Koa's 40 Breeder frag tank

[koa25]

Well i snagged a 40 breeder a while back from psyco during the dollar per gallon sale and another from BBQHILLBILLY as he saved for his 8 footer. I wanted to have a stand built that could hold a 40 above and a 40 bellow. I was talking this over with my friend, Eric (electricrcairplane), and he was more than excited to jump on the build for a stand and canopy. I got little updates from him during the build and last night I got the finished product. And boy is it purdy.
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It came out really well. I have a 6 bulb setup i snagged from Shane as well i will be using over the tank at first but eventually want to get a second AI unit and run two units over the top of this guy. He drilled it and installed an overflow for me as well as a return. The back boards remove for easy access to the plumbing area with plenty of room under the stand for the extra tank and whatever gadgets i may need/want to run. It stand pretty tall at 42 inches but puts the tank at a very comfortable height for the eyes and back (except for maybe Allan). I have a lot of the gear needed to get this guy going. Just need to put a couple coats of stain on it, put the baffles in the other 40B and running some plumbing. Should be a fun time. :bigsmile:

[350gt]

Run the one AI with 2 of the T5s.... You will like it.

Little to no heat and you can change the spectrum with just one bulb change....


Stand looks great btw...

[koa25]

I was thinking arout running 2 t5s and a UV led strip with the 2 AI units. Think the one unit will be enough?

And thanks, Eric did an awesome job. Above and beyond what i though. I told him my thinking and that it didn't have to be too crazy. But he did a great job.

[350gt]

What you planning on stocking? One should be good with the right rockwork, 2 would be best..... But you wouldnt even have to crank up 2...

What lengths are the 40 breeders anyway?


You wouldn't need UV with T5s.... You can run the true actinic or a blue plus which has a little I believe...

[allan]

Wow, that looks really nice, mike.

[350gt]

Too be honest I would mind throwing in a 3rd t5 to have little more color play.


Right now I am running the blue+ and coral plus...... But I would like to add the purple plus or a Fiji purple...

I only have them on for 4 hours I believe.... Going to add some time to them soon... And bump up the LEDs for the last time.

[koa25]

What you planning on stocking? One should be good with the right rockwork, 2 would be best..... But you wouldnt even have to crank up 2...
What lengths are the 40 breeders anyway?
You wouldn't need UV with T5s.... You can run the true actinic or a blue plus which has a little I believe...

Well the softies and LPS in my ten gallon i setup for fun are doing incredibly well under the AI. I'd like to do SPS but am hesitant cause of my last encounter with LED's and SPS. But i know a lot of people are having success. So i figure give it another shot. And it won't be with any of my nicer SPS'. But they are 36"x18"


Wow, that looks really nice, mike.
Thanks Allan, I was pretty happy with the turn out of it too. I was thinking simple stand and canopy for a frag tank. Eric knocked it out of the park.


Too be honest I would mind throwing in a 3rd t5 to have little more color play.
Right now I am running the blue+ and coral plus...... But I would like to add the purple plus or a Fiji purple...
I only have them on for 4 hours I believe.... Going to add some time to them soon... And bump up the LEDs for the last time.

I like the color that you can pull from T5's. It's what i originally had on my 125 and everything was happy. Even my clam. But I love the MH's now. I wish i could have the best of all three. So sad. But i'm not sure what bulbs are on the retro T5's right now. Not sure what i will run either. Going to have to play around with it for sure. Might try the 2 t5's and single AI first. See how it looks. It will be a while before this thing is going.

[350gt]

Just mount the AI similar to the way I did, mount it flush with the top of the canopy.... If your canopy is around 12" awl you will have good spread and won't burn corals if u start it low....

With it sitting flush the fan and heatsink are sitting out of the canopy and won't get any of the built up heat from the t5s, which isn't much...

[Kristy]

Sweet setup! Something about the footprint of that 40g breeder that I just love. :)

[Mr Cob]

love breeders, great stand and canopy dude

[koa25]

Just mount the AI similar to the way I did, mount it flush with the top of the canopy.... If your canopy is around 12" awl you will have good spread and won't burn corals if u start it low....

