partyinyourhonor Posted January 27, 2011 Author Share Posted January 27, 2011 Added a third TrueLumen LED strip. So now I have two actinic and one 50/50. When all three are on, and the NEP is not, the light is deep blue/purple. Maybe kinda Fiji purple-ish. It is not completely ideal, but better, imo, than pure blue, which again to me is too black light like... you know makes the tank look like something our of Avatar... But, the LED's have given the tank a lot of extra pop. The clowns look great, their orange color is rich... same goes for the 6-line wrasse. The BSJF is electric... Light build: I needed some way to house the three strips. I couldn't figure out a good way to arrange them in/under the NEP (which sits directly on the aquarium's acrylic cover, so I attached them to a section of sheet aluminum. I plan on making some sort of slim hood that will hide the 3 cords coming off the lights, so that only one cord will come out of the fixture... I am thinking of using acrylic for that, basically an acrylic cube... but that's for a future post. Oh, also added ORA Hawkins Echinata frag at the very top of the live rock, I embedded it within a dead spot in pipe organ. I plan on added a few more pieces of SPS around the base of the Hawkins to crown the volcano like look that is going on in the aquarium. Any way the pictures tell better: Hawkins just added, pumps on LED strips with aluminum sheet profile view of the completed make-shift fixture I braided the three cords to reduce clutter Voilà Link to comment
d9hp Posted January 28, 2011 Share Posted January 28, 2011 I am loving this little video:David Gallo shows underwater wonders at TED That video is so wicked! The ending gave me the chills. What an incredible creature. Have you seen 'Life'? It's got some pretty wild moments in there as well. Sorry to hear the tank was having some troubles but I'm glad you're back on top of things. You'll have to update us on what you think about those LEDs. Link to comment
partyinyourhonor Posted January 28, 2011 Author Share Posted January 28, 2011 Here is the LED update... The three running are great... the color is good... not what I would consider perfect, but really good... What I like best is the lack of any sound when the LEDs are on. The aquarium is in our living room and the fans on the Nova Extreme Pro are, well, loud... so if we have people over, or are watching a film... I can turn of the main lights and just run the LED's... I am not sure how the lights are impacting the growth of the corals... Overall, the extra color boost is nice... the corals look twice as colorful... the fish too... However, there is a major problem... when all three are connected... the lights power adapter shorts out... the lights go dark for 10 or 20 seconds... then turn back on for a minute then short again... I am taking everything back to my LFS... they will test each piece... I am thinking its just the power source that is the problem... well see though.... Link to comment
partyinyourhonor Posted January 30, 2011 Author Share Posted January 30, 2011 LED update... brought light back to LFS... they agreed that it must be the power adapter/source... they gave me a new one... came home.... same damn problem... lights flicker ever 20 seconds or so... Link to comment
d9hp Posted January 31, 2011 Share Posted January 31, 2011 LED update... brought light back to LFS... they agreed that it must be the power adapter/source... they gave me a new one... came home.... same damn problem... lights flicker ever 20 seconds or so... It sounds like the load of the LEDs is too great for the power supply. When you run two strings only does it have the same problem? Do all 3 strings work correctly when you do that (still two at a time)? Can you give me some details about the power supply? Link to comment
partyinyourhonor Posted February 1, 2011 Author Share Posted February 1, 2011 Dustin, here is the power supply info Truelumen led power source When I run two strips there are no problems. I have interchanged all three strips while powering only two. When all three are running it shorts out... it also seems to be heat sensitive... it the room is warm, like 72, it takes only a few mins to start shorting out... if it is cool, like 60, it takes maybe 10 minutes... Link to comment
partyinyourhonor Posted February 19, 2011 Author Share Posted February 19, 2011 Tank is generally doing better... good growth on most corals... some are oddly not doing very well... specifically, zenia... one of the 4 or 5 different kinds of zoas... and the red monti... everything else is great... sps are growing moderately fast... same with war coral... and all LPS... Still haven't resolved LED lighting issues... kind of thinking of going with PAR 38's instead of the NEP... I have to replace the bulbs on the NEP and it is not that much more expensive to go with the 2 par's maybe 3... plus, I am sick of the loud fans in the NEP... Link to comment
partyinyourhonor Posted February 21, 2011 Author Share Posted February 21, 2011 Direct sunlight. Snapped some pictures in the morning with sunlight coming in through a nearby window... for about 2 months a year the tank gets a little morning sun. LED's where on... Link to comment
partyinyourhonor Posted February 25, 2011 Author Share Posted February 25, 2011 Added 1.5 Nuclear Green Paly's yesterday. For posterity: I think I've gotten a handle on most of the issues I have been dealing with over the past few months... basically, frequent water changes are a cure-all... Captain obvious. Moved some corals... I had a colony of acans high in the rock work and one low. They where added at the same time... essentially the same size.. the low has doubled (went from like 6 to 12 heads) the high colony added maybe 1 or 2 heads... needless to say the high is now also low. Good growth on all other corals.. (aside from issues with Xenia and GSP, but of which are not doing so hot). Hawkins is shifting color from all blue to blue and a bright hue of pink... Neon candy cane is going wild... 25ish mouths... War coral has grown off it's frag disk and is now encrusted... Pink and gold paly's have doubled or tripled...wins award for fastest growing paly... Cut ricordia down center last week... it is healing nicely. now I have two rics. Finally... And a bunch of other stuff going on... Link to comment
Recommended Posts
Archived
This topic is now archived and is closed to further replies.