my new build reef tank

Discussion in 'Show Off Your Fish Tanks!' started by E-rock, Sep 22, 2011.

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  1. E-rock

    E-rock Plankton

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    My new tank. 25gal cube. DIY led light 24 Cree XRE @750MA. w/ 2 XPE moonlights. Long project but well worth the effort. The color is perfect. Im running 11 royal blue and 13 cool whites. I can turn on the other royal blue moon lights to get more blue lighting.... 3 fish total... one tiny clown, 1 yellow clown goby and one small shrimp goby. 1 pistol shrimp and standard clean up crew. LPS and sps tank.I just placed some new sps up top and it seems to be doing good except the small mille frag that my clown goby is eating the tissue off of. I merged my old 12 gal and 20 gal reef tanks into this one. Very happy with the out come. One tank is so much easer to maintain.
     

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    Last edited: Sep 22, 2011
    E-rock, Sep 22, 2011
    E-rock, Sep 22, 2011
    #1
    1 person likes this.

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  2. Corailline

    Corailline Super Moderator

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    It is a dry heat, yeah right !
    Welcome to 3reef,

    Very nice cube, what brand is it?

    Curious why was it a long project?
     
    Corailline, Sep 22, 2011
    Corailline, Sep 22, 2011
    #2
  3. E-rock

    E-rock Plankton

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    its a 25 gal solana... and the light took a while due to me being lazy and not being great at building/designing things. Also initally I was only going to have 12 leds because I was going to have it over my standard 20gal then I decided to get a better set up.
     
    Last edited: Sep 22, 2011
    E-rock, Sep 22, 2011
    E-rock, Sep 22, 2011
    #3
  4. Myocyte

    Myocyte Spanish Shawl Nudibranch

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    Looks good to me! Any pics or description of the LED lamp build?
     
    Myocyte, Sep 22, 2011
    Myocyte, Sep 22, 2011
    #4
  5. E-rock

    E-rock Plankton

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    led part of build

    Led light build- 1 16"x4.25" heat sink from rapid led. I used 13 white cree xre with 11 blue. I have 2 small fans with the y connector to 12 volt power supply cable from rapid. It dose a great job at cooling the light. 2 mean-well constant current drivers at 750ma, I found a metal driver box from Reefledlight.com. Great enclosure and it looks good as well. I have 2 blue XPE moon lights with the 350ma driver from rapid led. I used Arctic silver adhesive to mount the leds. next time I would just pay the extra and get the pre tapped heat sink. Much easer. I had a led burn out and just had to bypass it by gluing another Led next to it. I used 60 deg optics and the light sits approx. 4-5 inch above the water lever. i used angle aluminum peaces and plastic spacers mounted on the sides of the heat sink to span the length of the tank. this allows airflow and creates a wider base for light. I then used 3 inch metal spacers and cuts of C channel aluminum that nicely fit over the rimless glass to rase the light up over the tank. . I padded the inside of the c-channel with cork pads that you can get from any hardware store. My tank is rimless but I keep the glass top on at night and when im not at home, so I dont have any fish on the ground in the morning. I have SPS on the top half on the tank and lps towards the bottom. It seems to be doing well. I have to see if I cant find a few photos of the build. it took a while but I am happy with the outcome.
     
    E-rock, Sep 25, 2011
    E-rock, Sep 25, 2011
    #5
  6. sticksmith23

    sticksmith23 Giant Squid

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    Everything looks great. I might have to use your diy LED light. I'm steel researching what I'm going to do for my new light.
     
    sticksmith23, Sep 25, 2011
    sticksmith23, Sep 25, 2011
    #6

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  7. E-rock

    E-rock Plankton

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    photos

    Photos of light build and new prism favia
     

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    E-rock, Sep 25, 2011
    E-rock, Sep 25, 2011
    #7
  8. E-rock

    E-rock Plankton

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    photos

    view of finished light on tank.
     

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    E-rock, Sep 25, 2011
    E-rock, Sep 25, 2011
    #8
  9. insanespain

    insanespain Ocellaris Clown

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    Nice led build. I cant wait to do mine
     
    insanespain, Sep 25, 2011
    insanespain, Sep 25, 2011
    #9