With it sitting flush the fan and heatsink are sitting out of the canopy and won't get any of the built up heat from the t5s, which isn't much...
the canopy is pretty tall. I believe taller than 12" awl. Not sure. Can't find my measuring tape. I will have to do some dry runs on placement before i start putting lights in or cutting. Plus i don't have a high lip on top. So you would see the modules on top of the tank.


Sweet setup! Something about the footprint of that 40g breeder that I just love. :)
Thanks kristy. I know they are an awesome foot print. Can't wait to get it going.

love breeders, great stand and canopy dude
Thanks rob. I am happy with them. Will be a great addition to my ever growing tank collection. Ha ha.

[electricrcplane]

That setup is nice, I may need to finish out my 75 with a similiar stand.

[koa25]

Ha ha. Glad you didn't keep it on me. It turned out great Eric. I think it's actually going in the bed room. Small and sharp looking setup. Thanks again man. Greatly appreciated.

[Zack]

Hey Mike, I see the canopy that you are using is different than the one Shane had mounted his lights on, do you still have the one he gave you?

[koa25]

Hey Mike, I see the canopy that you are using is different than the one Shane had mounted his lights on, do you still have the one he gave you?
I do. The part the lights are mounted to i am keeping to use on the new canopy. But the box frame is still here. You want it?

[RayAllen]

Looking good, Another 40g breeder. cant beat the ft print and height.

[Zack]

Yes, I would like the box frame. Can you pm me some pics so I can make sure we are talking about the same thing please.

[koa25]

Thanks Ray. Figured i had to follow the trends ha ha. It is a nice foot print. Will enjoy aquascaping it.

For sure Zack. On my way home. I'll snap some shots and send them your way.

[koa25]

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Here you go zack

[koa25]

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Here you go zack

[Zack]

perfect. How much for the frame?

[koa25]

Mmm. 1 dollar... Come get it buddy.

[Zack]

Sent you a pm buddy

[koa25]

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decided to go with a traditional cherry wood stain. Used stain I've never used before and I'm actually really happy with the color and finish. Might have to stick with this brand. So stand and canopy is all done. Have sone bulkheads and plumbing parts coming in from brs. Just have to figure out how I'm going to partition the sump/fuge area up. Still have to install baffles. One question i have is how do i do the over flow to make it as quite as possible? Never done a back drilled tank before. It's only the one down pipe. An feedback?

[electricrcplane]

I'll help you with the plumbing, we can make it very quiet.

[koa25]

Cool. That would be appreciated Eric. Think you could help me out with baffles too?

[electricrcplane]

sure, just text me when you have some free time.

[koa25]

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Put it together to see what it would look like. Had to do some jerry rigging on the light setup to get it to fit the way i wanted it to and not sit on top of the water. Looking sharp. Figuring out how the best sump arrangement might be. And if i want to run a bypass in the overflow line to a separate fuge area on top of the sump or not. Ben got the idea in my head now I'm scheming. Plumbing and sump should be done tomorrow either way so maybe i can start this bad boy going next weekend.

[ElChicano]

Looks great, Love the stand.. I might have to start my own 40 soon.

[koa25]

Thanks hugo. They are a fun footprint. Lots if possibilities. I like how shallow they are.

[350gt]

Looks good.....


Lol love the audience....

[koa25]

Yeah i was making a lot of noise. So they were watching me work. Ha ha. They wanted to be in the pic. So i included them ha ha.

[koa25]

Got all the plumbing in. Put a T valve in so if i want to do an additional fuge area elvated above the sump i can. Just got all the baffles in the sump and siliconed in. Picked up some of the hawaiian black substrate today. Have to get a bag or 2 more. So i can get an even spread. Had to fabricate a filter sock holder. Just siliconed it in place. Hopefully i can have water in it tomorrow.

