New Tank Build Thread

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Gerryd

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jerrybforl;84130 said:
Gerry you just have the worst luck with fixtures man. Sorry to hear...again! :rolleyes:

Hey JJ,

Thanks...is not biggie but annoying considering the price.....

Are you back home yet?
 

Gerryd

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jerrybforl;84145 said:
Yep been home but had to work extra shifts to cover for someone else. Maybe this week I can come up and hang out for a bit.

Glad U R home...

This week is fine. Let me know.......Be good to hang.
 

Gerryd

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So,

The new ATI controller came Friday but have not had a chance to do the swap as I had company this weekend. Early this week I expect most likely Monday night. Mostly is removing the end plates, bulbs, fans, power cord, etc so the cover can be removed. Then basically find, remove, and replace. Then reassemble in reverse order. TA DA! Well, theoretically anyway..
 
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jerrybforl

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Gerry if I was closer I would love to come over and help. I love doing this kind of stuff. It's something to learn that could be used later on in life. I'm sure you can do it. You are more than capable! Talk to you soon.
 

Gerryd

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jerrybforl;84182 said:
Gerry if I was closer I would love to come over and help. I love doing this kind of stuff. It's something to learn that could be used later on in life. I'm sure you can do it. You are more than capable! Talk to you soon.

Well, if you are coming this week to see the tank anyway......lol
 

Gerryd

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I forgot we have the fourth off...I may just do it then and be done with it. That way you will only see the fixed product :)

I will do a build thread on it like we did with the regulators. I have not seen anything on the net for a video or thread where a controller was replaced. nothing on ATI website either, and they have one for the fan or ballast replacement..

Slow and easy will do it...
 

Gerryd

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Hi all,

Well, JJ came up last night to hang and help me with the controller swap...

We did a great job taking pics and executing the dis-assemble...

All the reflectors were removed, the fans, and the end plates.

I f****d up on the removal of the first fan and broke the little rubber grommets to hold in place. So will need a new kit. The rest of it came apart with no issues really. The second fan removal went well :)

So, we slid back the cover and saw the controller. We matched it up with the new one to check connections, fit, etc before we cut any wires..

We noticed two red wires SOLDERED to the current unit but the NEW one did NOT have these same wires. I am not about to solder anything, regardless of whether I have the skill or not..

So, will ship it back to ATI and let them fix and ship it back.

Now one of my fixtures is totally unusable. So.........

JJ and I simply slid the remaining fixture into the middle of the light bar. With all 12 tubes at 100% still had PLENTY of light to keep going until the second unit is fixed. We had PAR of 60 in the farthest corners.

So, I think I could have gotten away with a SINGLE 48x8 fixture for my 72x36 tank.

Something for folks to think about.
 
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2wheelsx2

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Gerryd;84350 said:
So, I think I could have gotten away with a SINGLE 48x8 fixture for my 72x36 tank.

Something for folks to think about.

Groan...I should have waited before giving up on the 48" T5HO fixture on my 72x18 tank and going the LED route......argggh.
 

Gerryd

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2wheelsx2;84354 said:
Groan...I should have waited before giving up on the 48" T5HO fixture on my 72x18 tank and going the LED route......argggh.

Well, I could do so with the ATI fixture due to the width/spread/# tubes and the quality of the unit. I can't say that ANY or ALL 4' fixtures would work.
 

Gerryd

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ATI is going to send me an RMA label so I can ship the unit back to them....they will repair/replace and ship it back..

I tried but do not feel comfortable doing this. Plus, I did pay a good $ for the unit and do not feel I should be fixing it :)

They are making good and I will post progress.

Will be interesting to see how things go with one light.....
 

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Hey,

Well, Tom sent me some nice downoi and JJ left a few last night, so we try once again!

I got the ET from Tom as well and will start the new carpet. He sent me some more red shrimp too, so I hope all this works out...

Will post pics later...
 

2wheelsx2

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Gerryd;84358 said:
Well, I could do so with the ATI fixture due to the width/spread/# tubes and the quality of the unit. I can't say that ANY or ALL 4' fixtures would work.

I can't imagine it would make any difference since the reflectors don't extend beyond 4'. I was concerned that the drop off would be to almost nil, because that's what my LED's are like, almost nil when more at more than 12" away from the light source. Front to back on an 18" wide tank is easily covered by a 4 tube Tek.
 

Gerryd

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2wheelsx2;84367 said:
I can't imagine it would make any difference since the reflectors don't extend beyond 4'. I was concerned that the drop off would be to almost nil, because that's what my LED's are like, almost nil when more at more than 12" away from the light source. Front to back on an 18" wide tank is easily covered by a 4 tube Tek.

I think Henry chimed in the other day on a thread and mentioned that LEDs do not spread much outside of directly underneath the light. Is why they recommend multiple LED strips...

As long as the plant species used can grow under the PAR at the furthest reaches, I see no reason why any fixture would not suffice.

I just don't want folks thinking I am advising to always purchase a unit 2' short :)
 

Gerryd

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Good morning all,

I am running 90% power now on all tubes using the single unit and will report general PAR later... The PAR directly under the light is still 120 +> easy to have to be careful here...That said, I have lots of anubias and ferns, and they have been baking in high PAR since I got the lights. So far so good. I see no growth issues at all. Leaves actually seem to be getting larger...But, I don't think they need this much and want to back off as I can.

