The Well of Wyrd

Discussion in 'Aquascaping and Member's Setups' started by Clare, Apr 19, 2016.

  1. Nathanael
    Offline

    Nathanael Aquascaper

    • APSA Member
    23%
    Joined:
    May 7, 2014
    Messages:
    1,641
    Likes Received:
    623
    Trophy Points:
    123
    Location:
    Somerset West
    Looking awesome @Clare, I asked the moss to grow wild at you guys!! Did you get the fissidens passenger?


    Nate
     
    Clare likes this.
  2. Clare
    Offline

    Clare Aquascaper

    • APSA Member
    23%
    Joined:
    Jun 28, 2011
    Messages:
    1,498
    Likes Received:
    651
    Trophy Points:
    123
    Location:
    Mooiriver, KZN
    Yes I did, I'm not sure what to do with it. Left it in a tub by my huge sliding window in water, trying to decide what to do with it and how to attach it.
     
    Nathanael likes this.
  3. Clare
    Offline

    Clare Aquascaper

    • APSA Member
    23%
    Joined:
    Jun 28, 2011
    Messages:
    1,498
    Likes Received:
    651
    Trophy Points:
    123
    Location:
    Mooiriver, KZN
    I got to say I am very surprised at this setup. No heat generated at all. I put my hand on and it was stone cold. I noticed after 3 hours, I lost one of my leds so going to find out what is going on later this week or over the weekend what is going on and there was some flickering after 3 and half hours (estimated) so there might be some loose wiring I might have missed. I may have to look again, solder with some flux (the ones that I didn't solder with flux) and hopefully that will be the end of it.

    It must be because I used small drivers, no dimmers and no switches - hence no heat generated. Plus side 15000K chips and 6500K chips - I'm very happy with it, even though it's given me a major headache in the making.

    @Nathanael : any suggestions about the fissidens? put it on a rock?
     
  4. Nathanael
    Offline

    Nathanael Aquascaper

    • APSA Member
    23%
    Joined:
    May 7, 2014
    Messages:
    1,641
    Likes Received:
    623
    Trophy Points:
    123
    Location:
    Somerset West
    Wood, rocks around circular stones, in between the rocks I like the look of it growing on round stones though


    Nate
     
    Clare likes this.
  5. Clare
    Offline

    Clare Aquascaper

    • APSA Member
    23%
    Joined:
    Jun 28, 2011
    Messages:
    1,498
    Likes Received:
    651
    Trophy Points:
    123
    Location:
    Mooiriver, KZN
    @Nathanael

    Forgot this - pics of the moss

    [​IMG]

    [​IMG]

    Sent from my D5503 using Tapatalk
     
    tapwater and Nathanael like this.
  6. Nathanael
    Offline

    Nathanael Aquascaper

    • APSA Member
    23%
    Joined:
    May 7, 2014
    Messages:
    1,641
    Likes Received:
    623
    Trophy Points:
    123
    Location:
    Somerset West
    Told ya, super impressed with the quick growth!


    Nate
     
  7. Clare
    Offline

    Clare Aquascaper

    • APSA Member
    23%
    Joined:
    Jun 28, 2011
    Messages:
    1,498
    Likes Received:
    651
    Trophy Points:
    123
    Location:
    Mooiriver, KZN
    Yeah me too. I'm impressed and it's exactly what I wanted. The way it grows upwards - pointy upwards. Super stoked!!! :D Thanks so much, Nate!
     
    Nathanael likes this.
  8. Clare
    Offline

    Clare Aquascaper

    • APSA Member
    23%
    Joined:
    Jun 28, 2011
    Messages:
    1,498
    Likes Received:
    651
    Trophy Points:
    123
    Location:
    Mooiriver, KZN
    I have a beautiful round stone that I can use and do that... Thanks!!!
     
  9. Nathanael
    Offline

    Nathanael Aquascaper

    • APSA Member
    23%
    Joined:
    May 7, 2014
    Messages:
    1,641
    Likes Received:
    623
    Trophy Points:
    123
    Location:
    Somerset West
    Pleasure, yeah the flame moss is more organized lol, Java and Xmas grows too wild


    Nate
     
  10. f-fish+plants
    Offline

    f-fish+plants Aquascaper

    • APSA Member
    73%
    Joined:
    Jun 13, 2010
    Messages:
    1,922
    Likes Received:
    1,041
    Trophy Points:
    173
    Location:
    JHB - West
    Progress is great, on your soldering ... you need to understand that you soldering something that is conducting most of your heat away all the time. so make sure that the wire - that is probably to thick for what you are doing, need to be coated with just enough solder. Then get a small blob to flow onto your start soldering pad. Now in one movement (here you need three hands or good finger dexterity) you need to tap the wire that is coated - with the blob and a new bit of solder (I like the tin and lead combination - getting hard to find since the world now wants unleaded) with your soldering iron to form your shiny new joint. Only time that you will get loose wire is if you did not flow your solder on the pad before the time.

    A few things do help - a HOT iron - 390 - 450 degrees, a bit size that matches the thickness of the solder you are using, thinner is easier to work with but you need to feed it more. Oh and a super clean bit all the time that you re-flow just before you do a few connections.

    re-flowing a bit is easy. Damp soldering sponge or solder scrunchy thing that you use to clean the bit with, then a small amount of solder that flow on the bit.

    We used to do soldering meshes to practise soldering ( so think a jig with wire - that you run in a mesh pattern say 15 x 15 strands) the where they cross you need to do a single clean joint. Man that was many moons ago.


