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Discus Dan's complete DIY set up.

I've been busy the last few days so not had much time to spend on the set up but I did manage to get all the priming done.

All ready for top for top coat now.

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Wow, nuff said!
 
Cheers for all the support guys :)

What bulbs and how many are you using in your GU10 fittings tmiravent?

Got the top coat done tonight, got to wait a week for it to fully cure then I'll set about it with the machine polisher to get rid of the orange peel and give it a deep shine.

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Its getting closer!
 
Hi
I'm using in the big tank (200l) a main Comercial Led Unit 18W [LFL-C 18W] and a DIY extra GU10 to the background plants (that grow like crazy).
In this moment i'm using (in the DIY GU10):
3x GU10 4w | 4000ºk | 38º | 180 lumen | 526cd + 2x G10 6w | led smd | 4200ºK | 45º | 400 lumen | 830cd + 2x GU10 1,3W Blue led just for fun!

In my other tank (CovaMoura) i use only GU10. But is a nano tank with 20 liters...
3x 1.3W Blue + 2x 1.3 Red - for colour effect - 10/9 hours
2x 4W 6500ºK angle 30º - very powerfull, small light cone, no algae - 8 hours (very good optics, use this if you want light power in the substrate)
2x 3W 6500ºK angle 45º - correct power, no algae - 8 hours
4x 4W 4000ºK angle 45º - very nice color but some algae, also too much power - 4 hours

From my small experience with GU10 is very comfortable to use if you pick the right lamp!
Optics is crucial to send power to the deep of the tank. Lamps with only a simple difuser will give high power next to the lamp 10/20 cm, then we lose most of the energy... In a big tank the standard size of GU10 is comfortable to control. In a small tank can be tricky...
One advise that i followed is to keep away from high power and cheap lamps! Can burn easily since heat is badly dissipated!
I don't use any fan's and still haven't burned any lamp...
I try also to point each lamp to a specific group of plants... (at least i try)
I'm very curious about your solution and to learn a lot more.

Thank's for sharing your project
cheers,
tiago
 
Brilliant read dan just got round to it, same lily pipes as mine seem good for the price, thanks for sharing everything step by step, bet you needed a lot of hand putting all the glass together but keep the updates coming


Thanks Dean
 
I let loose with the buffer tonight! muchness whizzy fun :)

I cramped it in the vice to polish the curves.

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too much paste!

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And the results...

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It's all far from perfect I should have spent much more time cutting back between coats but it will do.

Got to get my electricians cap on next to wire the lights up.

Watch this space...
 
Had a spare few minutes to have a play with the layout of the tank today.

I'm after a centrally focused design with open space at the edges and plants coming up through the wood.

The focal point will be these pieces of mopani wood.
I'm going to have a good couple of inches of aqua soil capped with floragrow for the substrate, banked up towards the back of the tank to give the illusion of depth.

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Just chucking ideas around at the moment. What do you guys think of these 4?

1
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2
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3
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4
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