Georgi's 40B rimless

[terahz]

Here we go!

As most of you know I've been working on a 40B for quite some time now and I think it is at a state where I can show enough progress to start a thread.

Hardware:
Glass Cages 40B rimless, black silicone, starphire front and sides
Glass Holes 700gph overflow and two 1/2" returns
Eheim 1260 return flow
Vortech MP40wES internal flow
Hydor ETH 300W inline heater
eshopps PSK-100 skimmer
about 25lbs of dry marco rock
about 45lbs of super fine dry marco sand
two BRS dosers
one BRS reactor with MJ900
two Peerless PA730-S Articulating Wall Arms
-- diy --
3/4" birch plywood stand
48 Cree XP LED lights
Arduino based controller
acrylic sump

Seeding organisms:
1 small bottle of bio-spra
macro bacter 7
12+ bristle worms
6+ sandbed clams
6+ spagetti worms
wondermud
Ulva
nitrosomonas and nitrobacter
6+ Strombus snails
6+ gastropod snails
12+ tiny black hermits
20+ amphipods
8-9 tiny bristle stars
plankton

After few weeks I'll start moving my CUC, skunk shrimp and 2 clowns from my 10G. After that I'll slowly start moving my small coral.

[terahz]

I ordered my tank from glass cages. A lot of people have had good and bad experience with them. I'm sort of in the middle. When I picked up my tank it was standing on one of the sides and after I came home I found a few pretty big scratches on it. Now that's not a problem for me, because that side is almost against the wall, but if the tank wasn't in the corner, I would have been ****ed.

But, fortunately, I didn't care for that side so I was fine.




All in all I'm pretty happy with the silicone job. They did use 1/2" glass which was surprising, but at least I know the tank is … a tank

[terahz]

After I got the tank I didn't touch it for quite some time. Instead I started working on the stand.

For a while I was considering the popular 2x4 design with ply on the outside, but decided against it and I'm glad because I have plenty of space under the tank now.

The stand is 36"x36"x24" deep with a 2x4 at 17" for support of the back wall of the stand. Bottom panel is raised a couple of inches from the ground.
I used Titebond II with pocket screws (don't have that many clamps).

Here is the barebones stand:



And its new location:



Next I added a on top to hide the bottom of the tank and the foam. Outside is covered with several coats of poly, inside has 3-4 coats of white appliance paint.

Front doors are just plain white boards to match the rest of the apartment cabinetry.

[terahz]

After the stand was ready came time for drilling the glass. Boy did that take a while!


Few days later (yes days) I was ready to paint the back:


And the next challenge was the plumbing. I should have done the returns with flex pvc, but didn't know about it until I glued all the PVC together.


In any case, after leveling the stand and placing the tank on top, cementing the PVC I was at this:



And you know what that means, it means I was ready for WATER!


… many hours later:


but wait…

[terahz]

I didn't have a sump yet! So next project: build the sump. I wanted basically fill up that stand with a sump that will have a fuge, big enough return section, space for my skimmer and RO/DI section. Some playing around with SketchUp and I came up with this:


Initial research suggested I use 1/4" plexi. However I didn't feel like spending the money for that plexi, plus didn't have the tools to cut it properly. So I just went to home depot and got their 1/10" plexi. Yes 1/10". The cheap, think stuff. The back and left side are supported by the plywood so I figured I only have to make sure the front and right side do now bend under the pressure of the water.

When I put the sump together I tested it to see how much the walls bend, because I know that's what causes the cemented edges to fail. It was a good amount actually, but not as much as I thought. The top brace, baffles and fuge wall kept things together pretty well, but I wasn't happy. So what I did to keep things from bowing was to use strips of plexi glued perpendicular to the walls every 2-3 inches around the walls. That pretty much made them rock solid. there is basically no visible bowing that I can tell with the sump filled all the way to the top. I also used pieces for the bottom edges to just enforce the cementing. Oh and at the end I used weld-on 16 on all external edges.

I had the sump sit in the bathroom full and at operating levels without support from any side and all was good. Wish me luck that it doesn't fail in the next few years.

