Robster Posted January 10, 2007 Author Share Posted January 10, 2007 Looks pretty good in there... I was just wondering about the possibility of them being too bright and not giving the inhabitants an actual lunar cycle... but that looks pretty good. Is that a pretty accurate picture Rob, or is it brighter/darker in person ??? Teal- Its a little brighter in person, I think. currently at full 12V feed and two 12" tubes...I've seen someone who used a variable Volt supply and trimmed it down to 9 or 7.5 and it caused the bulb to dim down pretty well. I think it looks pretty great. how are the LEDs does it make it look more like 3 lights vs. one?? Robster: Is the nano-stream in the first chamber worth the time/hassle it took you to install it? I am setting up a biocube with a stream, and am wondering if I should copycat or not... Thanks! Jafoca- so far I have been really impressed with the results. With filter floss located above the tunze, the filtration is amazing. I was able to clear the tank from the sand dust in a matter of about 1 3/4 hrs!! the rockwork must be setup to deflect it and at the same time, not giving it a straight shot downward, otherwise, I'm sure your substrait would go for a ride!! I get a little bit of movement of some sand grains, but I used the pretty fine Fuji Pink Agra-alive sand. I'm sure slightly larger grain wouldn't move at all. it is a tough call, it was pricey, and took quite a bit of work to do, and may be able to be accomplished with a different pump or couple pumps there. but I really like it, since I don't have to send all the nasty stuff through the fuge to get to the filter above the main pump. I'm having a little challenge with the tunze, I think the motor assmbly didn't get put in perfectly straight, so the blade kindof drags on the housing a little bit, sent them an email, and their going to swap it out for a new one (they got great customer service!!!) Kudo's to Tunze! Hope that helps -R Link to comment
jafoca Posted January 11, 2007 Share Posted January 11, 2007 Well then.... I was allready getting a nano-stream, but didnt know if I would do the same "in the wall" mod as you. Now I have decided to go ahead an do it. My stream will be shipping tomorrow, so hopefully I will get going with this all soon. I don't know if my sand is bigger or smaller than yours, I am planning to use mostly black tihitian moon sand with some agra alive "black" from my old tank to kick the cycle's butt. Anyway, thanks! Link to comment
Robster Posted January 11, 2007 Author Share Posted January 11, 2007 Well then.... I was allready getting a nano-stream, but didnt know if I would do the same "in the wall" mod as you. Now I have decided to go ahead an do it. My stream will be shipping tomorrow, so hopefully I will get going with this all soon. I don't know if my sand is bigger or smaller than yours, I am planning to use mostly black tihitian moon sand with some agra alive "black" from my old tank to kick the cycle's butt. Anyway, thanks! worst case scenario you can always plug it up if you don't like it!! but I'm sure you'll love it. You will surely need to do much testing in FW, as getting the flow balanced takes a little trial and error. the Rio 6HF is perfect, as it has an attachment in the box to adjust flow, which I did have to just a little to keep enough water going through the fuge to chamber 3, while the tunze was running!! -R Link to comment
jafoca Posted January 11, 2007 Share Posted January 11, 2007 Hrm... I was not planning on running a bigger than stock pump... I think that the circulation from the nano-stream will be plenty for my tank, so I want to just have that and the stock pump so I don't add any excess heat or power consumption. You reckon the upgraded return is necessary to balance the flow? What happens in your tank if the tunze or the return were to fail? Link to comment
Robster Posted January 11, 2007 Author Share Posted January 11, 2007 Hrm... I was not planning on running a bigger than stock pump... I think that the circulation from the nano-stream will be plenty for my tank, so I want to just have that and the stock pump so I don't add any excess heat or power consumption. You reckon the upgraded return is necessary to balance the flow? What happens in your tank if the tunze or the return were to fail? The Rio 6HF is a really low power consumption unit 15watts what the stock one is....who knows. (I use it for mixing my saltwater). As for the exact output from the Rio, I had to dial it back just a bit, so I wouldn't empty out chamber 3 too quickly, causing water to flow over the top of the false back wall (it is a balancing act, and having the adjustment valve in the box