Reef Casa Posted January 17, 2012 Share Posted January 17, 2012 I love the way it looks on that piece of furniture great job Link to comment
SnakPak Posted January 18, 2012 Author Share Posted January 18, 2012 I had a marineland 45g cube on an ikea kitchen cabinet for almost two years. No problems with the sump and humidity at all. I had to brace it obviously, but a few 2X4's in there and it was strong. I don't think you will have any problems with humidity and the ikea stand. You don't have huge water volumes either so you won't have nearly the evap I had. By the way I am really thinking about getting a 60f. I do love them and found a dealer up here in Canada. My question is to sump or not to sump. Do I get the lily pipes or not. I did however see a tank on here with the mame and man is that thing hot! Thanks for the info. I guess when we're talking about maybe an additional 3-4 gallons it won't be a ton of humidity inside the cabinet. Plus, I'm planning on drilling some holes and possibly mounting pc fans in there to keep the air fresh inside the cabinet. I've seen drilled, lily pipes, and a MAME overflow. It's really up to you and what you want to do with it. I would have loved to have done a MAME overflow, but the cost really kept me away. I've read that lily pipes are really fragile, otherwise they are nice. I love the way it looks on that piece of furniture great job Thanks! I really enjoy the new location too. Link to comment
Reef Casa Posted January 18, 2012 Share Posted January 18, 2012 I feel like i'm looking into space when I see that clam Please murder that aiptasia Link to comment
SnakPak Posted January 18, 2012 Author Share Posted January 18, 2012 I feel like i'm looking into space when I see that clam Please murder that aiptasia Oh trust me, I've been going on murdering sprees with them. They don't ever seem to completely die. It's very, very annoying. Link to comment
qualitycontrol Posted January 19, 2012 Share Posted January 19, 2012 I hear peppermint shrimps will eat them. Maybe consider? Link to comment
SnakPak Posted January 19, 2012 Author Share Posted January 19, 2012 I hear peppermint shrimps will eat them. Maybe consider? Sometimes they do, sometimes they don't. I've tried them in the past with no luck. Link to comment
SnakPak Posted January 22, 2012 Author Share Posted January 22, 2012 Officially decided to sell my par38s. Still undecided on what I want to use, but I'm planning on looking at the AI Nano at my LFS today. Link to comment
Reef Casa Posted January 24, 2012 Share Posted January 24, 2012 Officially decided to sell my par38s. Still undecided on what I want to use, but I'm planning on looking at the AI Nano at my LFS today. I'm selling mine too filling up my shopping cart from Rapid Led as we speak for a DIY set up Link to comment
SnakPak Posted January 24, 2012 Author Share Posted January 24, 2012 I wish I was filling up a shopping cart with lights right now. My wife said I have to sell these before I purchase anything else. Ugh. I decided against a DIY setup. I'm leaning more towards an AI Nano at the moment, though T5s are still in the back of my mind. Link to comment
JayPagi Posted January 24, 2012 Share Posted January 24, 2012 I think that little AI Nano would look sweet over your tank... very tidy. Link to comment
SnakPak Posted January 25, 2012 Author Share Posted January 25, 2012 That's what I'm thinking too. I've got some other things in mind, but I'll let pictures speak for me. Let's just say I've been very inspired lately. Link to comment
SnakPak Posted January 25, 2012 Author Share Posted January 25, 2012 Not the best photo, but this was taken back in August. I've recently started feeding a lot more, and this coral is really coloring up. I'm thinking part of the reason I've had such bad luck with keeping SPS corals is due to the low level of nutrients in the tank. I've rarely fed (1-2 times a week, if that). Not sure if it's my increase in water changes lately, or just the new amount of feeding that I'm doing, but this little guy is turning around for the better. I'll post up a recovery pic after I clean the tank. It's absolutely disgusting right now. Link to comment
Reef Casa Posted January 25, 2012 Share Posted January 25, 2012 I wish I was filling up a shopping cart with lights right now. My wife said I have to sell these before I purchase anything else. Ugh. I decided against a DIY setup. I'm leaning more towards an AI Nano at the moment, though T5s are still in the back of my mind. Sell the lights before getting the AI? Hide the bulbs in the trunk of the Mazda go out and buy the AI tell her you sold them and post them.online after Link to comment
JayPagi Posted January 25, 2012 Share Posted January 25, 2012 Sell the lights before getting the AI?Hide the bulbs in the trunk of the Mazda go out and buy the AI tell her you sold them and post them.online after HAHA... dude Link to comment
SnakPak Posted January 25, 2012 Author Share Posted January 25, 2012 Sell the lights before getting the AI?Hide the bulbs in the trunk of the Mazda go out and buy the AI tell her you sold them and post them.online after Haha, not a bad idea. No more mazda though....Suby STi. Link to comment
SnakPak Posted January 27, 2012 Author Share Posted January 27, 2012 Well, decision time. DIY LEDs or AI Nano? There are pro's and cons to both. DIY route would be a significant cost savings, but I'm just not sure I can make it look super pretty. AI Nano is super nice, small, but paired with the controller, expensive. Thoughts? Edit: I know this has been debated heavily as I've been searching this topic for weeks now. Just feeling the crowd out one last time. Link to comment
iball1804 Posted January 27, 2012 Share Posted January 27, 2012 Depending on really what the final product is, I'd go with the Nano. Link to comment