I will play with it today to find a nice level to use until the other fixture is replaced and online :)

Notes:

1. I removed another 50% of the clover and boy was it heavy! The root system was very thick, short, white and healthy looking. You can see why mowing is a good trimming technique. So, I removed another 15" or so, and have about the same remaining. I will remove it all this weekend. I will keep a strand or two going in case the ET doesn't do well.

2. The glass was nasty back there where the carpet had pressed against the glass for so long. So, much cleaner now. The dust cloud caused by this was MASSIVE and drifted around (with no flow) the tank. I simply turned ALL the flow on (after removal) including the MP40. Within a few hours all was settled out and all wood/plants/fish that had been dirtied by the cloud were all clean. I then rinsed the sponges in the overflow and sump and such and all was good.

I really like the simpler maintenance of quickly rinsing/replacing the sponge/filter pad material in the wet/dry setup. When I do these large replantings, I always simply replace the filter pads after. The sponges just get rinsed in a bucket of tank water....They do get nasty though and require several rinsings...

3. Of course the bare substrate is being moved around now by the MP40 like sand at a reef :) You can really see where the root mass keeps this erosion effect at bay and is very interesting to see.

4. Tom sent a nice clump of ET. I will plant this today at w/c time and try it in different spots to see where it may take best. Is a pretty plant and I hope it will do well for me..

5. The downoi that Tom and JJ provided is a really nice amount and more than I expected! I will most likely squeeze the hygro a bit and use some downoi in the center area where conditions should be good. I will place others around the tank and see what happens next.

Got a PM (thanks for the tip/suggestion) from a forum member also in my area and suggested the use of a higher GH resulted in better growth for them and downoi. They had experienced the same 'shrinking' effect that occured with mine. Mine wouldn't just die, they would shrink over weeks, still remain green right up until they shrunk under the ADA or thin air apparently.

6. I intend to do a large W/C or two this weekend and hit as much wood with excel (via syringe and spray bottle) as I can. I really want to clean the wood as much as possible. It softens the branches over time and they fall off more easily. Plus, is ugly....

So, will have to configure the controller again using just the one unit. Is ez to do and is good practice to understand how the lights work. I will report on this later you can be sure LOL

I have lots of room around the border where the clover was, but will have to check the PAR in those areas before planting to see what I can get with one fixture.

So, will measure PAR first, then w/c and cleaning, then replanting once I know the PAR matrix :)

I also keep forgetting that with the cable mounting and light bar that I still have plenty of adjustment vertically and horizontally... I can move the fixture closer to one end if I want to plant those areas where the clover was removed. Just a few inches should suffice to provide brighter areas for the new plants to adapt. May LOOK silly, but until I have two units again, if it is better for plants, I do not mind for 1-2 weeks..
 
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Gerryd

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Some pics of the single fixture in use. Can't remember the config at the time, sorry.

One of the pics (#4) shows the 'bad' unit and how the controller is not aligned with the housing. The toggle buttons do not protrude as expected. The other pic (5) shows the working unit and the controller alignment. Note the huge difference in the toggle buttons. And the alignment of the controller LED display.

Time I see to clean/replace that 'clear' outlet hose :)

View attachment 3302View attachment 3303View attachment 3304View attachment 3305View attachment 3306
 
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Gerryd

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Hey,

Well, I found 70 more beautiful cardinals down at Henry's place....

Miryam was kind enough to bag them all for me while I looked around at all the other great fish they had...

Lots of stuff I had never seen. The ember tetras and the endlers were beautiful. They had a chocolate/black gourami (an opaline color strain?) that were stunning. Huge charcoal sailfin mollies of a size/color I had never seen before. Just great stuff.

Anyhoo, I have another 35-45 or so in the 57 that will get added in the next 1-2 weeks or so. I THINK I should have close to 300 now. I had approx 230 or so from all the purchases I made. The 70 today minus I guess a few losses, but I don't really remember any at all. With those in the 57 added, that will be it for fish except for a few small cories. I also will nab a nice gold nugget pleco they had but forgot to purchase :)

That will give me over 300 really nice cardinals. The 70 or so rummies and the pencils. Looks good if I may say so.

Have to really provide kudos to Henry and Miryam for excellent fish stock. This is the third or fourth batch of cardinals I have purchased from them. All have been really large and robust (compared to most lfs and webtailers) and I have had no losses that I can remember.

I have kept many cardinals over the years (10 min) from MANY retailers and suppliers, and these are the best I have ever purchased. I expect these to really grow out over the next 3-6 months while I battle my plant issues and then we will see. I have lost lots of the pencils and am down to approx 30-35. Very nice size, but I find jumpers all the time. So, the new cardinals replace the lost pencils.

They are like fish owned by a caring hobbyist. No bull, they are robust fish...Very nice indeed...You can't tell the difference between them and the other cards I have had for months now. They blend in seamlessly....Awesome look....They really glow...

The shoal looks terrific and the new ATI light (single!) and tube combo shows them off VERY well.

Now if I can get my growth and algae issues resolved, I may have something nice here...

Thanks for listening... Pics later after replanting and such...
 
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jerrybforl

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Gerry I'm still in awe of your skoal of cardinals! Very impressive. The Fire Ember Tetras that Henry and Miryam have very nice. That's why I bought 10. :eek: They do have very healthy stock, and it is always nice going in and seeing the other fish.

Can't wait to see the bigger skoal of cardinals. Like I told you, they are some of the best I've ever seen!
 
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