KDris Posted April 6, 2008 Share Posted April 6, 2008 -Here's my version of the 5.5G all in one thats been gaining popularity. -It uses 6x 12" computer cold cathode tubes, 4 white and 2 blue. -It will be my dorm tank when I go off to college in a year. -Been set up about 3 months, all frags coming from my 50G *Special thanks to Agu for all your help with the cold cathodes and other random advice and Sandeep for the inspiration* Objective: Low maintenance super quiet dorm nano Equipment: AGA 5.5G Mini jet 606, Aquahub ATO, 6x12" CCFL tubes, 2x4" CCFL (fuge light) FTS: (Water a little cloudy ran out of carbon..) Front View Left Side (View from my bed) Right Side Equipment: 6x 12" CC + 2x 4" CC Mini DIY magnet cleaner <1/2" thick ATO,heater,sponge Side view of heater,ATO,chaeto ball,project box with CC ballasts/ATO wire -the ATO and CC's are wired into two computer molex connectors for quick disconnects -That's it for now! just my version of the ever popular 5.5G with built in fuge =) Link to comment
Hoosierfan Posted April 6, 2008 Share Posted April 6, 2008 I've never heard of anyone using cold cathode tubes for lights. I'm not sure that it will work, but I'll be tagging along to watch the progress. Link to comment
getalife Posted April 6, 2008 Share Posted April 6, 2008 nice tank . same .. cold cathode... is that strong enough?. it will be great to see how things work out int his tank Link to comment
KDris Posted April 6, 2008 Author Share Posted April 6, 2008 nice tank . same .. cold cathode... is that strong enough?. it will be great to see how things work out int his tank -I'm not the first one to do this and I can't take credit for it either. I got the idea from Agu. His 5.5G has the same exact set up as mine with 4 white and 2 blue cold cathodes. -Also I tested them for about 3 months with some ricordea frags, and the kenya trees before i added anything else. They all seemed to grow about the same as if under PC's but the cathodes produce a lot less heat. They are warm to the touch about 100* F but nothing like the heat regular PC's put off. -Any other comments or questions greatly appreciated Link to comment
Sandeep Posted April 8, 2008 Share Posted April 8, 2008 Nice looking wooden stand/top. Beautiful job of landscaping your coral islands - perfect scale making the tank look bigger and open. Link to comment
KDris Posted April 8, 2008 Author Share Posted April 8, 2008 Thanks for the compliment and thanks for the idea Sandeep! Link to comment
c est ma Posted April 9, 2008 Share Posted April 9, 2008 Lovely! What are your rocks sitting on? --Diane Link to comment
KDris Posted April 9, 2008 Author Share Posted April 9, 2008 Lovely! What are your rocks sitting on? --Diane Thank you! Its just a normal cutting board from K-Mart that I bought and cut to size. Link to comment
Pet-Lover Posted April 15, 2008 Share Posted April 15, 2008 Are these Cold Calthodes LED? meaning you only have to buy a new set every few years, or are they flourecent (2 sets/year) and are they hooked up normally with a Power Bar or did you hook it up with a powersupply to a powerbar? EDIT: and is all that powerfull enough for some low SPS? because i can get those lights for only 30 dollars and a cheap powersupply (10) if using power supply Link to comment
KDris Posted April 15, 2008 Author Share Posted April 15, 2008 Are these Cold Calthodes LED? meaning you only have to buy a new set every few years, or are they flourecent (2 sets/year) and are they hooked up normally with a Power Bar or did you hook it up with a powersupply to a powerbar? EDIT: and is all that powerfull enough for some low SPS? because i can get those lights for only 30 dollars and a cheap powersupply (10) if using power supply No, they aren't LED's; they are another type of fluorescent bulb, CCFL=cold cathode fluorescent lighting. Supposedly they last longer than than regular fluorescents, I've had them six months and haven't noticed a drop in intensity or spectrum shift so I'm assuming they last longer. If they last two years then I'd be happy. Not much testing has been done if any so idk if they can support SPS or not. I don't own a lux meter or par meter so i can't test either. However, eventually I might add a small frag of the orange montipora colony I have and see how it does. Everything so far has been growing great, but no SPS yet. Link to comment
Pet-Lover Posted April 15, 2008 Share Posted April 15, 2008 If it does use a powersupply, do you only need the cheaper ones? (300W) Im guessing it it powerfull enough for SPS but because its Flourecent it wont make then flourish. Link to comment
KDris Posted April 15, 2008 Author Share Posted April 15, 2008 If it does use a powersupply, do you only need the cheaper ones? (300W) Im guessing it it powerfull enough for SPS but because its Flourecent it wont make then flourish. I'm using a a 250watt power supply from an old dell computer and its got plenty of power, you just have to jump the "on" wire (usually green i think) to any grounds on the main connector to get it to work. However it's probably only using about 60-70watts but I don't have have a kill-a-watt to test it either. I can't really give any advice on the SPS its hard to say and its still not proven, as far as I know only myself and one other person have tried this... HTH Link to comment
