Sascha D. Posted February 18, 2014 Author Share Posted February 18, 2014 Week 32 Update: I am very happy! The tank as been spotless since I removed all the algae from the glass, the rockwork is excellent and sturdy and all of my water parameters are in line. The skimmer is working like a champ and I haven't had any problems with it so far. The refugium is growing like crazy and I'm happy with the harvests. The corals are doing well and I'm seeing a good amount of growth. Stocking Plans Current Fish I have really been trying to get my wife into the tank so I told her she could pick out any fish she wants and I would build the tank around it. So there we are at the Niko's Reef grand opening party and she sees her fish; a 3" Powder Blue Tang. Inside I was like "Yippeee!" and outside I was like "Well if that's the one you want, then okay." As a result, we're only going to keep one tang and she's a beauty. Blue Chromis x 9 One Spot Foxface Powder Blue Tang Oscellaris Clown Future Fish I've cut most of the fish out of my stocking list and narrowed it down to the three routes below. You'll notice that I removed the Mandarin Dragonet. I've seen five people kill at least one Mandarin in the last three months and one guy killed three. They are cool, but not cool enough to deal with the headache. One more Oscellaris Clown Anthias x 3 -OR- Royal Gramma + Orchid/Sunrise Dottyback -OR- Flasher Wrasses x 3 Current Corals SPS - Cali Tort Acro, Blue Acro, Mystery Green Acro (No seriously I don't know what it is!), Green Digitata, Purple Digitata, Forest Fire Digitata, Warp Speed Monti, Green Birdsnest, Teal Birdsnest, Green Tip Pocillopora, Red Serosa, Puple Meridana and a Mystery Purple and Green Chalice LPS - Colored Branching Hammer, Purple Branching Hammer, Frogspawn, Three fluorescent Green/Blue Trumpets, Orange/Green Acan Leathers - Devils Hand, Kenya Tree Polyps - 5 or 6 mystery Zoa/Paly frags, Red Sea Pom Pom Xenia, Yellow Polyps, Green Star Polyps, Blue Ricordia Anemone - GBTA - My clown isn't hosting it and I may switch to another species. Future Corals I would like a nice piece of Stylophora, a bubble coral, Green Slimer, Red Planet, Meteor Shower and another couple chalice and acans. I will probably be trading a Kenya Tree, two Zoanthid frags, a giant Blue Palythoa rock, two frags of Trumpet and a Duncan Coral. Projects List LEDs - I've decided to sell my T-5 unit and go with LEDs. We've decided that we didn't want to hang the lights from the ceiling and they don't give me much room in my canopy so we're going for a smaller unit. I'll be ordering two 55 - 3 watt LED units this week. I read some reviews on this forum and everyone had great things to say about them. Hopefully I can find a buyer for my current lights! Mixing Station - I got all of my bulkheads in and they're ready to go! It's been so cold that I've been dreading going outside to clean out the barrels. I hope to have them cleaned and sealed this week. After that I need to install the PVC and configure the pump. ATO - I would really like a top-off system, but I'm afraid to use a pump type for fear of flooding. I would like a gravity fed system but I'm not sure how to vacuum seal a 5g bucket. More research is needed! 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lenver Posted February 19, 2014 Share Posted February 19, 2014 Sasha on the LED lights, consider the OceanRevive Arctic S026, I've just bought a pair on sale, they're a little bit more than the one's we were talking about but a nicer cosmetic look and seem more efficient, mine should arrived by Friday or Monday. There are also a lot of good comments on the product. I just need to find a nice pair of goose neck like fixtures to mount them. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sascha D. Posted February 19, 2014 Author Share Posted February 19, 2014 Sasha on the LED lights, consider the OceanRevive Arctic S026, I've just bought a pair on sale, they're a little bit more than the one's we were talking about but a nicer cosmetic look and seem more efficient, mine should arrived by Friday or Monday. There are also a lot of good comments on the product. I just need to find a nice pair of goose neck like fixtures to mount them. Thanks for the tip. The biggest difference that I see between that fixture and the one I'm looking at is the amount of LEDs, price, small difference in size, and color. The OR has 48 LEDs and the other has 55, OR is about $40 higher but may be made of better quality parts, OR has more 450 and more 420 and no 6500k. I imagine it will be more of a 20k look with higher blue, purple, and pink from the 10k whites mixing with the other colors. Actually, the one I was looking at is identical to the OceanRevive U-120 light. I mean EXACTLY the same, even the same housing and lighting sequence. The only difference is the price. Interesting. