Sascha D.

Thanks everyone for your feedback on the reef lighting! I've been throwing around ideas for several months to weigh the best options for me. I briefly thought about going to the mixed MH/T-5 system Hamilton Cebu Sun after reading about other hobbyists abandoning the LEDs or going to a mixed lighting system. Under no circumstances do I want to run a chiller and that was the deciding factor for me. If I had a rimless tank, then I probably would have gone this route, but my wife wanted to keep the canopy. I also toyed around with the idea of replacing my LED fixtures, but everyone seems to be having the same sort of issues with shadowing and coverage. I've decided to go with @jolt's suggestion and keep my existing lighting and move to a mixed LED/T-5 system by adding two 2x54w fixtures. Other hobbyists in ARC are using a similar methodology with good success. The final two products came down to the LET retrofit kit and the Hamilton Aruba Sun complete kit. Both fixtures appear to come with good quality components and have good reviews over multiple websites. In the end it came down to time and price. The Hamilton kit comes fully assembled and can be installed right away, while the LET kit has some assembly required and sounds like the instructions may be incomplete. The LET kit with ATI bulbs came in at $139.85 per fixture, while the Hamilton kit is regularly priced at $189.95 and comes with bulbs. Yesterday I found the Hamilton Aruba Sun on sale for $94.98 with a 15% off coupon, bringing the total to $87.40 per fixture! After talking with a good friend I decided to jump on the price and got two fixtures for 54% off regular price or 66% cheaper than the LET! As a bonus LA will donate 10% of the sale to conservation. The Hamilton Aruba Sun fixture comes with a small strip of blue LED's meant to mimic moonlight for night viewing. They don't provide any PAR and I don't have any plans to use them. However, it's unclear what the fixture will look like when it actually arrives. The image on LA and DFS is different than Amazon and MD! I guess we'll see when it arrives in the mail! I'm looking forward to seeing the tank with the new lights!

Definitely a solid option. I think raising the lights a few inches will help diffuse the light from the LEDs as well. The lights are currently using the stock hanging kits. I have to build a custom bracket or something to raise them up to the top of the canopy. If I decided to replace the lights later then I would have to duplicate the work. I would like to get a fixture with a digital controller someday, but it's probably best to save the $$ and go with the easiest option first.

I've posted some corals for sale on the Classifieds section. PM me if interested.

One of the areas that I would like to focus on is the lighting system. The Ocean Revive S026 is a great light and it's helped me grow corals for years. It worked very well when my aquarium was 18-24" wide, but doesn't have a spread large enough to cover the 30" width of this new tank. I currently run my 4 units at 100% blue 70% white and enjoy the color, but would like more overall brightness. Right now I'm looking into two options: replace the LED's with additional fixtures and/or add supplemental T-5 retrofit kits. Option 1: Add two T-5 retrofit kits, 4 total bars @ 54w each. This option would incorporate my existing fixtures and I would mount the lights to the roof of the canopy. @FarmerTy made some good suggestions in this post for bulb selection and I'm thinking about adding a Coral+ and Blue+ to each side. I'll have to measure the canopy to see whether I can fit two 48" kits or if I have to go with two 36" or one 60" kit. I'm looking at the LET kits based on the reviews and attractive pricing. Option 2: Replace my current LED fixtures with similar PAR, but higher coverage LED fixtures like Current USA Orbit Marine IC PRO Led Light Fixture 48-60 inch. These fixtures measure 46.8 x 7.5" increasing the overall coverage from 640 sq in to 1,404 sq in. This would increase the overall distribution of light to eliminate shadows, but the LED's aren't as strong for pinpoint PAR. My main reason for looking at this fixture is the coverage of light versus the pinpoint of a pendant light. I would add the same amount of T-5 kits, but they would be central instead of the outsides of the figures.

How long was the power off? I wonder if it has something to do with the toxicity of ammonia. Below is an exert from UK Marine Special Areas of Conservation. Effects in the marine environment Toxicity to marine organisms An exhaustive literature review on the toxicity of ammonia to marine organisms has not been carried out for the purposes of this profile. The information provided in this section is taken from existing review documents (Seager et al 1988 and Nixon et al 1995). The most sensitive groups of organisms have been identified. The toxicity of ammonia to marine organisms has not received the same level of study as freshwater organisms but there is sufficient information to indicate that the principal groups of organisms affected by ammonia toxicity in the marine environment are invertebrates and fish. The un-ionised form of the ammonium ion (NH3) is the most toxic. The toxicity of ammonia to aquatic life is affected by the following physico-chemical parameters: temperature, pH, dissolved oxygen and salinity. In general, ammonia toxicity is greater, the higher the temperature and pH and the lower the levels of dissolved oxygen and salinity. Concerns about the toxicity of ammonia should be greatest in estuarine European marine sites and close to sewage outfalls in coastal waters.

