Here is a link to a nano with that light I was talking about.
http://www.canreef.com/vbulletin/att...8&d=1251756871
The thread is in the for sale area.

if you go to Walmart they have teh MH small ones its like 30 w or 50 W its a DE and its on a nice silver stand that sits over the tank..... that's if they still have them there...

It looks a little clunky for my liking, i would like to avoid as much light bleed from the mug as possible.

ooooo...metal halide...that may be interesting. To walmart!!


I swapped out the "Quiet one" pump for an Ocean Runner. Much happier with this pump, it won't shake my fillings loose. I also used some spaflex and moved the pump behind to sofa to further quiet the hum.
http://i134.photobucket.com/albums/q...m/DSCF0658.jpg
http://i134.photobucket.com/albums/q...m/DSCF0659.jpg

My float came in the mail today. I love these little guys, simply the best float valve when you have little space to work with. Now i got to tear off some baseboards to run some line for feeding the float from the reservoir upstairs.
http://i134.photobucket.com/albums/q...m/DSCF0657.jpg

Update, i have now gotten 2 more tanks hooked up to the sump and have them running.

Some more pictures...

http://i134.photobucket.com/albums/q...m/DSCF0948.jpg

http://i134.photobucket.com/albums/q...m/DSCF0949.jpg

http://i134.photobucket.com/albums/q...m/DSCF0950.jpg

Something that might also be kool to use for lighting on this setup are the HID xenon lights from cars. With the focusing lenses you could hang them way up by the ceiling and they would shoot down a narrow intense beam from the ceiling.

btw, funny stuff, the beer mug is classic!

Here is a link about what I mean for the lights:

http://glassbox-design.com/2009/part...ghting-system/

Yup, that's what I meant (and where I got the idea, though I see it's been updated since I saw the page last :wink: ). I've been pondering how to do it using the 70W metal halide ballasts I have, I love the Japanese tanks that are lit with spotlights...

And this is looking pretty interesting, now that's there's water... maybe you should do a non-photosynthetic system?

I want to do both photo and non photos in this system, the cube and mug are going to be sps. The circle one is going to have my dendros and rhyzo. The i have one more yet to do that is going to be beside the circle for shrooms. There is enough light coming through a crack in the blinds to get the shrooms rockin.

Those HID xenon lights look wicked, this maybe a good direction to go in!!

very creative, dont know how your going to get corals into that beer can on the table:lol::lol: i was wondering how you were doing on this project. looks like its coming along.

I would love to learn more about how to set up these lights with ballasts also. If anyone comes across any DIY articles that explain more about the power setups please post them.

:suspicious: Have to say that that isn't the smartest thing I've read today. I love the ingenuity of your build but I can't see this being a real reliable and stable system. Perhaps one would be better to stick with corals that aren't in the $300 range :idea: