iReef

[Ron99]

I'm getting a slow start but better late then never :biggrin:

Here is the "cabinet" for my tank:

http://hotimg23.fotki.com/a/70_70/254_23/iReefCase.jpg

And the left over "guts" that used to inhabit it:

http://hotimg23.fotki.com/a/70_70/254_23/iReefCaseGuts.jpg

And the cardboard mockup for the tank:

http://hotimg23.fotki.com/a/70_70/254_23/Mockup.jpg

http://hotimg23.fotki.com/a/70_70/254_23/Mockup2.jpg

I'm just waiting for my acrylic to be cut and mostly assembled. More to come soon I hope...

[christyf5]

:mrgreen::mrgreen::mrgreen: I can't wait to see this build. Love the idea!!! :biggrin:

[BlueAbyss]

I remember seeing something like this years ago. Awesome idea to use an iMac!

[VFX]

I love these!

A buddy of mine had a while back.

He got it as a kit from this (http://macaquarium.com/deluxeeyemacaquarium.aspx) place.

.

[banditpowdercoat]

NICE, wana see more

[belzebuth]

Great Idea...Love it

[Snaz]

Rust?

[JDigital]

I love it!! :mrgreen: You've got my vote unless someone builds one inside a new iMac... :lol:

[Myka]

VERY cool idea!!! Can't wait to see it built!

[Ron99]

Rust?

I was contemplating that. the only metal is that base the motherboard used to sit on. The rest is plastic. I may try to paint the metal base with some rustoleum of something as it is a perfect base for the tank.

[Ron99]

I love it!! :mrgreen: You've got my vote unless someone builds one inside a new iMac... :lol:

That I would like to see :lol: May be good for some Pipefish!

[sharuq1]

Very innovative, can't wait to see how this turns out.

[Ron99]

OKay, it's been a crazy busy month and a half but I am just squeaking in under the wire. Slight progress but still some sorting of the "cabinet" to do. Here's the update:

The tank was completed but I messed up my measurements/drawings a bit so the front panel did not fit properly. Had to kludge it a bit with some extra acrylic. it's not pretty on the side but it works and it won't be visible when all is said and done.

http://hotimg23.fotki.com/a/70_70/254_23/Tank1.jpg

http://hotimg23.fotki.com/a/70_70/254_23/Tank2.jpg

http://hotimg25.fotki.com/a/70_70/254_23/Tank3.jpg

http://hotimg25.fotki.com/a/70_70/254_23/Tank4.jpg

I also decided to make a rock wall for the back. it's made by siliconing rock to a sheet of that plastic mesh used for needlepoint:

http://hotimg23.fotki.com/a/70_70/254_23/RockWall1.jpg

http://hotimg23.fotki.com/a/70_70/254_23/RockWall2.jpg

Then the spaces are filled with insulating foam:

http://hotimg25.fotki.com/a/70_70/254_23/RockWall3.jpg

and finally the foam is coated with epoxy resin and covered with sand:

http://hotimg25.fotki.com/a/70_70/254_23/RockWall4188.jpg

And here it is in the tank:

http://hotimg23.fotki.com/a/70_70/254_23/Tank5.jpg

[Ron99]

Next up was working on my LED lighting. I am still waiting on my Cree emitters to arrive but I had some cheapo chinese white emitters so they will do temporarily. I'll build a second array and swap in the mix of blue and white Crees when they arrive. Here are the various parts and the little parts box heatsink I drilled and tapped:

http://hotimg25.fotki.com/a/70_70/254_23/LED1.jpg

And the completed array powered up:

http://hotimg25.fotki.com/a/70_70/254_23/LED2.jpg

And finally the tank filled with water, sand and some rock (which has been in my frag tank and was in my 10 gallon nano before that):

http://hotimg23.fotki.com/a/70_70/254_23/Full1.jpg

I will endeavor to keep the updates more frequent and regular from now on.

[lastlight]

Awesome work so far! Only trouble is you're going to get used to having such a sexy caninet. When the time comes to upgrade your next logical step up is to gut a cinema hd display and that's going to set you back some!

