Thanks, Most of the stuff if I had more time or better tools I could make them look nicer but at least this way you guys get the idea of how to do it yourself if you want.

I got my LED's today... That was crazy fast... anyways here they are. :D


90 20 watt Drivers
http://i737.photobucket.com/albums/x...ne/Drivers.jpg


90 20 watt LED's
http://i737.photobucket.com/albums/x...one/90LEDs.jpg

A closeup of the LED's the top left is white the top right is blue and the bottom is warm white. If you look closely you can see the 20 individual dies on each chip.
http://i737.photobucket.com/albums/x.../LEDcolors.jpg

This is a diagram of how I plan on placing my lights on the aluminum sheet (I did it in paint... I know it sucks but it gets the point across). What do you guys think?
http://i737.photobucket.com/albums/x...signlayout.jpg

i should be the one following your threat bro, this is unreal, very very very nice work,

This is looking awesome! I love your creativity.

Another DIY led light project, look forward to see how you make out. What made you decide to do LED's vs say T5's ?

Welcome aboard... and thanks for the comment :D

I can't wait to see what it looks like when it's done :razz:.
I'm not being creative... I'm stealing others ideas... that's what these forums are all bout :D

...T5's were never on my decision list... it was MH or LED's... LED's won because this is very much an "experiment" as it says in the title as well as clearance issues with height.

Harvesting the cured rock... awesome!!
Best tank build pic yet... :lol:


Will be following along on this... Where did you snag the LEDs from??? Did I somehow miss it earlier in this thread?!? :confused:

Thanks, Welcome aboard. I got the LED's from a seller off e-bay. :D

Green master looking really good man, I still can't believe that those little LED's can make corals grow.

Size doesn't matter much... it's the amount of light that is produced that matters... Anyways just stick around for a year or two and see how they do.

Some photos of my rock while I wait for things to arrive in the mail...
I got board so I did a pre aquascape. The wood represents the dimensions of the tank.

Looking from the front of the tank

http://i737.photobucket.com/albums/x...Rocksfront.jpg

Looking from the back of the tank

http://i737.photobucket.com/albums/x.../Rocksback.jpg

How are you going to tie the structure together once it goes in the tank?

Not sure... but most of the structure is solid... just a few pieces either need to move or be secured.

That is looking great ! What ever fish gets the pethouse on the top is going to be one lucky fish :) Can't wait to see it all in the tank.

this build is one sweet ride well done Green

Glad you are enjoying it... I am too :D

This structure reminds of the style of houses in the Flintstones cartoon.
Could look really cool covered in corals.

Pretty neat!! The rockwork is unreal, I too can't wait to see this come together. :biggrin:

Here is the top down pic that I missed yesterday.
http://i737.photobucket.com/albums/x...e/Rockstop.jpg

looks like it doesn't give you alot of swimming room

The rock actually looks really nice. Once the coraline starts taking over, it will look really natural.

I do agree that swimming space is limited. If you consider how large some corals will grow, I would suggest using less rock and filling in the space with coral.

I also think you should consider leaving more space between the glass edge and the inner rock. On my new tank, I am planning to leave sufficient space for small corals to groww on the rock facing the glass and still have sufficient space to get a cleaning magnet all the way around the tank.

On my old tank (90G) I have rock touching the glass and I can tell you that it is very difficult to clean in those areas without damaging something. I generally just let the algea grow, but I wish I had enough space to get at the algea.

Just my thoughts ...

I love your home made rock. I can't wait to see it in your tank.

looking good so far. I have a sugestion for a tool to help you get things off the bottom of the tank, I ordered a set of forcepts that are 30" long and they work awsome. check with some of the online fresh water planted tank stores. I will try remember where I got them and post the name of the place for you.

Steve

Coooooool! I like the looks of that home made rock. I kinda agree with the others though. There's a little too much rock IMO. When the corals grow in there's not going to be much water left.

I agree with what's been said. The rocks themselves will look naturaly enough in texture at least as time goes on. But that structure looks like it will fill a large portion of the tank if the board are in the correct spot there...

Oh yes please do I really want something like that. Are they stainless? The plastic grippers can't yank my algae out and I'd love a pair of these. Sorry for the off-topic post.

ok sorry they are hemostats not forcepts.

http://www.aquariumplants.com/24_Cur...p/aquasc09.htm

24" not 30 and yes stainless and they come with removable silicone covers for the jaws.

Steve

I think it will be fine you can always take some out if you need more space and sell what you take out once Coraline is growing on it your good to go. get some of the money that you put out in making it back so you can buy more corals.

Bill

Sorry to be off topic but you can get a smaller version at most Fly Tackle shops for around $10. For Vancouverites the flea market on Terminal often has them for about $8.


Love the build so far. I made a good portion of my original rock and now you can hardly tell what was natural and what was man-made. Your recipe looks stronger than mine ended up being.

Looks can be deceiving... there are several spaces that fish can swim through that are 6-12"... I know that it looks like everything is very crowded but all the rock is away from the glass and there is lots of swimming room. We will all see how it looks with fish and the rock in the tank.

- I hope that it looks good... there is a bit of space that is shaded as I have lots of tunnels and such, so the coraline might not look as good as I'm hoping.
- There is lots of swimming space (I think there is anyways...)
- At the front of the tank there will be some spots coral can grow but not right on the sand because it is quite deep... I believe that there is minimum 3" space all the way around the tank I think that's good enough for most magnets.
- If I have any touching the glass it will be at the overflow and more to hide it then anything... I'm also not that squeamish of algae...(it grows on real reefs too)
Thanks a lot for your input I will take it all into consideration and I hope that it will work out

I'm just waiting for the hole saw and then I can put the tank on the stand do the plumbing and start a cycle :D Mid to end of August then fish in September.

We will see, I really like the look of the rocks and 3 of them make up most of the space taken in there. When growing corals how much space do you want for a minimum, from the top of your rocks to the top of the water?

OMG!!! Holy rockwork... That is one major setup, very impressive.

why would I want a smaller version. I bought them for my freshwater tank to plant in a 32" deep tank so I wouldn't be wet up to my neck and to keep as much of my body out of the tank as I could. I used them in my salt water tank also.

Steve

These are the biggest holes there are some that only smaller fish would want to swim through but you cant see them at this angle they are about 4"x3" and 3"x3" hope that helps with the understandings of space.
http://i737.photobucket.com/albums/x...izeofholes.jpg

I installed my LED's on my heatsink... now I just need to do all the wiring... not looking forward to that.

Wow that comes out to $60 shipped to me! Hells no!

Edit: Just paid $40 CDN for the exact same thing on Ebay. Heads up for interested parties.

Man your fish are gonna love all the little places to hide in that!

Well I think that rock work looks spectacular. One of the more impressive and innovative builds I have seen.

:thumb:

Just wait a darn minute that is a 320 gal not a 180 gal I can't speak.

now i get there will be alot of swimming space :mrgreen:

YAY!!! I finally got my hole saw... I will be putting the tank on the stand on Saturday :D

Here are the holes I cut... took about 5-10 minutes each... A little fast I think that's why the glass got chipped...

The hole I cut next to my 3 overflow holes.
http://i737.photobucket.com/albums/x...Holeintank.jpg

The hole on the far side of the tank
http://i737.photobucket.com/albums/x...rone/Hole2.jpg

Both holes will be for the line in. I hope that the build will start to finally come together once the tank is on the stand.

Patience patience remember little grasshopper, don t get to crazy fast on us.