Reason I did it this way: $80



Perfect fit under the tank:

[terahz]

After I finished testing the sump I filled it up with water and tested the plumbing. Of course it wasn't perfect. I had 2 tiny leaks. Tried a few tricks to seal the holes but that didn't work, so I went to HD yet one more time to buy new elbows and fittings, but instead got a fix-it stick from the plumbing department. That thing did the job. I basically covered the entire fitting with that thing and everything was fixed.

With the plumbing fixed, sump under the tank and water in the system it was time for sand and rocks.



Do you like my rock work?

That thing took 3 days to clean up enough so I could see my rocks again. So I took the BRS reactor, stuffed the media cartridge with "snow" (filter floss from arts store) and turned on the MJ900. Next morning water was crystal.

[terahz]

Meanwhile I had some time to take an American DJ power strip apart so that I can connect the outlets to a relays that I'll control later.

Basically take the two screws from each side;


Take out the short black wires (N on the connectors):


Change the short wires with long ones (18AWG):


Make a hole and take out your leads:


The relay boards will be connected to the controller via 10p ribbon cable.

[terahz]

So the tank was ready for some lights.
48 individual heatsinks from Mouser (Wakefield 658-35AB)
24 Cree XP-G white LEDs
24 Cree XP-E Royal Blue LEDs
2 strips of u channel aluminum for framing
2 24v 6.5A power supplies
4 CAT 4101 driver boards from http://reefcentral.com/forums/showthread.php?t=1759758


And we start with mounting one led per heatsink:


I put a small amount of part A of the thermal adhesive on the heatsink, add same amount of part B, mix. Use whatever is on the mixing spoon for one heatsink, take most of what is on the mixing heatsink and use it for a second heatsink. that way you have 3 heatsinks from one mixing and you don't waste any material.

All mounted:




Next I drilled some holes in the aluminum to mount the heatsinks using #4-40 machine screws


Don't press too hard with your drilll:


After drilling 96 holes, and tapping 48 heatsink I started mounting:


A few more holes and a lot of screws later and I had the two frames:


TIme to take out the soldering station and get to work:


After I soldered the circuits (each frame has 12 white and 12 blue in 6pc strings, so total of 4 strings per fixture or 8 strings of LEDs total) I mounted the lenses. Outside LEDs got 25 degrees and inside got 40. I will see how that works and will adjust as needed.

A few strips of ply and some pocket screws later and I had my fixtures done. I used two articulating arms for TV to mount them on the wall.



Today I ran the wires from them to the controller. I'll probably turn them on for the first time above the tank tonight or tomorrow.

[terahz]

Well that's it for now. I have to put that reactor away, cleanup around the tank and on the ground, finish the controller, wire up the dosers, make the ATO and I should have a running system.

Stay tuned.

[tank o tang]

All I can say is WOW. Great job.

[fiddly_foo]

Looks great... doing a good job.. stand came out good too. Aren't you the all purpose DIY reefer of the year...lol..see you at the BBQ...Brian

[RTMA]

Looking good. Leave it to Georgi for outside of the box innovation Fantastic job all around. Can't wait to see that light shine. What current are you gonna run through those leds?

[FallRiverReefer]

looks great....why is the fixture mounted so high over the tank? thats gotta be a solid 3-4' no?

[terahz]

Originally Posted by tank o tang

All I can say is WOW. Great job.

Thanks Jeff

Originally Posted by fiddly_foo

Looks great... doing a good job.. stand came out good too. Aren't you the all purpose DIY reefer of the year...lol..see you at the BBQ...Brian

Thanks Brian, however I can't come this weekend to the BBQ

Originally Posted by RTMA

Looking good. Leave it to Georgi for outside of the box innovation Fantastic job all around. Can't wait to see that light shine. What current are you gonna run through those leds?

Well I couldn't wait either, so I stayed till 2am until I got them to work


They are running at 400mA. Once I take some PAR readings I'll decide if I want more.

The drivers are getting a bit hotter than I'd like because the XPGs are dropping less than 3V each, so I'm feeding 20V for 6 LEDs and the drivers need to drop more than 2V which is converted into heat. I guess if I go to something like 700mA that will make a them happy.