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[Scutterborn]

Sweet!! Looking great. An elevated fuge would be awesome...


- Ben -

[koa25]

Thanks Ben. I'm looking forward to getting water in it. I have to rinse the sand for the sump. And figure out which skimmer i want to go with. I have to figure out how to do the raised fuge. Still have access to the sump and have a light for the lower fuge/frag area. Which should be interesting.

[Mr Cob]

it all looks great Mike! It's all in the build my brotha.

[koa25]

Ha ha. It really is rob. As soon as it gets going i'll sell it and move on lol.

[electricrcplane]

wait 24 - 48 hours for the silicone to cure before adding water. Great job on the plumbing.

[koa25]

Its says 6 to 12 on the tube. 6 for water ready and 12 for full cure. Should i still wait? Thanks Eric. Did a little research and decided to jump on that granade and give it a shot. Will find out how i did if water starts shooting out of places ha ha.

[koa25]

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And so the cycle begins. Pun intended. Tank is in place. Plumbing is all good and running. No leaks. And it is quite which was key cause it's in the bedroom. The black hawaiian substrate is fresh. But the sand in the sump was old. I washed it a lot but still made the water smell crappy. So now many water changes and a carbon reactor to come.

[koa25]

Have a nac 5.5 on the way as well as a fuge lite. All new ati bulbs on the fixture. Twas painful ha ha. Appreciate all the help i got from the crew at ER. They helped me a lot. And took my money gladly ha ha. Now it is a sitting game. I had some lr already cycling. So i will toss that in tomorrow. As well as some well established stuff from my 125. Coming together.

[BBQHILLBILLY]

very pretty tank and the 42 inch stand is a perfect height. great job.

[koa25]

Thanks shane. Couldn't have come together without ya. It is a good height.

[electricrcplane]

Now I think I'm going to have to build me one.

[koa25]

Yeah. You have that 75 just waiting. Get on that eric ha ha.

[koa25]

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Just some update photos. Got the lr in and got a cs 5.5 from ER cause the one i ordered fell through. Producing bubbles like a champ. Now just waiting on a reactor and uv sterilizer i ordered. And then the setup will be complete. Minus an eventual controller at some point later.

[koa25]

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Got the final accoutrements for my tank. UV sterilizer and a carbon/gfo reactor. Everything is plumbed and read to go. Leaving the UV and skimmer off for now. Heard that helps the cycle process along by not frying the bacteria. Have the rock setup in the display. Not entirely happy with it right now. Will be adding more and playing with the design before I'm happy with it. But atleast all the parts are there. Except a controller. But that is a later investment.

Side question. Can a six bulb T5HO on a shallow tank such as a 40 support a maxima clam? I would assume it can.

[electricrcplane]

I had maxima clams in my DSA 70 and ran 6 T5HO bulbs and it did fine. Even did sticks so I think you're ok.

[koa25]

Just an update. Moved the corals over from the 10 gallon overkill tank the other day while everyone else was enjoying themselves at MACNA. (Super Jelly) They're all responding very well to the T5's. The Multi colored Palys are much happier under the T5s. The Oregon mummy eye is happy. It's grabbers were out last night and snagged a chunk of shrimp that floated by after feeding the blue jaw trigger, potters angel and acans i put in there. About to toss the black clowns from the ten gallon in here as well as the peppermint shrimps which apparently this blue jaw trigger will not eat. We shall see. He may have a 6 dollar snake tonight. Going to put a couple kinds of xenia in here and a chunk of kenya. Like the movement the MP10 gives to the softies. going to start placing stuff in final resting places sometime this week. May move the Clam over too. Little hesitant. But i feel it should be fine under 6 T5s.

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[koa25]

16700 fts. Not hard on a 40 gallon
16701 hungry acans.
16702loving this oregon mummy eye
16703 maxima and the sunset monti. Loving the colors under t5s.

