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3 Foot Nano Tank (1 Viewer)

acharpenter said:
This is one of my top 5 build threads from TCMAS.

LOVE this tank - and hand over that Midas, no one gets hurt!!!

Anyone checking this tank out - be sure to attend the meeting in July to see it in person!!!

http://www.tcmas.org/v4/forums/showthread.php?54034-Meeting-List-2014&p=603924&viewfull=1#post603924


PS - LMK if you need help moving the tank dude : )
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Yes you all are going to want to see it in our new place. The new office is coming along nicely. My location is all picked out and hopefully everything goes smooth.
Someone gave me a scare 2-3 days ago and said that when everything starts getting transferred over they will be taking all of the power convertors and shutting off the electricity. Hopefully I know when this happens. I dont want to move too soon as there is still work being done at the new space. I don't need dust and fumes ruining things or having contractors feeding my fish baloney meat from their sandwiches.

Thanks for the offer Angie, I still done know when the move will happen. I was going to do it on the weekend after my computer and desk is all transferred over.
 
Ok official date it tomorrow. An inspector is checking out the new building tomorrow morning. All of the equipment for our company was moved over the weekend.
We are asked not to show up to work until 1pm at the old office and then set up our desks at the new office in the afternoon.

I will be showing up at my current location 251 1st Ave N Minneapolis around 11 or so to make sure all of my fish stuff is organized and ready to be transferred.

I have most of my tools plus a hair dryer to get the tubes heated for removal and reattachment. I'll probably swing by Home Depot or somewhere to get more teflon tape or other various plumbing things. Other than that I should be good to go. If 1-2 people want to help out it would be much appreciated. Most of your duties would probably just be transporting buckets, jugs of water, and assisting with the actual cabinet/tank transfer down the street. The actual disassembly and reassembly I should be able to manage but if you want to stick around until it fully completed you are welcome to.

Send me a pm if you'd like to help out from around noon/1pmish to maybe 4/5pm. Beers or apps are on me afterwards. I'll PM my cell number so we can chat more quickly about details.
 
eschulist said:
Ok official date it tomorrow. An inspector is checking out the new building tomorrow morning. All of the equipment for our company was moved over the weekend.
We are asked not to show up to work until 1pm at the old office and then set up our desks at the new office in the afternoon.

I will be showing up at my current location 251 1st Ave N Minneapolis around 11 or so to make sure all of my fish stuff is organized and ready to be transferred.

I have most of my tools plus a hair dryer to get the tubes heated for removal and reattachment. I'll probably swing by Home Depot or somewhere to get more teflon tape or other various plumbing things. Other than that I should be good to go. If 1-2 people want to help out it would be much appreciated. Most of your duties would probably just be transporting buckets, jugs of water, and assisting with the actual cabinet/tank transfer down the street. The actual disassembly and reassembly I should be able to manage but if you want to stick around until it fully completed you are welcome to.

Send me a pm if you'd like to help out from around noon/1pmish to maybe 4/5pm. Beers or apps are on me afterwards. I'll PM my cell number so we can chat more quickly about details.
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I would try to get out of work tomorrow(unfortunately I know I can't being Monday of all days), just to help you move this. I've still never seen this tank in person but hands down my favorite build thread on TCMAS, good luck with the move Eric, wish I could be there to help!
 
Dude, I so would have helped you today as I am on vacation this week. However I just now read this post:crap:. Hope it all went well and looking forward to seeing it at its new home.
 
Chris B said:
Dude, I so would have helped you today as I am on vacation this week. However I just now read this post:crap:. Hope it all went well and looking forward to seeing it at its new home.
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No worries, I know you would have helped if you saw it sooner.

Big thanks to duganderson for helping yesterday. We started around 1pm and by 3:30 everything was taken apart, cleaned, and moved over. I reassembled all the plumbing and only had 1 leak that was quickly fixed. All of the corals seemed to transfer over fine however the only fish to make the transfer was my clownfish. We had one fish jump out of the bucket while we were walking down the street. I quickly was able to snatch and plop them back in but I'm sure the added stress didn't help.

With only the clown in the tank I may retry a small angel in a few weeks.

I need to find a new way to hang my light as it is just setting on top of the tank at the moment. The new space has what seems like 20' ceilings so I'll have to make some sort of bracket to hang the lights.
 
eschulist said:
sort of bracket to hang the lights.
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Glad to Hear the corals faired well...looking forward to new pics when things settle down for you.

Hanging Lights -
I ended up using conduit to hang my light...mimicing the ada style "s" bend. the "S" bend allowed me to get the vertical portion of the rod to the outside corner of the tank so you don't see it through the tank.
At first I though "this is only going to be temp until I shell out for a nicer hanger." Cause lets face it, something that costs only 10 bucks to do normally looks pretty amateur.
However, after painted - it turned out pretty darn slick, I barely notice it there at all.

With your light - You might be able to get away with two "s" style hanger on each side, rather than the full ADA style hanger that extends the width of the tank (which I've always thought is a bit bulky)

Either that, or just hire two people to hold the light over the tank for you....
 
There is a half wall behind my tank (similar to what I had before) just slightly higher. So I'll probably create some sort of heavy plate with 2 arms that extend out.
 
New picture showing off the tank's new locale.

uH9pl5f.jpg



I still have to hang the light with a bracket attached to the half wall. I also have to figure out a way to stop the light pollution from the room and large windows. 1/2 of my corals have started to lose their color and looked bleeched. Around 6pm the sun shines straight through the windows and somehow like a magnifying glass cooks about a 2-3" sliver along the front rocks. The owner is still finishing the building and shades or blinds are in the works but that might not be for a few more weeks.

