ugly's fugly natural tank

[uglybuckling]

Most up-to-date FTS (likely reposted somewhere toward the end of the thread, too):

 

 

 

 

 

Finally got a few (bad) pics of the 75 coming together. It's a peninsula tank. Eventual plans are as follows:

 

20g long sump (already assembled and built into stand)

DIY full-spectrum Luxeon Rebel LED rig (many many PMs to Jedi--thanks again!)

Reefkeeper Lite

Two opposing 1600gph JBJ wavemaker pumps (run off reefkeeper)

~40lb BRS Pukani dry rock

~25lb live rock

 

 

Stocking plans include mostly softies and LPS with *maybe* a few SPS along the top of the ridge.

Fish will likely include FORTY SEVEN TANGS. Just kidding. Probably lots of gobies and shrimp, similar to kgoldy's tank. Honestly I'm kinda going to let my girlfriend pick out fish; I'm just in this for the corals.

 

 

This is how you know it's gonna be good:

 

 

 

 

Sump during water test. It's a 20 long.

 

 

 

First aquascape (please excuse my house--it's nuts right now with this build):

 

 

And then, like everybody else always does, I got mad at it and tore it all down and started again:

 

 

 

And this thing is running an awful lot these days....

[Deleted User 3]

I couldn't even look at the rest of the photos when I saw the first... going to have to look later, im LOL'ing... hahaha!

[jedimasterben]

JEAY-ZUS.

[jlbzixxer]

I really like your aquascape looks like its going to be a sick build

Lol i do the same just let the gf pick out the fish

[uglybuckling]

Couple lighting ideas with Steve's LEDs linear heatsinks and Luxeon Rebels:

Not clustered enough:

Better? Still kinda spread out...

[Spirofucci]

Nice! Second scape is mucho mejor!

[jedimasterben]

Both LED layouts are going to be a ####ton of light, too much for a 20g. I would do 4x of the NW/RB/RB 3ups and 2x of the exotic 3 ups, with 4x violet. You will still get a good spread even though it seems like there are so few LEDs.

[CLR]

Jedi he said it's a 75

[mattidallama]

he probably say 20 for the sump haha jedi

[Mr. Microscope]

Woohoo! Looks like a winner so far.

[uglybuckling]

Yeah, and that was only half the LEDs I was gonna use, hence the broken end on the rod. LoL.

 

Anyway, yes, it's a 75g. The plans I drew out were for 2 linear feet; the other two feet would be similar.

 

In total then it'd be either

(with the first plan):

twelve 3ups

six OCW

eight TV

 

or with the second plan:

sixteen 3ups

four OCW

eight TV

 

over a four-foot-long 75g tank.

 

Also I got these today (lucky find, seriously only $2 each! I think they're for like Pentium 2 servers or somesuch...) so I may need to try to use them instead:

 

Perfectly flat bottom, big enough for twelve stars each. I'm thinking six 3ups, two OCW, four TV per.

 

6+2+4 = 12. Woo!

[uglybuckling]

[Reefinaddiction14]

damn straight its ugly

[jedimasterben]

my god I need some sleep. I knew it was for a 75, I've talked with them about it, and I still managed to mess it up.

[uglybuckling]

Detailed the build of my custom LED fixture's legs over heeeyah:

 

http://www.nano-reef.com/forums/index.php?showtopic=311161

 

They're similar to kgoldy's mu legs, with a few changes for wiring and for not having to drill things that are harder than diamonds.

 

Enjoy.

[uglybuckling]

Finished up my LED array last night and this morning ("insomniac reefer" next to my user ID is no lie...).

 

Since

 

...here are a few.

 

This is the only one where I got the color balance right...ish. The rest look super blue and since I have a point-and-shoot, y'all are just going to have to live with it. This particular picture, by some accident of my horrific skills in photoshop, is close to what it looks like in-person. I can't quite describe how this picture is off, but it's still not 100% perfect color-wise...anyway, I'm very happy with the color spectrum of the LEDs--it's gorgeous, and anyone thinking about building an LED array should *definitely* go full-spectrum. The big pink thing below that makes it look like there's a rave in my tank's basement is my 'fuge light, which is eight 660nm reds and two royal blues.

 

 

Here's another one with some horrific color balance for comparison:

 

 

 

Did I mention they were bright?

 

That's twenty-four Luxeon RBs, twelve Luxeon NWs, four Luxeon OCW stars, and eight of some off-brand of true violet LEDs, on two 6x9" galvanized aluminum heatsinks with 100mm computer fans over them going full blast (12v, none of this pansy "fan dimmer" crap that people seem to get all worked up about. Loud reef is loud).

