Megabite's 180 Reef - Round 2

[MegabiteOG]

Really nice shots Orly.

Gracias!

 

[MegabiteOG]

Because I get board and never leave well enough alone, I think I'm going to make a bracket to reposition my edge bars low and directing light mid to rockscape. I'm looking to reduce shadowing and provide more places to grow SPS.

By placing the light tilted like I did in the picture below, a lot of the shadowing is gone and have light in places I didn't before. I'm sure this has been done. Any thoughts or suggestions?

 

[kevgib67]

Because I get board and never leave well enough alone, I think I'm going to make a bracket to reposition my edge bars low and directing light mid to rockscape. I'm looking to reduce shadowing and provide more places to grow SPS.

By placing the light tilted like I did in the picture below, a lot of the shadowing is gone and have light in places I didn't before. I'm sure this has been done. Any thoughts or suggestions?

Looks awesome Orly!

 

[That Crusso Kid]

Practicing taking fish pics. I find it tough to take good ones. They don't sit still much.

"Oh, hey everyone, please feel bad for me because I can only take outstanding pictures of my fish." - Orly

 

[That Crusso Kid]

Because I get board and never leave well enough alone, I think I'm going to make a bracket to reposition my edge bars low and directing light mid to rockscape. I'm looking to reduce shadowing and provide more places to grow SPS.

By placing the light tilted like I did in the picture below, a lot of the shadowing is gone and have light in places I didn't before. I'm sure this has been done. Any thoughts or suggestions?

I don't know if you are being serious but, because I know you have CDO, I have a hard time believing you would want the overall look of your tank looking that way. That said, if it works with your scape and par goals then go for it.

I also happened to notice that in the middle of your tank, in the last picture, your scape makes it look like there's a moray eel in there. Although, it could be that I am seeing things again.

 

[MegabiteOG]

"Oh, hey everyone, please feel bad for me because I can only take outstanding pictures of my fish." - Orly

Touché . But my point is you need to take a lot of fish pics just to get a couple of good ones. Much more work than corals.

I don't know if you are being serious but, because I know you have CDO, I have a hard time believing you would want the overall look of your tank looking that way. That said, if it works with your scape and par goals then go for it.

I also happened to notice that in the middle of your tank, in the last picture, your scape makes it look like there's a moray eel in there. Although, it could be that I am seeing things again.

Okay, what does CDO stand for besides Collateralized Debt Obligation? I doubt it’s a typo as you don’t do those due to your perfection.

Agreed that it looks like crap right now, but man does it do a lot for shadowing on the base of the many of the corals in that position. Obviously there’s no way I’m leaving it like that. I bought some aluminum angle yesterday and going to see if I can incorporate arms into the current light brackets to hold these in a similar position hiding the cable as well. Also needs to be multi-positional to move it out of the way for maintenance.

Just don’t know if I can make it sleek enough so it doesn’t look too bad. If it doesn’t work out, at least it’s something to keep me occupied for a bit.

 

[tbrown]

Touché . But my point is you need to take a lot of fish pics just to get a couple of good ones. Much more work than corals.


Okay, what does CDO stand for besides Collateralized Debt Obligation? I doubt it’s a typo as you don’t do those due to your perfection.

Agreed that it looks like crap right now, but man does it do a lot for shadowing on the base of the many of the corals in that position. Obviously there’s no way I’m leaving it like that. I bought some aluminum angle yesterday and going to see if I can incorporate arms into the current light brackets to hold these in a similar position hiding the cable as well. Also needs to be multi-positional to move it out of the way for maintenance.

Just don’t know if I can make it sleek enough so it doesn’t look too bad. If it doesn’t work out, at least it’s something to keep me occupied for a bit.

It's obviously your Compulsive Disorder Obsessively...

 

[steveschuerger]

Because I get board and never leave well enough alone, I think I'm going to make a bracket to reposition my edge bars low and directing light mid to rockscape. I'm looking to reduce shadowing and provide more places to grow SPS.

By placing the light tilted like I did in the picture below, a lot of the shadowing is gone and have light in places I didn't before. I'm sure this has been done. Any thoughts or suggestions?

