Vernon Saunders Posted February 18, 2018 Share Posted February 18, 2018 So this will be the first build thread I will have ever done, so please bear with me. I bought the tank and stand used and have never really liked the color scheme (see picture) from the previous owner. So I have decided (with approval from the wife) to overhaul the look of the stand and add a hood. This will be taking place after we get our tax refund, so it is still a little ways off. I would like to put a feeler out there to see if I can enlist the aid of 1-2 people who could come lend a hand once I get the materials together. The whole thing shouldn't take more than 1 day and I will have pizza and beverages for all who can come. I also would like to see if anyone has a table saw I could borrow for the day of the project. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Reefpuck Posted February 19, 2018 Share Posted February 19, 2018 Unfortunately I'm of no help to you...as I'm t-minus any day now from welcoming my 3rd daughter to the world....so my free time is going down the drain any day now lol. But I'm tagging along to watch the progress...as I have a 90g that is just bone 2x4s currently...and I'm still not sure how I want to finish the stand. Best of luck! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Vernon Saunders Posted February 19, 2018 Author Share Posted February 19, 2018 No worries, Conrgats on your 3rd girl... I have 2 kids myself one Boy (3) and one Girl (1) so I understand. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Vernon Saunders Posted February 19, 2018 Author Share Posted February 19, 2018 Got my dimensions and schematics drawn...Clearly an artist first. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Vernon Saunders Posted February 22, 2018 Author Share Posted February 22, 2018 I the process of overhauling the tank I am going to be over hauling the lighting. I was thinking of doing a LED/T5 hybrid set up. LED for the nice coloration and pop that that type can give, and T5 for the growth and diffused lighting. The LED fixture I was looking at is a Maxspect 200w RSX LED light and the T5 is a retrofit option T5 light that would have ATI Coral+ and True Actinic bulbs or Giesemann Actinic Blue and Aquablue Coral bulbs (haven't decided yet). I would like to know what y'all think of the set up and if you think I should run dimmable T5s as well. I know that the T5 lights I selected are 36in and not 48in, this was done intentionally. I look forward to hearing your thoughts on this. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jolt Posted February 22, 2018 Share Posted February 22, 2018 I think a lot of people like the LED T5 combo, but I don't recall seeing anyone do it with that maxspect. The hardest thing with LEDs is getting them adjusted. So when I was looking at LEDs I looked to see if I could find a lot of folks reporting success with a given brand who would also publish their settings. I have no idea on that maxspect if you can find that kind of info, haven't looked. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sierra Bravo Posted February 22, 2018 Share Posted February 22, 2018 I have to agree with Jolt. I have Maxspect Ethereal LED's on mine. They had been newly released at the time I had purchased them. Great lights, well designed, and high quality. . . but they haven't caught on with many people and there is next to zero information on how people have set them up and found success. So almost a year later I'm still fumbling around trying to find what I think is the best and changing settings, and changing LED settings can be a slow and lengthy process to avoid damaging your coral. That being said, that doesn't mean the new Razor's you are considering aren't the best LED out there today - they may very well be. However, there is a huge advantage in using established lighting because you will have lots of data to use to start with and a proven track record. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gig 'em @ NDstructible Posted February 22, 2018 Share Posted February 22, 2018 I know of one tank in Austin that runs the Razor. The tank grows anemones pretty well, but I'm not sure on the success with other corals. The owner has pretty high nutrients in the tank so he doesn't keep stony corals like Acropora since they tend to die. But he has success with mushrooms and LPS with the Razor. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Vernon Saunders Posted February 22, 2018 Author Share Posted February 22, 2018 From what I found in my digging was that the razor rsx is similar to the original razor, they just redesigned it based on submissions from users of the original light. The main hiccup I saw for finding settings was that they divided the original 2 channels into 4, they did put presets into the rsx (what they recommend for various systems like sps dom, mixed, and softie tanks). I was thinking of using the mixed preset as a baseline then tweaking from there. The tweaking I was going to base off of was I found a light that also has 4 channels with very similar spectrum per channel (they aren't a perfect match but they are close enough I think it would be ok), I have talked to people who have had success with sps tanks. I do realize there is still a bit of trial and error there. I know I might be kicking myself in the teeth with my next question but.... with having an area of 18.5" to hang a LED and the 2 T5s, do y'all have a light to replace the maxspect that has more time in the hobby? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jolt Posted February 22, 2018 Share Posted February 22, 2018 I'm not saying the razor is bad, I simply don't know anything about it. If you want to consider alternatives, you might also look at the ATI powermodule hybrid. The 48" 4x54watt T5 measures 46.2" L x 12" W x 2.4" H. I believe @Juicemanis using that one? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Juiceman Posted February 22, 2018 Share Posted February 22, 2018 I'm not saying the razor is bad, I simply don't know anything about it. If you want to consider alternatives, you might also look at the ATI powermodule hybrid. The 48" 4x54watt T5 measures 46.2" L x 12" W x 2.4" H. I believe [mention=1783]Juiceman[/mention]is using that one?I have the 3 foot but yes, I have the ATI Hybrid. Love it!Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FarmerTy Posted February 22, 2018 Share Posted February 22, 2018 Gig'em and I have used the Ocean Revive fixture, T247, in our reef tanks that are SPS dominant.He currently runs one on the left half of his system with T5 supplements and I used to run it entirely over my old tank with T5 supplements. Great success and would highly recommend for the price. Its not fancy, on/off, white channel and blue channels, but results speak for themselves. To be clear, we modified our units and changed out some diodes to tweak color but the stock ones rocked it even before that.My old tank under ORs:Video I made of gig'ems tank a couple months back (looks way better in person:I currently have the ORs over my frag tank that you'll get to see in person this Saturday. