Ciphers 120 Gal tank build

cipher43

cipher43

Member
Quote:
Originally Posted by acrylic51 http:///t/385826/ciphers-120-gal-tank-build/60#post_3451982
Yes......If your really interested in a check valve check out CustomAquatics, and AquaEco....I know CustomAquatics has clear check valves that are tru union design and you can visually inspect them and I'm pretty sure from past experience with them that they can be rebuilt. Again don't soley rely on them, but if you truly want to use something that would be my choice.http://www.customaquatic.com/estore/control/product/~product=PF-FL1720C10
BTW I ended up not putting any holes or check valves in the line because I have plenty of head room in my sump that it wont overflow. Even with the return lines pushed all the way down and the bottom tank at the level it normally sets I still have around 2-3 inches of space left in the sump.
 
cipher43

cipher43

Member
They actually have more color when you see them in person. I tell you what building these lights is is the best thing I have done for a tank. And then you throw in that I actually have enough flow to support a better life and you have something awesome. It may not be the best tank on the site but I at least dont feel embarrassed about the entire tank LOL
 
2quills

2quills

Well-Known Member
Dude, I think it looks great no matter what. Lights, stand, tank...all of it. Your stand has that rustic look to it and I've always been a fan of rustic things even though my house is not like that now. All but gone are the days when dudes wanted to build their own aquarium stand they went out and cut down their own oak tree lol. You have something to be proud of for sure. And you can't beat the satisfaction you get from just doing something yourself and have it coming out working beautifully in the end. It doesn't get much better then that.
 
acrylic51

acrylic51

Active Member
Quote:
Originally Posted by Cipher43 http:///t/385826/ciphers-120-gal-tank-build/80#post_3465096
They actually have more color when you see them in person. I tell you what building these lights is is the best thing I have done for a tank. And then you throw in that I actually have enough flow to support a better life and you have something awesome. It may not be the best tank on the site but I at least dont feel embarrassed about the entire tank LOL
Looks very good!!!!!!!
Quote:
Originally Posted by 2Quills http:///t/385826/ciphers-120-gal-tank-build/80#post_3465099
Dude, I think it looks great no matter what. Lights, stand, tank...all of it. Your stand has that rustic look to it and I've always been a fan of rustic things even though my house is not like that now. All but gone are the days when dudes wanted to build their own aquarium stand they went out and cut down their own oak tree lol. You have something to be proud of for sure. And you can't beat the satisfaction you get from just doing something yourself and have it coming out working beautifully in the end. It doesn't get much better then that.

Couldn't agree more!!!!!
 
cipher43

cipher43

Member
Its been along time since Ive updated this page. We haven't done too much to the tank lately cause I've been restoring my dads motorcycle. The other day I made the mistake of moving a rock and so then I had to redo the entire wall to make it look good again. The one thing I did do is bought some corals last night.
Here is what i bought.
Torch coral
Green Slimer
Blue tip Stag
orange digitata
teal stag
yellow porites
yellow scroll
frogspawn
ORA blue chalice
ORA supernatural cap
wild whitish echinata
pink birdsnest
panope birdsnest
green tip birdsnest
and sunset monti
Here are some of the pics from right after I got them all situated this morning. Also due to my recent problem with ich I am taking more precautions and did a dip on them to make sure I dont have any issues.



 
sweatervest13

sweatervest13

Active Member
Dang... That's some coral there. Your LFS must have put your picture on the wall for sale of the month.

Everything looks good!! I take it that you are going for a lot of SPS's?? Should look SWEET!!!
 
cipher43

cipher43

Member
HAHA actually a guy on my states forums was selling them for a few bucks each so i bought one of everthing he had and he also just gave us the green slimer and the green tip birdsnest. He had a 350 gallon tank and was planning on getting out of the hobby for awhile so sold everything cheap. I think the best thing I did was join my states forums so I can buy lots of goodies for our tank for cheap. From what we figured up we spent 80 bucks for 480 bucks worth of frags or the ones i could find on websites that sell the ones we got.
This is my first go around with sps and lps coral so im trying to learn as much as i can about what i need to to on them to keep them growing good.
On a side note his tank had 3, 400 watt halides on it and 2 actinic bulbs. Should i worry about burning the corals with my leds or are my lights less powerfull than his setup for my equivelent tank?
 
sweatervest13

sweatervest13

Active Member
Nice deal!! I was figuring you got about $500.00 worth of coral. For $80.00, you stole it. Nice work.

What LED's do you have again?? 400w MH is pretty strong, but I would imagine that it was a deeper tank.
Most would recommend starting them on the bottom and slowly move them up to the permanent spot so they don't get burned. If you are just gonna keep them there, keep an eye on them for bleaching. If your LED's can be ramped down, you may want to do that.
 
cipher43

cipher43

Member
its a DIY that i made. It has the same number leds and colors of the raideon led lights and it is dimmable too. they are3w cree bulbs
 
acrylic51

acrylic51

Active Member
Everything looks good!!!!!! I'd just dial your lights back and bit and slowly increase.....400w was overkill for a 350 as well.....
 
2quills

2quills

Well-Known Member
Not an all bad deal on the frags. Do you know how tall his tank was, was it 31"? You should be able to run your leds fairly high but agree that you should dial them down initially for acclimating from one light source to another. Maybe 50% at first and slowly go up from there? I can tell there's some nice shimmer going on in there.
 
cipher43

cipher43

Member
Thanks guys. His tank was a 30 inches I think he said. I figured I should turn down the lights some just incase even though he had the 1200 watts (3 400Watt) halides over it. I will set them at 50% like you said. How slow would you go up on power?
 
cipher43

cipher43

Member
So I had alittle time this weekend to work on my scrubber led lights and I got them all ready to be put on with exception to getting a good mounting system. I had 2 old computers laying around and scavenged the cpu coolers out of it and used them for my heatsinks. Works perfect because they already have a fan mounted on them to cool. Here are a few pics of them.


 
cipher43

cipher43

Member
So now that we have sps corals I plan on dosing kalkwasser to keep it all going. Here is a pic of my temporary shelf I am gonna set my drip jug on under my stand and where it is dropping into the tank. I only put 1/2 a teaspoon in the gallon jug to start and am having it drip 1 drip every 12 seconds and gonna check everything later today or tomorrow morning and make sure its ok and then adjust the speed and amount from there. Trying to go super slow into it cause Ive never used kalk before and understand you can nuke your tank if you do it wrong.


Also getting my scrubber leds mounted this week so was wondering how long you all thought i should run them for?
 
cipher43

cipher43

Member
Hey guys I figured I would add an update to how my LEDs are doing on coral growth.
this first pic was from 6/7/12 when I got the corals and the second is from 1/7/13. I am quite happy with how well everything is growing and have noticed a huge difference in only needing 1 gallon of kalk water used per week to needing atleast 5 gallons now. The new one also doesnt include the frags I have taken off of these so I had even more growth than is shown.
June 2012

January 2013
 
cipher43

cipher43

Member
Here is the build thread from it. https://forums.saltwaterfish.com/t/390510/ciphers-diy-120-and-75-gallon-led-build
Colors I used were
2 - 8.5X16 Heatsinks from Heatsinkusa.com
24 - XP-G R5 Cree Cool Whites
12 - XP-G Cree Neutral Whites
24 - XP-E Cree Royal Blues
12 - XP-E Cree Blues
6 - Osram 660nm reds
6- Cree XP-E Greens
4/8- 1W Royal blue Moonlights
2 HLG 150H-48B (from Jameco.com)
1 ELN 60-48P (for the greens and reds)
 
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