Reef Casa Posted January 27, 2012 Share Posted January 27, 2012 Well, decision time. DIY LEDs or AI Nano? There are pro's and cons to both. DIY route would be a significant cost savings, but I'm just not sure I can make it look super pretty. AI Nano is super nice, small, but paired with the controller, expensive. Thoughts? Edit: I know this has been debated heavily as I've been searching this topic for weeks now. Just feeling the crowd out one last time. DIY! Look at JayPagi's DIY covered in whtie acrlyic its very simple to do and it looks sleek , modern and just plain awesome My friend covered his heatsink with hardwood flooring from homedepot it looks ridiculous and professional and he is not even a DIY type of guy The AI is a beautiful little unit but I could never justify the $$ JMO I picked up a soderless plug N play 21LED set from rapid with every needed ( glue, cords,driversm( non dimmable),heatsink, hanging cords etc) for $230 Shipping included With the money $$ saved think about how many corals you can buy ( thats what I always think about when I'm equpiment shopping and thinking about price) Link to comment
SnakPak Posted January 27, 2012 Author Share Posted January 27, 2012 True, you make excellent points. In particular the money saved that could go towards corals. I'm just up in the air on the color combo. I'm thinking RB, NW and CW. Link to comment
JayPagi Posted January 27, 2012 Share Posted January 27, 2012 I wish I took time to understand all the available colors from CREE (reds and greens) and what effect they have! But the LEDS themselves aren't expensive and to change out a couple down the line if I don't love the color is really simple. One more thing to think about is how your going to mount your fixture. I think I'm going to use a RADION hanging kit on my light. If your thinking of mounting it to a wall you have to fabricate some kind of bracket. I had an awesome SS bracket made by a friend but at the last minute decided to hang the fixture. Link to comment
SnakPak Posted January 27, 2012 Author Share Posted January 27, 2012 I wish I took time to understand all the available colors from CREE (reds and greens) and what effect they have! But the LEDS themselves aren't expensive and to change out a couple down the line if I don't love the color is really simple. One more thing to think about is how your going to mount your fixture. I think I'm going to use a RADION hanging kit on my light. If your thinking of mounting it to a wall you have to fabricate some kind of bracket. I had an awesome SS bracket made by a friend but at the last minute decided to hang the fixture. I'm going to use the Rapidled Y-hanging kit. Similar to the Radion, just much cheaper. For as much time as I've put in researching, I still can't really come up with a defined color combo. The problem is using so little LEDs requires different power methods. I want to put NW and CW on separate channels, but by doing so I wouldn't have enough LEDs in my build to run meanwells. At that point I buy cheaper buckpucks, but then I would have to get a power supply for them both. So I'm thinking I'm going to put NW and CW on the same channel, RB on another channel and keep it simple this go around. If I decide I don't like the color, I can always change it. I guess that's the huge benefit to DIY, right? Link to comment
ditka Posted January 27, 2012 Share Posted January 27, 2012 if you are interested in doing a fixture with a good mix of colors then hit up DaveFason. he is selling a bunch of leds dirt cheap right now and could probably swing you a deal on a full kit to build your own nanobox "knockoff". here: http://www.nano-reef.com/forums/index.php?...=291890&hl= also, i think there are two questions you have to ask yourself in the led world. one, do i want a bunch of different colored leds? two, do i want to DIY? If you already have an aquarium controller it makes DIY a super viable option because you still have all the dimming and programming capabilities you would on a Radeon or AI sol or nano. if you are upgrading to led but not doing any dimming, i think you are kindof missing the boat... just my opinion. Link to comment
SnakPak Posted January 27, 2012 Author Share Posted January 27, 2012 if you are interested in doing a fixture with a good mix of colors then hit up DaveFason. he is selling a bunch of leds dirt cheap right now and could probably swing you a deal on a full kit to build your own nanobox "knockoff". here: http://www.nano-reef.com/forums/index.php?...=291890&hl= also, i think there are two questions you have to ask yourself in the led world. one, do i want a bunch of different colored leds? two, do i want to DIY? If you already have an aquarium controller it makes DIY a super viable option because you still have all the dimming and programming capabilities you would on a Radeon or AI sol or nano. if you are upgrading to led but not doing any dimming, i think you are kindof missing the boat... just my opinion. Well, I have Par38s right now. The reason I want to go to a LED fixture is for the dimming capabilities. I was planning on using the Typhon Controller if I went the DIY route. I just recently started looking at the DIM4 and it looks a little more promising. It would at the very least allow me to ditch the meanwell drivers, assuming I do all my calculations right. Which I will double check tonight. Edit: It would not allow me to ditch the drivers considering the number of LEDs that I would want to use. So back to the Typhon controller. Link to comment
chippwalters Posted January 29, 2012 Share Posted January 29, 2012 Love your tank! I want one. Really- do check out Dave Fason's fixtures out. He's a great guy to deal with! Link to comment
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