MoshJosh's DIY 20 gallon AIO/sump w/ unconventional lighting. . .

MoshJosh

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"Needed" another tank but the only place I had to put one was occupied by my sump (above tank "sump"). I figured why not kill 2 birds with 1 stone. . . turn the sump into a weird sump/display/AIO hybrid

This was the plan:

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I decided to make the single baffle out of a cutting board. Thought this would be the cheapest source of HDPE. . . but it turns out the cutting board I bought was made out of polypropylene. . . still reef safe (per my reading) but not super rigid. Still should work, though, from my testing silicone does not like to stick to it. I did rough up the edges with sandpaper after my test so hopefully that, plus pretty equal pressure on both sides should stop it from being an issue. . .

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Here is how it turned out. After lighting up the AIO chamber it looks like I could have done a few more coats of paint (did 3), as there is a little bit of light bleed in some place. Though still looks better than the black plastic that hid the old sump.

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This was the sump BEFORE:



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and this is the "sump" NOW:

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Here is what the whole set up looks like. . . and wow that light is WARM. . . especially when you compare it to the actual reef lights haha

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The tank has 2 fish ATM, Muffins and PoundCake the platinum perculas (maybe?) and a few "sacrificial" corals. . .

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MoshJosh

MoshJosh

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I would think you need some kind of heat sink on that led board or it’s gonna fry… cool none the less..
It's an off the shelf horticulture light. . . not DIY as it might look haha. So it should work pretty well/has a warrenty. . .

that said it is 4000k color temp. . . so we will see. I am currently running it pretty low power (came with a dimmer)
 
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MoshJosh

MoshJosh

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Been a little over a month, but think I will be switching to a more reef oriented light.

MY THOUGHTS/PROS VS CONS:

Pros:
- grows corals
- low price given intensity/coverage
- dimmable

Cons:
- coral coloration is poor
- grows algae very well
- foot print/lack of shade causes a lot of light bleed

MORE OF MY THOUGHTS:


Coral growth- don't think anyone is surprised, yes this light seems to grow corals just fine. Did it grow them better or worse than other lights??? I can't say as there are to many factors at play (and to many separate issues with this tank ATM). That said, I have seen growth on my SPS (acros, montis, stylos)
- side note, I had a duncan die in this set up, though, it was not doing well when I moved it and, without knowing PAR, I think I mounted it WAY to high and blasted it with light. The zoas in this tank have not thrived but again I think this has more to do with the height they are mounted at in the tank.

Price vs intensity/coverage- I am running this light at about half power ATM. At higher intensity setting and with proper mounting, I think you could cover a pretty good area with high/medium intensity light (maybe 2' X 2')

Dimmable- yeah, it comes with a dimming dial. . . nice feature

Coral coloration- beauty is in the eye of the beholder, but running 4-5K lighting makes your corals look brown and drab for the most part. I do think it mimics the look of some photos/videos I've seen of very shallow reefs. . . but still not my favorite look, and probably not the look most are going for.

Grows algae well- don't think anyone is surprised, yes this light is great at growing algae. I though between my fuge and some macros in the display I could compensate for this. . . but no not really. There is hair algae starting to pop up from nearly every surface under this light, while the other tank in the system (same water) has little to no hair algae under "reef" lights. . . Light would probably rock on a macro only tank. . .

Light bleed- This is not totally the lights fault, I think the way it is mounted (really high in the room) makes it more noticeable. But still, the big foot print of the light over such a small tank causes a lot of light bleed into the room. . .


IN CONCLUSION:

I do like this light and think it, or lights like it, could be useful in some reef applications. Giant fuge light, macro tank light, or maybe a really specific frag system. Think it would be cool to try this light, or a few of them, at full power over a large, non display, frag system. In theory you could get 4' X 2' coverage with 2 lights at a total cost of $200. And a large system would allow you to keep a few larger herbivorous fish to keep the algae at bay. . . anyway just my thoughts, my rambling, and obviously just my antidotal experience. . .

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MoshJosh

MoshJosh

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Got a new light, Nicrew 30W pendant. Overall I am pleased with the light, it is very much a "spot light" in that light is very concentrated in one area/not very diffuse, but seems to work well for my application. That said, even with the shift in spectrum the hair algae was out of control! I tried a few things, but was slow going and ultimately I lost the war of attrition and gave up. . . took out the rock and threw in a new one. . . I took this "opportunity" to make the tank a nem tank:

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Would like to add a few varieties of BTA in the future.
 

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