[Ron99]

Awesome work so far! Only trouble is you're going to get used to having such a sexy caninet. When the time comes to upgrade your next logical step up is to gut a cinema hd display and that's going to set you back some!

Thanks. I think maybe you mean the old Studio Display? I think the Cinema HD is an LCD monitor and that would mean a very thin tank :heh:

Here's a shot from this morning now that the sand dust has cleared. Man those LEDs shimmer alot. I'll have to see if I can get some video.

http://hotimg25.fotki.com/a/70_70/254_23/Full12.jpg

[Snaz]

Computer shell, custom LEDs, DIY back wall. This tank is going to be AWESOME!

[RCFA]

This is looking great! Can't wait to see more!

[icecool217]

oh wow Ron. That's awesome. Lots of creativity and DIY. I assume that powering on the MAC would turn on the lights of the aquarium? ;)

[scherzo]

Good thing the tank is in a Mac.. if it was in a windows box you'd always have a

tank crash! ;)

[plutoniumJoe]

Now now Jeff, lets not get political.

Good thing the tank is in a Mac.. if it was in a windows box you'd always have a

tank crash! ;)

[Ron99]

Good thing the tank is in a Mac.. if it was in a windows box you'd always have a

tank crash! ;)

Either that or you would look in the tank and see nothing but a wall of blue :lol:

[Snaz]

oh wow Ron. That's awesome. Lots of creativity and DIY. I assume that powering on the MAC would turn on the lights of the aquarium? ;)

What would also be nifty is if pressing the on button would play the old school MAC boot sound. There are greeting cards you can buy now that contain onboard chips that let you record a short personal greeting that plays when the card is opened. I smell a hack!

[Ron99]

What would also be nifty is if pressing the on button would play the old school MAC boot sound. There are greeting cards you can buy now that contain onboard chips that let you record a short personal greeting that plays when the card is opened. I smell a hack!

I just might have to use that one :biggrin:

[Myka]

Really enjoying this build. I love the originality.

[Ron99]

Thanks everyone. My Cree emitters just arrived so I will try to get the final lighting up and running tomorrow.

[subman]

I love the idea can't wait to see it with the new LED's!

[BlueAbyss]

I love a good LED build :biggrin:

[Ron99]

Here's the completed LED array. Made with 2 scrap yard CPU heatskinks, 2 Cree XRE white LEDs, 4 Cree XRE Royal Blue LEDs, some scrap acylic for splash shields and a few nylon and stainless screws. The heatsinks were drilled and tapped and the LEDs are held on by the non conducting nylon screws.

http://hotimg23.fotki.com/a/70_70/254_23/CreeArray1.jpg

Total cost of the lighting was 6 LEDs at USD $5.25 each, probably about $1.00 for the heatsinks, USD $20 for the buckpuck driver and $18.90 for the 24v wall wart. Oh yeah, 24 screws at about $0.07c each. Grand total is about $78.

And here they are fired up:

http://hotimg23.fotki.com/a/70_70/254_23/CreeArray12.jpg

It's fairly blue with this mix of LEDs. Probably close to 18,000K or 20,000K.

I'll get a shot on the tank later when my daughter drags her butt out of bed as the tank is in her room right now :smile:

[Ron99]

Here's a shot of the tank with the new lighting. It looks more blue/purple in the picture than in person. I will have to try to figure out the white balance for LEDs:

http://hotimg23.fotki.com/a/70_70/254_23/FullTankShot1.jpg

[BlueAbyss]

Are you planning on adding a fan to cool the heatsinks?

[bignose]

How do you access the top of the tank when it is inside the computer case?
Are you planning for a access panel on top?

[Ron99]

How do you access the top of the tank when it is inside the computer case?
Are you planning for a access panel on top?

The entire top of the case will be removable. But the front bezel overlaps the top in front so I am engineering something for that.

Are you planning on adding a fan to cool the heatsinks?