 

Anyway, by IR thermometer, the heatsinks run at about 110 degrees Farenheit right next to the stars. I don't want to measure the stars themselves because they're somewhat reflective and my IR thermometer doesn't seem to like them. Anyway, I can keep my finger right next to an LED indefinitely. I'm too scared to actually touch an LED while it's on. The IR thermometer was giving insane readings in the thousands of degrees (along with lots of weird errors) for the stars themselves (probably because they're reflective, but I don't want the battle-wounds to prove that the IR thermometer was actually telling the truth...). I would assume if something attached to the heatsink were above 2000 degrees farenheit, the heatsink would probably be hotter than 110. But what do I know?

 

The fixtures are attached to metal legs similar to those kgoldy built (with a couple of modifications, see above). These were then plasti-dipped. I'm thinking about getting rid of the eggcrate as it blocks a good bit of light:

 

 

 

Some drivers (these are behind a couch...nobody can see them when it's in place).

 

 

A box I built to hold some of the electronics and wires at bay:

 

The Dim4 is managing all the lights (dimming and on/off for the drivers via a relay); the Reefkeeper handles pH and temperature readings, the heater, wavemakers, and auto-top-off.

[uglybuckling]

 

This is the plan that got used btw.

[uglybuckling]

A few pics of the fuge:

 

This chaeto started off the size of a golf ball 2 weeks ago. Think my tank is cycling?

The LEDs over the chaeto make it look like pepto-bismol (the flash fixes it to some degree; see below) but I think the chaeto likes it, anyway.

 

The fuge light. And yes, I know my pH probe isn't plugged in. =) It was beeping at me because the calibration is off and it was registering an absurd pH. I don't like things that beep. Also, this fan totally ate it in shipping, and the company that sold it to me was kind enough to replace it, but I superglued it back together and finally got enough courage to turn it on. It still works, so why not use it?

 

 

See? Pepto bismol:

 

 

I use an upside-down bowl with a big hole in the bottom (through which the drain from the overflow passes) and a few little holes around that, to let air out. This prevents bubbles from covering the top of my fuge and popping all over the place, generating huge amounts of salt creep:

 

 

And finally, some gratuitous hydroids in the display tank because I found them and they're cool (they aren't on the pump, they are on the glass. The pump is to convince my *%#%& camera to focus on them).

[jedimasterben]

[uglybuckling]

Just two new pics tonight, and one old one for comparison.

 

Old pic first:

Fuge 9/29/2012:

 

New pic #1: Fuge 10/4/2012:

 

 

My probes are clearly breeding. This requires very precisely-calibrated moonlighting cycles.

 

 

New pic #2: The stand for the 33g long that I'm tying into this system as a "hang on back" fuge (for volume, nutrient removal, a space to keep a frogfish or pipefish, and MACROS):

 

Sucker is 48 inches high and solid as a rock. Also weighs >100 pounds now that it's skinned in plywood. I had a helluva time lifting it back into the house.

 

Please pardon my garage. It is a wonderland. =)

[jedimasterben]

dayummmmmm

[uglybuckling]

I'm going to hijack my own thread and post pics of the other animals that I share my house with:

 

Hedwig the year-old albino hedgehog:

 

 

 

Shai Hulud the Kenyan sand boa:

 

 

Loki the (very young) bumblebee ball python:

 

 

Basil, the 9-year-old ball python:

[uglybuckling]

The 33 long on its new stand, next to the current 75g display and 20g sump system:

 

 

This will be hooked in via pump (into 33g long) from the display tank, with gravity overflow (out of 33g long) back into the display tank. Thus I will not have to match any pump outputs. Two separate loops.

 

Since it's all one big system, the new tank doesn't get its own thread.

 

Lighting will be two "Evil Clusters" (a giant neutral-white bridgelux array surrounded by enough royal and cool blue LEDs to make the color temperature slightly higher than 4000K).

 

Still going back and forth on whether to put a DSB in this monster. Would not be the whole tank, clearly--maybe build a few short (6" high) divider walls, and find a way to confine the deeper sand to somewhere between a quarter and half the tank, preferably in the back. =) The stand can *definitely* support the weight, and that wall behind the tank is an external wall of my house, meaning it's made of concrete blocks, so the floor is very well-supported under this tank. I'm not worried about weight, just the possible negatives that come with DSBs.

[jedimasterben]

I wouldn't bother with the DSB. They aren't as efficient as other methods of denitrification.

[uglybuckling]

Oh also, for anyone looking for advice on building 48 inch tall stands...don't.