Got everything moved over grom the 10 gallon including the black clowns now. Potters angel and blue jaw trigger are happy and fat. Was worried about that potter because i heard they were difficult to feed. But he is a hungry one. So thats good. Water parameters are holding at 0 across the board. Nitrates are at 10 ppms and holding. Ph is a little low. But i have a water change planned for saturday. Everything is doing really well.

[allan]

Looking sharp, Mike.

That's a tank you will be able to take with you as well, right? Still no word?

[Big_Pun]

tank looks sharp! they like sps is the prob with potters sometimes, but one of my fav. as soon as i have huge colonies in getting a couple angels, so if they pick o-well...lol

[Scutterborn]

How long till you PCS, dude?


- Ben -

[hobogato]

very nice. i really like your choice on the black substrate.

[koa25]

Thanks guys. Greatly Appreciated. All the advice I’ve received from you guys ever since I joined has paid off. This tank is doing well. Did it right. I'm pretty happy with the outcome. Still have to figure out the rock work. Not entirely happy with it yet.

Allan, I had my 1SG call and bug them last week because I was getting nowhere and apparently I have to resubmit for the next board for an undisclosed reason. I'm pretty sure they lost my paperwork. So guess I will just wait until I get to HI and submit again. I'm going to write them MI BN there and give them a heads up of my intentions. Especially because my points just maxed. Always an indicator of the E-7 board. Name of the game. But as far as I was told the Army will move my tank as long as i don't go over a certain weight. So your 190 and this 40 are definitely going with me. 125 will be broken down in April and sold off. Alex at PA was nice enough to offer and hold my nicer corals until I get to HI and get setup then ship them to me. Which is really nice of him. Great guy.

Chris, I hear it happens. Not a usual thing with potters though. So I’ve read. I probably won't be putting sticks in this tank. Not until my next move at least. Potters are way too cool to pass up on. I read they do very well with yellow eye koles. They work in a buddy system which is pretty cool.

Ben, I am due to report on the 10th of June. Still have a couple months to enjoy this tank before it goes down. You still want those 400 watts bulbs? That Oregon mummy eye is happy and spreading. Might have an eye or two for you by the time you are ready for it.

Greatly appreciated Ace, That gold torch is happy as a lark. The clowns are eyeing it already. Too small for them. Hopefully they don't tear it up. Might have to get something to keep them occupied ha ha. I as almost going to pull out the substrate and replace it because it was getting dirty and ugly. But between my CUC and the detritus removal mode on the MP10 it has cleared up great.

[Mr Cob]

Great looking tank man, you have a lot going on, wish you the best Mike. Thanks for your service too.

[Scutterborn]

"A couple months". What? Are they in a different month zone!!? Lol. Glad we gotcha around awhile longer!! I'm still down for the bulbs and definitely on the mummy!! I've been in Austin on a job for a bit. Not sure when I can get to your side of town though.


- Ben -

[koa25]

Greatly appreciate Rob. It's my pleasure to do so. Thanks for paying my wages ;)

Well quite a few months smart ***. ha ha. I do have to have it broken down and ready well before i actually bounce. You will be stuck with me even after i leave. I have a couple people with wish list for me to send back from Hawaii lol. So i'm sure i'll still be all up on here. Just not coming to functions or beating you to frags sherita is selling anymore ha ha. No worries. They will be waiting for you buddy. You have until june lol.

[Scutterborn]

I hope you do hang around. We need as many active members writing posts to give me something to read at work!!




- Ben -

[reefreak]

I hope you do hang around. We need as many active members writing posts to give me something to read at work!!




- Ben -


Don't forget when people are at school lol! Tank looks great mike.

[Louis-210]

Don't forget when people are at school lol! Tank looks great mike.



HAHAHA sorry Jeremy just sounds funny

[koa25]

Ha ha. Thanks Jeremy. I will defintely try to give you guys something to read when i move there. Everything in my tank will be right out of the ocean. Sand/rock/water/fish/coral/macro's. If i can't catch it or snip it off a rock in the waters around the island it won't be going in the tank. I might be fishless for a while until i'm able to catch them lol. I've been reading up on the local laws for doing such. And not too many laws. Just some protected species and can't sell anything i take out of the water for profit. I feel like i might have some serious set backs using rock right out of the water with parasites or bad bugs. But that is part of the learning curve.

