300 Gallon upgrade

[ricwilli]

Par Readings

I'm not going to go crazy with this. I know the numbers are going to drastically change when I take par readings under the water. I took some readings last night. This will give me an idea anyways on how much these led's are putting out on this size tank.
I took a par reading of a single AI led. The led is 30 inches up from the bottom glass of the tank. I took readings of the led with 40/70 optics and also with ALL 70 optics. Led running at 100 percent. LED is mounted vertically. Tank measures 96x30x24.

Here are the readings of the led with the 40/70 degree optics.

This is with one led on.

This reading is in the center of the led - PAR 143

This reading is 6 inches from the center of the led - PAR 82

This reading is 12 inches from the center of the led - PAR 41

Here are the readings of the led with ALL 70 degree optics.

This is with one led on.

This reading is in the center of the led - PAR 103

This reading is 6 inches from the center of the led - PAR 57

This reading is 12 inches from the center of the led - PAR 34

Well, there you have it. Just want to let you know that I am not a pro and I did this to the best of my abilities. If you want more of a pro input and readings. You can go to this site - http://www.manhattanreefs.com/lighting and click on the LED tab. Any questions, please ask.

 

[ricwilli]

Thanks for all comments

 

[NewfiDog]

AI dosent have great par readings, its no suprise. They drop greatly after 10-12 inches of water. Most other manufactures have double the par readings. Ive seen a 65 gallon with 2 AI on it and they took par readings at the bed it was low. You actually need alot of AI's to cover a tank of any decent size. There are so many better lights out there and with the size of your tank more cost effective.

I love your setup and i think once filled the black will look great, mabey paint the trim on the front the same color as the room if you need some break up.

 

[strgazr27]

AI dosent have great par readings, its no suprise. They drop greatly after 10-12 inches of water. Most other manufactures have double the par readings. Ive seen a 65 gallon with 2 AI on it and they took par readings at the bed it was low. You actually need alot of AI's to cover a tank of any decent size. There are so many better lights out there and with the size of your tank more cost effective.

Really? You need to show where these horrible par readings are? Ask Gary's reef about his 280+ par readings on the sand in a 24" deep tank. At 30" your at the limit of almost all LED setups as far as killer par readings go without running multiple units. The AI's are known for very high par readings. As far as not cost effective why is that?

 

[James404]

I agree at 30 inches and up your gonna need some pretty narrow optics to get decent par on the sandbed with most led systems.

 

[NewfiDog]

What about the par readings above. The 65 gallon i saw had 150 par dead center of the light at the bed. When i first looked at them 3 places told me i would need 3 of them for my 100 gallon thats when they where still $550 that wasent very cost effective for me, but yes it is a nice light. To me ricwilli may need 6 for that tank, thats not cheap. If i remember right someone here has 4 of them on a 90 gallon.

 

[strgazr27]

I honestly think there is something wrong with those par readings. Either the AI itself has an issue, the meter has an issue or they were running NOWHERE near 100% as the OP states. Gary has 4 on his 90 gallon. He said he could have gotten away with 2 but when the price dropped he jumped on 2 more. his readings were 1200 just above water. 700's just under surface, 400-600 midrange. 200+ on sand. That was at 45% on the whites in a 24" deep tank. With sand bed figure 21". If you have the height you can cover a 24x24" area with a single AI. Yes you'll run them slightly higher % wise than some will but they will cover that area. There are literally hundreds of posts that voice the AI's bleaching coral due to their output. Those measurements were done with LIRA's club par meter.

Would the OP need 6? Likely. With the controller your looking at $2500. To light the tank with Radions you'll need at least 5. $3500 and you need a PC to program them. How is that not cost effective if one wants to get into a quality LED setup?

Not picking a fight just noting that the measurements here and your blanket statement don't mesh with what's out there.

 

[ricwilli]

I honestly think there is something wrong with those par readings. Either the AI itself has an issue, the meter has an issue or they were running NOWHERE near 100% as the OP states. Gary has 4 on his 90 gallon. He said he could have gotten away with 2 but when the price dropped he jumped on 2 more. his readings were 1200 just above water. 700's just under surface, 400-600 midrange. 200+ on sand. That was at 45% on the whites in a 24" deep tank. With sand bed figure 21". If you have the height you can cover a 24x24" area with a single AI. Yes you'll run them slightly higher % wise than some will but they will cover that area. There are literally hundreds of posts that voice the AI's bleaching coral due to their output. Those measurements were done with LIRA's club par meter.

Would the OP need 6? Likely. With the controller your looking at $2500. To light the tank with Radions you'll need at least 5. $3500 and you need a PC to program them. How is that not cost effective if one wants to get into a quality LED setup?

Not picking a fight just noting that the measurements here and your blanket statement don't mesh with what's out there.

I also get 1200 a few inches from the led. I also get 200+ on 24 inches. That doesn't mean anything. I'm taking par readings at 30 inches. I did take a few readings at different heights, but I didn't post them cause I was doing it by myself. I thought I was doing something wrong when I seen the par numbers that I was getting. Normally you want another person helping you out just to try to prevent mistakes. I will post the numbers with pics later on tonight.

Did you even look at Sanjays led par readings? The Radion's don't even stand a chance next to the AI's. I don't even know how they can be selling them at that price. Sanjays reading don't even show 700 par on his AI's readings. I would think that he would had posted it. The Orphek Arrays is showing 450-500 par near the led.

 

[ricwilli]

I did another diy last night.....

