Phil's 90g SPS dominant reef (aka The Electric Reef Project)

curiousphil

curiousphil

Super Active Member
Re: The Electric Reef Project - an SPS dominated 90g mixed reef

Hehe, as a nice sign of confirmation that I went the right direction with my lights... I've just learned that AI released a new product called Hydra that uses nearly the same selection and amount of diodes as my DIY fixture!  8)  They finally put in some XTE's and went full spectrum.

So what's new with me.... I'm building a spectrometer based off the spectralworkbench.org kit so that I can start tweaking my light levels.  If I can't get the lux/par measured... at least this is a step in the right direction to making sure my spectral output is more or less correct.  Work on the controller is also progressing - I'm really excited to get my sunrise/sunset cycle and moonlights working.

Moved a few corals yesterday - raised up my slimer and green(still unconfirmed!) mille, and moved the purple bonsai down a bit.  The red monti cap is doing awesome!  I can see the white edge getting thicker and sprouting new baby polyps almost every day.  The green monti caps are also starting to take off, with the growth edges glowing a nice bright green.  Sad news for the red digi and sunset mille though.... my clumsy hands managed to snap a part off of each.  The still unknown possibly 'incredible hulk' acro is starting to open up its polyps more.  My snails bludgened some of the zoas I picked up at Fragfest so I've had to fasten those down better.  Acan brain is growing new flesh around the edges that's coming in as a gorgeous bright orange.  Folded brain is getting ridiculously fat - it's come sooo far from the white skeleton I brought home a few months ago!  One of the three 'sides' had completely lost its tissue and I figured it was a lost cause.  That side is now maybe 1/2 full of pink and green flesh, and has sprouted 3 new mouths!

I've got a WP-40 wavebox and a WP-25 coming in... and a new cleanup crew on Friday so I can pull out those damn Mexicans... exciting times!  I'm thinking I'll put the wavebox under the overflow box and have the WP-25 opposing it on the other side.  Will probably pull out the Koralia and put it to use elsewhere, we'll see.  Well that's about all for now - pics later if I remember.
 
B

Boga

Active Member
Re: The Electric Reef Project - an SPS dominated 90g mixed reef

It looks that you were busy enough. It will never end :). Also I hate my Turbo Snail. ;D He just qualified this evening for the rest of his life in refugium. I had to work one hour to retrieve one frag that was pushed behind the rocks. Or maybe was my fault I did not glue it .....  ??? ?

I have some concerns about the DIY spectrometer and the applicability for your needs. I really think that you need a PAR meter. A spectrometer will give you the qualitative response (considering it is calibrated right, which is arguably). A PAR meter will read light intensity based on a spectrum. Their calibration does not talk about "quantity" of light (illumination level). By any means, it is a cool DIY tool, and for light spectrum will be accurate enough. It is very cheap and I think it will worth the time spent.

Another option (more expensive) would be to buy a PAR sensor from apogeeinstruments.com . The output is linear and for every 1mV = 5μmol m-2 s-1. You can read it with a multimeter and calculate the PAR value or you can have Arduino do the conversion.

http://www.thereeftank.com/forums/f6/par-meter-154993.html?highlight=par+apogeeinstruments

Also I think that there are some DIY PAR Meters based on photodiodes. Did not have time to look into them too much. At the first glance, it does not look too promising. Maybe you already checked this out?
http://www.plantedtank.net/forums/showthread.php?t=120109
 
B

Boga

Active Member
Re: The Electric Reef Project - an SPS dominated 90g mixed reef

It looks that you were busy enough. It will never end :). Also I hate my Turbo Snail. ;D He just qualified this evening for the rest of his life in refugium. I had to work one hour to retrieve one frag that was pushed behind the rocks. Or maybe was my fault I did not glue it .....  ??? ?

I have some concerns about the DIY spectrometer and the applicability for your needs. I really think that you need a PAR meter. A spectrometer will give you the qualitative response (considering it is calibrated right, which is arguably). A PAR meter will read light intensity based on a spectrum. Their calibration does not talk about "quantity" of light (illumination level). By any means, it is a cool DIY tool, and for light spectrum will be accurate enough. It is very cheap and I think it will worth the time spent.