[koa25]

Just some update pics and adding to the list of live stock.
16923 lime and pink sps. Great looking piece. Pic doesn't do it justice.
16924 pink skin with bright green polyps Pocillopora from PA
16925 tyree alien eye from psyko
16926 the Pocillopora under actinics
16927 sunset monti loving it. Very happy. Given to me from Shane after helping him with a tank move. Tank you Shane.

[koa25]

16928 purple torch with bright green tips from andres
16929 setup a new light. Used my AI of the 10 gallon. It uses 65k leds for the white. So i figured that would be an appropriate fixture. One expensive fuge light. But it works. I installed a skimmer i picked up from rob to give it a test run on a tank. It produces bubbles like a champ. Rated for 300+ gallons on a 60ish gallon system. Still dialing it in.
16930 fts. Fish are 5 chromis. 2 black clowns. A potters angel. Blue jaw trigger male. A green dragnet and a yellow eye kole tang. Before the tang police jump down my throat. He is not much bigger than 1.5" and will move to my 125 system when he gets too big. Just as a disclaimer.

[KING]

HAY man!!!!..that tang needs a bigger tank..like a 125..u know they come from the ocean..A 125 is much better..lol..j/p

[Flyride95]

Lol tang police. They got onto me for my sons snowflake eel in his 10gal lol. Hats off for the look out though.
I think your tank looks awesome. Makes me kinda wish I went with black substrate instead of fiji pink.

[koa25]

Ha ha. Appreciate it guys. I understand at some point its cruel and unhealthy. But if its small enough at the time and you have a tank to move him to once he's bigger? Thats another story. Appreciate it. I like the black. Makes colors pop. Has to be cleaned constantly. Gets dirty easily and cyano looks like some nasty stuff on the black substrate. But I'm happy over all.

I'll release him back in the ocean when I'm done with hi. King ha ha.

[350gt]

What AI did u use? Sol or nano?


I thought the nano would make a awesome fuge light..... Pricey but awesome.

[koa25]

The sol. I had it over my ten. Broke down the ten and moved everything to the 40. So it wasn't being used. Might as well use it. Especially eith 65k leds on it. I'll be able to toss frag down there now ha ha.

[koa25]

So my brain has been ticking. All be it not always a good thing. But i curently have a 6 bulb t5 setup on my tank and i kind of miss the shimmer effect like my 125 has from the MH's. So I was thinking about redoing my lights on the 40. I have a AI Sol that is currently an over priced refugium light (which apparently grows macro like a beast). So i was thinking about doing a 4 blubs and the AI centered over the tank. 2 on either side of the light as pictured below. 2 ati blue plus, 1 purple plus and one coral plus and maybe some stunner strips on either side of the AI unit to add magenta or UV. What are your thoughts on this idea? all my corals are currently happy. Chalices are growing eye's like weeds. And I normally go with a "if it ain't broke why fix it?" philosphy. But I'm itching to changing it up. Opinions and ideas?
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[Scutterborn]

Get another AI sol!run them together and scrap the T5's. JMO


-Ben-

[koa25]

I was thinking about picking up a second. But planning on keeping the t5s. Tony got me on the idea. Plus my sps and lps are very happy right now and running t5s in conjunction is my fail safe plan. And it's easy to change or add color with bulbs. What's your reason for scrapping them? Unnecessary?

[KING]

Dont buy an other..try with wat u got..an if it works out then try an pick up one..but..if its in ur head lol go on an do it..

[Scutterborn]

I'd use the term"scrap them" loosely. I don't mean trash them. I think that it would be a rather tremendous amount of light from where you are currently at. Since everything is doing well the way you've got it now, I'd hate overload them with too much light. Two would only be for coverage as opposed to intensity.


