Omega's 120g Tank Upgrade

Alright - so things are up and running. I added my Fluval G6 and changed the media to the new BRS ROX carbon and ordered the super fine mesh pre-filter - it cleared up in about 7 hours - holy moly.

I added the egg-crate to the bottom and the rocks are finally in... YAY - installed the RKE, PC4's and just need to clean up the wiring. So excited I could pee - but not in the tank, unless that helps the cycle get started...

Lights should be coming in by Friday (the whole backorder thing doesn't work for my impetuous nature...) so will take more once those are programmed and setup.

These are just iPhone pics - will take some with my DSLR later...

Looks pretty darn good. :bowdown:

Thanks - dcan!

Can't wait til I get fish and corals in there.

Looking good Omega...good job!

Nice looking setup Omega...Is that rim of that tank stainless? That looks sweeeet! When I saw the pic when the water was still cloudy I thought it was a Sony Television...

PRC said:

Nice looking setup Omega...Is that rim of that tank stainless? That looks sweeeet! When I saw the pic when the water was still cloudy I thought it was a Sony Television...

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Thanks - it was hideous. It took two weeks to get rid of; I was so annoyed at the LFS that set it up.

To make matters worse they insisted on using tap water but I refused. The the guy later admitted that they used tap water anyway so I had to change it all out twice and clean the sand again.

I totally get that fish stores have to make money, but it just kills me at how unethical they can be sometimes...

I think every LFS near me uses tap water. One of the main guys that I deal with and that I trust, told me that they use tap water, and that our water in our area is good enough that it doesn't make a difference in their systems, but I'm like you, I'm not taking any chances.

PRC said:

I think every LFS near me uses tap water. One of the main guys that I deal with and that I trust, told me that they use tap water, and that our water in our area is good enough that it doesn't make a difference in their systems, but I'm like you, I'm not taking any chances.

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Exactly. His argument was that it's ok to start out with tap and do w/c's with RO/DI but my current 30g is covered in hair algae, and I've had issues with it since it started.

That on top of what I've read here and online at other places, I just don't want to deal with it.

Does anyone here do regular w/c's with tap and not have issues?

So I decided to stick with the Pacific Sun LEDs instead of the Aqua Illuminations. I ended up upgrading to the 3W CREE lights that are driven at the full wattage.

Aesthetically I like the AI's a bit more but the PacificSun's offer many more features and have their own touch-screen LCD controller which also hooks up to be a full system controller like an RKE with one key difference - the whole system is wireless!

Will be updating with pics soon.

P.S. Has anyone strung lights from a concrete ceiling before? Recommendations?

OmegaOmega said:

P.S. Has anyone strung lights from a concrete ceiling before? Recommendations?

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I hang stuff (mostly AV equipment) from concrete everyday. Go to Home Depot or Lowes go into the nuts and bolts section and find redheads. They look like the picture below..On the package it will tell you what size masonry bit you'll need, buy it as well.

Drill the hole, hammer the bolt into the ceiling, and then ratchet it down, once it's tight, loosen the nut, take it off and attach whatever you need to. Then simply replace the nut.

You could hang a Buick from these things. We hang $5000 televisions form them all day long.

PRC said:

I hang stuff (mostly AV equipment) from concrete everyday. Go to Home Depot or Lowes go into the nuts and bolts section and find redheads. They look like the picture below..On the package it will tell you what size masonry bit you'll need, buy it as well.

Drill the hole, hammer the bolt into the ceiling, and then ratchet it down, once it's tight, loosen the nut, take it off and attach whatever you need to. Then simply replace the nut.

You could hang a Buick from these things. We hang $5000 televisions form them all day long.

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Uhm... two words for you: terri-fying

However, thank you for the suggestion - I'll talk to the maintenance person and see if I can pay to have it installed using the suggestion above. The thought of me drilling, breaking through or tightening anything just sounds horrific.

I gots me the pics of my lights!

As I mentioned, I ended up staying with the Pacific Sun instead of the AI's and holy mother of pearl - these things are bright.

Again, apologies for the iphone quality, but you'll notice in the one from the side - the lights are at 30%. That's right, a three and a zero together.

I upgraded to the CREE driven at 3W with a full spread so the total output is 480W. If this doesn't cause an algae bloom - nothing will. Burn, baby, burn.

They're totally wireless - I can control them from my computer with the built-in bluetooth and I have a totally customizable 40-line PAR table plus a full 13-23k color manager (for blue/white ratio).

Awesome Omera!

Questions,questions question Omega.How many modules,cost and why did you choose those over the AI's.

reeffreak said:

Awesome Omera!

Questions,questions question Omega.How many modules,cost and why did you choose those over the AI's.

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OK - so I don't know how specific you want me to be, and I don't want to bore y'all, so feel free to skip over anypart.

I had been researching LED's for about a year. I was surprised by how complex the technology, overall, was and how different it is from your regular 'household' LEDs in electronics, etc.

My major concern, aside from PAR measurements and general spectrum concerns you see floating around, was the lack of research on the longterm effects of no UV with LED's. Even though we think of UV light as bad, in general, there are some benefits or roles it has to lighting overall, especially when you start looking at UV-A and the effect it has on humans - not to mention I wouldn't mind a nice tan from my tank since I sit next to it...

So that was my bigger issue with aquatic lighting in general.

