Stoneyed
Community Member
Found a good deal on a 180 that was recently broken down due to the owner moving out of state. Came with some lights, pumps, sump, stand, and skimmer. Shout out to my friends who helped me move this dang thing!
Ran power up the wall for the lights, and started epoxying rocks together. Lights were hung as a temporary measure until i could build better ones. Plumbing was done through the wall to supply/return from the 60 cube, as well as Ca reactor, and power for the lights on the 60.
Found these super cool dimmable 120v (driver onboard) 50w LED chips. Initially went Blue, UV, 20k, and full spectrum... but the full spectrum was too red, so i replaced them with actinics. These things are awesome! Super easy to wire up, and (at least a couple months ago) were about $5 each. I put 4 per housing, and used 3 housings.
All three wired up, with waterproof quick connects! I've found over the years, that making DIY stuff easy to maintain pays off big in the long run. If a chip goes out, I can unplug one pendant, and have it replaced in a few minutes. Each channel is independently controlled by a cheap wifi dimmer
Skipping ahead a couple months. I finally got access to a submersible PAR meter, and am getting about 150 at the bottom, running 3/4 channels at 70%. Based on this, i'll probably be throwing some more light at it soon. Acros are growing and keeping coloration, but i feel it could be much better.
Lagoon tank has some anemones, and a couple zoos. I need to stock it better, but keep getting distracted by fuzzy sticks.
Reef octopus skimmer with swabbie. I hate skimmer maintenance, so this was a fantastic upgrade! Fuge has numerous types of macro, as well as an ATS screen.
2x mag 18s for return. 1 is split between the 180 and the 60, while the other is plumbed outside to the chiller, then returns to the 180. Wifi controllers make turning pumps on/off super simple. A 1/4' line bleeds off a small portion of flow to send to the calcium reactor (currently working as a denitrator).
Current stocking is 2 maroon clowns in the 60, and a hippo, powder brown, 6-line wrasse, and pair of clowns in the 180. I've got a baby purple tang in quarantine, which will eventually go into the 180.
Ran power up the wall for the lights, and started epoxying rocks together. Lights were hung as a temporary measure until i could build better ones. Plumbing was done through the wall to supply/return from the 60 cube, as well as Ca reactor, and power for the lights on the 60.
Found these super cool dimmable 120v (driver onboard) 50w LED chips. Initially went Blue, UV, 20k, and full spectrum... but the full spectrum was too red, so i replaced them with actinics. These things are awesome! Super easy to wire up, and (at least a couple months ago) were about $5 each. I put 4 per housing, and used 3 housings.
All three wired up, with waterproof quick connects! I've found over the years, that making DIY stuff easy to maintain pays off big in the long run. If a chip goes out, I can unplug one pendant, and have it replaced in a few minutes. Each channel is independently controlled by a cheap wifi dimmer
Skipping ahead a couple months. I finally got access to a submersible PAR meter, and am getting about 150 at the bottom, running 3/4 channels at 70%. Based on this, i'll probably be throwing some more light at it soon. Acros are growing and keeping coloration, but i feel it could be much better.
Lagoon tank has some anemones, and a couple zoos. I need to stock it better, but keep getting distracted by fuzzy sticks.
Reef octopus skimmer with swabbie. I hate skimmer maintenance, so this was a fantastic upgrade! Fuge has numerous types of macro, as well as an ATS screen.
2x mag 18s for return. 1 is split between the 180 and the 60, while the other is plumbed outside to the chiller, then returns to the 180. Wifi controllers make turning pumps on/off super simple. A 1/4' line bleeds off a small portion of flow to send to the calcium reactor (currently working as a denitrator).
Current stocking is 2 maroon clowns in the 60, and a hippo, powder brown, 6-line wrasse, and pair of clowns in the 180. I've got a baby purple tang in quarantine, which will eventually go into the 180.
