DIY cherry cabinet, LEDs, etc. for 57g rimless (Many pictures)

[sns26]

Originally Posted by cggorman

Curious to hear how you like that Fluval once everything is set up and stable. I had to replace a dead Rena XP3 and considered the Fluval FX5 but ended up going modular instead.

In keeping with the "why did I have to do everything the hard way" theme, that's actually not a Fluval FX5. It's an Odyssea CFS 5000, with some of the standard DIY modifications - notably, re-sized o-rings, and a plywood ring brace for the top clamps.

[redfishsc]

I still LOVE your tank. I finally got mine built and finished, and tomorrow is the day it all gets wrapped up.

I love the natural color of the wood. Normally I would do the same thing, but I wound up using several different similar wood species in my stand, and the colors were random enough to look odd (birch, maple, and ash). My way of saving $$ lol, so I stained it a dark coffee color.

How do you like that Odyssea filter? I'd never seen one before.

[jcgd]

Originally Posted by sns26

I switched out the blue XP-Es I had been using. Now I'm using 2 dimmable Meanwell drivers to run:
10 cool white Cree XP-Gs
8 warm white Cree XP-Gs
and 9 neutral whte Cree XP-Gs.

I may put the blues back on at some later date, wired separately with their own driver.

I have the drivers set to deliver about 1300 mA at max, but with both strings running at that power it's just ridiculously bright. That just has to be way too much light, even with the fixture 9" from the top of the tank. Fortunately it is easy to dim.

The overall color balance looks good to me, and with so much headroom in the overall output, it should be easy to tweak one string or the other to get it exactly the way I like it.

From the info I've gathered, it would seem this would be rather yellow. Would you agree? I'm thinking it would be around 5000k.

[sns26]

Originally Posted by redfishsc

How do you like that Odyssea filter? I'd never seen one before.

It's a little finicky in ways well detailed on the long thread in the equipment forum. But at $55 or so delivered to my doorstep, it was a total steal. I had to do something to limit my expenditures on this tank. (So far, I've also been saving a lot of money by leaving it empty.)

Originally Posted by justincgdick

From the info I've gathered, it would seem this would be rather yellow. Would you agree?

You know, it's just hard for me to say. I tend to like the "warmer" tank colors, and I love the green glow that a room gets from a well planted and well-lit tank. My aim here was to have enough lighting headroom between the two Cree strings that I could turn down one or the other string to make the lighting overall a bit cool or a bit warm without feeling that I needed more light.

Again, I need to plant this tank and get it going

[150EH]

That's a really nice job, I need to learn about the LED's soon, it really seems the way to go. I do a bit of cabinet making as well, so far at home I've been lazy with MDF and Poplar face frames, caulk & paint, but it's nice to see someone put in the work, details details, details.

Are you going to get pulls for the doors and get rid of the blue tape???

[sns26]

Originally Posted by 150EH

Are you going to get pulls for the doors and get rid of the blue tape???

Aw come on. That's my signature design element. It's been there for four months now. Can't change it.

[Hoppy]

Originally Posted by sns26

Aw come on. That's my signature design element. It's been there for four months now. Can't change it.

You can use various colors of fingernail polish to dress up the blue tape

[redfishsc]

Originally Posted by 150EH

Are you going to get pulls for the doors and get rid of the blue tape???

He's a great carpenter but he's lacking a little in his refinement. You see, in my custom build, I'm much more sophisticated, and my overall design execution is much more refined and elegant.

I used clear tape. Packing tape, even, for durability and unparalleled clarity.

And. It's been there for several months!

[redfishsc]

By the way, do you have anything in this tank yet?? I want to see the LEDs in action!

[sns26]

Originally Posted by redfishsc

By the way, do you have anything in this tank yet?? I want to see the LEDs in action!

Planted it yesterday: see my tank journal for pictures. This aquasoil stuff is weird. Ammonia is off the charts, hardly any hardness, and pH is down to 6.5. Fortunately there is nothing besides plant in there.

[mountaindew]

Nice wood work!
I always enjoy looking at good quality work.
mD

[sns26]

I've now had this tank going for a couple of weeks. My most important observation is this: it is nice to be able to adjust your lighting intensity by raising or lowering a hanging fixture. But it is truly awesome to be able to do it by turning a dimmer knob.

Someone tells you that your glosso wants more light? Just spin the dial. If you are building a DIY led array, I would suggest that you overbuild (w/r/t number of LEDs and heatsink) and then dim down as necessary. Unless you are severely cost constrained, the lighting headroom is very nice to have.

[madness]

Amazing looking cabinet and light fixture enclosure.

REALLY nice looking.

[WingoAgency]

Originally Posted by sns26

I finally got around to doing the light fixture. My wife told me to lay off the curly maple for the light. But I couldn't help myself. She was right--I should have done it all out of cherry. Oh well.

I drilled and tapped the heatsink to allow me to bolt the end pieces directly to it. That's what the holes you see are for. (I'll plug them before I finish the thing.) The rest is just compound miters and glue. Plus I slipped a few Kreg screws in to help hold the thing together while the glue set...

That's a lot of heat sink!!!!

How much you have spent on that?


I also agreed that the ability of dimming down is very important both for viewing pleasure and also in case you switch the inhabitants. Multiple colors is also something I preached giving you the ability to adjust to the exact color tone you want and provide a fuller spectrum to the inhabitants that may require slightly different spectrum radiation.

[sns26]

Originally Posted by WingoAgency

That's a lot of heat sink!!!! How much you have spent on that?

I spent about $90 on the heatsink. I don't have tons of money, but I'm even shorter on time. I saw a path to a fixture design that I liked, and the fact that it involved a $90 piece mattered far less than the fact that it allowed me to shortcut the build by using the (rigid, tappable, unbreakable) heatsink as the skeleton for the rest of the fixture rather than worrying about building a wood-framed fixture that would be strong enough so I wouldn't worry about having it fall apart and electrocute my fish.

But more importantly, it's worth noting that when I drive both strings at 1300 mA, my big old heatsink gets plenty warm. Well within the design tolerances of the Crees, but noticeably hot to the touch. So yeah, I could have gone with something less beefy, but not much less without adding a (noisy/annoying/ugly) fan.