75g SPS build.

[CrazyEyes]

It's been pretty crazy, actually the first day I felt great. Second I had a pounding headache. Then I was good then the past 3-4 days I've been like this. Same thing happened when I quit smoking for a few months about 4 years ago. It was pretty terrible. I think I am going to get some green tea and see if that helps curve this. I work at home so that has been pretty bad, not being able to concentrate. Shit sucks.

[NirvanaandTool]

Wow, good luck with the withdrawal from coffee. I used to do about 4 a day and now I cut it at 2 a day unless I've got an important afternoon meeting and need a kick in the pants for it

[Sunar357]

I only drank coffee when in the Army...to stay awake at times. I hate the taste. I did drink a lot of soda with caffeine in it though and when I gave that up I had really bad headaches for two weeks. I haven't had caffeine *except in chocolate or medicine* since 2000...one of the few not addicted to it!

[CrazyEyes]

Not my light but, I sold these lights to a friend of mine for his Evil Cluster build. It's

-2 Bxra 950-B-03's

-4 Luxeon M RB;s

-10 violets (From Steves)

-6 Luxeon cyans

-4 Luxeon cool blues( I think he used 4)

 

Anyways, this is going over a 29g BC SPS tank, I know it's crazy overkill but thank god for dimming, I think he said this is at 5%

 

This shit is seriously impressive like, I've seen some seriously nice diy led builds but they do not hold a candle to these evil clusters. My god, I can't get over it. I joke with him and said I need to build my light even better than originally planned. Will probably still use the Luxeon 12w's and the other 20mm stars. I might look at other options to use instead of the bxra. Any thoughts Benny?

 

P.S. Those Bxra's and Luxeon M's are a rat bastard to pretin.

[jedimasterben]

Why wouldn't you use the BXRA?

 

They aren't hard to tin, takes just as long for those as it does anything else I've soldered. Was your iron hot enough, and what kind of solder are you using? You should be using 63/37.

[CrazyEyes]

I honestly have no idea what solder it was, it was whatever my friend had. I know I used 63/37 on my last build but Im not sure what he had. Nothing against the bxra, I just have seen a few people mention a couple different options instead of the bxra. I think the bxra is still a great option, I know Giga used the BXRA-50C5300 which is a 5000k but I actually think I'll stick with the 950. Oh and I finally got off my lazy ass and redid my too short/too narrow stand.

 

This is how much the sump stuck out before and even the tank, it was a travesty.

 

After making it longer and wider. Made the stand 2.5" longer and 1.5" wider, now everything fits much better. Tomorrow I am going to go pickup some 1/2" mdf for the sides and the front of the stand.

 

[CrazyEyes]

Oh yeah, and I finished the plumbing, plumbing this tank was super easy so it doesn't even feel like a move forward but it's still one less thing I have to do.

Have a few spots to touch up but it's just about done.

 

Need to either cut the durso down more or paint the cap, will probably paint the cap. But now that the stand is finally done, well as far as the damn tank sitting on there right I can actually push forward.

 

 

Oh, and now I need to fix the damn skimmer though, I'm an asshole and while taking the stand apart, I lost my grip on one of the sides of the stand causing it to fall on my skimmer therefore putting about 4-5 cracks in the bastard. And I still need to clean this scummy tank, just such a pain in the ass cleaning a 75g tank inside of an apartment.

[CrazyEyes]

Went and picked up some 1x6's to cover the front of the stand. It makes a big difference in looks. Nothing is secured just yet, I just wanted to get an idea how it would look. I don't think I am going to screw it in place, I am probably going to liquid nail it in place.

 

http://s27.photobucket.com/user/DrftNme/media/IMG_0796_zpsfb2dd81a.jpg.html'>

 

Please pardon the mess, I had to find something and ofcourse it was at the very bottom of the tote lol.

http://s27.photobucket.com/user/DrftNme/media/IMG_0797_zps3763a6b5.jpg.html'>

[jedimasterben]

Makes it look way better, you're right!

[CrazyEyes]

The damn wood cost $30 but it's 1x6x96. I was going to buy a big sheet of 1/2" mdf but then I had to figure out how to get a 4x8 sheet in a focus, then buy a jigsaw, then cut out the middle. Honestly seemed like a huge pain in my ass that way. Once I paint this you shouldn't be able to tell it's 4 pieces and not one sheet. I was kind blown away how much better it looks with the boards there. Should look half decent when done.

[jedimasterben]

Make sure you put wood putty in the cracks and sand it down, then as long as it is level, you'll definitely never see where one ends!

[CrazyEyes]

Oh yeah, I got a thing of wood putty. Im almost positive that liquid nails will work to secure it the stand, I just dont want to screw into it and fill more holes in. What do you think, liquid nails or just screw them in place?

[jedimasterben]

As long as the stand won't shift, either will work the same. Liquid nail is, well, like a liquid nail. lol

[NirvanaandTool]

Liquid nails rocks. I always have a tube in for projects around the house or when building stuff for tanks. I probably will use some when I reassemble my stand for my 90g this weekend as some extra security.

