Mike's 260g Rimless Starphire Build

Thanks guys! I'm going to see if I can get our club PAR meter to do some testing and comparison with the AI Sols I have on my other tank.

I also made a quick call to AI to confirm I can swap out pucks so I can mess with taking two red/green pucks from one fixture and plopping them in another so that I end up with a fixture that has 4 red and 4 green LEDs.
 
So AI is sending me a new controller because mine is overly sensitive. I'm happy with the way they've handled it as I do not have to send my original one back first and they are sending a call tag for it so that I do not have pay return shipping. Free Next Day Air shipping would have been nice but I can understand why they wouldn't do that as a matter of policy. Apparently, others have had issues with overly sensitive controllers so they are working on a patch. The AI Director software is supposed to be unveiled at MACNA so all this may be moot in a few weeks.

Obligatory pictures of AquaScape 3.0:
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The ledge on the formation to the left is actually free floating but the picture I took kind of makes it look like it is supported by the island at the back, which it is not. I need to finish securing down some of the rocks using some of the techniques I learned when Scott Feldman last spoke at one of our meetings. That and some of the other builds I've seen inspired me to really hunker down and spend literally hours working on the aquascape. I am, for the first time, happy with the way my rock work looks and do not have the urge to mess with it . . . and I don't have to worry about avalanches!
 
I did my first water test today. One bucket of Red Sea Coral Pro made exactly 175 gallons at 1.023 salinity. I bumped it up to 1.024 and need to bump it up a wee bit more to 1.025 which is what I am running my other tank at.

Parameters checked out well for the most part. Caveat: I added a bunch of pellets a few days ago to test my nitrogen cycle and feed the sand bed. My readings today:

Salinity: 1.024 (after adjustment; Hanna digital refractometer)
Ammonia: undetectable (API)
Nitrite: undetectable (API)
Nitrate: undetectable (API) (Add celebration for nitrogen cycle doing its thing!)
Alk: 9.5 (Red Sea Pro)
Ca: 420 (Red Sea Pro) (added Ca to try to get to 450ish)
Mg: 1300 (Res Sea Pro) (added 1/2 gallon of Mg to try to get to 1450ish)
Phosphate: 0.06 ppm (Hanna Checker)

Pretty happy with the test results overall and I expected there would be some phosphate given the food that was added and nothing that is exporting nutrients at this time. I'll be checking the big 3 (alk, ca, mg) to make sure they get in-line to match my other tank and work on getting those phosphates down as my main tank runs anywhere from undetectable to 0.03 max.

Also took my first stab at putting some of the plumbing together. Side note: you can spend HOURS at Home Depot looking for bits and pieces. I've never done PVC plumbing before so this is quite the learning experience. Hopefully not one that results in the equivalent of a water park in the stand . . .

So, here are the two manifolds freshly built and taped up ready for paint:
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I painted the threaded pieces that go into the bulkheads and would note that the blue Krylon Fusion works very well but the red Krylon Fusion seems to run and is a bit weak. That will probably need a couple of coats.

That's it for now! I always think I haven't done a whole lot until I start documenting it here and then it makes me feel better about the progress that is being made. Thanks for taking the time to read all my blabbing and following along!
 
Looks fantastic so far. Those lights look like showroom quality with the way you took the picture.
 
Thanks Marc, I'm still trying to get the hang of tank photography so that hopefully I can get something decent for one of the photo contests. I'll bug Lance to show me how to properly use my DSLR seeing as how I'll have him captive over here on Saturday. [smilie=smile.gif]
 
WOW Mike!!!! I have to come see the new tank!! I have only read the title of this thread so far, but I'll reach out to you soon. I miss my tanks so bad :(
 
LOL, thanks guys. Brian, JB, et al feel free to stop by and check it out when you want. You may want to wait until it is truly running first though. I still foresee a number of Home Depot plumbing runs in my future . . .
 
Update on the AI controller. Looks like I have a bad power supply. I plugged the controller directly into a USB port on my computer and it seems to work fine now. Guessing the PWM on the AC to DC conversion is causing capacitive interference with the buttons.
 
@Lance wrote:
[I]@MBSL55 wrote:[/I][quote="Thanks Marc said:
Sounds like a plan [smilie=wink.gif]

Also love the rock work.......now I need a bigger tank [smilie=lol.gif]"]
I know who have a bigger tank for you ;)
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Thanks for having me over today and the pictures do not do the tank JUSTICE!!!!! It is just amazing looking in person and really have to see the aquascaping to enjoy the beauty that it is. Once you are ready to move everything over let me know and I can come over and help you out if needed.
 
@Lance wrote:
Thanks for having me over today and the pictures do not do the tank JUSTICE!!!!! It is just amazing looking in person and really have to see the aquascaping to enjoy the beauty that it is. Once you are ready to move everything over let me know and I can come over and help you out if needed. said:
Thanks Lance, hopefully I can take some better pictures now that I know a little more about the camera. I really appreciate all your help today. As to the volunteering: done! How about next weekend if Marc get's the sump over here this upcoming week? You can pick-up your AI Sols at that time too. [smilie=wink.gif]
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After watching your build, I am having a hard time deciding weather to go with Vega, Ecotech or stick with mh that I already have. Boy your lights look good.

Thanks!
 
Thanks! I'll try to post PAR measurements and comparisons wil Sol later tonight

Sent from my SGH-T999 using Tapatalk 2
 
@MBSL55 wrote:
Update on the AI controller. Looks like I have a bad power supply. I plugged the controller directly into a USB port on my computer and it seems to work fine now. Guessing the PWM on the AC to DC conversion is causing capacitive interference with the buttons. said:
+1 here. same issue
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Thanks! Going to try and get the controller working with the lights after getting some tips from other Vega owners at R2R. I actually have quite a few updates to post like plumbing progress, better photos, PAR measurements, etc. but I want to try to get some of this work done first so I can be ready for the sump and have it up and running.

ETA: BWAHHAHAHAHA Success!!! My controller is now properly running all 5 fixtures. Had to use a different wall power source (bad power adapter) and got the controller to recognize all the fixtures.

The Red and Green LED's do a great job covering the whole tank even though there aren't that many of them. I'll try to take some updated pictures tomorrow and get them posted along with all my other updates.
 
how is the cloud/storm effects on your 5 Vega setup? I bet its pretty neat
 
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