Originally Posted by FallRiverReefer

looks great....why is the fixture mounted so high over the tank? thats gotta be a solid 3-4' no?

I didn't want the lights to be in my view when I'm looking at the tank. Yes, it is about 3ft high. After seeing it last night for the first time, I'm considering tighter optics, like 10 degrees. Once I can find reasonable price for them, I might give them a try for even more focused light.

[ctreefer]

Totally awesome tank build. Can't wait to see it continue.

[Wheel of Time]

Man...you have some mad skills! very envious. Looks fantastic

[terahz]

Originally Posted by terahz

Once I take some PAR readings I'll decide if I want more.

A quick PAR measurement:
surface(underwater) at the center of the tank - 200µmol
sand bed at the center of the tank - 112µmol
least illuminated corner, sandbed - 65µmol

I will probably increase the current now to get in the 200-400 range and then I'll do a FTS with par numbers on it.

[scolley]

Originally Posted by fiddly_foo

Aren't you the all purpose DIY reefer of the year...lol..see you at the BBQ...Brian

Now why would you say that? He bought his tank, just like the rest of us.
Or do you say that because Georgi designed and built his LEDs, designed and built his sump, designed and built his stand, and is in the process of modding a DJ power strip - for what's looking like a DIY controller in the making.

Georgi - you shoulda built your tank! I've got the tools, and can help. Then you'd be the ONLY PERSON I've ever seen that built ALL the major components of their system. That still has to be about as much DIY as you EVER see on a single tank!

Looks great Georgi! Good job!

[ctreefer]

You're dangerous!!! I'm contemplating an LED build because of you. Thanks a lot!
Before I go delving for hours in the LED build threads I was hoping to ask your opinion. What do you think you would need lighting wise for a 24"cube if I was looking for a 14K-20K look equivalent to about a 175 halide and approximately what would the cost be?

I'm not looking to having dimming capabilities or any other controllability other than maybe having the blues on one circuit and the whites on another.

Any input would be greatly appreciated.

Nice setup again!

[jrmx635]

whats the total cost of led setup?
Very good work by the way

[terahz]

Originally Posted by scolley

Georgi - you shoulda built your tank!

I was close! The only reason I didn't do it, was because I didn't want to deal with cutting glass.

Originally Posted by scolley

Looks great Georgi! Good job!

Thanks

Originally Posted by ctreefer

You're dangerous!!! I'm contemplating an LED build because of you. Thanks a lot!

Lol, it seems like since I showed up in ARK, Joe, Steve, Jeff and now you are on your way to LEDs.

Originally Posted by ctreefer

What do you think you would need lighting wise for a 24"cube if I was looking for a 14K-20K look equivalent to about a 175 halide and approximately what would the cost be?

We have a short FAQ on LEDs on the ark website, take a look there:
http://www.arksc.org/led-faq

Also, here is the latest summary of the mega LED thread:
http://reefcentral.com/forums/showpo...postcount=4260

Between these 2 links you should be able to answer all your questions.

Originally Posted by jrmx635

whats the total cost of led setup?
Very good work by the way

Drivers + power supplies + leds + lenses + heatsinks + wire < $500. The general rule $10 per LED is pretty good estimate of cost.

[terahz]

Here is the MDF of the tank:


I built this on the side of the stand to store all electronic stuff in one cabinet. I might add the 2 part jugs in there as well since under the tank there is no space left

[ctreefer]

Thanks! That's a great write up. Exactly what I was looking for. Now off to more reading...

[RTMA]

That's a great little area there. Perfect for hiding all the stuff. How is the APC working out?

[terahz]

Ok, I took some more PAR measurements and contrary to all tanks, I have more PAR at the bottom! (The ulva in the middle is from my sump, I put it there so that the snails can eat something):
(Click for larger image)


In summary, all around my rocks I have between 230 and 330µmol. I've been reading that 200-400 is a relatively good range for most corals so I'll probably start with that. Joe's MH PAR seems to support that. I still have some room on the current of the LEDs so worst thing is I'll up the current more and as a last resort I can lower the fixture.