serious PITA to make it and my camera stay.

 

IMG_1365.jpg?t=1298357993

 

IMG_1368.jpg?t=1298357254

 

IMG_1369.jpg?t=1298357992

 

This one has been absolutely impossible to get pictures of since it's a shallow acan. It doesn't puff up at all and is flat on the substrate. Finally i can look into the inner acan areas.. man I was I impressed. One even has TWO mouths! I didn't even know that till I was looking at the pictures :lol:.

 

IMG_1375.jpg?t=1298357258

 

IMG_1384.jpg?t=1298357262

 

Random SPS. I love how this thing has been growing! I wish I could have used an fstop of like 7-9 and seen if I could have gotten the whole colony. I'll figure this view box thing out.

 

IMG_1399.jpg?t=1298357268

 

GREEN LAND! This is mostly for me to look at and reflect on how green these colonies have gotten since I had them in the BC14. I'd put a heart emoticon here if there was one.

 

IMG_1390.jpg?t=1298357746

 

I didn't know which picture I liked best so here's a different depth of field shot:

 

IMG_1391.jpg?t=1298357780

 

This used to be almost WHITE!

 

IMG_1396.jpg?t=1298357782

 

Closey:

 

IMG_1414.jpg?t=1298357269

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amazing pictures! they look great!

 

Thanks a bunch! Great luck with your tank! Looks like you're just starting to getter stocked. I'd like to try an MP10 in my display one day as well. Sounds like it works well for your setup.

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Thanks a bunch! Great luck with your tank! Looks like you're just starting to getter stocked. I'd like to try an MP10 in my display one day as well. Sounds like it works well for your setup.

Thanks, I've been waiting on my LEDs from nanotuners so I didn't want to go through a big light acclimation when I upgraded from the crappy PCs to the equivalent of a 150 hqi. Your acan garden has me intrigued. Any words of wisdom for keeping SPS? The PE on those last pics are insane.

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Thanks, I've been waiting on my LEDs from nanotuners so I didn't want to go through a big light acclimation when I upgraded from the crappy PCs to the equivalent of a 150 hqi. Your acan garden has me intrigued. Any words of wisdom for keeping SPS? The PE on those last pics are insane.

 

Yeah good call on the corals vs light upgrading and acclimation. LEDs I found can be absolutely harsh on corals if you don't acclimate them properly.

 

SPS and LEDs or really any coral on LEDs yes I do have some words for yah. TURN THEM DOWN! Do NOT go off your eyes for how bright you should keep them because your eyes are wrong period. I bleached almost every single piece of SPS I owned because I was going off my eyes with LEDs back with my old BC14.

 

I only have 15 LEDs over my tank and run my whites at ~350ma (750ma buckpuck) and my blues at ~350-400 per string. That gives you an idea of how low I run my LEDs yet you can see the results of my colouration. For me, I know the light intensity is pretty much perfect. It took me a year to figure this out. So really I'd say turn them down to the point or just before the point in which your zoa's are huge and stretched out and you SPS is almost browing because then you know that you only need to increase you LEDs dials by like 5-10 percent to get some good colour. This is better than waiting for 5 months for things to become unbleached.

 

Oh and of course as per always: good water chem is a must :). But that's a given.

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Everything looks really good man.. Loving the tank.

 

Thanks a bunch! Looking forwards to having everything grown in! I guess I need time for that one though ;).

 

I too am digging your tank. Perhaps one of the best nano's with LED's I've seen. That chalice looks like dinosaur skin.

 

Ah geez thanks man. I donno about one of the best but I appreciate it!

 

I didn't even know how wild that chalice looked until I looked at it from that view box. Just stupid really. I guess I'll leave it there since it looks happy. I don't even know what it's name is, maybe someone will ID it for me, I haven't come across that colouration before.

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Wow, great photography. I have a new DSLR and have not been able to adjust my white balance properly in order to shoot under actinic lighting. You seem to have it down, any tips?

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Thanks! :D

 

Yup I can give you some tips!

 

Shoot in RAW then fix the white balance after words using something like photoshop or a program included with your DSLR.

 

Here's an awesome link that I used to learn how to make photo's come out as you see them:

 

http://www.cichlid-forum.com/articles/digital_photo_post.php

 

It takes a few to get fast at post processing but eventually you get it down to taking like 5 minutes a picture.

 

I use white balance to get the WB close then I use the colour tool to actually fine tune the colours to be accurate to the tank. Next, I use the s-curve tool to brighten the pics since you make them so under-exposed via the initial white balance/exposure adjustment step. I never touch brightness or saturation.. you're results may vary though.

 

That's the only thing with shooting in RAW.. there is no processing done by the camera so you have to do everything. It's truely the only way to do it under blue light though as you can see from my pics.

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Awesome, thank you so much! I have photoshop so I will try this, this specific information has been hard to find.

 

Thanks! :D

 

Yup I can give you some tips!

 

Shoot in RAW then fix the white balance after words using something like photoshop or a program included with your DSLR.

 

Here's an awesome link that I used to learn how to make photo's come out as you see them:

 

http://www.cichlid-forum.com/articles/digital_photo_post.php

 

It takes a few to get fast at post processing but eventually you get it down to taking like 5 minutes a picture.

