Hexagon build thread

rithunder916

rithunder916

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Jan 7, 2009
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West Greenwich RI
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Michael
Alright, well Technically this is not a build thread, since the tank is already built.

Here are my goals:

first to empty tank out, and wash.
second i need to remove the bad silicone and re-silicone

Then once that's done I need to build some form of a lighting fixture. For that I will be using LED's and a custom built hood/reflector.

Sometime when it's warm I will paint the tank. I'm thinking of doing a metallic black look. So I will start experimenting with that, to perfect my technique.

Then comes the fun part, whats going inside!

I"m planning on using black sand with eco-complete as a base for my plants, which i currently have growing in my 29 gallon tank. I'll be looking for some drift wood for an awesome aqua scape.

Now the question must be what is going in this! well, i'm working on building a shrimp colony, and putting in maybe a few small tropical fish, something that is only 1" in size or less.


I created this basically to document my progress and for you to offer comments, suggestions etc.


Enjoy!

Mike Kissinger
 
Ok so new progress. I first cleaned up the new silicone, make some mistakes etc, nothing a xacto blade can't fix. Now I'm working on light. I have an idea to just about 70 10mm high power led's. They pull half a watt a peice, and put out 8000 degree Kelvin light at about 45-70 degrees. The biggest issue would be making a reflector of some sorts to help direct stray light back into the tank.

I have a 14' length of 2" white PVC.

I have about 75 10mm leds

I have 10' of 1x4 wood.

So begins the planning. What i would like to do is to cut the pipe in half. This would give me a nice round reflective surface. take about 4 of those and glue them all together to make a flat wave looking thing. Drill about 75 or so holes and mount the led's into them. build a wood box around and stain, to make it look pretty.


Anyone have any idea's reguarding some form of reflector???



Mike
 
Since the LED"s shine at a 40 degree pattern, i'll just get a peice of acrylic, and mount them pointing down into the tank, make a 9" x 17" wooden 1x4 box, mount the sheet in there, and call it a day. I would post pics, but nothing has really changed since the last set. gotta love drawings lol
 
New updates. I finished the silicon work today, cleaned up some of the joints etc. I currently have the tank filled with water, for an overnight test outside. Don't worry, I've waited almost a week for the silicone to cure (6 days) I ordered two huge packages of drift wood from manzitadude, and those will be in next week. Next step is to build the light, which i'm working on drawings for now. Lets see what else. OH my plants are ready to go, i have a tone of clippings rooting in my 29G. if it's warm out tomorrow i'll mask the tank and spray the background. I"m looking at either black or dark blue. I'll be posting more when i get around to working on the light.
 
Umm, Since you mentioned LEDs, I am going to inject my 2c on this matter. Even 75 low power 5mm LEDs (which is what you have) don't have near the power than say three Luxeon Rebels or Cree LEDs. Since your aiming for plants then I highly suggest you rethink your lighting choice here.

I'm not trying to be a know-it-all, but I have done plenty of research on LEDs and photosynthisis (I.E. Plants and corals) and all evedince I've seen is that the PAR output on 5mm is nothing compared to just a few 3w LEDs. Lets not even mention life span, which doesn't campare to high power.

Seriously, save yourself time and trouble and just go with a good 3w system. I have quite a few links in my sig to help you out.
 
Thanks Cory Keeper. I'm not using 5mm Led's though. I currently have 10mm led's from a previous led project. They are rated at 280,000 mcd, which is 106 lumens, at .5w. They are actually really cool looking. THey look alot like the cree /luxeon leds on the inside. I'll see what I can do to get a few pics of them up, as well as specs. Any help is great, since this is a first for me.



Thanks again!


Mike
 
something sounds off here, not even 3w LEDs are that effecient. Just ran it through 2 calculators and both came up with the same numbers so it sounds like those LEDs are highly overated.

Second, even the 1/2w 10mm just don't have the power your gonna be looking for. Growth might be ok, but it still won't compare to 3w LEDs. Just 12 over a 29g and the proper ferts can get you insane growth.
 
Nice hex tank.
 
Good build project ........:)
 
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