A Kessil LED Powered Rimless Cube Build

[ange062]

It's been a long time coming, but finally got the opportunity to build out something from a dream. Well not quite exactly from a dream due to budget considerations, but this is a good stab at an excellent tank for a decent price. It's a friends tank that I'm orchestrating or it would be full blown.

Tank: 25g 18" cube
Filter: Eheim 2217
Light: Kessil A150w Amazon Sun with gooseneck
Substrate: ADA Amazon, drift wood, Mexican lava rock

Plan is to add a marbled orange angel, neon tetras, and cardinal tetras to start. High grade crystal shrimp will follow. Plants are baby tears up front, a single melon sword, some moss for the woodwork, and something (undecided) tall in the back.

Tank is up and running, though needs some time to clear out and even for the background paint to dry, LOL! Over the next few days hopefully the driftwood will waterlog enough to scape, then I can plant it out and after a few more days add a fish or two. Here is a snag of rocks keeping the floating wood down

As it exists on creation + 1-hr...

[akpoly]

those are awesome light fixtures!

[blink]

Looks like a nice start but get rid of those green hoses man!

[hydrophyte]

I'd love to do a setup with one of those Kessil fixtures.

[bVo]

Awesome! I'm doing a same light, but only 12g and the fixture is an inch above the water. Sounds like a recipe for disaster but well see since the height of my tank is high. :x

[BoxxerBoyDrew]

This looks like it is going to be a COOL TANK!


Those lights are VERY COOL!!! HUGE amounts of light in such a tiny pkg! They are the perfect light for cubes! I am a big fan of cubes, so I am subscribed for sure!

Good Luck!
Drew

p.s. Are there many good Planted tank shops in Houston? I have some family around there, and we will be going to see them in a few months, so I would love to know about any good shops! Thanks!

[Alastair-T]

Ditto love cubes myself so will be watching this to see how it progresses.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[fusiongt]

Hey we have the same setup (I don't have a journal yet). I have the Mr Aqua 25g 18" cube and the Kessil light. I've been setup for over 6 months now and one word of advice, GO DIRECT CO2! Don't make the mistake I made and try for low tech when the light is ultra high tech. It just doesn't work and it's hard to keep the algae in check. I had to learn the hard way and give into getting cO2. I'm a lot happier now and the plants are doing well and algae (specifically bba) is getting back in line.

Not to get down on your fauna but just make sure you don't over stock because 25g isn't huge. Also an angel fish and high grade shrimp might not be the best combo but I'm sure it's been done before. But I'm sure you'll nail it

[vincenz]

I'd suggest moving all the lighting and plumbing to the back

Liking the gooseneck clamp-- I'd have gone for one myself if my tank weren't so deep in width.

[puopg]

I just sold my kessil a few weeks ago. It outputs a lot of light, though the falloff is pretty significant about a foot away from the source. Also, the shimmer effect if surface agitation is high is like seizure inducing. And yes, it sounds like a quiet computer on.

[bVo]

@puopg
Call me crazy but I just recently installed one in my Fluval Edge 12g. Maybe you can give me some insights!

http://www.plantedtank.net/forums/sh...d.php?t=223618

[ange062]

Originally Posted by akpoly

those are awesome light fixtures!

I agree! Have a lot of positive experience with them over reef tanks and have been wanting to try over a planted since I heard about the Amazon Sun release!

Originally Posted by blink

Looks like a nice start but get rid of those green hoses man!

Haha, yeah it's in the works. Trying to find a glass system that'll work with the 2217.

Originally Posted by bVo

Awesome! I'm doing a same light, but only 12g and the fixture is an inch above the water. Sounds like a recipe for disaster but well see since the height of my tank is high. :x

Problem with 1" above the water is going to be coverage, LED's like to be fairly high off the water for best results (I run LED's on both my reef tanks). Oh, and that's not to mention the possibility for water damage

Originally Posted by BoxxerBoyDrew

This looks like it is going to be a COOL TANK!

Those lights are VERY COOL!!! HUGE amounts of light in such a tiny pkg! They are the perfect light for cubes! I am a big fan of cubes, so I am subscribed for sure!

Good Luck!
Drew

p.s. Are there many good Planted tank shops in Houston? I have some family around there, and we will be going to see them in a few months, so I would love to know about any good shops! Thanks!

