~~troylee's diy 500gal build....~~

[Troylee]

well here is a quick update getting back into action.......
new stock
steve tyree undata frag
superman monti
black and white henicous....i know i know use caution so far so good......
and i got a killer deal on a 6ft long 12bulb t5 fixture which im gonna chop up for actinics and a fuge light........gotta love the diy......light rack coming soon in the next couple days..... dont mind the mess in the garage lol.....thats why nothing has got done still unpacking.

well i got my light rack started.....the 3 square holes is where the diy luminarcs fit into, the aluminum between them is where the ballast for the t5s go and the t5s will be mounted underneath and on the sides of each angle that spans the tank....for a total of 8 t5 bulbs.....four 36" t5s mounted on each side in groups of 2 "end to end" 2 runs equaling 60" overall....hope that makes sense lol!!!! more pics to come as i get more done...then it will make sense...
this will be hung from the cieling with cables and a wood canopy will hide it all when it's said and done.......

 

[Troylee]

ok here is what it looks like minus the t5s i have yet to destroy that pretty fixture in my garage..... thats's tomorrow.....lol the t5s will ride against the aluminum angle on the bottom and sides of the lamp rack...."yes the reflectors need more rivets i got in a hurry and never finished them" still need clips to hold the mogul sockets to....

well i have been caught up doing stuff for others.....i got the t5 fixture stripped and picked up a couple new additions..
#1 bottle brush with nice green color...."camera phone sucks lol!!!"
#2 bubble coral..
and the light fixture mess.....

 

[makingbubbles]

I love the builds. My only question is how cost efective is it to build a large tank vs buying it built? I ask this cause i want to have a 200+ gal one day.

 

[Troylee]

here is some better pics got the wifes camera nothing special but it works better than the camera phone....
left side of tank..

center

right side..

fts.

and a sump shot..

 

[Troylee]

and a couple more...."STILL NOT HI-DEF. WORKING ON IT LOL"
the frag rock...

and the toad stool doing great...

my clam..

and the bottle brush...

 

[Troylee]

well i got the light rack done just got to hang it..
im offically in the 1000watt club now i got 320 watts of t5's and 750watts of mh....
a few pics...

and i picked up a pair of black misbar clowns...the female is way cool one side she has a half a stripe and the other is completly black just white on the tail....."PETCO BABY" lol.....

 

[Troylee]

well here is one of the foam arches i made from egg crate i cut out and bent with a torch then i applied black pond foam which can found at home depot for 12$ a can in the outdoor section where the pond liners are....i put a couple pieces of base rock in it to help hold it down then i put some big lr. on the ends to hold it in place kinda boyant lol.....anyways on with the pics...i also put some cc#3 on it to texture it more..

 

[Troylee]

and that was all she wrote before the hard economical times took it's toll and it got drained....i moved to a solana for like 3 months and then cam the drop off....

 

[Troylee]

your skills are truly remarkable. great job!

thanks you for the kind words...

 

[tjm350z]

wow i wish i had the space (money) to run a monster light ..good thing you know how to build it all

 

[Troylee]

I love the builds. My only question is how cost efective is it to build a large tank vs buying it built? I ask this cause i want to have a 200+ gal one day.

not really cost effective...just more of a satisfaction thang imo....unless you do a ply wood tank there cheap...the acrylic for my tank ran 900$ the display was 300gal....you can find a used one cheaper or new im not sure maybe 1800$??? never priced one really...

 

[luke33]

and that was all she wrote before the hard economical times took it's toll and it got drained....i moved to a solana for like 3 months and then cam the drop off....

Ah man, thats terrible :sad:

Awesome work though! You have some great acrylic skillz

 

[Troylee]

It really sucks but was a great exp. For me for trying new things and learning..so it wasn't a complete failure or anything...