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Vernon Saunders Posted February 22, 2018 Author Share Posted February 22, 2018 I know you weren't Jolt. I was more curious when I posted the question because since I am still new to SPS reefing and reefing in general, I was wanting to see what recommendations y'all might have for me in regards to lighting. I will check out the lights y'all have recommended. Ty I was looking for a sort of plug and play situation since I have 0 experience with modifying electronics. I am ok with tweaking the intensity of various channels to create a desired effect (growth/coloration) cause that is currently within my knowledge/skills but I'm not opposed to learning new skills. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FarmerTy Posted February 22, 2018 Share Posted February 22, 2018 I know you weren't Jolt. I was more curious when I posted the question because since I am still new to SPS reefing and reefing in general, I was wanting to see what recommendations y'all might have for me in regards to lighting. I will check out the lights y'all have recommended. Ty I was looking for a sort of plug and play situation since I have 0 experience with modifying electronics. I am ok with tweaking the intensity of various channels to create a desired effect (growth/coloration) cause that is currently within my knowledge/skills but I'm not opposed to learning new skills.Like I mentioned, they were stellar unmodified too. We're just geeks who like to tweak so we did that. Here's a video of my tank prior to the mods, lights completely stock. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Vernon Saunders Posted February 22, 2018 Author Share Posted February 22, 2018 Very nice. Given me much to think about... though the ATI powermodule is a bit out of my budget for lights so that one is out though it is nice. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Vernon Saunders Posted February 22, 2018 Author Share Posted February 22, 2018 On a side note... My RBTA split today... not sure if it will be healed enough to bring to the meeting but wanted to share this interesting tid bit... when anemones split is it normal for the corals to react? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Vernon Saunders Posted February 27, 2018 Author Share Posted February 27, 2018 Ok so up date on the build thread. I ran a test on an adhesive to help hold things together (there will be a few screws too) and it holds REALLY well once properly done. I did make a mistake the first test I ran and considered it void and tried again and it worked wonderfully. I was also advised by Sierra Bravo and Frank that I should look into construction flooring adhesive and that will be my next test to see if it holds any better. I did decide to increase the woods water resistance by impregnating it with some Marine grade resin I had laying around from my sailboat repairs. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Vernon Saunders Posted March 1, 2018 Author Share Posted March 1, 2018 Mini project I did today to help organize my stuff. Just got a shower basket and screw in hooks to attach it to one of the doors on the stand. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Vernon Saunders Posted March 2, 2018 Author Share Posted March 2, 2018 Ok so in the process of organizing the cords and stuff in the stand.... the return plumbing cracked and broke spraying water everywhere. I called my wife over as I am currently using both of my hands to keep both ends of the broken plumbing in the sump to reduce the amount of water lost and of short circuiting anything (including myself). I had her kill the power to the return pump and angle the loc-line out of the water to break the syphon. Once I had cleaned up the water on the floor, it was off to Home Depot to get the replacement plumbing. So now the new plumbing is in place, the floor is dry, and the stuff in my stand is now mostly organized. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FarmerTy Posted March 2, 2018 Share Posted March 2, 2018 See, that's the exact reason why I didn't organize my cords. [emoji4]Sorry you had to go through that. Final product looks good! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Vernon Saunders Posted March 2, 2018 Author Share Posted March 2, 2018 I would have bought a lottery ticket considering it broke while I was looking... Which was extremely lucky. I didn't cause I figured that after that my luck was used up for the day. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Vernon Saunders Posted March 3, 2018 Author Share Posted March 3, 2018 I got the actual loc-line so I could affix the Random Flow Generators from VCA and they are in the tank and running. I had started this install in another thread but decided to combine them. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FarmerTy Posted March 3, 2018 Share Posted March 3, 2018 I got the actual loc-line so I could affix the Random Flow Generators from VCA and they are in the tank and running. I had started this install in another thread but decided to combine them.How do you like them. I ordered the 1" versions awhile ago but still haven't gotten a chance to install them. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Vernon Saunders Posted March 3, 2018 Author Share Posted March 3, 2018 Just got them installed today... I have noticed that the flow coming out of them does leave at different angels (like the company said they should) which is nice. I think I need to get a more powerful return pump... mine is currently on the lower end of flow out of the sump so I don't think I am getting all I can out of them since from what got from talking to someone at the VCA that they do perform better at 650-750 GPH (atleast for my 3/4 in ones). Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FarmerTy Posted March 3, 2018 Share Posted March 3, 2018 Just got them installed today... I have noticed that the flow coming out of them does leave at different angels (like the company said they should) which is nice. I think I need to get a more powerful return pump... mine is currently on the lower end of flow out of the sump so I don't think I am getting all I can out of them since from what got from talking to someone at the VCA that they do perform better at 650-750 GPH (atleast for my 3/4 in ones).Nice! I better get my butt in gear and install them then! Thanks Vernon! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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