Real Reefer's 5g AIO DIY

[RealReefer]

Pretty neat! Following...

Skills, nice mod.

Thanks!

 

[don_chuwish]

Great tips, thanks!

 

[RealReefer]

Great tips, thanks!

Only a pleasure. Hope it works good if you decide to give it a try.

 

[RealReefer]

Hello followers. Incoming update. Led DIY is still a work in progress, but i couldn't wait any longer so i did a quick mock-up of the tank with the led over it. Was sooooo excited to see the result, and i'm happy with it! Also started working on a design to house the PCB. Opting for a single arm led mount with a custom led body. Doing a test run on MDF. Ultimately i want to laser the unit out of acrylic. But if the MDF works out, ill prime, paint and seal it. It should last a long time. Did my very first run at wood kerving. A bit tricky finding the correct cutting depth and number of slots. Already messed up 3 times. Well the 3rd was actually a success, but in my hastiness i forced the curve to fast and it broke :m01:. I'll try again this weekend. :m106: Not the best freehand routing on the PCB mount , but i'll give it another shot. This was fun!

A few pics. Enjoy!

Single arm in progress

Got a nice bend on this one. To bad it broke.

3mm reccess on a test piece. The recess for the led cover to sit flush.

Lens sitting flush.

PCB mount

Some pics of the mock-up

Have a GR8 week!

 

[don_chuwish]

Gonna be gorgeous

 

[RealReefer]

Gonna be gorgeous

Thanks! I really hope i can make this reef work with some gorgeous SPS and LPS.

 

[RealReefer]

Helo fellow reefers and followers. In the meantime i decided to start the 5g. Waiting patiently for any signs of life. Not even Lance moved since last week Sunday. Looks like he is trapped in quicksand. Poor thing. Will make a post as soon as the micro pods starts exploring the front glass. Can't wait. Also dosed 5ml Seachem Stability for some bac activity. Lance is supplying the ammonia. Still busy with the led DIY. Maybe a change in plans. I'll keep you posted.

Have a GR8 week!

Water still murky because of Lance.

 

[don_chuwish]

That is a funny fish.

 

[VR28man]

Awesome tank! One more follower .

 

[RealReefer]

Helo followers and future followers. Happy to do another update after the weekend! Almost finished with the LED unit. A change of plans and the kerving project is now on the back burner. Would have loved to actually finish the kerving at least. It was quite a challenge to get the perfect curve without the wood breaking. In the end i ran out of off cut MDF and then realised that a removable led housing would make it a lot easier when working in the tank especially when the plan is to do a WC every week. That could increase to 2 times a week when bio load is high. So i ended making another simple DIY led unit and i am happy with it. Still planning to do a proper acrylic version in the near future. Be on the lookout for that!

I primed the wood with pink plascon wood primer. Let it sit over night to dry properly. Finished it with 320 grit sandpaper. Applied 3 coats of gloss white paint.

Lance has left the building and the water is now crystal clear. So without further ado, here's some pics of the tank after a 2 week cycle.

Enjoy!

Have a GR8 week!

 

[RealReefer]

Awesome tank! One more follower .

Thanks man, and thanks for following!

 

[RealReefer]

That is a funny fish.

Just a piece of frozen lance fish (hence the name Lance ) to help with a bit of ammonia and to get the bacteria going.

 

[RealReefer]

Week 4 and waiting patiently. Light cycle started on week 3. 8 Hours a day on 100% intensity. Diatoms appeared on the rock and sand bed. It's just a matter of time. Still in 3 worlds about what i want to run in this tank. SPS only. SPS and LPS or a complete mix with some softies. At this stage i'm leaning towards a SPS & LPS reef.

Some pics to keep this thread alive :swim:

Macro shot of the aragonite

Have an AWESOME week!

 

[RealReefer]

I guess its time for an updated. The reefers have spoken :m38:

Week 8 is in full swing. Tank is looking good and i am happy with the results so far. Running seachem vibrant salt at the moment. Will be changing salts once this batch is finished. Not too happy with how it mixes. Cloudy even if you add salt bit by bit and giving it a chance to mix first. The mixing pump and heater is white after each mix. Haven't decided on a new salt yet.

Made quite a bit of progress on the housing for the ATO unit and fan contoller. Also added my 1st coral frags. No fish at the moment :swim:

Fan controller is up and running. Still need to finish the dosing head and float switch wiring. Temp controller is working really good. Temperature between 25.7-26.3 deg. Most off the time constant on 26. Set temp is 26 and the fan kicks in on 26.3 deg. Takes about 5 mins to cool back down. Evaporation is minimal.

The mini temp controller. It's a 12v controller with 12v output. You can also wire in a lower volt adapter to the output if you want the fan to run at a lower voltage.

Perpex part received from laser cutting. Some pics off the build progress and a final one on the tank. I'll post some pics on the frags a bit later. Hope you enjoy. Have a GR8 week!

Perspex stand offs for the top lid

 

[RealReefer]

Time for another update. Let's put the build on the sideline for a minute. I have added a few frags to the tank. Still struggling with cloudy water.

Corals settled better now that i have added the wax paper over the leds. Happy with that for now!

Here some pics of my first frag batch. I used buttons to mount the frags. They are small and they a natural color that blends well with the rock. I didn't want to mount the frags directly to the LR. If growth is slow i can easily move it without breaking the physical coral and putting stress on it. If its totally encrusted and grown over the LR there is no need to move it. It means it's in a happy place.

So this is my first batch of frags. an unknown acropora? green bali slimer, gsp, green branching montipora, green pocci, pink pocci. I mounted the GSP on a piece of acrylic disc. Later found that its way to light and just flies over the sandbed like a hovercraft when the GSP opens up.

not long after that this little beauty arrived. Yellow / Purple Turbinaria

and not long after that this good looking favites

and not too long after that this trio. Purple digitata, yellow acropora and acropora secale

and not long after that....just kidding

Some closeups and FTS.

I added an extra flow pump just to make the acros happy. not the best looking piece of equipment but it works for now. Already ordered 3x 12v dc pumps that i'll be adding for flow.

Some more pics

ID on this one?

Pipe organ already showing good growth!

Bali slimer and secale

Water is really cloudy. I already added some carbon. Even ran some filter wool. Thought it could be a bacterial bloom so i stopped dosing seachem stability. Still no change. Looking forward to a salt change.

Thanks for following and have a GR8 week!

 

[VSVP bet]

Dude this is awesome. I did a 33l AIO ( https://www.reef2reef.com/threads/33-long-build.366016/ ) and it was a difficult project. You took it to the next level by building the tank. Awesome build I look forward to seeing your progress!

 

[pelphrey]

Tagging along! Always fun watching someone build the tank and make it come to life!

 

[revhtree]

Looking great!!

 

[JBKReef]

care to elaborate on the button frag plugs? Thats a new one for me. Great build so far!

 

[Porpoise Hork]

Amazing job with this DIY. The part that intrigued me the most was modifying the LED array. I'm curious what kind of PAR readings you are getting with it, as well as growth and color.