    If you must use a soldering gun .... ( those heavy, thick looks like a blou-draad u-bent hammered point) same concepts .. keep the bit clean but keep the iron on once the bit is re-flowed, bit more tricky but doable. BTW I do not like to uncoil the solder - I use that as a third hand in the process.

    Always tray and work on a flat surface - you are not welding here.

    Later Ferdie
     
    Joshua Tree and Clare like this.
  11. tapwater
    Offline

    tapwater Algae harvester

    • APSA Member
    53%
    Joined:
    Apr 14, 2016
    Messages:
    173
    Likes Received:
    51
    Trophy Points:
    28
    Location:
    Pietermaritzburg
    If your LEDs start flickering put on some Donna Summer music and your disco shoes
     
    Wazi likes this.
  12. Clare
    Offline

    Clare Aquascaper

    • APSA Member
    23%
    Joined:
    Jun 28, 2011
    Messages:
    1,498
    Likes Received:
    651
    Trophy Points:
    123
    Location:
    Mooiriver, KZN
    I couldnt get a replacement rod so I got soldering iron instead, which fixed all of my issues. I am still short on 3 leds not working but its still bright enough.

    [​IMG]

    [​IMG]

    [​IMG]

    [​IMG]

    [​IMG]

    Sent from my D5503 using Tapatalk
     
    Last edited: Jun 10, 2016
    GDT78, Wazi and Nathanael like this.
  13. Nathanael
    Offline

    Nathanael Aquascaper

    • APSA Member
    23%
    Joined:
    May 7, 2014
    Messages:
    1,641
    Likes Received:
    623
    Trophy Points:
    123
    Location:
    Somerset West
    The LED's really brighten up the tank! Looks clear, they say the 10,000k bulbs allows better quality photos


    Nate
     
    Clare likes this.
  14. Clare
    Offline

    Clare Aquascaper

    • APSA Member
    23%
    Joined:
    Jun 28, 2011
    Messages:
    1,498
    Likes Received:
    651
    Trophy Points:
    123
    Location:
    Mooiriver, KZN
    Strangely enough, 15000K LED chips - I could see the difference from the 6500K chips. Faint hues of blue (15000K) and bright yellow-white (6500K) - to most people, they would not be able to see the difference but I could. I think this will go a long way in keeping the algae down and not create any issues with plant growth. Will see how it goes. It was a bright idea getting a timer plug so I don't have to worry about how much time it runs and it turns off after 4 hours (switches on only at night because it gets a lot of daylight through my glass door on the coffee table). I alternated the chips in between. I also remember back earlier in the thread that some suggested blue and red - I did some thinking on that and decided against getting them and instead went with this plan. So far I am happy with it.
     
  15. GDT78
    Offline

    GDT78 Plant menace

    • APSA Member
    77%
    Joined:
    Jun 29, 2007
    Messages:
    2,208
    Likes Received:
    398
    Trophy Points:
    93
    Location:
    East rand
    Well done Clair, awesome to see how your setups is progressing.
     
    Clare likes this.
  16. Clare
    Offline

    Clare Aquascaper

    • APSA Member
    23%
    Joined:
    Jun 28, 2011
    Messages:
    1,498
    Likes Received:
    651
    Trophy Points:
    123
    Location:
    Mooiriver, KZN
    Thanks Gerhard, you can't believe how I was starting out and now this... :eek::cool:
     
  17. Clare
    Offline

    Clare Aquascaper

    • APSA Member
    23%
    Joined:
    Jun 28, 2011
    Messages:
    1,498
    Likes Received:
    651
    Trophy Points:
    123
    Location:
    Mooiriver, KZN
    [​IMG]

    Sent from my D5503 using Tapatalk
     
    Nathanael and Wazi like this.
  18. Clare
    Offline

    Clare Aquascaper

    • APSA Member
    23%
    Joined:
    Jun 28, 2011
    Messages:
    1,498
    Likes Received:
    651
    Trophy Points:
    123
    Location:
    Mooiriver, KZN
    Reineckii

    [​IMG]

    Sent from my D5503 using Tapatalk
     
    Nathanael and Wazi like this.
  19. Clare
    Offline

    Clare Aquascaper

    • APSA Member
    23%
    Joined:
    Jun 28, 2011
    Messages:
    1,498
    Likes Received:
    651
    Trophy Points:
    123
    Location:
    Mooiriver, KZN
    Did water change, trimmed and planted reineckii in new locations. Looks much better now.

    [​IMG]

    [​IMG]

    [​IMG]

    Forgot to add. I removed the stone that was holding the wood down. The wood stays down now. Woo hoo!!!

    Sent from my D5503 using Tapatalk
     
    Nathanael and tapwater like this.
  20. Clare
    Offline

    Clare Aquascaper

    • APSA Member
    23%
    Joined:
    Jun 28, 2011
    Messages:
    1,498
    Likes Received:
    651
    Trophy Points:
    123
    Location:
    Mooiriver, KZN
    Finally got my anubias petite from BetterWeather yesterday. Was supposed to pick up on Friday but had to head to town and missed the courier because of a bubble in the tyre and heavy traffic as well looking for a place to drop off a delivery for my dad and pick up spare gaskets for the sand filter's multiport.

    Thank goodness anubias is a hardy plant, it survived 7 days in the packet.

    [​IMG]

    [​IMG]

    [​IMG]

    And I also ordered a bottle of Scape Liquid Carbon too

    [​IMG]

    Sent from my D5503 using Tapatalk
     
    Waltjie, Nathanael and Wazi like this.

Share This Page