motti April 1, 2014 Author Share April 1, 2014 I am planning on securing the rock using putty in some critical points. As for the scratch, I don't ahe much nails lol but it seems pretty minor scratch. One of the reasons that I decided to go with acrylic is the ability to fix and buff it. I've had several glass tnks in the past and they all scratches, having the option to fix it is a plus in my opinion Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TrueTricia April 1, 2014 Share April 1, 2014 What an amazing build thread. Admittedly I totally spaced at the electronics talk. My parents were electrical engineers and taught for years. I used to make stuff as a kid. But now. ... And here I haven't even set up the auto timer in my tank yet. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
motti April 1, 2014 Author Share April 1, 2014 What an amazing build thread. Admittedly I totally spaced at the electronics talk. My parents were electrical engineers and taught for years. I used to make stuff as a kid. But now. ... And here I haven't even set up the auto timer in my tank yet. Thanks!! To be honest I don't have timers on the aquarium yet... Everything is still manual. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Incredible Corals April 1, 2014 Share April 1, 2014 love the rock work. Also you can repair stratches with the tank filled and everything in it. All the critters just get a hurricane of water movement with the sanding inside. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
motti April 2, 2014 Author Share April 2, 2014 Lights update!!!! I just got a 20" heat sink from rapid led, I kind of like it better than the maker led one.. It's a lot slimer. I had to drill few holes in it and place nuts in them so I could secure the pucks, I need to order some more wires and the Ldd 6 up board so I could do some testing to make sure the fixture doesn't get too hot. If everything will look good I will place orders to make 5 more fixtures and that one will go over the refugium Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DuffyGeos April 2, 2014 Share April 2, 2014 Looking good! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LanksTank April 2, 2014 Share April 2, 2014 hahaha you made your own Radions?! Ridiculous! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
motti April 3, 2014 Author Share April 3, 2014 I would say the total cost to DIY it, would be around... pucks ~$150 heatsink ~$53 w/ fan, hanging kit, splash gaurd drivers ~40 give or take (6) driver board $13 power supply around $30 form ebay, could drive 3 fixtures That leaves you at around 286, which is less than half when I need 5 fixtures to light a tank it's huge saving. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DuffyGeos April 3, 2014 Share April 3, 2014 I'll take 9 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
motti April 4, 2014 Author Share April 4, 2014 I'm almost done with the plumbing, I did the main returns today connected the dc12000 and checked for leaks. So far so good. I still need to finish plumbing the overflows I am short on PVC and some elbows Also I got the gate valve in the mail today and finished the gate valve mod for the skimmer and it's amazing how easy it is to tune it now. Also got some pm regarding the radians, I am going to put up a short how-to on the diy forum over the week end with step by step details on what I ordered and how I put it together. I am still waiting of few parts. Hopefully they arrive tomorrow Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
motti April 6, 2014 Author Share April 6, 2014 Very very long day, been working on putting the diy radians together, routing power lines for both fixtures and got the first beta layout of the arduino board and add on shields Final product at night mode: Radion full power Arduino panel: Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
YHSublime April 6, 2014 Share April 6, 2014 Clutch looking! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
motti April 9, 2014 Author Share April 9, 2014 Power heads for frag tank and fuge arrive today Going to start filling out the aquarium tomorrow, I am still working on buffing out the scratches and the scratches I made trying to buff it out Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DuffyGeos April 9, 2014 Share April 9, 2014 Power heads for frag tank and fuge arrive today Going to start filling out the aquarium tomorrow, I am still working on buffing out the scratches and the scratches I made trying to buff it out Let me know how that goes...I am sure I will have to buff something out sooner or later. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DCReefer1964 April 9, 2014 Share April 9, 2014 What method did you use to buff it out ? Did you wet-sand first ? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
motti April 9, 2014 Author Share April 9, 2014 I got that kit from amazon, it comes with several sand papers ranging from grit 1500 to 18000 i think, i did it dry. Would i get better results wet sanding? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DCReefer1964 April 9, 2014 Share April 9, 2014 This is an easy process. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QnIwVp2a7F8 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
motti April 9, 2014 Author Share April 9, 2014 This is an easy process. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QnIwVp2a7F8 Wow, seems so much easier! i've been doing it manually, worked on it for about an hour and a half probably, and one side is fairly good, but the other side is still a bit hazy, I might head over to Home depot to get that sand paper for the palm sander and try again. I'll most likely have to order the buffing wheels. Thanks again for the great video! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DCReefer1964 April 9, 2014 Share April 9, 2014 Cheap buffer with foam pads works best. If you need to borrow one LMK. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
motti April 9, 2014 Author Share April 9, 2014 something like that would be better over the buffing/polishing wheels? http://www.amazon.com/WEN-6010-6-Inch-Waxer-Polisher/dp/B0000AXOHT/ref=sr_1_16?ie=UTF8&qid=1397057407&sr=8-16&keywords=buffer#productDetails Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Origami April 9, 2014 Share April 9, 2014 This is an easy process. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QnIwVp2a7F8 Great video. Thanks for posting that. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DCReefer1964 April 9, 2014 Share April 9, 2014 something like that would be better over the buffing/polishing wheels? http://www.amazon.com/WEN-6010-6-Inch-Waxer-Polisher/dp/B0000AXOHT/ref=sr_1_16?ie=UTF8&qid=1397057407&sr=8-16&keywords=buffer#productDetails Yes, In addition check CL for a quick cheap local sale. LOWES/HD and if you are not happy with the performance you can return it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
motti April 9, 2014 Author Share April 9, 2014 Awesome. Great info! Going to run to Home Depot first, maybe buffing is all I need since I already sanded the heck out of these scratches Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ArtFully Acrylic (Adam B) April 9, 2014 Share April 9, 2014 Motti! Hate those unexpected rock slides. But I'm glad you saw the benefit in acrylic being it's repairability. I've seen rock slides leave scratches on glass tanks....and they may as well be unrepairable. Particularly, Low Iron Glass (Starfire for example) will be softer and even easier to scratch than plate glass. Acrylic is of course easier to scratch than the two most common glass forms, but we can fix it =). In short, the micro mesh kit you got (thats the sandpaper that goes up to 12000 grit) will most certainly work. The 12000 grit sandpaper makes surface abrasions that are not visible to the human eye. You work all the way up through there then it should look hardly perceptible if at all. If using Micromesh your results will be MUCH better if you do use them WET. Will also prolong life of the paper as it doesn't get clogged as quickly when run wet. For a "quick and dirty" that will appease all but the most OCD, you can use the method shown in the below writeup that uses the polish after a few levels of sandpaper. This is a writeup I did on Wamas a good little while back. http://wamas.org/forums/topic/50430-repairing-scratches-in-acrylic-mini-tutorial/?hl=%2Bscratch+%2Brepair Another option that fits into this category would be to sand the scratches (run perpendicular each step, not parallel) out and then from there (only need to go as far as necessary to make smooth and hazy), you can step into polishing/buffing compounds with buffing wheels like found here http://www.harborfreight.com/14-piece-aluminum-polishing-kit-98707.html Progress from Black to Brown to White in that order. Never mix compounds on the same wheel. Each compound has a different level of abrasiveness. I hope this gives you enough info to finish it out =). In your case, if you have no more visible or feelable scratch and only a bit of haze, then progressing to a plastic polish would probably be the best finish up for your event =) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
motti April 9, 2014 Author Share April 9, 2014 Hi Adam thank you for the great info. That's where I am now, scratches are invisible got some haze in panel Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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