Shouldn't be necessary as I am only driving the LEDs at 350mA (the blues are rated up to 700mA and the whites up to 1000mA). I lose a little in light output but they run far cooler. The loss in lumens is not a problem in this small tank. The heat sinks get warm to the touch but not hot. I will probably run one fan in the case just to draw warm air out when everything is closed up.

[BlueAbyss]

Ah, I see. I understand the Cree XR-Es are still quite bright at 350mA, you should have plenty of PAR yet. They will outlast the tank itself, too :biggrin:

[christyf5]

FTS due!! :biggrin:

[Ron99]

Slow progress but here it is.

Got the tank in it's cabinet now :-)

http://hotimg23.fotki.com/a/70_70/254_23/iReef6.jpg

http://hotimg23.fotki.com/a/70_70/254_23/iReef5.jpg

The back of the case and front bezel come off for access to the tank.

http://hotimg23.fotki.com/a/70_70/254_23/iReef11.jpg

Here you can see the rear chambers with heater, ATO and Minijet 606 return pump.

http://hotimg23.fotki.com/a/70_70/254_23/iReef2.jpg

And I cut and hinged the top of the front part of the frame for access into the tank itself.

http://hotimg25.fotki.com/a/70_70/254_23/iReef3.jpg

http://hotimg25.fotki.com/a/70_70/254_23/iReef4.jpg

I added a bit more rock and a couple of frags. one small piece of tree coral that came off a larger one I had and a few zoa frags. I had two snails but they died. I think maybe something was leaching out of the rock wall as the pH was a bit low and the frags all closed up but two 100% water changes later the corals seem happier. I want to get it stable and make sure the coral frags and snails are happy before I go with any other type of livestock.

Anyhow, here is a shot into the tank.

http://hotimg25.fotki.com/a/70_70/254_23/iReef7.jpg

[Pazil]

Dude that rocks!!!:mrgreen::mrgreen::mrgreen:

[BlueAbyss]

Looks pretty sweet... I don't really like the rock wall look, but yours is pretty great!

[Jason McK]

Wow very cool build, looks great!

J

[jakebrake3202]

Awesome job on the aquarium! I love the rock wall. can't wait to see it with fish. What do you plan to add?

[365seasons]

That is absolutely gnarly. Good job on the tank! Excited to see the finished product.
And as stated before, good thing it's a mac. :biggrin:

[lastlight]

This is too cool! Some amazing DIY skillz...even ATO in the back I love it!

[bignose]

great work on your tank. Very clean looking.

[Ron99]

Thanks everybody. It's coming together but there's still a long way to go:biggrin:

Awesome job on the aquarium! I love the rock wall. can't wait to see it with fish. What do you plan to add?

Hey Jake, welcome to Canreef. I'm trying to decide whether or not to keep it inverts only as it is very small. So I was thinking about a couple of sexy shrimp and then either a pair of bumble bee shrimps or maybe a small goby. I would like a greenbanded goby if I can get one but they are hard to get in Canada.

[jakebrake3202]

One thing I like to do on a few of the iMacquariums that I have built is carve out the shape of the apple logo form the top of the inner frame on the top of the iMac. Use a dremel tool with a small carving tip to carve out the plastic and then when you put the front bezel back on the light from the inside of your tank will shine out through the apple logo on the top.

I have also bought an iPod USB wall charger and mounted it inside the iMacquarium so you can plug in an ipod or similar device to charge it. A small one will fit under the tank where the connection dock on the side of the iMac is. Just carve out the original USB connections and mount the charger in place there. Then wire the charger to your power cord. Then you can plug in any USB device to charge.

[Ron99]

Another crazy month with not enough time for stuff:biggrin:

But here is a quick update. Everything has stabilized and there are now a bunch of frags in the tank. Livestock includes two small nassarius snails, a cerith snail, a stomatella snail, and a blue legged hermit (which will probably get replaced by some sexy shrimp soon). Our shark nosed goby has also moved in for now as the six line wrasse in the 75 gallon was harassing it for some reason.