 

Nice progress. The 1x6s look awesome on there. Glad to see the stand fixed so the sump fits too.

 

Seeing your friend's lights all put together makes me really want to get mine going but all in good time I guess.

[CrazyEyes]

Thanks man, I'm glad it's finally starting to come together. I could have bought a really nice premade stand for what I'll have into this damn thing. The stand structure was around $55 then the front boards were $30, the two side pieces were $45 but, atleast its all birch. I was going to use mdf since I'm waiting it anyway but, mdf was so heavy compared to the birch.

http://s27.photobucket.com/user/DrftNme/media/IMG_0798_zpsc3075eea.jpg.html'>

http://s27.photobucket.com/user/DrftNme/media/IMG_0799_zps78c48120.jpg.html'>

[CrazyEyes]

This stand has come quite some way in a matter of 3 days . Stand is about 85% done, drill died so I have to recharge it so I can screw in the top horizontal piece. For now it's just being held up with the help of some painters tape but, very soon.

http://s27.photobucket.com/user/DrftNme/media/IMG_0802_zpsfbf0de10.jpg.html'>

http://s27.photobucket.com/user/DrftNme/media/IMG_0801_zps7d595ba7.jpg.html'>

http://s27.photobucket.com/user/DrftNme/media/IMG_0800_zps63e4e50e.jpg.html'>

[NirvanaandTool]

 

Thanks man, I'm glad it's finally starting to come together. I could have bought a really nice premade stand for what I'll have into this damn thing. The stand structure was around $55 then the front boards were $30, the two side pieces were $45 but, atleast its all birch. I was going to use mdf since I'm waiting it anyway but, mdf was so heavy compared to the birch.

 

True but a pre-built stand would never be able to fit a 40B under it. So you are better off with your stand.

[CrazyEyes]

Yep, exactly, or be tall enough for my liking. The guy I bought the tank off was trying to sell me the stand too. But I think, I could only fit a 30 long under, maybe but probably only a 20L and it was only like 22-24" tall, this stand I build is 40" tall so it brings the tank up 16-18" and I hate short stands, too low for viewing, AND, most skimmer I'd want to run on this thing are going to be about 20-22" tall so there is another issue with premade stands.

[ifarmer]

nice build.

it's a good size tank

 

I do not think you need a valve on the drain. However, having valve on the return is good in case you want to restrict some flow or reduce the flow from a powerful pump

 

can't wait to see this tank full of sps 5 months from now

[CrazyEyes]

Thanks. The valve on the drain is not to restrict flow in anyway, it's just there simply incase I need take the stand pipe out for whatever reason, that way I can just cut the drain off. The return won't need to be dialed back at all, the return with all the plumbing and fittings drains a 5 gallon bucket in just under 5 minutes so it's doing about 300-310gph after headloss etc so that gives me about 3.5x-4x turnover rate, which is exactly what I was looking for.

[Arkayology]

I like the look of your sump. Very simple without pipes going every which way. I can't tell, but do you have a union before your return pump? You might want to consider that to make maintenance easier.

[CrazyEyes]

It's a litte dusty from sanding the stand but, it's very simply plumbing wise.

http://s27.photobucket.com/user/DrftNme/media/IMG_0803_zps59d21743.jpg.html'>

 

http://s27.photobucket.com/user/DrftNme/media/IMG_0804_zps6f7b6409.jpg.html'>

[CrazyEyes]

Picked up some 1/2" board and closed off the inside......this stand is seriously becoming even nicer than I had originally planned.

 

http://s27.photobucket.com/user/DrftNme/media/IMG_0805_zps1d428676.jpg.html'>

http://s27.photobucket.com/user/DrftNme/media/IMG_0807_zpse774600d.jpg.html'>

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http://s27.photobucket.com/user/DrftNme/media/IMG_0806_zpsf0656c72.jpg.html'>

[NirvanaandTool]

Looking awesome. You did an awesome job on that stand. When does it get wet?

[CrazyEyes]

Thanks man. It's been quite some time that I've updated this damn thread. I've recently decided to go with a 6x54w T5 setup instead of LEDs. Finally got the stand to where I felt it was good to paint. Added one coat then had to leave for the day to a LFS garage sale. Picked up about 60lbs of dry rock for $30 so can't complain there. This is just with one coat on it, need to get some more black paint and some white epoxy for the inside. Also ordered some new bulbs and a few other things. I'm hoping to get going on the aqauscape soon. I am going for a very minimal aquascape on this. I will probably only end up using 25-30lbs of LR in the entire tank but will also be using two 8x8x4 Marinepure ceramic blocks to take of the bio filtration. As far as bulb combo I went with

x3 ATI blue+

x2 ATI aqua blue special

x1 ATI purple+

According to Reefgeek this should give me a 10k-12k look. Which I think is the best color,

 

Now for this POS stand lol

Also, the other thing that is driving me absolutely crazy, and I know it won't be too visable once the sump is in there but, the playwood on the back of the stand, it just looks funky since the rest of the inside of the stand has nice wood. Maybe it would look so bad once everything is painted. If it does I'll get another piece of wood for the back.