iReef

Ron99 · #1 07-16-2009, 06:28 AM

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.

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:

Then the spaces are filled with insulating foam:

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

And here it is in the tank:

Ron99 · #2 07-16-2009, 06:33 AM

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:

And the completed array powered up:

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):

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

lastlight · #3 07-16-2009, 06:36 AM

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 · #4 07-16-2009, 03:16 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by 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!

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

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.

Snaz · #5 07-16-2009, 05:21 PM

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

RCFA · #6 07-16-2009, 05:57 PM

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

icecool217 · #7 07-21-2009, 09:48 PM

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 · #8 07-21-2009, 09:54 PM

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

tank crash!

Snaz · #9 07-21-2009, 10:14 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by 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?

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!