So here is the FTS for September:

http://hotimg23.fotki.com/a/70_70/254_23/SeptFTS.jpg

I'll try to get some more photos over the next few days.

[Ron99]

More Pics. Still trying to figure out exposure for the LEDs. I think the narrow band of wavelengths they produce makes it difficult.

Here's some of the various zoas. The fluorescence with the royal blue LEDs is amazing. The colours really pop in the tank. It's hard to capture in camera:

http://hotimg23.fotki.com/a/70_70/254_23/Zoas1.jpg

http://hotimg23.fotki.com/a/70_70/254_23/Zoas3.jpg

http://hotimg23.fotki.com/a/70_70/254_23/Zoas4.jpg

http://hotimg23.fotki.com/a/70_70/254_23/Zoas5.jpg

http://hotimg23.fotki.com/a/70_70/254_23/Zoas2.jpg

A tiny Kenya Tree frag:

http://hotimg23.fotki.com/a/70_70/254_23/Kenya.jpg

A tiny toadstool frag:

http://hotimg23.fotki.com/a/70_70/254_23/Toadstool.jpg

A small trumpet coral frag:

http://images53.fotki.com/v1574/fileqsWA/cefdc/7/998787/7644988/Trumpets.jpg

"Zebra" the sharknose goby:

http://hotimg23.fotki.com/a/70_70/254_23/Zebra1.jpg

Checking out the zoas:

http://hotimg23.fotki.com/a/70_70/254_23/Goby2.jpg

[Snaz]

Great pics! The florescence from the LEDs is amazing. What camera are you using?

[JDigital]

Tank looks awesome! Nice work man.

[gbeef]

Lookin really nice. I love the the rock wall great work

[Ron99]

Thanks guys. Camera is a Canon 30D with a Sigma 70mm macro lens.

I'm going out of town for 5 days so hopefully all will be well. I have the ATO and a very experienced tank sitter coming by once a day to feed and check things so it should be good.

[Ron99]

October Update Time. Not a ton of changes. Added three new friends for the sharknose goby:

http://images50.fotki.com/v397/filePOwo/334bf/7/998787/7644988/Sexy1.jpg

Here's another one hanging out with the ricordea:

http://images30.fotki.com/v39/file1trX/334bf/7/998787/7644988/SexyRic.jpg

Also put my flamethrower mushroom in here:

http://images52.fotki.com/v641/filezRAq/334bf/7/998787/7644988/FlameMush.jpg

And here's a nice shot of some hungry trumpets just before lights out:

http://images47.fotki.com/v1398/fileKxzs/334bf/7/998787/7644988/HungreyTrumpets.jpg

And the current FTS:

http://images51.fotki.com/v730/fileVjBy/334bf/7/998787/7644988/FTSOct.jpg

[hillegom]

looking good Ron

[BlueAbyss]

Looks awesome, I love the way the 'screen' glows sort of like what the CRT would have thrown off.

[wehtam]

This is an awesome idea, great work.. looks good :biggrin:

[Ron99]

Life is pretty hectic right now. Things seem pretty stable with water changes every week to 10 days. Added a few more frags. Mostly zoas from my 75 gallon. Zoas seem to be dong poorly there for some reason and are much happier in the iReef. Here's a quick Nov. FTS. I'll try to post some more pics tomorrow.

http://hotimg23.fotki.com/a/70_70/254_23/NovFTS.jpg

[365seasons]

:jaw: WOW :jaw:

so gnarly

[lastlight]

That wall looks amazing all grown in like it is now. Can't wait to see those tiny frags fill in and make that wall LIVE.

I felt a little let down when I looked at the other pics of your goby and realized these guys don't have neon green in their faces. Darn reflection of the trumpet coral! How's he liking his new buddies?

[Ron99]

That wall looks amazing all grown in like it is now. Can't wait to see those tiny frags fill in and make that wall LIVE.

I felt a little let down when I looked at the other pics of your goby and realized these guys don't have neon green in their faces. Darn reflection of the trumpet coral! How's he liking his new buddies?

