Come with me on my Custom 77 Gallon setup

[Avast Marine]

I think it's better to give the corals a little breathing room before fishing up the tank anyhow. I really like the aquascaping thus far.

 

[JmLee]

i have XM 15000k Hqi's, I dont like them and i really dont recommend then. I would say either a 10000k with actinic sups, or 20,000ks alone. Nice tank!.

 

[JmLee]

Oop never mind, already have lights ey?. Anyways ur tank is sweet =).

 

[Stile2]

I had a similar run with fish. I lost 2 Powder Blues, a Flasher Wrasse, and a Lavender Tang all in about a 2 month period. Since I have had a Powder Brown, an Orange Spot Goby and 2 Mandarins do just fine.

Gab, Glad to know it is not just me. Did you ever figure out what was the cause or some sort of reason behind it?

I think it's better to give the corals a little breathing room before fishing up the tank anyhow. I really like the aquascaping thus far.

Dan, I agree, frankly corals are why I got into the hobby. Fish will dress up the tank, but corals are my focus. That being said, I want to get at least some fish just because they will make the tank more interesting.

Thanks for the comment on aquascaping. I want to build up the front, (or right side in the side view), a bit more. To form more like two mountains, one tall and one shorter. Less like a slope and more like two mountains.

i have XM 15000k Hqi's, I dont like them and i really dont recommend then. I would say either a 10000k with actinic sups, or 20,000ks alone. Nice tank!. Oop never mind, already have lights ey?. Anyways ur tank is sweet =).

JmLee, Yeah, I have had the lights for a while now. I have 500 W of 15K XM, and 190 w of VHO Actinic. And while I really like the look of the tank in person, taking pictures is a PITA. I turn off the actinics just to not get pure blue pictures.

I was thinking that when it comes time to replace the MH bulbs I would try the 10k and see how that looked. According to melev the corals grow faster under 10k than anything else.

Thanks for the compliments.
Keith

 

[gkarshens]

I think it was just a run of bad luck. All my parameters were fine and nothing has really changed since then. 2 of those were from a store I don't go to anymore. I think it makes a big difference to find a store that is trustworthy.

I just switched from XM 15k to Reeflux 10k. I am already noticing more growth in just 2 weeks. I need to get a new bulb for the center light though. I have a blue streak in the middle of my tank!

 

[Stile2]

Yeah, I was reading about the change to 10k on your thread. Do you like how it looks? How much supplemental actinic lighting do you have?

Just call the middle blue stripe a racing stripe.:lol: You'll be the coolest reefer around.

 

[gkarshens]

At first I thought it wasn't blue enough. But after a couple of days I actually like it better. I only have a couple of normal output actnic bulbs in there. One 4' in the center and an 18" on either side. The center 400w MH is a 20k bulb right now. If I had to do it all over again, and in a year or so I will, I would buy the Reeflux 12k bulbs. I hear the PAR is about the same and they are a little bluer.

 

[rdmpe]

My fixture came with 10K, Ushio I think but not sure. Anyway, I swapped them out for some pheonix 14K. It was more blue than I expected. Eventually I am going to put a 10K back on one end and then run it with a 14K on the other end and decide which way to go. I know when I first tried the 14K I was thinking that I liked the 10K better. When I have both temps running at once I'll take a bunch of pictures and post them. Maybe next week.

I haven't tried the 14K with the T5 actinics off. I guess I should try that and see if it makes much difference as well.

 

[Stile2]

I will keep an eye out on your thread for the pictures. It will be nicew to see before I invest in new bulbs.

 

[Stile2]

Well, melev would be proud. I finally cleaned my skimmer today. Here is a picture right before I cleaned it.

 

[melev]

I'm very proud of you. Try to do it every other day, if possible.

 

[H20ENG]

"Cleaning the skimmer every other day keeps Melev away" :lol:

 

[melev]

 

[Avast Marine]

Muriatic acid or Liquid Plumber?
:eek1:

 

[Stile2]

For the minor jobs I just use Hot Water and a Scrub Brush

I finished up some new aquascaping but am up at my parents place for the 4th. I will post pictures when I get back.

If I could just finish the woodwork :lol: I would be really happy!

 

[rdmpe]

OOOH that's a tasty looking skimmer! How long since you cleaned it before that?

 

[Stile2]

I am kind of embarassed to admit it, but it has been a couple of months. My problem is that when I designed it I attached the cup with 20 bolts that have to come all the way out in order to clean the thing. A mistake that will not happen on Version 3 of the ZenAquatic Skimmer.

 

[Avast Marine]

Would it be possible to just keyhole the flange you already have? I know you enjoy building things but, maybe you need to focus on that woodwork!

 

[Stile2]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=7673318#post7673318 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by dandy7200
Would it be possible to just keyhole the flange you already have? I know you enjoy building things but, maybe you need to focus on that woodwork!

Are you the new Cprowler to my melev?:lol:

Unfortunately the size of the flange is too small to cut key holes. I already have the new design done. And today I was at my Dad's shop learning the new CNC machine. So it is just a matter of time before the Version 3 comes along.

 

[Cprowler]

Don't get me started on you too. You've'e got at least a year till we get to that. :lol:

I just had some panels done up for my boat on a CNC machine, very cool. They were made out of ABS and Acrylic, I'll probably post the pics in my thread when I go through them. What brand machine is it?