Filter sock

So I was trying to figure out how to hang the filter sock without using a string. A filter sock holder would also be to big to hang in the skimmer section. So I had some time and took a trip to Home Depot. I spent about 30 min trying to find something to use to hold the filter sock. I think that's a record for me as I'm there at least an hour or more. I finally found some hooks to use. Below are the pics to show how I made a diy sock holder.

These are the hooks that I found at Home Depot

I had a piece of scrap acrylic and made this really quick. Not professional looking at all. Splash guard.

This is the bottom half of the union ball valve that goes in the skimmer section of the sump.

I drilled two holes, slipped the splash guard on the pipe and tapped in the hooks into the holes. This is what I came up with.

With filter sock on

Installed in the sump

I also spent last night tightening the unions, valves and making sure the pipes are connected correctly. I think I'm ready to add water to the tank this weekend.

 

[ricwilli]

Take a look at this vid. where there comparing the AI's to the Apollos. I also got the same AI par reading as he did.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=qC0barSQf2M

 

[strgazr27]

I also get 1200 a few inches from the led. I also get 200+ on 24 inches. That doesn't mean anything. I'm taking par readings at 30 inches. I did take a few readings at different heights, but I didn't post them cause I was doing it by myself. I thought I was doing something wrong when I seen the par numbers that I was getting. Normally you want another person helping you out just to try to prevent mistakes. I will post the numbers with pics later on tonight.

They stood out mainly because you said they were taken at 100% output. The numbers I referenced were taken with the Whites set at 45%. Slightly less than half the power you were sending yours. I am surprised at the drop off from 22-24" to 30" but again those numbers seem low regardless. How many units do you plan on using over the tank? I'm curious to see how the readings change with multiple units running at the same time.

BTW, SLICK filter sock holder!

 

[Turbovr3six]

Love the splash guard idea! Tagging along, looks great so far!

 

[ricwilli]

Thanks everyone for the comments.
I curently have 5 AI's. I don't think I will need anymore than that. I will have to see how the corals do under 5 units. I will also be changing all the optics to 70 degrees.

I really didn't want to post these par readings up as I took them alone. But I did my best and here they are.

PAR - 155

PAR - 188

PAR - 263

PAR - 351

PAR - 451

PAR - 1555

 

[blueink]

you do realize all that par reading will decrease with water n stuff fill in the tank.

 

[ricwilli]

you do realize all that par reading will decrease with water n stuff fill in the tank.

Yes. I mentioned that on post # 41


Oh man, what a long weekend. I spent all weekend doing the move and finishing the light rack in the canopy. I'm still exhausted. Few problems that I ran into after the move.

- Found one of my clowns behind the LPS tank dead. (not a problem but sad. I was and still am pissed.)
- There is a leak on one of the 45 degree angle elbow, on the return side. There is a drop every 30-40 seconds. I tried to fix it but it still leaks. Looks like I will have to cut it off and add a new one.
- After the tank being filled with water for two days, I'm having a problem removing and putting on the front panel of the tank. I will have to trim it.
- AND FOR THE BIGGEST PROBLEM OF THEM ALL....... The tank is not level. I thought I took care of this correctly, but I guess not. I have to raise one side of the tank. There is more water draining on one side of the tank than the other. Very Very noticeable.

 

[ricwilli]

OK, so I've been slacking now that the tank is running. Not to its full patential, but running. I've been cleaning and organizing the basement a little. Trying to make the wife happy again.
So about the stand. The stand is not bowing. The reason why the front panel is giving me a hard time closing, is cause I shimmed the stand incorrectly. When I shimmed the front of the stand, I shimmed the front of the bottom trim. By me doing this, the trimmed moved upward when I filled the tank. I should have placed the shim in the center of the bottom 1x4 trim. I will just have to trim the bottom of the front panel and it will fit nicely again. This is no biggie.
The bigger problem is that the right side of the tank is off by 3/16th-1/8th. This is preventing the water to flow evenly in both overflow. My plan is the bring up the 300 gallon tub from the basement and empty the 300 gallon tank. Jack the tank a little and re-shim it. Maybe at this point, I can fix the front shims as well.

Anyway, below are pics of what I have done so far.


This is the filling of the tank.

Canopy with the rack. I also painted it black.

Canopy mounted on the tank with 5 led's

The splash guard that I made for all the led's. I can also slide the leds easily left and right.

I put some stick-on bumpers thingies on the bottom of the led's so that they are raised a little from the splash guard.

And here is the tank all filled up. The water is cloudy, but I'm running carbon and its getting better.

As of right now, I have most of the rocks in the garage, drying all up. Some of it had aiptasia and I and speaking with Steve (Spotter) decided that I should just dry it out and get rid of the aiptasia.
While surfing on RC, I ran into a thread about curing rock with a product called SeaKlear and PhosFree containing Lanthanum Chloride that can be found in pool stores. Steve (Spotter) has done this in the past and I believe he is currently doing it now with success. Here is the link if you would like to read about it. http://www.reefcentral.com/forums/showthread.php?t=2049855

 

[d5332]

gonna stink up your garage but worth it.

 

[ricwilli]

gonna stink up your garage but worth it.

Yeah. Woke up this morning and the garage was smelling bad already. Don't know if its going to be a problem, but the skimmers air intake is sucking in air from the garage. Hopefully the tank water doesn't start smelling bad from the air that its being sucked in by the skimmer.

 

[jpellica]

Wow this is a great build. I guess you decided not to raise the tank any higher? you could have built a platform which over lapped the stand by like a quater inch which you could have dressed up with some decorative molding that would have gave it some nice dimension and the screwed the stand to the platform. That would have been a lot of work though.

 

[Donewiththisplace]

Unreal...Ill be following along.