Another option (more expensive) would be to buy a PAR sensor from apogeeinstruments.com . The output is linear and for every 1mV = 5μmol m-2 s-1. You can read it with a multimeter and calculate the PAR value or you can have Arduino do the conversion.

http://www.thereeftank.com/forums/f6/par-meter-154993.html?highlight=par+apogeeinstruments

Also I think that there are some DIY PAR Meters based on photodiodes. Did not have time to look into them too much. At the first glance, it does not look too promising. Maybe you already checked this out?
http://www.plantedtank.net/forums/showthread.php?t=120109
 
Petercar (RIP Dec 2017)

Petercar (RIP Dec 2017)

Distinguished Member
Donor
Re: The Electric Reef Project - an SPS dominated 90g mixed reef

Yu can get the apoggee par meters from the coral reef store. In burlington.  ..i think bill at IA had some to.  I was sick of sticking my hand way to the bottom of the tank along the sand taking readings.  ....so i went to the apogee webiste and bought the the telescoping wand.  It opens to 26 inchs
 
Petercar (RIP Dec 2017)

Petercar (RIP Dec 2017)

Distinguished Member
Donor
Re: The Electric Reef Project - an SPS dominated 90g mixed reef

Yu can get the apoggee par meters from the coral reef store. In burlington.  ..i think bill at IA had some to.  I was sick of sticking my hand way to the bottom of the tank along the sand taking readings.  ....so i went to the apogee webiste and bought the the telescoping wand.  It opens to 26 inchs
 
curiousphil

curiousphil

Super Active Member
Re: The Electric Reef Project - an SPS dominated 90g mixed reef

scarlabo link said:
It looks that you were busy enough. It will never end :). Also I hate my Turbo Snail. ;D He just qualified this evening for the rest of his life in refugium. I had to work one hour to retrieve one frag that was pushed behind the rocks. Or maybe was my fault I did not glue it .....  ??? ?

I have some concerns about the DIY spectrometer and the applicability for your needs. I really think that you need a PAR meter. A spectrometer will give you the qualitative response (considering it is calibrated right, which is arguably). A PAR meter will read light intensity based on a spectrum. Their calibration does not talk about \"quantity\" of light (illumination level). By any means, it is a cool DIY tool, and for light spectrum will be accurate enough. It is very cheap and I think it will worth the time spent.

Another option (more expensive) would be to buy a PAR sensor from apogeeinstruments.com . The output is linear and for every 1mV = 5μmol m-2 s-1. You can read it with a multimeter and calculate the PAR value or you can have Arduino do the conversion.

http://www.thereeftank.com/forums/f6/par-meter-154993.html?highlight=par+apogeeinstruments

Also I think that there are some DIY PAR Meters based on photodiodes. Did not have time to look into them too much. At the first glance, it does not look too promising. Maybe you already checked this out?
http://www.plantedtank.net/forums/showthread.php?t=120109
Click to expand...

I had actually seen that thread regarding the diy par meters, just read through it a week or two ago.  I put together a parts list and priced out the build to compare it against an Apogee meter... came to a little over a hundred.  From what I saw when browsing the Apogee website, it didn't look like they actually sell meters directly, so I located their closest authorized dealer using their listings and the company I talked to - Hoskin Scientific, also in Burlington interestingly enough - quoted me 425 for a meter.  Not sure how that lines up with the Coral Reef Store's or Bill's price but I imagine Apogee probably sets a price cap and that I would see pretty much the same number everywhere... correct me if I'm wrong!  I'm having a hard time swallowing that pricetag right now, for a tool I might only use a handful of times. Well, I guess I do see myself sticking with the hobby long term so its probably worth it... anyways what I guess I'm trying to say is that I'm still mulling over my options lol.  But I have no issues dropping forty for that spectral kit, which will temporarily satiate my thirst for knowledge.

