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The Accidental Aquascape

Nice wee video

Much of a difference between the ember and ruby tetras colour wise and behaviour?

Killifish look great but always worry about them being jumpers in an open top
 
Kalum said:
Nice wee video

Much of a difference between the ember and ruby tetras colour wise and behaviour?

Killifish look great but always worry about them being jumpers in an open top
Click to expand...

Not a huge amount of difference colour wise. Ruby more pink and the Ember’s are more orange. The bigger difference is the behaviour. Ruby’s are definitely more timid. If they weren’t in there with the Embers, I think the Embers would be a bit more confident, as they seem to follow the Ruby’s when they retreat.

I’ve got an acrylic lid that I had made, so it still has that open top look. Will post a picture later.
 
Just curious how long the lid has been on and if that is affecting the light penetration to the bottom of the tank I dont know as I've never used a lid just putting it out there
Cheers
Jay
 
Jayefc1 said:
Just curious how long the lid has been on and if that is affecting the light penetration to the bottom of the tank I dont know as I've never used a lid just putting it out there
Cheers
Jay
Click to expand...

The lid definitely stops some of the light, but not by a huge amount. Since I'm upgrading to the twinstar, it shouldn't be a problem.
The lid fogs up when you put it on, but then most of it clears.
 
I've been pleasantly surprised by the improvement made by the Twinstar 900 SP.
It's really changed the feel of the tank and the whole room in fact. It's somehow clearer, as I think I was getting some strange things happening with strobing with the old light.
Pictures taken with iPhone and have had no adjustments to the colour. It's not what I call accurate, but it should show the difference.

My DIY light
DIYLEDLight.jpg

Twinstar 5%
Twinstar5%.jpg

10%
Twinstar10%.jpg

30%
Twinstar30%.jpg

50%
Twinstar50%.jpg

100%
Twinstar100%.jpg
 
It's an excellent light with awesome colour rendition, and great value for money. It'll be fine with or without the lid.
 
Well I think you have just punched a whole in my bank account! I've had my eye on the 1200sp and your photos have really sold it for me. The picture at 30% is already a great improvement on your prior unit
 
Eplov said:
The very distributed planting instead of bunches actually works really well the layout -- makes it look very natural. Great job!
Click to expand...

Thanks. I planted in bands to create layers. I was hoping to give my tank more depth, but it's only 35cm deep.
Here's the plant plan.
PlanView.jpg

Fisher2007 said:
Well I think you have just punched a whole in my bank account! I've had my eye on the 1200sp and your photos have really sold it for me. The picture at 30% is already a great improvement on your prior unit
Click to expand...

I wish I bought it sooner, my plants are loving it!
 
Can I ask where you got the material to make your light hanging brackets from and what thickness the tubing is? I like the idea of doing similar. Also, how did you attach them to the back of the cabinet (presumably just drilled through the tube and screwed to is)?
Thanks
 
Be aware that the twinstar S séries are very powerful and you'll need to dim it with only 35cm.height.

Nice tank and very cool rendering with this twinstar led.

I would replace or add some stems like rotala SP or hottonia palustris behind the h.pinnitifida to add some texture and depth. 😉

Cheers
 
Fisher2007 said:
Can I ask where you got the material to make your light hanging brackets from and what thickness the tubing is? I like the idea of doing similar. Also, how did you attach them to the back of the cabinet (presumably just drilled through the tube and screwed to is)?
Thanks
Click to expand...

I bought the tubing from themetalstore.co.uk. Metals4U.co.uk are a virtually the same and probably have better customer service.
All the pieces were cut to size, but I did buy an extra couple of tubes to give me a couple of options on the length for the arm at the top. The longer tube means I can slide the light unit back and forth to the desired position. Cost and sizes below. It looks just as good as the stands you can buy, but is a fraction of the price.

The hook and elbow joint have been gold leafed. Partly because I think it looks good, but mainly because I've got loads of it and it's soooo satisfying.

The vertical tubes are fixed to the back of the unit with some saddle clips - https://ebay.us/orN54m
I then have a block of wood that is screwed to the unit which stops the tube sliding down. You can then move the block of wood up and down for the right height. Be sure that the block of wood doesn't cover up the hole of the tube, as you won't be able to feed the wires for the lighting through. Just had a look to see if I made a drawing...and yes, of course I did. Man I'm such a geek. See drawing below cost.

Screen Shot 2019-09-04 at 10.58.13.png

Screen Shot 2019-09-04 at 11.09.56.png

CooKieS said:
Be aware that the twinstar S séries are very powerful and you'll need to dim it with only 35cm.height.
Click to expand...

Indeed. I would say when it's at 25%, it's similar to what I had, so I don't want to blast it, as I reckon I'll have algae issues in no time.
I've got the sunrise dimmer, so for most of the day it's around 25% - 50%.
 
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