Yes, I am waiting for them to fill in too. Growth has happened but has been slow with these under driven LEDs. It's a trade off of PAR vs. heat in the tightly enclosed space.

The goby does have some yellow on its face but I think the reflection in that one shot did make it stand out more.

Here's a couple more shots:

http://hotimg23.fotki.com/a/70_70/254_23/Nov8.jpg

http://hotimg23.fotki.com/a/70_70/254_23/Nov4.jpg

http://hotimg23.fotki.com/a/70_70/254_23/Nov5.jpg

http://hotimg23.fotki.com/a/70_70/254_23/Nov6.jpg

http://hotimg23.fotki.com/a/70_70/254_23/Nov7.jpg

http://hotimg23.fotki.com/a/70_70/254_23/Nov1.jpg

http://hotimg23.fotki.com/a/70_70/254_23/Nov2.jpg

A little "skin flap" of palau green nephthea. This will look beautiful under the LEDs once it grows out.

http://hotimg23.fotki.com/a/70_70/254_23/Nov3.jpg

[lastlight]

As that grows and expands are the green areas that green? Looks gorgeous already.

[BlueAbyss]

Your rock wall is probably the best one I've ever seen... I don't generally like how they look but yours turned out really nice.

Wow, a Nephthea... pretty cool. Do you need to feed it?

[Ron99]

I'm not usually a fan of rock walls either but in this tiny tank it makes it look like you're looking at something bigger or at a snapshot of a section of reef etc.

I don't feed the nepthea directly. It is a photosynthetic type and while I make an effort to not overfeed it may also pick up the odd stray particle of food as I do try to leave a few extra bits for the shrimp etc. floating around.

[JDigital]

Been awhile since I checked in on this tank... Looking fantastic Ron.. :mrgreen:

[christyf5]

Don't forget you'll need a final pic for December 1, thats next Tuesday! :biggrin:

[christyf5]

Final tank pic due tomorrow December 1st (if no final pic, the last FTS in this thread will be used).

[Ron99]

For your viewing pleasure:

A final FTS...

http://hotimg23.fotki.com/a/70_70/254_23/FinalFTS.jpg

The Three Amigos

http://hotimg25.fotki.com/a/70_70/254_23/3Amigos1.jpg

http://hotimg23.fotki.com/a/70_70/254_23/Flamethrower.jpg

http://hotimg23.fotki.com/a/70_70/254_23/Zoas1253.jpg

http://hotimg25.fotki.com/a/70_70/254_23/Crabby.jpg

http://hotimg25.fotki.com/a/70_70/254_23/Trumpet.jpg

http://hotimg23.fotki.com/a/70_70/254_23/Kenya979.jpg

http://hotimg23.fotki.com/a/70_70/254_23/Hangin.jpg

[Ron99]

A few more:

http://images53.fotki.com/v420/fileLaPG/a4c08/7/998787/7644988/Sexy.jpg

http://images53.fotki.com/v432/filetjJ6/a4c08/7/998787/7644988/PinkPanthers.jpg

http://images54.fotki.com/v563/fileMxLZ/a4c08/7/998787/7644988/Zoas2.jpg

http://images52.fotki.com/v728/filelfhv/a4c08/7/998787/7644988/Zuma.jpg

http://images17.fotki.com/v28/fileJimU/a4c08/7/998787/7644988/Zoas3.jpg

[jakebrake3202]

That's awesome! Good pics.

[Ron99]

Thanks. It's hard to get the colour balance right in the photos as the LEDs put out such a narrow spectrum it throws off the white balance and exposure. I have to spend more time figuring that out.

[DCDN]

It's looking amazing, you really did a great job.

[Snaz]

IMHO don't bother with white balance in your what you shoot in a lighted tank, just let Photoshop fix it up with a couple of clicks. These three were adjusted in PS with three clicks each, Auto Contrast, Auto Tone and Auto Colour. Results would be better with originals

http://snaz.com/marine/PinkPanthersa.jpg

http://snaz.com/marine/Sexy1.jpg

http://snaz.com/marine/Zoas3a.jpg