~~troylee's new diy prop system~~

[capesurfer212]

wow you have some mad skills man,great work!

 

[Troylee]

wow you have some mad skills man,great work!

thank you....;)
been building crap for almost 20yrs...lol

 

[Anemone]

Wow! Awesome tank!

 

[solitude127]

what about t5 bulbs guys any recomendations??? im gonna build a 8 bulb fixture tomorrow need a idea for the lamps...i have always ran t5s as supps never as actual light...tank will be sps dominate with a few challies!!!!lol

Here's what I use in my ATI PM
Front
ATI B+
FIJI PURPLE
ATI B+
GE 6500
ATI B+
ULV ATINIC WHITE
ATI B+
ATI B+

My tank is 20" tall and I has a lot of bleaching when the fixture was a 6". I'm now and 9" and all is coloring up again.

 

[Troylee]

Thank you... My bulbs are 18" off the water.. Will that be a problem in 6" of water???

 

[ronnie]

Here is what I'm running - it is about a 15-17k look:

Front of tank:
ATI Blue Plus
UVL Actinic White
ATI Blue Plus - OD
ATI Blue Plus - OD
IceCap Reef Crest - OD
ATI Aquablue - OD
ATI Blue Plus
ATI Blue Plus
Back of tank

I just started running T5s too. Been an MH guy for 8 years. I'm loving it so far.

 

[Troylee]

How are you guys liking the actinic whites??? I have never seen them....
What about height??? I have always ran mh myself this is first t5 go around....;)

 

[Reefer831]

Man nice work!!!!! Every thing you do is top notch!!!!

 

[mojo]

The height is fine Lee, that would be 24 off the sand on a typical tank. Although you are not using individual reflectors. I would start there and put a in a couple test pieces.

I have done quite a bit with t5's actually. Also thats a really nice skimmer.

Mojo~

 

[WrasseSandwich]

looking good, what ballasts are you running

 

[ronnie]

actinic white is a pink color, IMO. It balances the blues I have as dawn/dusk nicely. I think without it, the blue would be pretty overwhelming - too blue if that is possible :)

 

[Troylee]

Man nice work!!!!! Every thing you do is top notch!!!!

Thank you...;)

 

[Troylee]

The height is fine Lee, that would be 24 off the sand on a typical tank. Although you are not using individual reflectors. I would start there and put a in a couple test pieces.

I have done quite a bit with t5's actually. Also thats a really nice skimmer.

Mojo~

Ya it Is lol... Built my whole system around it...;) notice it's all black lol...
As for my common sense duhhhhhh!!! I didn't even look it the way you just mentioned lol...
The reflectors are from a nova extreme fixture I stripped long ago.. There not the best but they work for now...

 

[Troylee]

looking good, what ballasts are you running

The ballast are sunpak.. Cheap ones I robbed from a nova extreme fixture.... The lights are just temporary until I can afford some LEDs... I had 12 bulbs with ballast reflectors etc so I threw a fixture together for free...;)

 

[Troylee]

actinic white is a pink color, IMO. It balances the blues I have as dawn/dusk nicely. I think without it, the blue would be pretty overwhelming - too blue if that is possible :)

I like the blue look..;)
Right now I'm just running what I ha in the garage which is 4 uvl super actinics, two 75/25 bulbs and two aquablues... It's okay but don't look nearly as nice as my radiums next to it..;)

 

[Reefer831]

I love how you kept the center paper on during the build, so you didn't get any scratches and so much more, such attention to detail. I love this build!!!!!

 

[WrasseSandwich]

The ballast are sunpak.. Cheap ones I robbed from a nova extreme fixture.... The lights are just temporary until I can afford some LEDs... I had 12 bulbs with ballast reflectors etc so I threw a fixture together for free...;)

nice, nothing beats free

 

[Prozium]

what adhesive do you use to put these tanks together?

 

[Troylee]

Weldon #4 it's a solvent that actually melts the plastic causing a fusion weld.....
The only thing close to adhesive in the acrylic world is Weldon 40/42 it's a 2 part system used for very thick acrylic like2" on up... It is almost like fiberglass resin but it is actually a acrylic monomer with a hardner used for casting... Hth... Please feel free with any questions...;)

 

[Prozium]

thanks for the info. how thick should a 14x8x7 tank be to be rimless(thinking about making a desk top frag tank or micro reef) , also whats the rule of thumb on deciding how thick the acrylic should be?