 

I use white balance to get the WB close then I use the colour tool to actually fine tune the colours to be accurate to the tank. Next, I use the s-curve tool to brighten the pics since you make them so under-exposed via the initial white balance/exposure adjustment step. I never touch brightness or saturation.. you're results may vary though.

 

That's the only thing with shooting in RAW.. there is no processing done by the camera so you have to do everything. It's truely the only way to do it under blue light though as you can see from my pics.

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What did you use to attach the rocks to the pvc??? Great scape btw!

 

Hey, I tried to reply to your pm but your inbox is full. This was what I meant to reply with:

 

"Hey you bet. What I did was I tried to find rocks that fit together and I formed the rocks around the pipe attaching the rocks together as opposed to attaching the rocks to the pipe. I did use some super glue to attach to the rocks to the pipe but I found they didn't stick so well. To attach the rocks on the bottom of the pipe I used dental floss to hold it all together and then used super glue on the rocks. Once the general shape was built and set together I started using reef epoxy to help strengthen everything. Next, I submerged the entire thing in my tank and epoxied some more. It was really easy to work with the rock work in the tank because it was much lighter (obvious I guess).

 

Oh tons of patients... you need TONS of patients as well."

 

How about a little more detail on the led configuration... How big is the heatsink and how far apart do you have them mounted?

 

Thanks!

 

Some info on the LEDs (All 3W Cree LEDs):

 

CW=Cool White

NW= Neutral White

RB=Royal Blue

CB=Cool Blue

TV=True Violet

 

Rough Arrangement:

 

--FRONT OF TANK--

 

CW TV RB TV CW

RB NW CB NW RB

CB RB CW RB CB

 

--BACK OF TANK---

 

Actual arrangement:

 

Picture030-1.jpg?t=1298525836

 

NOTE: Black LEDS=TV

NOTE: The other two LEDs under egg crate = NW

 

Now the spacing and dimensions have changed since my initial setup. There's about 1.5 inches or so between each LED and if you look at the pic above you'll notice how four of the LEDs have been cut off and four other ones are in place. This is because I changed 2 CW to NW and two CB to TV for a spectrum change. I have OK coverage with this but I will be adding in a few more RB's to fill in some gaps created at the front of the tank.

 

The heatsink was from:

 

www.heatsinkusa.com

 

I THINK the dimensions were something like 12inch by 6-7inch and ~1.5inches tall.

 

Awesome, thank you so much! I have photoshop so I will try this, this specific information has been hard to find.

 

NP! Good luck! If you need anymore tips I'll do my best to help you out!

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Sweet... Planning mine now. Looking at doing twenty total in a 4 x 5 configuration. Do the violets add enough to make the difference?

 

Nice man. The violets add very very slight colour but the point of it is (or is thought to be) is for coral health and growth since LEDs don't naturally output anything useful in the lower wavelength spectrum. So far so good for me. I wouldn't say you need many of them if you choose to.

 

Check this link out for more info:

 

http://www.nano-reef.com/forums/index.php?showtopic=246394

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Love the tank! Thanks for the LED layout, how many strings and what is your color mix per string? Earlier you mentioned buckpucks and approx 350ma for the white combos and 350-400ma for the blues. Are you running the CBs and RBs and TVs at the same current; also for the NWs and CWs? There has been lots of discussion about the CBs overpowering the overall color, but your's looks awesome to me.

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Love the tank! Thanks for the LED layout, how many strings and what is your color mix per string? Earlier you mentioned buckpucks and approx 350ma for the white combos and 350-400ma for the blues. Are you running the CBs and RBs and TVs at the same current; also for the NWs and CWs? There has been lots of discussion about the CBs overpowering the overall color, but your's looks awesome to me.

 

Thanks! :D

 

I have 3 strings:

 

S1: 3CW and 2NW

S2: 2TV and 3CB

S3: 5RB's

 

S1 is powered by a 750mA buckpuck running @ ~350mA

S2 is powered by a 750mA buckpuck running @ ~350mA

S3 is powered by a 1000mA buckpuck running @ ~400mA

 

Even when I had 5CBs and 5RBs back in the day I didn't notice the CB's overpowering anything. I'm sure I always kept them ~100mA less than the RB string mind you. Now, with only 3CB's I notice nothing but the colour tint of the RB's when only the S2/S3 (actinic) strings are on.

 

Hey great looking tank man! Did you notice any difference in you coral after changing out the LED's for the CW and TV?

 

Thanks a bunch! I appreciate it!

 

I've always had the CW's but the NW's are the new addition along with the TV's. I honestly noticed a huge difference when I changed them BUT I went from a BC14 with many bleached colourless corals due to over exposure to what you see now. All I can tell you is my colour and growth is awesome currently. Considering how many people complained about the lack of SPS colour with just CW/RB I'd say my little experiment has yielded great results.

 

And lets be honest, putting TV's/NW's in your strings to replace CW's/RB's is not a biggy since the CREE LEDs most are using cost the same and have the same forward voltage. So it's not like anyone is losing anything with experimenting anywho.

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