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lenver Posted February 19, 2014 Share Posted February 19, 2014 Yes they're the same, they just name it differently, they're just a reseller the same as the everyone else, but these are actually being mfg and designed by them, it's supposed to be an improvement on those, it's less leds but from what I've read everyone has those leds at a lower setting because it's too much, and the leds are more together, these are fewer leds and spread out more I'm my opinion and from what I've read it's an improvement, and it's a US company Sent from my SPH-L900 using Tapatalk Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sascha D. Posted February 21, 2014 Author Share Posted February 21, 2014 Sasha on the LED lights, consider the OceanRevive Arctic S026, I've just bought a pair on sale, they're a little bit more than the one's we were talking about but a nicer cosmetic look and seem more efficient, mine should arrived by Friday or Monday. There are also a lot of good comments on the product. I just need to find a nice pair of goose neck like fixtures to mount them. I've been researching the Oceanrevive Arctic S026 lights for the past few days and found some great feedback on the lights. I learned a lot of first-hand knowledge from this thread, where the member swtiched from MH to LEDs. JPowell490 also had great things to say about this light fixture and I trush his experience on LEDs after reading his thread about his experiences. However, they are more than I was willing to spend. On the other hand, they are considerably cheaper than BML which I've heard mixed reviews about. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lenver Posted February 21, 2014 Share Posted February 21, 2014 Mine will get here on Tuesday, should be a great improvement, I will hold on to those until they release the one's they're making for that will interact with the reef controllers Sent from my SPH-L900 using Tapatalk Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sascha D. Posted February 21, 2014 Author Share Posted February 21, 2014 A controller would a waste for my needs, so I have no plans to buy one. The only thing that would interest me is the dynamic lighting schedule. My house doesn't get cold enough to worry about owning a heater. The LEDs won't get hot enough to worry about the tank getting too hot this summer. ATO protection would be nice, but I can fit 5g in my sump without flooding it. The probes would also be nice, but they cost $40+ each on top of buying the controller. I also don't find the probe selection that great. I never worry about pH, and they don't offer a Ca, Mg or PO4 probe the last I checked. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lenver Posted February 21, 2014 Share Posted February 21, 2014 That's what I tough too, but now that I'm getting my lights and already placed a BRS dual reactor, I think that would be the next step, for controlling light, but also having a setting that I can select when I will be doing maintenance, feeding, water changes, and I don't have to remember to turn everything on. Again I tough it was an over-glorified power cord, but it does have more than that, but I think I will buy it later on. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sascha D. Posted February 22, 2014 Author Share Posted February 22, 2014 Well...I ordered my lights. They should get here in 3-5 days and I plan on installing them immediately. Thanks to Lenver and JP for their input on the different fixtures! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nvrEnuf Posted February 22, 2014 Share Posted February 22, 2014 Sascha Congrats on the Powder! Have you looked at the Hydor ATO? I LOVE mine! The sensor is as secure as one of thier fans. I'd me more concerned of a gravity fed system overflowing than this thing. And with my turf scrubber, I have a good amount of evap, so it pumps like crazy! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sascha D. Posted February 24, 2014 Author Share Posted February 24, 2014 I decided to take a few pictures for reference before the lights get here. This rock turned out great! Everyone on it was a hitchhiker. Red Setosa. It's a new coral I got this week. I'm hoping the red color really brightens up the tank. This shrimp has tripled in size since December. It's an awesome specimen to watch. Frogspawn. It's a new coral I picked up last week. Purple Meridana. I really fell in love with the picture of Ty's coral. I tried get get one but he was "RAWR! NO! It's my precious!" I was devastated. Luckily, Chris from Niko's Reef sold me this one. I'll cherish it forever... my previous. Some sort of mystery Acropora. Any idea what it is? It's got a green skeleton with a purple tint. Forest Fire Montipora. I traded some of my frags to Mike for this one. I hope they don't miss me too much. Blue Acroproa Green Tipped Pocillopora. This was my first sps tester coral. It's gone from a small little stick to this awesome piece in a few months. Lastly, here's the PBT. My wife saw him at Niko's grand opening. I'm just happy that Travis gave me a great price. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FarmerTy Posted February 24, 2014 Share Posted February 24, 2014 RAWR!!! Mine! The mystery acro looks like a blue tenius. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lenver Posted February 24, 2014 Share Posted February 24, 2014 My advice for the powder blue, get some mysis shrimp and garlic guard or some other garlic extract and start feeding him that, it's what makes them able to fight any ick or parasites which are usually what gets them, trust me I've learn this, actually I do this now at least twice a week, when you first get him I would do it every day. This has been my success to keeping tangs healthy. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Planeden Posted February 24, 2014 Share Posted February 24, 2014 Looks great sascha. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sascha D. Posted February 24, 2014 Author Share Posted February 24, 2014 My advice for the powder blue, get some mysis shrimp and garlic guard or some other garlic extract and start feeding him that, it's what makes them able to fight any ick or parasites which are usually what gets them, trust me I've learn this, actually I do this now at least twice a week, when you first get him I would do it every day. This has been my success to keeping tangs healthy. I've had the PBT almost three weeks now. I feed mysis 1-2 times per week and he's never eatten it. I give him fresh Ulva once a week and dried seaweed twice a week. I thought about using garlic to soak the greens, but I'm pretty sure it just comes out when it hits the water. RAWR!!! Mine! The mystery acro looks like a blue tenius. LOL! You do still read my thread haha. I put a better pic of it on page 16 towards the bottom. I can't tell what it is. I may need to wait until it grows out. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sascha D. Posted February 28, 2014 Author Share Posted February 28, 2014 Week 33 Update: New lights on vehicle and scheduled for delivery today! *Giddy Giggles* Of course that adds a new problem; how to mount them. We've decided to keep the canopy, so we are not going to hang the fixtures from the ceiling. Legs are so obviously out because the sides of the aquarium are covered with the canopy. I think I will need to find some in-canopy mounting hardware at HD. Needs: I absolutely have to be able to move the lights out of the way when working in the tank. That's the whole reason for getting new lights in the first place! I also want to get the most light possible into the aquarium and limit bleeding. LEDs are known to cause a few dark spots on the edges of the light beam angle. I would like to reduce this by running the lights parallel to the front pane in order to get the most light to the middle of the tank where my corals are. Estimated Parts: The LEDs come with a hanging kit but I'm not sure if I can use it or not. Option 1: I can run one steel bar across the top of the canopy (under the lid) and hang the fixtures from that. For this all I would need is a bar. It would probably have to be bent or molded to the edge of the canopy. i would also have to find some way to allow it to slide. Option 2: I can install some sort of rail into the canopy, attach parallel bars running the length of the tank and mount the fixtures to the bars. The rails will low the fixtures to slide back and forth so I can move them out of the way when needed. I suppose I will need some sort of caster system or sliding system to allow the bars to move. One pro for this option is that the fixtures will be mounted and won't swing to and fro when I slide them out of the way. One con is that I would have to make sure none of the LEDs are blocked so I don't lose any light. Other projects: Almost done with the mixing station. All I need to do is clean the barrels, measure the PVC and mount everything in place. Sell my 6 month old T-5 unit after installing the new lights I'm also selling 8 coral frags, ranging from $5-10. