Cool. I made it so the sump is easily drained without affecting the DT, so if it doesn't work, I will have to order the right size baffles and use weldon. I haven't had any problems before with acrylic and silicone. It isn't the best seal (I would never use it to build a tank) but should work for this purpose.
TOG's new 240 build with DIY LED's and Controller
- Thread starter that0neguy1126
- Start date
So it has been a while since I have been active on here. I have been working (slowly) on the tank. Been caught up with school and work, and other summer things. I did finally get the tank back in August. I got it up on the stand in the living room shortly after that and began to connect the sump to the tank.
I changed my sump design quite a bit. I am using two 100 gallon Rubbermaid Stock tanks. I have them joined with two 2" bulkheads. The two Return pumps sit on top of the stock tank that will have Chaeto and the drain lines drain into. They pull water from the 2nd tank which has some rock in it right now, will also have the skimmer and reactors.
311 by that0neguy1126, on Flickr
312 by that0neguy1126, on Flickr
Right now the tank is starting to cycle. I need to buy some more rock as I realized I have no where near enough to put in the tank. Took some of the sand and rock from my old tank to help kick off the cycle and speed it up. I hope to have the rest of everything finished by the end of October by the latest.
I also finished the frame for the LED lights, just need to glue the lights to them, and finish up the wiring.
314 by that0neguy1126, on Flickr
Put in two 20A circuits from the breaker box down to the basement to give power to everything this morning, as it was tripping when all 3 heaters turned on, plus some other stuff on the old circuit.
Will put some picks up in a bit.
I changed my sump design quite a bit. I am using two 100 gallon Rubbermaid Stock tanks. I have them joined with two 2" bulkheads. The two Return pumps sit on top of the stock tank that will have Chaeto and the drain lines drain into. They pull water from the 2nd tank which has some rock in it right now, will also have the skimmer and reactors.
311 by that0neguy1126, on Flickr
312 by that0neguy1126, on Flickr
Right now the tank is starting to cycle. I need to buy some more rock as I realized I have no where near enough to put in the tank. Took some of the sand and rock from my old tank to help kick off the cycle and speed it up. I hope to have the rest of everything finished by the end of October by the latest.
I also finished the frame for the LED lights, just need to glue the lights to them, and finish up the wiring.
314 by that0neguy1126, on Flickr
Put in two 20A circuits from the breaker box down to the basement to give power to everything this morning, as it was tripping when all 3 heaters turned on, plus some other stuff on the old circuit.
Will put some picks up in a bit.
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I love the tank. It is built perfect. I think the size is also great. The guys at Tenecor were good to work with, I bought it through fishtanksdirect since they were the cheapest. all online store, and they order about 200k worth of tanks a month, so they get discounts is what the Tenecor guy said. The guy from Tenecor I talked to said that I probably wouldn't find a tenecor tank cheaper.
Its funny, one of the places I looked at buying from was ATM (Tanked show). But they were really expensive.
The only problems I had with Tenecor was the lead time was way off. They said 4-5 weeks, it took almost 12 to get the 1st tank(apparently they had equipment break which held up production), and it was shipped poorly and cracked during shipping. It took about another 6 weeks to get the 2nd tank.
Filled with water and sand, it doesn't bow at all, its perfectly straight and square. Overflows were great. The build of the tank itself looks very professional and I haven't found anything to complain about yet.
Its funny, one of the places I looked at buying from was ATM (Tanked show). But they were really expensive.
The only problems I had with Tenecor was the lead time was way off. They said 4-5 weeks, it took almost 12 to get the 1st tank(apparently they had equipment break which held up production), and it was shipped poorly and cracked during shipping. It took about another 6 weeks to get the 2nd tank.
Filled with water and sand, it doesn't bow at all, its perfectly straight and square. Overflows were great. The build of the tank itself looks very professional and I haven't found anything to complain about yet.
I have a question about your LED setup. If a person is not an electrical genius, as in can hook things up and do wiring but most of what you were talking about is completely foreign, is there parts and pieces that can be bought to control a LED light setup? I want to build one for my tank, but it has to be an odd size and shape for a bullet tank. I can assemble the LEDs, but know nothing about building on PCBs and such. Also, what is a ball park figure of cost for your light setup if you don't mind?
there are a couple sites around that sell DIY kits. nanotuners, LEDsupply, etc. Most of the LED drivers that power/dim the LED's don't have to have a PCB controller, they work on 100k pots just as well.
I finally finished wiring up all the LED's together. It's 240 LED's 120 blue, 120 white. They are driven by Meanwell HLG-185-48_D's x4. Each LED driver controls 5 strings of 12 LED's. The drivers were the expensive part, they set me back about $500, the LED's were about 300-400. the aluminum frame was about 100. all in all, it took about 12 hours to make.
040 by that0neguy1126, on Flickr
042 by that0neguy1126, on Flickr
Still need to put on the Len's and wire them up to the drivers. hope to be turning them on later tonight.
I finally finished wiring up all the LED's together. It's 240 LED's 120 blue, 120 white. They are driven by Meanwell HLG-185-48_D's x4. Each LED driver controls 5 strings of 12 LED's. The drivers were the expensive part, they set me back about $500, the LED's were about 300-400. the aluminum frame was about 100. all in all, it took about 12 hours to make.
040 by that0neguy1126, on Flickr
042 by that0neguy1126, on Flickr
Still need to put on the Len's and wire them up to the drivers. hope to be turning them on later tonight.
Yes, I have 4 fans that will be pushing air at 72 cfm per fan. I believe this will be enough, if not I will add more. They will be powered through an old PC power supply I have laying around. There are 4 drivers, each will power 60 LEDs (5 strings of 12). Didn't get around to hooking up the LED's to the drivers yet because my Media Reactor came in the mail from Avast Marine, so I spent the night building it.
001 by that0neguy1126, on Flickr
The quality is great, instructions were great. Overall I am pleased with it. Was about $40 cheaper than buying one pre made.
001 by that0neguy1126, on Flickr
The quality is great, instructions were great. Overall I am pleased with it. Was about $40 cheaper than buying one pre made.
That's purdy. I've never seen any of the Avast stuff in person but it always looks nice in photos.
How are you dimming the HLG's? I would like to use the Rapid kit and I'm hoping it will be straightforward like the ELN's. I'm planning on multiple wall warts for my fans BTW. The idea of having all of the power for all of the cooling coming from one source makes me a little uncomfortable.
How are you dimming the HLG's? I would like to use the Rapid kit and I'm hoping it will be straightforward like the ELN's. I'm planning on multiple wall warts for my fans BTW. The idea of having all of the power for all of the cooling coming from one source makes me a little uncomfortable.
The wonderful thing about the HLG_D model, it can be dimmed by anything. So to start I will use 100k pots. I plan on buying an APEX controller in the end which has a VDM module with 0-10v circuit on it to control the lights. It will also take a PWM signal as well.
I plan to control the fans with something like this http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16811992004 which is just a standard PC fan controller module. The nice thing is with the APEX controller I can program a temperature sensor to shut off the lights if it gets too hot. Also with the fan controller I can have it ramp speed up and down depending on the temperature.
I plan to control the fans with something like this http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16811992004 which is just a standard PC fan controller module. The nice thing is with the APEX controller I can program a temperature sensor to shut off the lights if it gets too hot. Also with the fan controller I can have it ramp speed up and down depending on the temperature.