Thanks a bunch!! Honestly I got into the hobby as a reefer and really only dabble in planted, so I am not a connoisseur of planted shops and really know more about good coral / reef shops. IME City Pets has a good selection of both FW and SW, as does Fish Gallery (though their prices are wicked high most of the time).

Originally Posted by Alastair-T

Ditto love cubes myself so will be watching this to see how it progresses.

Thanks a bunch!! I'm personally a huge cube fan myself, I love the unique look and scape possibilities that come with all that additional depth.

Originally Posted by fusiongt

Hey we have the same setup (I don't have a journal yet). I have the Mr Aqua 25g 18" cube and the Kessil light. I've been setup for over 6 months now and one word of advice, GO DIRECT CO2! Don't make the mistake I made and try for low tech when the light is ultra high tech. It just doesn't work and it's hard to keep the algae in check. I had to learn the hard way and give into getting cO2. I'm a lot happier now and the plants are doing well and algae (specifically bba) is getting back in line.

Not to get down on your fauna but just make sure you don't over stock because 25g isn't huge. Also an angel fish and high grade shrimp might not be the best combo but I'm sure it's been done before. But I'm sure you'll nail it

Thanks for the feedback!! I'll have to look into the angel / shrimp combo, I didn't know it was a possible issue. I'm still mixed on CO2 though. The first planted tank I setup for someone about 2-yrs ago has been low-tech from the start and grows plants faster than I can keep up with pruning. Never any algae, just good growth and happy fish. Given that success doesn't motivate me to add the extra clutter to this tank, but we will see what happens with time

My first planted tank:
http://www.plantedtank.net/forums/sh...=136581&page=2

Originally Posted by vincenz

I'd suggest moving all the lighting and plumbing to the back

Liking the gooseneck clamp-- I'd have gone for one myself if my tank weren't so deep in width.

Haha, as I noted in the OP the paint was still drying on the back hence everything being setup on the sides. As of today it's all cleaned up and moved to the back And honestly the cube choice was mostly driven by the choice of light, a rectangle just wouldn't have gotten the right coverage.

Originally Posted by puopg

I just sold my kessil a few weeks ago. It outputs a lot of light, though the falloff is pretty significant about a foot away from the source. Also, the shimmer effect if surface agitation is high is like seizure inducing. And yes, it sounds like a quiet computer on.

The 18" cube is honestly perfect for coverage due to this fact, the Kessil is good for about 20-22" of coverage on X-Y-Z axis. I honestly chose the light first on this build and made tank choice based on that Shimmer definitely has more "disco ball" to it than the nice smooth shimmer of an MH (and lack of shimmer with T5), but the Kessil is actually very good in this respect for LED. I've seen some fixtures with spread LED's that make me want to throw up. I've been running LED's on my reef tanks for about 1.5-yrs now so the shimmer doesn't bug me anymore, though it did take me about a month to get used to originally. And as far as the noise, I don't even notice it compared to skimmers, chillers, powerheads, etc in a reef tank, LOL! This cube is dead quiet to me

[ange062]

Anybody have recommendations for a clear setup for intake / output that works with Eheim 2217 hose sizes?

[BoxxerBoyDrew]

Thanks for the info on the LFS!!!

I would thing you probably won't have a problem with the angel's and shrimp till the Angels start getting big! Then the Angels will more then likely eat the shrimp!!! When I had Angels in my 55g and added Ghost shrimp as well as a few Bamboo shrimp the Angels went straight after them!!! The angels were about half dollar body size, and made quick meals of the Ghosts then picked on the Bamboo shrimp till they got them flipped over and proceeded to eat them! BUT if the Angels are small when the shrimp are added you might have a better outcome! I salt water terms, my Angels went after the Ghost shrimp like a Undulated Trigger will go after a Camel Shrimp!!! LOL

Anyhoo I can't wait to see how the tank progresses!!!
Drew

[ange062]

Haha, thanks for the SW analogy, that helps

Decided to go with the Cal Aqua lily pipes in 13/17mm to match the Eheim 2217 hose sizes. Should ship in this week from GLA and really improve the look of the tank.

And browsing through that Cal Aqua stuff makes me want to run CO2 just so that I can utilize their awesome inline diffuser!!

I added some fish and got some plants in, but unfortunately the driftwood is still floating so Im waiting for it to waterlog and sink before I can finish the final scape.