My first endeavor I chose to upgrade my BioCube canopy to the 150w MH. I had to buy a chiller as well and the light nearly melted my tank. It yellowed the plastic facing the tank and made the top of the tank almost unbearable to touch. The chiller was running constantly but my corals looked fantastic. I had an Apogee PAR meter and all over the tank par was fantastic! However, as the bulbs age you run into additional issues and, again, the heat was ridiculous. I ran a Kill-a-Watt powerstrip on the entire tank setup and it was basically costing me $172/month in electricity. Chiller/Light during day - heater at night (I like to keep the house at about 60), pumps & PH 24/7 - I was getting pissed.

That led to the DIY LED's, basically, and I installed the Philips 1W bulbs, (6 to a row, 32 in total) to see what would happen. Cost to upgrade was around $480 from Nano-Tuners.com, so pretty high for a few strips of light, but monthly electricity cost dropped to $48/month.

Now to the Tech Tank Upgrade...

Obviously lighting was going to be the issue. I reconsidered going to MH but realized I was going to need to a) get a much more powerful build due to depth and b) obviously get more than one for light spread across the 48". Plus the cost of bulb replacements, etc. I knew I had to go LED again.

When I saw Dennis' build I actually ordered the AI units right then and there from a supplier - EVERYONE was backordered so as I waited I saw a lot of talk about the Pacific Sun units and started to look into them. I read a lot about the Pacific Sun units on ReefBuilders and they were listed as best choice in last years survey. Aesthetically I really like the square simple and aluminum design of the AI - but when I decided on the tech tank, especially with the black euro-bracing I realized it would actually blend much better.

I wanted to go with AI because it was compatible with my RKE system and I had actually seen one block setup at the LFS in town.

At the time, Pacific Sun was the only one that was offering the CREE type lights as standard. I had no idea what the difference was so I started reading. (AI offered a $250 upgrade [either DIY or send to manufacturer]).

When I saw the AI in the store, I noticed that if you keep a water column with a higher level of macro-granular particulate matter, the spotlighting effect really stood out. The upgrade kit I got from nanotuners had the lenses removed so I had never really seen the effect before. (Lenses can have a really positive effect on depth penetration and should be something considered if you have a deep tank). Pacific sun allows you to add 'strips' of focused lens-lights with their 'X-Plore' chip - it makes the overall panel a little more versatile and customizable than I saw with the AIs.



Pacific Sun also has a two year warranty on their units vs. the AI's one year AND they also have three different bulb types other than CREE in their units which is important because CREE is going through a lawsuit from the physicist 'inventor' of the bulb type (and the conductor chip it sits on). Their warranty would cover the replacement of a different LED type with no issues in case it turns out to be another ugly situation like PFO was - AI doesn't have this option.

The PS units were all completely bluetooth wireless and had controllers with LCD built in. Additionally the core temperature and fan control on the Pacific Sun seems more advanced. Additionally PS is coming out with a full 7" touch-screen controller to compete with the RKE (controls their lights and additional peripherals) that I'm really interested in so that was kind of the final seal.



So basically, $2000 (well, around there) for lights that'll last ten years or so that'll cost me a fraction of what MH or T5's cost to run and better simulate moon, weather/cloud and sunrise/set than MH does. What's better is they can be controlled from my laptop or phone wirelessly.

Hopefully that doesn't drive you crazy and kinda explains why I went the way I did.

Those are so cool...congrats!!

Now need to figure out mounting options. Anyone have Pacific Suns they have mounted with pictures to share?

Phew,I almost didn't make it through the post before falling asleep.I'm kidding,very informative.Is that the price of the master unit and one slave?I have the PS and AI on my research list.What worries me is that PS doesn't have a US distributor,right?Having to ship something across the pond if a repair or replacement is needed makes me nervous.Well,not to mention having to cover 8ft. long tank which will cost some cheese.I hear over on RC that mounting them higher prevents the spotlight effect and since the PAR is so high that if I do choose LED,I believe they will be hung.

reeffreak said:

Phew,I almost didn't make it through the post before falling asleep.I'm kidding,very informative.Is that the price of the master unit and one slave?I have the PS and AI on my research list.What worries me is that PS doesn't have a US distributor,right?Having to ship something across the pond if a repair or replacement is needed makes me nervous.Well,not to mention having to cover 8ft. long tank which will cost some cheese.I hear over on RC that mounting them higher prevents the spotlight effect and since the PAR is so high that if I do choose LED,I believe they will be hung.

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There is a US reseller based out of NJ so not everything is necessarily handled overseas.

Also, the nice thing about the units (and most new ones coming out onto the market) is that the units are built very modular. Even the LED's themselves are only 4-6 diodes per board. The PS has it so they 'clip in' and can be replaced easily if you encounter a defective bulb.

I would also point out the two year warranty opposed to AI's single year.

The PS doesn't spotlight like the AI's, either. AI's have each light inside of a spotlight module, the PS are full board panels spread out throughout the length/width of each unit. Also - take a look at the Phybos or Deimos units; they're a hybrid of T5 and two LED wide panels - LOTS of lighting with enough length to cover the tank.

Is a Koralia Magnum 8 too much for a 4' tank? I wasn't even close to expecting it to be as strong as it is - but the box says it's fine for the tank size.

Does anyone else run the #8s?

Finally got the other lighting panel in, on and programmed. Programming the PAR table was a little confusing at first, and I forgot it was set in military time, after 12 it kept reverting to the early morning programming and was confusing me...

Need to change the lights to be parallel to the tank instead of perpendicular, but waiting for hanging light kit...