makes it the perfect addition, so I would recommend its addition in your tank. My assumption is that the stock pump is not as efficient as the Rio; as most are not e.g. the MJ1200 runs something like 22watts. The output from the rio is a larger diameter hose, and will fit snug over the bulk head eliminating the next to worthless elbow that comes stock. The setup I have, allows either one or the other or both to run at the same time. If the main pump failed, the filtration that is occuring in the chamber 1 powered by the tunze would be more than enough to suffice IMO; though I would be loosing all the fuge benefits and filtering. in my daily cycle, there will be times when just the main pump will be running, and times when just the tunze is running (this is tentative plan) either way the flexibility is very good. However, the tunze will NOT work as a wave-maker...don't cycle it on more than once per 15 minutes, as the prop doesn't always start spinning the right way, and can cause excessive wear and tear if continually starting/stopping the tunze (f.y.i.) Aside from the extra intake mods, it's runnin like a champ! -R Link to comment
TEALCOBRA Posted January 13, 2007 Share Posted January 13, 2007 Teal- Its a little brighter in person, I think. currently at full 12V feed and two 12" tubes...I've seen someone who used a variable Volt supply and trimmed it down to 9 or 7.5 and it caused the bulb to dim down pretty well. I think it looks pretty great. how are the LEDs does it make it look more like 3 lights vs. one?? Yeah, you can tell its 3 lights in there... they look OKAY, but with the Mh hood im building was looking at the ccfl tubes... I just got 2 UV's and one blue one for it... should work out okay. I also got some rubber dampers for the fans im going to be installing so I should have like zero noise from this hood... my biggest concern is still going to be heat, but hopefully with enough airflow I should be able to counteract it without losing too much LUX and PAR. Do the Mh work like PC with temp affecting the bulbs do you know ?? If it doesnt, im going to have a killer amount of airflow in there to keep it cool. Link to comment
Robster Posted January 13, 2007 Author Share Posted January 13, 2007 Teal- are you going to leave the top of the BC hood, or open that up for better heat exchange for the MH heat shield? Also, I wish that I would have had room toward the middle of mine for placement of the ccfl's (atleast one of the UV ones for better dispersion) we'll see once there's goodies in the tank -R Link to comment
TEALCOBRA Posted January 13, 2007 Share Posted January 13, 2007 Itll still have the top...... Im going to be getting some aluminum heat sink that we have laying around at work to hopefully help keep it under control... I just dont want to start it on fire. Ill definitely be using a temperature cutoff of some type on it. Link to comment
Robster Posted January 13, 2007 Author Share Posted January 13, 2007 Itll still have the top...... Im going to be getting some aluminum heat sink that we have laying around at work to hopefully help keep it under control... I just dont want to start it on fire. Ill definitely be using a temperature cutoff of some type on it. nice! love heat sinks... we'll need pics!!! -R Link to comment
jafoca Posted January 14, 2007 Share Posted January 14, 2007 robster: What dremmel bit did you use for cutting the vents? Link to comment
Robster Posted January 14, 2007 Author Share Posted January 14, 2007 robster: What dremmel bit did you use for cutting the vents? I believe it is the 1/8" straght cut high speed steel (square bottom) I have a couple, one was more fine than the other, the one that was a bit more coarse seemed to do a better job. -R Link to comment
Robster Posted January 17, 2007 Author Share Posted January 17, 2007 So, I peek at the tank this morning, and there's a sad little dead hermit crab laying on the sand, and NO shell to be found???!! clueless. thankfully ammonia didn't spike any but now I'm wondering what happened to his shell -R Link to comment
TEALCOBRA Posted January 18, 2007 Share Posted January 18, 2007 Any other smaller shells around ?? another hermit might have taken his shell for himself... Ive had a hermit kill a snail for its shell.... the little bastard. Link to comment
Robster Posted January 18, 2007 Author Share Posted January 18, 2007 Any other smaller shells around ?? another hermit might have taken his shell for himself... Ive had a hermit kill a snail for its shell.... the little bastard. naw.. I see 4 of the 6 hermits that were in there maybe #5 is hiding with his new booty?? Link to comment
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