If things continue to go downhill at this new office the tank might be moved again and just stay at home in the basement.
 
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Just a quick observation….
I think you have the tank in the wrong spot! Swap out the dual monitors with the tank.
This will give you a better viewing angle and and may get the tank out of the sunlight's path. :biglaugh2:

Sorry to hear about the Midas Blenny.
Still a great tank to have at one's work.
 
eschulist said:
I still have to hang the light with a bracket attached to the half wall. I also have to figure out a way to stop the light pollution from the room and large windows. .
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Maybe try to kill two birds with one stone, instead of a bracket, maybe a shelf over the tank an inch or two below the wood trim..something that might shade the tank, which you can hang your lights under? Tell the boss you need something to put books on?



Xavier
 
The tank took a hiatus due to this new animal in my life

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Now that the office move is over and my paternity leave has come to an end its time to get this tank back in shape.

Before new corals or fish the first thing I want to address is the light. Right now the light isnt hung but setting on the top of the glass. The closer proximity and the huge amount of ambient light has bleached out many of my corals. So I really want to get a new light that has a similar shape but is controllable and has a wider spectrum.

Right now I have a 36" Chinese LED light that is 50% blue 50% white with no control. I'd like to stay with a similar style around the 24-36" range under $400 if possible.
These are some of the options I found, please let me know what you think based on the LED layouts, size of fixture, and controllablity.


http://www.aliexpress.com/store/pro...-seawater-led-aquairum/918069_1520764662.html
32" long. Min tank size is 36" if I use the legs.
2 clusters of 8 white, 15 blue, 3 actinic, 2 pink LEDs
$410 (Free Shipping)


These next 3 I couldn't find on Aliexpress for an easy 1 item buy. I'd have to contact them to make sure I could just buy one and find out their price.

http://cnhisea.en.alibaba.com/produ...reef_dimmable_cree_aquarium_led_lighting.html
35" long
48 LEDs. Amount of each isnt specified but in one of the photos it looks like the front and back rows alternate B/W and the center row 3 violet, 3 red, 2 green, 2 orange, 2 blue

http://cnhisea.en.alibaba.com/produ...Programmable_hot_sale_LED_aquarium_light.html
27" Long
2 Dense white LED clusters. 20 Royal Blues, 6 violet, 4 Blue, 3 red, 3 green, 2 orange

http://cnhisea.en.alibaba.com/produ...ll_spectrum_led_dimmable_aquarium_lights.html
24" Long And also looks like it must be hung to fit my tank. This is also the shortest fixture and bulkiest of bunch. So low on my list
2 Dense white LED clusters. 20 Royal Blues, 6 violet, 4 Blue, 3 red, 3 green, 2 orange
 
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Oh man....those things are not reef safe! Can you return?

Congrats ;)

Sent from my DROID RAZR using Tapatalk
 
ReefBreeders (more boxy than the fixtures you've already found)
Photon 24: $330 http://reefbreeders.com/shop/photon-24/
Photon 32: $450 http://reefbreeders.com/shop/photon-32/

There was a 160W Maxspect Razor for sale on TCMAS a couple days ago. It is 27" Long x 10" Wide x .9" Thick and keeps that blade aesthetic. It retails for $510, but I think the used one was $350. I'd be super surprised if its still available. Here's the classified post: http://www.tcmas.org/v4/forums/showthread.php?57266-A-whole-lot-of
 
I like the razors though I know little about them or leds in general. 27" 16000k version. Go that way, or just go old school and find a 4 bulb T5 fixture with legs. woo woo!
 
LowersMyBP said:
I like the razors though I know little about them or leds in general. 27" 16000k version. Go that way, or just go old school and find a 4 bulb T5 fixture with legs. woo woo!
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I really like the look of the colors they put out at SWE. The $500 price tag for a new fixture led me to find similar knock-offs. I may have a lead on a used 16000k 27" model outside TCMAS. If he ships that might be the route to go.


Anyone have any comments on the knock off versions? Li said the clusters are better for color mixing, and I agree, but the first puck of LEDs is going to be 8" away from the sides of the tank. Most of those other fixture have LEDs that run the full length. I'd probably need the 120 degree lens to spread the light out to the sides.
 
I do agree that with the demensions of your tank, your probably better off with a fixture that has leds spread evenly across most all the 36" area. When dealing with LEDs that are bunched together to get the length you want your probably going to waste quite a bit of usable light out the front/back of the tank becuase you have to raise it.

buildmyled has always looked intriguing to me and would be a good fit for a tank like yours, can be controlled via apex or da controllers. But for 2 36" tubes would be looking at the $500 range and that's assuming you have a way to compatable controller for them already.
 
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Might have 2 connections on 27" razors, both around $300. Will I only be happy with the 16,000k version? There is someone with a 10k model but it has the larger optics I'd be needing. I figure I will always run my white really low on either model as I prefer a bluer light, but with the 16k will I get the better coloration I want?
 
All 3 of mine are the 10K, unlikely you would run 100% both channels anyways on such a small tank so you can still make a 10K plenty blue if you wanted. Really isn't as big of a difference between them as it sounds. It's only a swap of 2 blue leds for 2 whites in each array between the two models. Even when you run both channels 100% it is still aethetically pleasing IMO definately no yellow as you might think from a 10K.

I have a 10K that will be cheaper asking $250 but has the stock lens( scubspew has first dibs though ) but I'm still a month away before frag tank is down and available for sale. I'm not sure what the cost of the 120degree lenses but pretty certain you would want the 2 end ones to be 120degree. My application the 90degrees are fine and had no reason to upgrade it.
 
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