Friar's 4 gallon Finnex - R.I.P.

[metrokat]

[friar1]

Aw shucks kat, no big deal really.

 

The tricky part is getting everything to work. It will probably cost me about 150 dollars when all is said and done, but this way I can pay for it in pieces. Without the interest

 

Can't wait to find more time for this light build.

 

Got a new emerald crab, hoping he will take care of my latest outbreak of that red thread algae.

 

Trumpet coral is becoming a mutant. I will have to get a picture up soon.

[friar1]

Now I am down in Hesperia, CA area, looking for an LFS I can go to on my way back home.

 

Spent last night putting LEDs in the MAkers LED HEatsink. Although I really like the heatsink, I found it is not so easy to use with the Solderless LEDs from LEDGroupBuy, but it works. More problematic was the Ocean White Combo LED I got from LEDGroupBuy. Seems the "Star" on this product is not really a star mount for the three LEDs on it, but rather a circle, I can get the screws on the heatsink to hold it down, but I think I will just get individual LEDs for the second half of the heatsink. ( only have enough for one cluster. Using the 12 inch heatsink, I will be running two clusters of RB NW and a blue red violet combo.

[Nano sapiens]

I've got a similar order with LEDGroupBuy, but will be mounting OCWs, HVs and either a RB or NW on a 10" x 1" heatsink to complement a bunch of Stunner Strips. Hope your build goes well!

[friar1]

Soooo,

I got the Jarduino controller running on my Arduino Mega with the touch screen. Not hooked up to any LEDs or anything, but I was able to adjust and get the software uploaded to the controller board so... It looks like this:

 

[friar1]

Haha!

 

Here is the prototype, Whites and Blues only. Jarduino works like a charm, fades work great.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[BrandonD32]

This tank has awesome colors. Looks great!

[owlbassboy]

wow thats great work kicks the ass out of my outdated controller lol

[friar1]

So here is an update, this time with pics.

 

The trumpet has now hit the glass of the tank, can't get to that part of the glass to clean it, well unless I move it, haven't done that yet

 

 

FTS 07/28/13

 

 

Brain Maze Coral almost completely recovered from last years attack from the bubble gum chalice

 

Ric and Zoas

 

 

And voila`! Makers LED HEatsink with full spectrum LEDs all attached and wired up. Well maybe not completely full spectrum. But I have 12 Royal Blues, 4 Neutral Whites, one Red, two Hyper Violet, and an Ocean Coral White 3up. Some reviews:

I don't really like the solderless LED's from LEDGroupBuy, (Sorry Milad) But only because I don't want to sacrifice convenience for good connections, so on the solderless ones, I made sure the connections to and from the drivers to the LEDs were soldered. Other than that, Thanks to Milad and LEDGroupBuy, I got an Awesome combo with the MakersLED Heatsink and a nice assortment of LEDs. Can't wait to try it out, but still gathering provisions for the 20 gallon tall build.

 

Still going nuts on the filtration for the 20 gallon too. I think now, I will just build a back wall out of black acrylic, make some chambers for a heater, with skimming teeth at that end, then chemipure elite and purigen in next chamber, then chaeto, baffles maybe, then return in final chamber. I might use a good half of it for a refugium, with live sand and different macros. but not sure about that yet, since it will be less accessible. Anyway, here are the LED all wired up.

 

 

[badfish816]

friar! good to see you still at it. tank looks amazing bud. neon candy is one of my favorite corals. and nice job on the arduino. its like you are speaking another language though. haha.

[.Newman.]

tank's looking good friar.

[friar1]

Thanks Newman!

Any chance you are getting a new tank anytime soon?

[markalot]

Missed the last update. Tank is looking good.

[.Newman.]

Thanks Newman!

 

Any chance you are getting a new tank anytime soon?

You know, I do want to start a reef vase much like brandon's, but right now is not a good time for me to be getting into reefs again. not enough time and funds - you know the deal lol.

[friar1]

That's right, funds. I have been planning a 20 gallon build for the last 6 months, then bought a house and whoops! no money! Well, I have been slooowly buying pieces here and there, building an LED light system, just purchased some black plexi for a back chamber and cut it with a jigsaw, cut really nice, just needed the right blade. Bought ten pounds of dry rock (gonna seed with some live rock from my current tank) gonna get ten more, almost ready to start, just need to finish the lights and build the back chamber that will house Chaeto, a heater and mechanical filtration as a pre-filter for the canister filter I will use. Also need to buy a powerhead or two. sheesh. That plus get my house ready for winter! lol

thanks for writing hope to hear from you again soon Newman

[friar1]

Oooh Lament! I don't now know where I will be getting livestock for the new 20 gallon. Was thinking about Premium Aquatics, but UPS over night with a small box is 70 plus dollars! ( I go online and go through ordering to see what a typical order my ship for) I can get small stuff from Salt Critters and I will be doing that, but for other things, like emerald crabs, fish, anemones, I can't find anything close that can ship overnight to me. Reef Cleaners only uses Express Mail for things like emerald crabs, that is 2-day to my place, even if shipped overnight. I have been all over, can't find anything with decent overnight shipping! What to do, what to do. I will have an empty 20 gallon when I get it up and running!

 

oh me oh my

 

So big question. Anyone have any suggestions for me? know of anyone shipping fast and at a decent price? I am in eastern California

 

Thanks,

Brian

[.Newman.]

there are no local stores with SW animals around you or in nearby towns?

[friar1]

Hi Newman,

Closest Store is 300 miles away.

 

On an up note, I got the acrylic pieces for my in-tank pre-filter/refugium all rough cut. I will take some photos when when I start bonding them together.

It's going to have a portion with teeth for skimming action where the water will enter. That is the first chamber and will contain mechanical filter, floss or something similar. The Second chamber will have various macro algae, maybe some live rock rubble too. And that second chamber will be lit alternate from the main tank. The other chambers will be blacked out. The last chamber will house the intake for the canister filter and a heater. It will cover half of the back of the tank and be about 3 1/2 inches deep, as tall as the tank. I need to get a router bit to cut the teeth into the first chamber portion and smooth some rough edges

[.Newman.]

thats no good

online stores are generally too much money and hassle if you are only buying one or two animals. if you get them all at once (for example all CUC at once) then you can try liveaquaria. they are great. but there's the negative of getting too many animals added to your tank at once...

idk how you would go about doing this in your case. do your best.

[friar1]

Yep, oh well.

 

Have to do the best I can huh?

 

At least I will have some livestock to put in, cause I am moving everything from the 4 gallon into the 20

[friar1]

but at the rate i'm going, the 4 gallon might hit 3 years by the time I switch over! haha

[.Newman.]

so eventually you're shuttin 'er down?

(this pico)

[friar1]

Yep, is that uncool? Well, I always said if I got a bigger house, I would build a bigger tank. I did so, I am, but only allowed 1 tank at a time lol!

 

This pico is very easy to care for, but I am running out of room and the only way I can now clean the glass of coraline is if I take everything out, not sure I want to do that again, but I might. There is a possibility that I may keep the pico going, but I just don't know at this point. 1 20 g will be quite enough work for me i Think!

[.Newman.]

no haha it's not uncool, it's fine. when you do transfer everything over, post up a link to the 20 gal in this thread so we can all follow.

[friar1]

Oh yeah, I will do that of course! But like I said, at the rate I am going, it might be awhile! (Hope Not!)