-Ben-

[koa25]

Yeah. I don't "scrap" anything. It goes in the tank closet for later use/trade/just in case. I see what you're getting at. It would be a lot of light. But i would have to lift the light up anyways when i put the AI on. So the t5 intensity would be decreased a lot. You might be right. Maybe dial it back to just 2 T5s with the AI. Appreciated Ben.

[koa25]

Ha ha. I'm always wanting to buy stuff Leroy. Just weather or not i have the money for it ha ha. I may stick with one. It won't be done anytime soon. Still have to figure out mounting. And actually doing it if i do.

[koa25]

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Snapped this when i got home. Thought it was pretty neat.

[350gt]

If I could do 4 bulbs with the AI sol....

it would be

2 ATi true actinic
1 blue plus
1 purple plus..

the sol will have enough of everything else... 4 bulbs might be over kill and will wash the led out..

i would do 2 or 3 if I could..

2 of course would be a true actinic and purple plus, 3 I would add another true actinic.

just hang the unit 12" off the water to give you good spread... Depending on your rock work mess with the lenses and you will be golden ponyboy!

[350gt]

In sanjays review of LEDs, the sol blue is missing the UV spectrum and has very little of the red....

thats what the true actinic and purple plus will make up......

You could add the coral plus like you said, especially if the purple plus makes the tank to pink for your liking.... But it's a whiter bulb so tune down the whites and crank up the blues on the sol..

[koa25]

Yeah, I was leaning more towards only doing two T5's. I can't do only 3. My OCD for even numbers would have killed me. But the AI idea is no more until i can figure out what happened to it. I had it sitting over the 92 corner I just set up until i got the MH's ready to install over it and than it suddenly stopped working. I can't even get it to turn on. So i am going to trouble shoot it here soon to see what the heck went wrong. So if I can't figure it out. Then it will turn in to an expensive paperweight. But i was probably going ot do a purple plus and coral plus cause the the blues on the AI's would have been more than enough. Always appreciate the input tony. I know you are still in the learning phase with the AI's as well.

[350gt]

It's not the blues you need to be concerned with, it's the spectrum before the blue..

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Look at how the 400 watt radium bulb performs at about 400-420nm, where the sol has nothing...

There is a reason fixtures are now incorporating the UV bulb into fixtures..

[350gt]

Now look at the ATi true actinic

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Look what gap it fills in...

[350gt]

The coral plus fills in the spikes in the green and reds, where the purple plus does the same... But the coral plus offers a bit more.

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[350gt]

I don't know why they compared the spectrum to a 400 watt MH bulb, should of compared them to 250's...

Eitherway I studied those like crazy and wound up using a true actinic and a purple plus....

The actinic was a no brainer, the purple plus cause I liked the hue it gave off with the LEDs combined... The coral plus really washed the led shimmer away.... But it's a great bulb...

[Big_Pun]

when you swing by for the frags you can see coral plus, blue plus and fiji that i run. we can mess with them run them individual

[350gt]

Thought about adding another ballast to run them individually.. I would like to have the actinic on with the blue LEDs longer..

[koa25]

Dang. I thought i researched them well. appreciate all the info, Tony. I have a better idea of what's up now. I currently run 3 blue plus. 1 purple plus. 1 coral plus. and a GE 6500. Everything seems to be happy under this combo. Haven't seen any growth or noticable growth atleast. Palys are spreading like crazy. But SPS is at a stand still. My maxima is happy as a lark. Great color and mantel extension. So if he is happy. Don't know whats up with my SPS. Was thinking about moving all those under the MH's in my corner and leaving the softies under the T5's.

And i know what you mean, Tony. A lot of the comparisons i always ran across were not always fair. Crappy 250watt ballasts and reflectors with a premium bulb against AI's. Of course the MH won't compete well. And a 400 watt with premium ballast, bulb and reflector is going to through some awesome values out. Just doesn't make sense. Thanks again for all info. Knowing is half the battle...