Hey Everyone, I'm a little behind on the reef projects. I've been working on the backyard project that we've been planing for two years and finally started making headway this spring. We've still got a few months to go before we can stain the concrete and get the fire pit in place, but I can start some landscaping in the meantime! I hope to get back to it after this weekend. Before picture. I put that flower bed in last year, before that the backyard was a blank slate. It's two tons of river rock and a 600 pound boulder. Framing out the patio! We needed two whole trucks of concrete for this project! Finishing up the sidewalk and patio. The section in between the sidewalk and the house will either be planted with native Texas plants or xerascaped. Hey, where did that natural gas grill come from!? If you look closely you can see the stub where we're going to put the fire pit and seating. Going to xerascape the whole right side of the yard between the new patio and the fence. That 600 pound boulder was tough to move! I finished up framing the landscaping this evening. It's going to be a dry river bed flanked by mulched planted areas. I have to move about two tons of rocks this weekend.

Honestly, I didn't know what I would find when the lights came back on. After going through all of the stages of grief, I was resigned to deal with whatever happened when the power was restored. Fumbling around in the dark doesn't help anything. I'm totally elated everything is okay! Now I'm thinking about all of the unfinished projects that I have to do.

The water was a little cloudy when the sump came back online but everything is fine as far as I can tell. Didn't lose any fish and I don't have any invertebrates besides coral. There was probably a slight drop in parameters but shouldn't have been bad with the lights off. The anemones were a little larger than normal and they walked a few inches. Sent from my Moto G (5) Plus using Tapatalk

Thanks for the offer! The power was out about 30 hours, which is the longest outage that I've ever had in this hobby. I didn't take any action from 0 - 12 hours without power. Between 12-21 hours I ran the circulation pumps for 15 minutes, once an hour. I took @FarmerTy's and @Reburn's advice for the last 9 hours and purchased two Bubble Box air pumps. I placed them 30" from each end of the aquarium and tried to get them as close to the bottom as I could. I wasn't sure if lead fishing weights were safe, so I didn't use them this time.

I didn't think that would do much in a large tank. Know anyone that's tried it before? Any concern with the corals not getting any flow? Right now I'm running the circulation pumps 10 minutes every hour. Sent from my Moto G (5) Plus using Tapatalk

What a storm! That was really unexpected. Normally KXAN would be all over this every second until it hits. Very strange! The power went out around midnight and still isn't back on yet. Estimated time of recovery isn't until 11pm tonight, nearly 24 hours later. I'm not concerned about the temperature in such a large tank, but the oxygen levels are worrisome. After twelve hours without power I hooked up the circulation pumps to the ancillary power source in my car. I plan on cycling the power for the next mine hours or so until the power comes back. Fingers crossed! Sent from my Moto G (5) Plus using Tapatalk

Idaho Grape - This coral was nearly completely white in December when I started this reboot. It's taken a few months but it's completely recovered and looking beautiful! Really happy with how this one is turning out. ORA Green Elkhorn doubled in size and the color has improved greatly! 9/19/16 6/3/18 ORA Green Pocillopora - Both of these corals started from one frag two years ago! Even though it's a large aquarium, I've decided to find new homes for the big colonies and start over with a frag. The part that I really like is watching the corals grow! 6/6/16 6/3/18 ORA Sour Apple Birdsnest - This one has been with me through it all! I actually lost half of the colony last year and it was mostly brown. I have about six colonies this size and they're coloring up beautifully! When it's the right color again I'm going to keep one colony and find new homes for the rest.

I'd like to start this update by saying the anemone got the hint and moved to a new location, but it didn't. After five days I turned off the pump pointed his hidey hole to avoid causing any damage. It was back out within a few hours, but the tentacles were slender instead of their usual bubble shape. I actually have two more Rainbow Anemones and so this one will be for sale when the rest of the corals are ready to go.

Nice coupon! That's a long expiration date too.

I'd like to know if it's male or female. Please include a picture when you get the chance.

Awesome tank! I'd be a buyer if I could keep them alive 😍

Let's see if I can get this guy to relocate! I'm going to start by pointing a powerhead into his hidey hole. That generally works for me. One time a Green BTA went all 80's hair band and loved the extra flow, but let's hope this guy doesn't go there. There's also a small chance he moves somewhere else I don't like. We'll see... Sent from my Moto G (5) Plus using Tapatalk

My Emperor Angelfish kept photobombing my pictures. What a prema donna! Green Fungia Plate looking pretty fluffy lately. It must be happy! It's too bad that I have to give him up, but my wrasses keep getting sand on my plates. 😣 Got a good shot of the Christmas Wrasse. By "good" I mean it was the only picture that wasn't blurry. She almost never stops moving. Those Superman's are coloring back up nicely. I'm paring down my mushrooms/ricordea/rhodactus corals This pictured of a Red Lined Wrasse came out pretty dark. I don't have much light in the corners of the glass since the tank is so wide. I remember why I don't like anemones! This guy hasn't moved in over a year and then just started migrating. I thought it was passing through, but it's been there long enough to sting the devil out of my spiral. Atlantis Meteor Shower looking good tonight! I might fuse two rocks together and make a big colony of it. Golden Fleece Pavona is starting to look really nice. Encrusting pavona are somewhere rare and this one has great color. I need to mount it somewhere and watch it grow out. Demon Chalice. I bought this for $0.99 in an Ebay auction and it really hasn't done anything. In two years it's barely grown at all. I like the color combination though.