lilredneckman Posted April 15, 2008 Share Posted April 15, 2008 Wow i am really liking this! I cant wait to see how the lighting works out. Link to comment
KDris Posted April 15, 2008 Author Share Posted April 15, 2008 Wow i am really liking this! I cant wait to see how the lighting works out. Thanks! Link to comment
lilredneckman Posted April 16, 2008 Share Posted April 16, 2008 About how much did all the lighting cost you? Link to comment
TheUnfocusedOne Posted April 16, 2008 Share Posted April 16, 2008 weres the tang? or the angel fish?! but seriously, what r ur plans for live stock? Link to comment
KDris Posted April 16, 2008 Author Share Posted April 16, 2008 weres the tang?or the angel fish?! but seriously, what r ur plans for live stock? This one is for the moorish idol ... but really right now all i have is two astrae snails and a scarlet reef hermit in there...I want to keep the bio load as low as possible but I might add a porcelain crab, or small skunk cleaner a little later..i'm also considering adding some glass shrimp which I can catch locally...lol undecided would be the best answer at this point Link to comment
KDris Posted April 17, 2008 Author Share Posted April 17, 2008 About how much did all the lighting cost you? about $25 with shipping Link to comment
KDris Posted April 18, 2008 Author Share Posted April 18, 2008 couple days ago I added three glass shrimp, lol two are doing great but one got eaten by my yuma. They are pretty active and fun to watch. When they are standing still and up really close you can see their heart pumping inside their head. Link to comment
KDris Posted April 22, 2008 Author Share Posted April 22, 2008 -Back from my trip, and everything survived the four day absence no problems, ATO worked like a champ. -Corals seem fine too,the finger leather and kenya trees are getting huge -Frags of purple plume gorg have made bases around their frag plugs -Both florida ricordea now have two mouths -Still worried about temp, saw it hit 86 before i left =/ Link to comment
Daemonfly Posted April 23, 2008 Share Posted April 23, 2008 I'm wondering how the CCFLs would perform if each had a separate, properly sized(tiny) reflector, similar to T5s. Also, since they're housed in a rather thick acrylic tube, one could actually remove them if you were careful enough, and could DIY up a mounting system. Gonna have to experiment Link to comment
Menace Posted April 23, 2008 Share Posted April 23, 2008 I started looking these up all over the place looking for PAR and PUR comparisons and got nothing but i did see something over and over again.. "Light output up to 709 lumens per foot (equal to T-8 fluorescent)" and that's for the industrial HO version of these for architectural lighting. Something tells me these are no good for SPS corals Link to comment
Daemonfly Posted April 23, 2008 Share Posted April 23, 2008 They are also TINY though, 1/2" wide or so at the widest part - the square block at the end. They're also only $5 on sale at http://www.petrastechshop.com/12duccki.html for the dual 12" kit. Considering a 5.5g is about 8" (of the top of my head) front-back, you could easily fit 10-12 of these in a canopy, depending on how you made it. This might just make up for their output. I used to dismiss these due to their lower output, but after thinking about how cheaply you could fit a lot of them over the tank, they are now quite interesting. I have a bunch I haven't used in my computers, so I think I'll experiment on making small separate single reflectors for them. Link to comment
Menace Posted April 23, 2008 Share Posted April 23, 2008 and that's for the industrial HO version of these for architectural lighting. There is no data on the version used in PC's but i'm sure from the side by side pics that they have about 1/3 the light output. But hay i guess it's not just lumens, it's the PUR that realy matters. I would be realy interested to know where these fall in to that catagory. They would be a very cheap alternative to current lighting. I would like to know about depth penatration as well. Link to comment
KDris Posted April 23, 2008 Author Share Posted April 23, 2008 -Ya they acrylic tubes they come in probably block a lot of light, the actual glass bulbs inside are probably only about 2-3mm. -I didnt remove tha acrylic because the way they are wired it would have been dangerous, and the acrylic tubes and blocks made installation/waterproofing way easier. -Making individual reflectors would be a pain,they would probably be less than 1" across, but may be worth it. I just polised a piece of heavy duty aluminum foil and glued it in place. -Even if they are the equivalent of a T8 instead of 2-3 being able to fit you could probably fit about 30 if you removed the acrylic tubes, I current have 6. -Color spectrum shift is my main concern with them at the moment -For me it was an easy/low cost option for what I wanted to do,but the time and $$ required to wire enough for SPS would probably best be spent on a 70watt or 150watt MH retro -Updated pics in a few.. Link to comment
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