Rack Em Up! Garage tank rack project
- Thread starter DMD123
- Start date
I played with the lighting a bit.
Granted this is a 24" fixture on a 36" tank but wow it lights up the whole area when it put above in the underside of the racking
This one is the fixture on the tank itself
I think I like the on tank look better... maybe?
The new Beamsworks coming in will be full 36" lights for the 65B's. Because the gap wont look so big I could put those ones in the undersides of the racking, would give those a bit cleaner look and light up the floor better which my wife would probably like since the garage can seem a bit dark.
Granted this is a 24" fixture on a 36" tank but wow it lights up the whole area when it put above in the underside of the racking
This one is the fixture on the tank itself
I think I like the on tank look better... maybe?
The new Beamsworks coming in will be full 36" lights for the 65B's. Because the gap wont look so big I could put those ones in the undersides of the racking, would give those a bit cleaner look and light up the floor better which my wife would probably like since the garage can seem a bit dark.
I don't like hanging lights because so much light spills all over the place, not just in the tanks. It's a personal preference, for sure, but I don't like a brightly lit fish room, and it's plenty bright even when the lights sit on top of the tanks.
My Aquaclear 70 should come in this afternoon so I can get that 30 gallon up and running. Moving the puffer back into the smaller tank just makes sense, he is just not an active fish since he is an ambush predator. Then putting the community in the 46 gallon will place an active tank at eye level. Plus that tank is my planted with a bit of an algae problem and it will then have two albino bristle nose pleco which should help keep that one looking better.
Rehoming a couple fish should open up a 65B and possibly both 90’s. Then time for some new stock!
Rehoming a couple fish should open up a 65B and possibly both 90’s. Then time for some new stock!
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Finally catching up with all my fish room maintenance. January was so upsetting that even my fish room suffered, but today I'll do the last few tanks. Whew!
I have one of my Xenotilapia spilopterus males holding in a 55 brooding tank, but have no idea about the timing. Fingers crossed!
I have one of my Xenotilapia spilopterus males holding in a 55 brooding tank, but have no idea about the timing. Fingers crossed!
Took a bit to set up, forgot I need some electrical. I already had a nice outlet strip just needed to mount it under the rack so I could power up the 30 and used it for the 46g above too.
Tank is filled, filter is running, heater should be getting up to temp. Wanted to make sure all equipment was working well before moving over sand, filter media and fish.
If all goes well with it tonight then tomorrow is fish moving day.
The only issue at the moment is that the under bed bin I had been using is not available at Lowe's anymore. The thing is that most are only about 36" while the ones I was using was 44" long. Also the wheels were 360 degree so I could slide it under the rack sideways as opposed to long way like most.
Tank is filled, filter is running, heater should be getting up to temp. Wanted to make sure all equipment was working well before moving over sand, filter media and fish.
If all goes well with it tonight then tomorrow is fish moving day.
The only issue at the moment is that the under bed bin I had been using is not available at Lowe's anymore. The thing is that most are only about 36" while the ones I was using was 44" long. Also the wheels were 360 degree so I could slide it under the rack sideways as opposed to long way like most.
Went to Lowe's and got the current under bed bins they carry. It is like 1" too big but will fit under rack with some rubbing when going to put it in place.
The white top is the old one made by Bella that fits perfect and the new one is the gray lid that just a hair too big. So back to the drawing board.
The white top is the old one made by Bella that fits perfect and the new one is the gray lid that just a hair too big. So back to the drawing board.
Moved a little sand into the 30 from the 46. Kind of ran around to different stores today looking for the perfect storage bins and pretty much wasted time at it. I need to focus on getting stuff done in the tanks tomorrow.
I got one of my Beamswork fixtures in today. I bought it as “used-like new” and saved $10. It was supposed to be a damaged box but looked good to me. Light seemed perfectly fine so no clue as to the reduced price but Im happy about it. The other light should be in tomorrow. Then a couple days for the timers. I really wish there was a way to daisy chain the lighting to just one dimmer timer. Would be cool to have them all simultaneously do their thing.
I got one of my Beamswork fixtures in today. I bought it as “used-like new” and saved $10. It was supposed to be a damaged box but looked good to me. Light seemed perfectly fine so no clue as to the reduced price but Im happy about it. The other light should be in tomorrow. Then a couple days for the timers. I really wish there was a way to daisy chain the lighting to just one dimmer timer. Would be cool to have them all simultaneously do their thing.
Yeah, but then Beamswork wouldn't sell so many timer/dimmer modules...
The one thing I don't like about these modules is that they don't keep time very well, so even if you set them all to go on/off at the same time, within a few days they are no longer synchronous. That's not a problem in one sense, because I definitely don't want all the tanks in the fish room turning on and off at once, but I do have to reset the time in many of the modules every month or so to prevent them from getting way out of whack. Otherwise it's great not having to fuss with all the lights every day.
Yeah I have noticed that they are not the greatest at holding time. Pretty noticeable with just the 3 fixtures currently going on timers. I will be up to 5 when my others come in.
My Current USA fixture has a ramp timer available to use but it wont work properly if you have the lights in a custom dimmed setting. It will only work at full on position. This would be overkill in my 30 so I just use a standard on/off timer for that one.
My Current USA fixture has a ramp timer available to use but it wont work properly if you have the lights in a custom dimmed setting. It will only work at full on position. This would be overkill in my 30 so I just use a standard on/off timer for that one.
I really like the dimmer function of these units; I have the blue actinic lights set at 100% brightness, but I run the 6500K lights at only 20-30% in all of my tanks. There really is no reason to have very bright lights on aquaria unless you're growing high-light requiring plants, and most fishes never encounter such bright light in nature. In fact, there's a whole lot of intense courting and breeding behaviour that goes on when only the actinic lights are on in the morning and evening. I never appreciated that before, although I should have, as many fishes are best spawned in dimly-lit aquaria.
Spent some time cleaning out the 46 bowfront. This meant moving the sand and puffer to the 30 and scrubbing out the bowfront and plants well. Im hoping the pleco will keep the 46 clean because it is my worst algae tank. I guess its the combo of lightning and the natural light from the window. I still need to move decor and substrate over from the 65B but I think I need to thin down the number of live plants a little. Mounted them all on pretty large rocks and wood takes up a ton of tank space.
I’m a buyer if you’re a seller
Will let you know. I had bought the Anubias Hastifolia from Buce and have 7 plants that seem to be doing well.
This pic was after I had made the lava rocks smaller. The large Mopani pieces have 2 on one and 3 on the other. The one with the 2 plants I think needs to be split in two pieces.
As you can see its pretty full in there and I need to fit my centerpiece wood in it still.
That stump is pretty awesome
Thanks, it was a $75 piece of spiderwood from Wet Spot that has taken forever to prep for this very situation. It was always planned for the top center tank but just overwhelmed the 30 gallon it was in at the time. It will look perfect in the 46.
Well the one timer I got in is defective. It will not turn on blue lights when it turns timer on, it looks to work in every other way except for that. I checked it on another fixture and same thing. So back it goes.
My other timer was "undeliverable" According to tracking USPS returned it. Im guessing it got damaged so bad that USPS just returned it.
I ordered another to replace the "undeliverable" one but now have to order another.
My other timer was "undeliverable" According to tracking USPS returned it. Im guessing it got damaged so bad that USPS just returned it.
I ordered another to replace the "undeliverable" one but now have to order another.
I am also looking at the reticulated SAE from Wet Spot