If you don't mind sharing Peter... could you tell me how much you picked yours up for?  Feel free to pm if you dont want to publicly share the info... or not, totally up to you :).
 
curiousphil

curiousphil

Super Active Member
Re: The Electric Reef Project - an SPS dominated 90g mixed reef

scarlabo link said:
It looks that you were busy enough. It will never end :). Also I hate my Turbo Snail. ;D He just qualified this evening for the rest of his life in refugium. I had to work one hour to retrieve one frag that was pushed behind the rocks. Or maybe was my fault I did not glue it .....  ??? ?

I have some concerns about the DIY spectrometer and the applicability for your needs. I really think that you need a PAR meter. A spectrometer will give you the qualitative response (considering it is calibrated right, which is arguably). A PAR meter will read light intensity based on a spectrum. Their calibration does not talk about \"quantity\" of light (illumination level). By any means, it is a cool DIY tool, and for light spectrum will be accurate enough. It is very cheap and I think it will worth the time spent.

Another option (more expensive) would be to buy a PAR sensor from apogeeinstruments.com . The output is linear and for every 1mV = 5μmol m-2 s-1. You can read it with a multimeter and calculate the PAR value or you can have Arduino do the conversion.

http://www.thereeftank.com/forums/f6/par-meter-154993.html?highlight=par+apogeeinstruments

Also I think that there are some DIY PAR Meters based on photodiodes. Did not have time to look into them too much. At the first glance, it does not look too promising. Maybe you already checked this out?
http://www.plantedtank.net/forums/showthread.php?t=120109
Click to expand...

I had actually seen that thread regarding the diy par meters, just read through it a week or two ago.  I put together a parts list and priced out the build to compare it against an Apogee meter... came to a little over a hundred.  From what I saw when browsing the Apogee website, it didn't look like they actually sell meters directly, so I located their closest authorized dealer using their listings and the company I talked to - Hoskin Scientific, also in Burlington interestingly enough - quoted me 425 for a meter.  Not sure how that lines up with the Coral Reef Store's or Bill's price but I imagine Apogee probably sets a price cap and that I would see pretty much the same number everywhere... correct me if I'm wrong!  I'm having a hard time swallowing that pricetag right now, for a tool I might only use a handful of times. Well, I guess I do see myself sticking with the hobby long term so its probably worth it... anyways what I guess I'm trying to say is that I'm still mulling over my options lol.  But I have no issues dropping forty for that spectral kit, which will temporarily satiate my thirst for knowledge.

If you don't mind sharing Peter... could you tell me how much you picked yours up for?  Feel free to pm if you dont want to publicly share the info... or not, totally up to you :).
 
B

Boga

Active Member
Re: The Electric Reef Project - an SPS dominated 90g mixed reef

From what I saw when browsing the Apogee website, it didn't look like they actually sell meters directly, so I located their closest authorized dealer using their listings and the company I talked to - Hoskin Scientific, also in Burlington interestingly enough - quoted me 425 for a meter.  Not sure how that lines up with the Coral Reef Store's or Bill's price but I imagine Apogee probably sets a price cap and that I would see pretty much the same number everywhere... correct me if I'm wrong!  I'm having a hard time swallowing that pricetag right now, for a tool I might only use a handful of times. Well, I guess I do see myself sticking with the hobby long term so its probably worth it... anyways what I guess I'm trying to say is that I'm still mulling over my options lol.  But I have no issues dropping forty for that spectral kit, which will temporarily satiate my thirst for knowledge.
Click to expand...

I am in total agreement with you. Too bad they are not available at LFS for renting at a fair price. They did not say anything about selling the probe only, did they?

I will tag along with the spectroscope idea. I may have some thoughts about quantitative calibration.

Work on the controller is also progressing - I'm really excited to get my sunrise/sunset cycle and moonlights working
Click to expand...
How long sunrise/sunset periods do you plan? Like 30 minutes, 1 hr? Just curious.
 