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lenver Posted February 28, 2014 Share Posted February 28, 2014 You will love them, did you see my PAR reading that I took yesterday, very promising. Personally I'm thinking to get another one, but I will wait till they have the one's with the timer in stock, I will leave that one in the middle where I have a little bit of a dead spot because my light are raised only 7" from the water line, but that was my decision on how I wanted them to look. If you do not use your mounting kit let me know, I'll buy it from you, I kinda screwed up mine. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sascha D. Posted March 3, 2014 Author Share Posted March 3, 2014 (edited) The new lights came in! I have to admit they look pretty amazing, though different from what I was expecting. Before ordering, I thought that the fixture was capable of a more daylight look. I've been testing them all weekend and I do like the lights, but I've had to settle for somewhere between Smurf Blue and My Little Pony Purple. The corals have responded well to the new fixture and there are colors there that I never knew I had before. Here's a picture of the fixture. I bought two fixtures with 48 three watt LEDs each. Before: T-5's First Attempt: 30% white 30% blue Second Attempt: 50% white 50% blue Third Attempt: 60% White 70% Blue The pictures are a little dark, because the fixture isn't turned up very much. I plan on leaving it like this for at least a few weeks before ramping up to a higher setting. It has a real 14k look to it and the corals really pop. The fans are so silent that I can't hear them at all even with the canopy open. I haven't mounted them permenantly yet and the cords need to be cleaned up still. I had too much to do this weekend! Edited March 3, 2014 by Sascha D. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sascha D. Posted March 3, 2014 Author Share Posted March 3, 2014 I have decided to create a thread detailing the changes that are bound to occur in the tank with the lighting changes. You can see it here. I hope to show before and afters, including coral reactions, growth and coloration. Also any complications that I have during the whole process. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FarmerTy Posted March 3, 2014 Share Posted March 3, 2014 Looks like a romantic night out at Sascha's reef! I've seen some really nice looking LED lit tanks. I'm sure yours will be one of them. Congrats on the new lights! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sascha D. Posted March 3, 2014 Author Share Posted March 3, 2014 Looks like a romantic night out at Sascha's reef! I've seen some really nice looking LED lit tanks. I'm sure yours will be one of them. Congrats on the new lights! Haha you give me too much credit. It's a bit dark but I plan on turning it up some more. I'm probably running at around 75w right now and my last fixture was 324. I'm expecting to see a drop in my energy bill even if I turn it up all the way. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Planeden Posted March 3, 2014 Share Posted March 3, 2014 watch out for cranking your lights too high, you may end up with it all turning gumby green. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sascha D. Posted March 3, 2014 Author Share Posted March 3, 2014 watch out for cranking your lights too high, you may end up with it all turning gumby green. Grumby green? Do you mean the color of the lights or the color of the corals or the color of the algae growth? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Planeden Posted March 3, 2014 Share Posted March 3, 2014 watch out for cranking your lights too high, you may end up with it all turning gumby green. Grumby green? Do you mean the color of the lights or the color of the corals or the color of the algae growth? algae growth. it was really just a joke. i just thought your smurf blue and pny purple was funny, so i tried to jump on board. unsuccessfully it seems. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sascha D. Posted March 4, 2014 Author Share Posted March 4, 2014 watch out for cranking your lights too high, you may end up with it all turning gumby green. Grumby green? Do you mean the color of the lights or the color of the corals or the color of the algae growth? algae growth. it was really just a joke. i just thought your smurf blue and pny purple was funny, so i tried to jump on board. unsuccessfully it seems. Oh Gumby the weird clay doll thing! Haha! I actually never watched that show as a kid, but it just hit me like a ton of algae while driving home. Dennis...you're anything but plane. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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