9 Gallon Nano - In Wall / Staircase - 2 Sides Visible - Modualar LED

[Ross]

Well, my 9 gallon nano has been over run with clove polyps, so its time for a fresh rebuild.

First the history.
I build this tank using reclamed glass from a highrise renovation that I was involved with many years ago.
The silicone used was GE silicone 1.
Tank has had water in it since 2008.
The Lights used are 3 Coralife 2x 9w CF fixtures. a mix of actinic and 10k bulbs are used.

The first thing in this tank was a small batch of guppies that quickly became a large batch of guppies.

SW urges took over and the guppys were out and a cleaner shrimp and a Firefish were in.
Fire fish jumped, shrimp died.
A pair of sexy shrimp and a chromis were the replacements.
That was a year ago.
Clove polyps and bubble algae have taken over.
The other big mistake with this set up is there isnt enough room to scrape the glass effectivly to remove coraline algae.

[Ross]

January 1, 2012

Modular LED build

The existing lights on the tank are Coralife Aqua light 18watt 2bulb CF units
They are all in need of new bulbs (approximatly $60).
The plastic end caps are desintegrating due to over heating of the aluminum housing. (They reach upwards of 85°C when on for a few hrs.)

Rather than waste anymore money on these exceptionally poor products, I picked up a bunch of components from Modular LED. (www.modularled.ca)
3x Royal Blue XP-E LEDs (6 bulbs total)
2x Cool White XP-E LEDs (4 bulbs total)
1x 5.9" x 12" Aluminum Heatsink
1x Mean Well LPC-35-700 (non dimmable)
and a bunch of misc. parts.


These are the components Martin and I selected:





Since this tank is so oddly shaped, and i dont like having light spill around my tanks, im going to be running these LEDS without any lenses.
Determining the placement was critical to achieve an even spread of light without any hot spots.
I tried a few different configurations with pencil on the heatsink.





I preped the aluminum with rubbing alcohol prior to using the artic silver glue to attach the boards.
Once that was done, I simply mixed up a small portion of the 2 part epoxy and place a small drop on the backs of the led boards and stuck them down.





After a few hrs of cure time, I plugged the wires in and the heatsink portion was complete.





The driver took a bit of fiddleing around as I wanted it to be soldered and heat shrunk to the wires rather than the clamp together junctions that modular led sells.





Another small thing that I wanted was a removable power cord from the heatsink.
I grabbed a junction from an old broken portable dvd player running similar power consumption as the LEDs.
I drilled a Ø3/16" hole in the heatsink and routed the modular led lines through it.
Since there isnt the room to grommit this hole, I ensured that there wouldnt be any cable fraying issues by applying a small amount of RTV around the hole.





Once the power adapter from the driver was attached we have light!!

HOLY COW THESE THINGS ARE BRIGHT!!!





Martin was really easy to deal with and knowledgable about the products that he carries
If your in the market for a DIY LED fixture I highly recommend modular LED.

Before I mount this fixture to the top of the tank, I'm going to be adding some formed sheet aluminum around the perimeter to control excess light spill.

[Ross]

January 22, 2012

Time to rebuild!

Live stock (2 sexy shrimp, a chromis and a tail spot blenny), live rock and sand out.

All coraline algae removed with razor blade and vinegar.
Tank scrubbed down with bleach and throughly cleaned/rinsed.

I have been curing Marco dryrock from Red Coral in my other tanks sump for a few months.

Time to move that all over and fill with newly mixed salt water.

[lastlight]

I really like how you fit the tank into that hole in the wall. Was that already there?

This thread needs an update I think?

[gregzz4]

Agreed, nice job ...
Where's the pics

[Ross]

Originally Posted by lastlight

I really like how you fit the tank into that hole in the wall. Was that already there?

This thread needs an update I think?

Yes, this opening was already in the staircase.
I got sick of it holding a "decoration" and build the tank to suit.

I'll post an update in a few days after I snap a few new photos.

[Snaz]

New photos needed please!

[mseepman]

Really like your little setup here. Looking forward to some updates

[HaZRaTTy]

Hey,

Thinking about setting up a small nano as well, just wondering without any type of HOB, or Sump. How much maintenance do you find yourself doing on a weekly basis.

[Ross]

Originally Posted by HaZRaTTy

Thinking about setting up a small nano as well, just wondering without any type of HOB, or Sump. How much maintenance do you find yourself doing on a weekly basis.

I find myself doing less maintence than one really should.

Ive been pretty lax lately. I'm lucky to get a water change in every 2 weeks. Typically they are about 3 gallons in volume.
Other than scraping the glass not much else that I do.
No dosing or testing.

I think the only saving grace is the fact that there is so much rock in such a small space that it keeps some form of ballance.


The biggest annoyance with this tank is the clearance between the rock and glass. It doesn't give much flexability to do anything at the bottom of the tank.
Vacuuming detritus and rock crud off the bottom are a real pain.
As such, it builds up under rocks and encourages algae growth.

I feel the only saving grace is the fact that there is so much rock in such a small space that it keeps some form of ballance.

Some people have asked about top up water.
There is a glass cover that I have covering most of the top.
One end has gutter mesh covering it and the other side slides up close to flush with the front of the tank.
Surprizingly the evaporation is very minimal, despite the fact that our house has been sitting at 26° for the last few weeks.
I add about a liter a week.

The LEDs put out such a small amount of heat that they dont cause evaporation like the 6 9W compact florescents i had running previously did.

I tend to keep water change salinity at 1.024. With evaporation, it swings upwards of 1.026 and back down as I top up a cup at a time.

My Yellow Clown Goby has caused more damages to the Pink Pocci in there than the salinity.


I've been placing new zoas and a few lps corals a bit lately and will get pictures of the tank up this weekend.