B

Boga

Active Member
Re: The Electric Reef Project - an SPS dominated 90g mixed reef

From what I saw when browsing the Apogee website, it didn't look like they actually sell meters directly, so I located their closest authorized dealer using their listings and the company I talked to - Hoskin Scientific, also in Burlington interestingly enough - quoted me 425 for a meter.  Not sure how that lines up with the Coral Reef Store's or Bill's price but I imagine Apogee probably sets a price cap and that I would see pretty much the same number everywhere... correct me if I'm wrong!  I'm having a hard time swallowing that pricetag right now, for a tool I might only use a handful of times. Well, I guess I do see myself sticking with the hobby long term so its probably worth it... anyways what I guess I'm trying to say is that I'm still mulling over my options lol.  But I have no issues dropping forty for that spectral kit, which will temporarily satiate my thirst for knowledge.
Click to expand...

I am in total agreement with you. Too bad they are not available at LFS for renting at a fair price. They did not say anything about selling the probe only, did they?

I will tag along with the spectroscope idea. I may have some thoughts about quantitative calibration.

Work on the controller is also progressing - I'm really excited to get my sunrise/sunset cycle and moonlights working
Click to expand...
How long sunrise/sunset periods do you plan? Like 30 minutes, 1 hr? Just curious.
 
curiousphil

curiousphil

Super Active Member
Re: The Electric Reef Project - an SPS dominated 90g mixed reef

scarlabo link said:
Work on the controller is also progressing - I'm really excited to get my sunrise/sunset cycle and moonlights working
Click to expand...
How long sunrise/sunset periods do you plan? Like 30 minutes, 1 hr? Just curious.
Click to expand...

I'm not totally decided... it's either that, or a slow ramp-up to max brightness at noon and then back down to zero at night.  Well not zero, I'll be using the royal blues at 1 or 2 percent as moonlights.
 
curiousphil

curiousphil

Super Active Member
Re: The Electric Reef Project - an SPS dominated 90g mixed reef

scarlabo link said:
Work on the controller is also progressing - I'm really excited to get my sunrise/sunset cycle and moonlights working
Click to expand...
How long sunrise/sunset periods do you plan? Like 30 minutes, 1 hr? Just curious.
Click to expand...

I'm not totally decided... it's either that, or a slow ramp-up to max brightness at noon and then back down to zero at night.  Well not zero, I'll be using the royal blues at 1 or 2 percent as moonlights.
 
B

Boga

Active Member
Re: The Electric Reef Project - an SPS dominated 90g mixed reef

curiousphil link said:
[quote author=scarlabo link=topic=5145.msg54236#msg54236 date=1371876640]
Work on the controller is also progressing - I'm really excited to get my sunrise/sunset cycle and moonlights working
Click to expand...
How long sunrise/sunset periods do you plan? Like 30 minutes, 1 hr? Just curious.
Click to expand...

I'm not totally decided... it's either that, or a slow ramp-up to max brightness at noon and then back down to zero at night.  Well not zero, I'll be using the royal blues at 1 or 2 percent as moonlights.
[/quote]

I think the slower you go, less light "energy" is provided to corals. Area under the curve? Just thinking loud.
 
B

Boga

Active Member
Re: The Electric Reef Project - an SPS dominated 90g mixed reef

curiousphil link said:
[quote author=scarlabo link=topic=5145.msg54236#msg54236 date=1371876640]
Work on the controller is also progressing - I'm really excited to get my sunrise/sunset cycle and moonlights working
Click to expand...
How long sunrise/sunset periods do you plan? Like 30 minutes, 1 hr? Just curious.
Click to expand...

I'm not totally decided... it's either that, or a slow ramp-up to max brightness at noon and then back down to zero at night.  Well not zero, I'll be using the royal blues at 1 or 2 percent as moonlights.
[/quote]

I think the slower you go, less light "energy" is provided to corals. Area under the curve? Just thinking loud.
 
curiousphil

curiousphil

Super Active Member
Re: The Electric Reef Project - an SPS dominated 90g mixed reef

New additions - lyretail anthias and a sailfin tang.
 
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