Sounds good, Chris. When my daytime bulbs kick on with the actinics. I feel it is a little too white or pink for my taste. Was thinking about trading out the coral plus for a true actinic or blue plus.

[350gt]

Btw here's the link to the led review
http://www.advancedaquarist.com/2012/3/aafeature

[350gt]

On a 6 bulb I would run

1 true actinic
4 blue plus
1 aqua blue special or 1 coral plus

[350gt]

With the purple, ge, & coral plus running that's 3 daylight bulbs.. You would be fine with 2, even 1 I think....

What you think Chris....

[Tristan23]

How is your tank coming along? Nice build! Been reading up on it to get some ideas for my up coming spring project. What did you end up having up as your light?

[koa25]

I've been neglecting this poor tank a lot lately. Between work, school and the army send me here and there for a couple days at a time. It has reflected on the tank. But i still have the 6 bulb t5ho on it. It works. The corals are super happy. So i am not going to mess with it as of right now. Will most likely be doing leds soon. Either aquastyle. Or a single vega and 2 T5s. My clam has crazy amount of new growth. I started using salinity salt. And my corals have definitely noticed the change. I got this first bucket of salinity for dirty cheap. I think it was just to get me hooked. I don't know how i feel spending 80 to 90 bucks a bucket though.

[Tristan23]

They are made by Aquavirto right? It's a bit pricey for me but it did really well in my 75. I was planning on 2 T5's with the Vegas on a 40B I'm planning to set up soon.

[Big_Pun]

I've been neglecting this poor tank a lot lately. Between work, school and the army send me here and there for a couple days at a time. It has reflected on the tank. But i still have the 6 bulb t5ho on it. It works. The corals are super happy. So i am not going to mess with it as of right now. Will most likely be doing leds soon. Either aquastyle. Or a single vega and 2 T5s. My clam has crazy amount of new growth. I started using salinity salt. And my corals have definitely noticed the change. I got this first bucket of salinity for dirty cheap. I think it was just to get me hooked. I don't know how i feel spending 80 to 90 bucks a bucket though.


i love that salt, been using it since day one on the 150. since i dont live in the same house as my 150 and im not there to mess with stuff and tweak things. ive had less trouble and happier coral, stability is the best thing even if parameters are not exactly "ideal".

[Zack]

Did the sol ever start working again? And I highly reccomend the aquastyle kit. Great quality of products.

[koa25]

I have yet to mess around with the SOL. I need to. Cause i am either going to use it or sell it. But i have aquastyles strip lights for actinics on my 92 corner and they were pretty easy and look pretty awesome. So i may go that route with being able to customize the crap out of it.

But i really like Salinity salt. It will be hard to go back if i do. I just don't want to spend that much on salt. But my corals are happy as all hell in the tank. So i may have to stick with it. Stupid expensive salt.

[Big_Pun]

its stupid priced but i see a diff in my corals compared to other salts ive used.

[mkengr45]

I have yet to mess around with the SOL. I need to. Cause i am either going to use it or sell it. But i have aquastyles strip lights for actinics on my 92 corner and they were pretty easy and look pretty awesome. So i may go that route with being able to customize the crap out of it.

But i really like Salinity salt. It will be hard to go back if i do. I just don't want to spend that much on salt. But my corals are happy as all hell in the tank. So i may have to stick with it. Stupid expensive salt.
You running a halide on the corner? Or Sol? The odd shaped tanks are always a bit tricky to light. My half circle has dark spots at the ends that I hate. I never really had that problem with the corner tank though.

[koa25]

I'm running two 250 MH on the corner with lumen bright reflectors. Covers every square inch. It may be a little over kill but the corals are happy. I might cut back to one. And use some LED strip lighting to get the darker areas. I eventually am going to make the full plunge to LEDs but not until after my move in june. Not really doing a lot of upgrades to the tanks until after then. I can imagine that half circle is a tricky one to light. It looked awesome the last time i saw it. A headache non the less.