I’ve never been super worried about shadowing as lower par corals have homes. That being said aesthetically, the slanted brighter looks better to the eyes.
CDO=Complete Disordered Orders

 

[MegabiteOG]

I’ve never been super worried about shadowing as lower par corals have homes. That being said aesthetically, the slanted brighter looks better to the eyes.
CDO=Complete Disordered Orders

It absolutely brightens up the rockwork and corals with more light coming from the front and still reduces some shadowing. I'm not that concerned as well, but having a more light should improve overall growth patterns. I think.

Here are a few pics of a the brackets prototype being designed.

 

[MegabiteOG]

New page pic and maybe some more later. Almost forgot but I did take one this morning as I thought it was really interesting how this coral is growing. Starting to get really nice and sits mid to lower part of the tank.

 

[MegabiteOG]

Done for now. Going to leave only the right side like this for a week and see how the corals react and if I actually like it. The left side looks alot cleaner with the light above, but the right side inside the tank looks much more appealing with the reduced shadowing. If it works out, I will paint the brackets and clean up the wire going up.

 

[That Crusso Kid]

Touché . But my point is you need to take a lot of fish pics just to get a couple of good ones. Much more work than corals.


Okay, what does CDO stand for besides Collateralized Debt Obligation? I doubt it’s a typo as you don’t do those due to your perfection.

Agreed that it looks like crap right now, but man does it do a lot for shadowing on the base of the many of the corals in that position. Obviously there’s no way I’m leaving it like that. I bought some aluminum angle yesterday and going to see if I can incorporate arms into the current light brackets to hold these in a similar position hiding the cable as well. Also needs to be multi-positional to move it out of the way for maintenance.

Just don’t know if I can make it sleek enough so it doesn’t look too bad. If it doesn’t work out, at least it’s something to keep me occupied for a bit.

CDO is OCD but in the correct order.

I think the you'll end up liking the new light setup. Is the plan to loosen the bolts that hold the arms to the frame to raise them up?

 

[MegabiteOG]

CDO is OCD but in the correct order.

I think the you'll end up liking the new light setup. Is the plan to loosen the bolts that hold the arms to the frame to raise them up?

I’m still figuring out what I want to do. I’m using 3/4” x 3/4” x 1/16” aluminum angle and don’t like how the profile looks. I think I'm going to pick up some 1.5" or 2" by 1/8" aluminum flat stock to broaden the look from the front matching the BOT arm and thinning out the side profile.

As for attaching and removing, I'm still working on what to do. Thought about doing a simple hinge to just lift it out of the way or even strong magnets for easy removal. With magnets, I'd attach right to the BOT arms and if going with a hinge, I'd bolt to the top of the light. With flat stock, I may even be able to slide it into the BOT arm as it has a internal lip. Need to measure and see.

For the bend, I'm thinking of going radius instead of straight as I think it would look much better. If done well, looks good, performs well, and has some adjustability, maybe I can even sell these in kit form with hardware making it plug-n-play for anyone interested.

 

[tbrown]

CDO is OCD but in the correct order.

I think the you'll end up liking the new light setup. Is the plan to loosen the bolts that hold the arms to the frame to raise them up?

What are you, a librarian? Alphabetical order is so outdated.

 

[MegabiteOG]

Update on edge bar brackets.

I went with 1.5" x 1/8" aluminum flat bar. Worked perfect. The look is much more refined and matches up pretty well with the overall aesthetics. Much stronger too. Just need to paint black and print some removable clips to properly secure to BOT arms but making it super quick to remove for maintenance. I will secure and the cable likely to the bottom of bar.

I like it so much, I'm going to go ahead and do the other side. All for just $40 in materiels. Here are the pics.

 

[MegabiteOG]

A couple of Mandarin shots.

 

[MegabiteOG]

Brackets painted and installed. Still need to see how I want to attach the wires and how difficult it is dealing with the lights lower to the water when doing stuff without removing. Remove is super quick, but still another step.

 

[Minifoot77]

Brackets painted and installed. Still need to see how I want to attach the wires and how difficult it is dealing with the lights lower to the water when doing stuff without removing. Remove is super quick, but still another step.

Im just glad you painted them

 

[reeftimer]

Cool tank

 

[MegabiteOG]

Im just glad you painted them

Haha. It was always the plan. There’s a line between function and beauty. This one falls more on the function side. Well, that’s the intention.