A Low Country Reef Tank....one more final upgrade

Been a struggle. I fought bryopsis for about a year, lost 90% of my sps in the process and almost threw in the towel. The thought off getting the tank back out of my basement made me hang in there lol. Did a total tear down and restart last fall and finally added some frags in January to test the waters. Still getting it dialed in a bit but the frags that I have have really started to color up then past few weeks.

Sent from my SM-T813 using Tapatalk
 
Mike S said:
Been a struggle. I fought bryopsis for about a year, lost 90% of my sps in the process and almost threw in the towel. The thought off getting the tank back out of my basement made me hang in there lol. Did a total tear down and restart last fall and finally added some frags in January to test the waters. Still getting it dialed in a bit but the frags that I have have really started to color up then past few weeks.

Sent from my SM-T813 using Tapatalk
Click to expand...

Nice!!!! dont give up!!!!
 
Been checking in on this thread from time to time. Did I see that you switched out the hallides for leds? From the looks of the pictures it seems to have gone well.

Sent from my SM-T813 using Tapatalk
 
Mike S said:
Been checking in on this thread from time to time. Did I see that you switched out the hallides for leds? From the looks of the pictures it seems to have gone well.

Sent from my SM-T813 using Tapatalk
Click to expand...

Well, i guess the cat is out of the bag now! I hadnt disclosed that info on here yet...lol. I did switch to LED's back in mid september. It was a really tough decision but my electric bill was screaming and when we looked into solar, the salesman said to my wife that he had never seen an electric bill that high. So, I decided to try the Reef Breeders Photon V2's and have been pretty happy with them. I must say that after the first few weeks I wanted to switch back but stuck it out. The savings I have had on my electric bill has been insane! I have recouped nearly 75% of the cost of the leds in the first 5.5 months alone. My chiller doesnt turn on anymore and I only have to run the AC in the fish room/garage for 10 hrs a day instead of 24/7.
 
Oooops lol. Thought I saw you post it here but maybe I saw you poking around the reefbreeders forum. You must have wanted to kick your solar guy lol. Those lights were always very tempting. Its funny how a difference in ambient temps has such a dramatic effect on the cost to run a tank. My electric bill barely changed when I switched to hallides but my 900 watts of heaters rarely run anymore.

Sent from my SM-T813 using Tapatalk
 
Mike S said:
Oooops lol. Thought I saw you post it here but maybe I saw you poking around the reefbreeders forum. You must have wanted to kick your solar guy lol. Those lights were always very tempting. Its funny how a difference in ambient temps has such a dramatic effect on the cost to run a tank. My electric bill barely changed when I switched to hallides but my 900 watts of heaters rarely run anymore.

Sent from my SM-T813 using Tapatalk
Click to expand...

Yeah, lets just say my wife and I had a long chat after he left that night. She never really asked about it, said she knew it was high but didnt realize how high it was. My bills have been 30% cheaper now.
 
pics look fantastic Steve. You have really been improving on your photography skills. I see you are really getting the hang of your camera and lenses.
 
SPotter said:
Thanks Henry! Still need to master editing.
Click to expand...

Steve - You are doing quiet well if you ask me.. Knowing where you started to what I see now you are doing just fine man. Half of the battle is taking the photo itself. The better you compose the picture the less post processing and you are doing good man. Hopefully soon I will have some shots too ...lol.
 
Pictures look great! Mine always look so blue even though the tank does not look like that. When its all together maybe I can learn how to get some good shots.
I have stayed in Mt. Pleasant a number of times. Even rode my motorcycle with my wife through it and Isle Of Palms on Halloween night. The Charleston area is awesome! I assume you have been to the aquarium there?
 
VanJuKy said:
Pictures look great! Mine always look so blue even though the tank does not look like that. When its all together maybe I can learn how to get some good shots.
I have stayed in Mt. Pleasant a number of times. Even rode my motorcycle with my wife through it and Isle Of Palms on Halloween night. The Charleston area is awesome! I assume you have been to the aquarium there?
Click to expand...

Thank you for the kind words. What i have learned with leds and taking pictures is I find that if i turn down the blue leds significantly i can get better pictures and then do a little post picture editing.

This is a great area! We spend a lot of time at the aquarium. My kids have been heavily involved with fund raising events to help raise money to build the new turtle hospital they are working on. its truly a great place.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.

Similar threads

S
Why do oversized protein skimmers not adequately remove protein from a tank?
Replies
12
Views
154
Paul B
Paul B
U
New build
Replies
3
Views
532
griss
griss
K
upgrading tank and need more info
2
Replies
27
Views
751
wvned
wvned
P
DIY Hang on back Sump Tank
Replies
14
Views
494
kharmaguru
kharmaguru
F
Low ORP
2
Replies
20
Views
1K
griss
griss
Back
Top