I'm not sure what your referring to specifically. I have a TDS meter that came with the RODI unit. It's either broken or not sensitive enough provide an accurate reading and I've been using a hand held TDS meter since the end of 2017.

Talking to you hurts my bank account! I'm going to have to sell stock just to maintain this thing. 😂 I don't think that big scrubber is in the budget right now. I need to figure out the lighting situation first. My 100g sump is already cryptic and I have a 13g section full to the top with random size pieces of LR. I ordered an Eheim feeder yesterday and I've already doubled the food that I'm feeding. I plan to feed 2 cubes a day and have the auto feeder feed 2-3x spectrum. The Nori sheet that I'm feeding used to last 20-30 minutes, but now it's gone in under 2 minutes. I'll have to feed seaweed 5x a week the addition of my last two tangs and probably double the amount. I plan to add 30 fish, so I got you beat there! I just need to get my hands on them first. I currently have 17 fish: One Spot Foxface (Siganus unimaculatus) - May 2016 Melanurus Wrasse (Halichoeres melanurus) - May 2016 Dusky Wrasse (Halichoeres annularis) - January 2017 Pink Smith Damselfish (Pomacentrus smithi) x2 - January 2017 Azure Damselfish (Chrysiptera hemicyanea) x2 - February 2017 (selling, but haven't caught yet) Red-Lined Wrasse (Halichoeres biocellatus) - March 2017 Springer's Damselfish (Chrysiptera springeri) x2 - April 2017 Emperor Angelfish - Africa (Pomacanthus imperator) - August 2017 Oscellaris Clownfish (Amphiprion ocellaris) x2 - November 2017 Yellow Tang - Hawaii (Zebrasoma flavescens) - December 2017 Yellow Eye Kole Tang (Ctenochaetus strigosus) - December 2017 Cleaner Wrasse (Labroides dimidiatus) - March 2018 Christmas Wrasse (Halichoeres claudia) - March 2018 I plan to add these before the year is out: Blonde Naso Tang (Naso elegans) Convict Tang (Acanthurus triostegus) Royal Gramma (Gramma loreto) x 1-3 Ignitis Anthias (Pseudanthias ignitus) or Bicolor Anthias (Pseudanthias bicolor) x 5-6 Lubbock's Fairy Wrassse (Cirrhilabrus lubbocki) x 3-5 Springer's Damselfish (Chrysiptera springeri) x 3 Yellow Wrasse (Halichoeres crysus) x 1-3

Man, what rotten luck! From what I've read, DD observes them for two weeks before selling. The problem is that marine velvet can take up to four weeks to show symptoms and some fish are carriers without being affected. I've been doing a four week observation method for about a year. I recently sold my Innovative Marine Nuvo Black because I was tired of topping off. I really need to replace it soon.

Haha that figures! The only filtration that I'm using is BP and a protein skimmer. If I remove the reactor, then I may need to add it back when I hit my full stocking list. I'll start by doubling the feeding and see how it goes. I might need to add some CUC to take care of uneaten food.

How many fish do you have? I used to feed more with the same set-up but I got a lot of GHA and cyano. Right now there's a considerable amount of algae on the sand, but that could be an imbalance between nitrates and phosphates. Do you think feed more or remove filtration?

I'm running 1/4 cup bp in approximately 370g water volume. The output is roughly 40 ml per minute fed directly into the protein skimmer. 17 fish, all LE 3" except 1. I plan to add 5-10 more in the next two months. Feeding 1 cube of frozen, 1 pinch of spectrum, 0.5 ml Selcon, 0.5 ml Vitachem once daily. Feeding 1 scoop of Coral Frenzy twice weekly. Feeding 1 sheet of Nori three times weekly. 3-21-16 2-6-17 4-27-18

The reef is doing well and rebounding nicely on most accounts. All of the SPS are thriving or on the way to recovery except the few Acropora that I've kept as tester pieces. Alkalinity has been stable over the last two months. It looks like the Biopellets have come online because Nitrates are testing at <5 ppm. Ammonia is still registering < 0.25 ppm and I'm estimating the color at about 0.15 ppm. I haven't added or changed any equipment over the last two months other than skimming relatively wet. I've been noticing an increase in film algae growth on both the sand and glass. No cyano or hair algae. Does anyone have any ideas? 7/1/16 2/4/18 4/27/18