I would use some small metal retaining clips to latch it into place. The BRS is a great club. I've spoken to their members several times, so don't drag your feet, just take all the savings you got from this little DIY and become a member. Tell 'em "melev made me do it!"
Sadly no I am not a member.... I have been meaning to join but it seems like something always comes up!! That is a good idea about the LFS, I hadn't thought of that. I have a 45mm 90 degree optic I bought off ebay that fits the LED i just need to figure out how to mount it. I have read not to use super glue because the fumes can haze the LED surface?? Not sure how true this is, so if anyone has ideas about what type of glue to use i would appreciate the input! I tried running the LED pointed at the ceiling with the optic on it and it definitely focuses the light considerably. Now i just need to make a housing/pendant and figure out the proper mounting height to get the spread/intensity I want.
The BRS might have one. Are you a member? That was a good idea using the processor fan as your heat sink. I'd love to see it over some water and corals. Maybe bring it up to your favorite LFS and see if they will let you plug it in to see if you like how it looks? Where are you going to get the optics from?
Not unless someone wants to lend me theirs. I am very curious myself but I don't have a PAR meter nor do I know anyone who owns one in boston that would let me borrow it. Sorry.
Any way you can get a PAR measurement? This has been something I have wanted to try but can quite part with $100 bucks to play.
Now I just need to decide how many of these I would need over my 6' long 125g.
Ya that's actually the look im going for at a cheaper cost! Lol. I still have to come up with a pendant housing to hold the heatsink/led and I plan on extending the chord between the driver and the led so I can mount the driver inside the canopy. I don't know about dimmability (not sure if that's really a word but it sounds cool) of the setup. Something to look into I guess, but for about $75 total this was a pretty fulfilling project.
it looks like the chip inside my ecoxotic cannon!
Definitely tough conditions to deal with, all around. Hopefully things will settle down for you soon so you can enjoy the hobby with less stress. Times are tight, and that's a big stressor.
Disowning family that is out of state is a lot easier.
yeah I know the feeling, I have two expensive hobbies, cars and reefing, and trust me juggling them both is hard enough, but juggling them both with no money is even harder, especially when I am looking at a stage 3 flywheel and clutch ($400) turbo kit ($800) new sump ($??) new protein skimmer ($250+) metal halide setup ($600) all gauges (wide band, boost, oil pressure) + sandwich adapter plate and gauge pod ($450).....lets face it I need to win the lottery sucks also that i didn't include costs of more livestock and the motor and computer setup I already have standing by so yeah....I feel your pain but taking care of family, bills, and yourself always will come first
The good news is you're learning the hardest lesson in reef keeping before ever setting up a tank. Patience. Most people setting up their first tank waste hundreds and hundreds because they rush the process and lose fish and corals or ruin equipment. Sad to hear about your situation, but it sounds like your priorities are in the right place. That's more important than all of our reefs! If you were here showing pics of your new tank but not visiting family and paying the second mortgage then you would really be in a bad situation! Keep up the good work! Matt
Im not running a closed loop but i am using only the main pump for flow. reeflo marlin pressure pump rate at 2050gph with 4 penductors and it moves plenty of water in my 180 i have to turn it down to keep the substrate from blowing around. You can also run pumps in parallel or series to get more flow or pressure, also to keep your pressures even thur out your plumbing never end your plumbing with a outlet dead head it
Hmmm... without doing your homework for you I have a bit of a direction to send you in. Pipe flow is a fairly well defined field. Look up "Reynolds Number" and you will find tons of information related to laminar and turbulent flow. Also, the "Moody Diagram" will be of use to you. When you run into problems with things like the "friction factor" look them up online and you will find the information you need. The critical (i.e. the number at which turbulent flow begins to form - or as you put it, cavitation) number for pipe flow is typically around 4000 for a developed flow. Happy hunting! Oh, and if you really make a go at undertaking the calculations, don't hesitate to come back here and ask questions, I'll be glad to help you.
every one I know running a reef tank over 75 gallons on any floor higher than the first floor has had to support underneath the tank
Ok, im having a very hard time figureing out how much your floor can support per square foot. But, round about, you can figure that 150 gallons of salt water weighs around 1200 lbs. Plus, add in however much weight of live rock, and the weight of you stand etc. Then, figure out the square footage of the surface applying the weight (length X width) and head into home depot or call a contractor or something and ask what the typical wood moist floor will support per square footage wise and wha-la! Bingo! Like I said, ill try and round up some info at work tomorrow (im working on structural steel at a hospitol at the helicopter pad so SOMEBODY should have some idea.
You know what!? I say screw it, let's get crazy, lag some eye bolts into the rafters and get you a floating tank off the ceiling! Ha ha! Yeah, that's it!! Lemme see what calcs I can come up with real quick here...
Here is the picture of the base. the tank stand sits on the middle section with either open end being where the side cabinets fit.
Originally Posted by mulebutter I don't know wood, but I know iron. Seeing the beam in the garage, if it was like a structural iron job, I would say that the floor joists are running perpendicular to the main beam in the garage, and sitting on top of it. But, I would think that anything parallel to the floor moist where a load bearing wall sits on them, is probably braced to the adjacent moist. I will talk to a guy at work tomorrow and find out what he says because I think he knows about wood. If not, ill find the carpenter foreman and his opinion. In either case, see if you can calc out the pounds per square foot your setup will have, the area it covers, and we can go from there. Im willing to bet that you'll be good with it though. But, I see where you're going with it, and I think its cool you're covering all the bases. ya i think it will be ok. I went into the little closets/unfinished areas under the eaves, next to the dormer, and I followed the nail lines in the plywood floors, and they went 16" apart in perpendicular lines from the outside gable end wall. Im extrapolating that those nail lines are where the floor joists are located since 16" OC is the common spacing for framing. I took a picture of the base that the whole setup sits on. Its a little unusual in the sense that the stand and the two cabinets both fit into the base piece not rest directly on the floor. I am a little concerned by that since everyone is always talking about stand construction and how you want to transfer the load directly to the floor. I would appreciate any insights anyone wants to share!
most of the time when you have a large support beam like that it's like mulebutter said, they run perpendicular the the main support bean, but depending on the thickness they are rated for X amount still meaning that typically they were never designed for a large volume of water, rocks, and wood to be placed in one spot on the supported floor, but that doesn't mean it won't hold it, I would say as long as you can get the middle of the tank over that main beam you should be on, but you may look at placing a pillar underneath it just to cover all your bases. I need support under my floor as we speak and from what I recently found out from my neighbors the previous owners of my house had a tank in that spot as well. So now I know that the floor had most likely given a little before I owned it meaning that even if I had supported it before placing my tank there the floor would still not have been at its original height so now I have to not only support it but try and jack it up possibly
Blog Categories
Archive
Go to Profile
Mark as Read
