dmorel's 220 Round & Shallow reef build

[dmorel]

congrats on such an awesome system! i'm also interested in where you got the lights. you say you imported them? if you have any links or more specific info you can share (even the model numbers/makes of the lights) that would be awesome. my system has a large surface area and i've been scratching my head about how to light it since i don't care to light every inch of it up, so some spots may do the trick. sorry if i missed this elsewhere in your thread!

There are three different kinds of spot lights on my tank, the good ones are the ones that were imported from Japan. The MH spots are commonly referred to as Superkaru's or sometimes called Supercools. I also have the barn doors for three of them (and I have two without barn doors). There are a number of different bulb choices as well, I'm using mostly deep blues, but I have a few other bulbs, cobalt, and aqua. There are some daylights, but I haven't tried those. The bulbs themselves are only good for about 6 months and at 150 a pop plus shipping (which is no joke from Japan) it gets costly, fast.
The LED spots are from the MX series and they have about 4 different color configs for those as well.

The easy to get spots are the ones from WON Brothers. Those spots which have both a 14K bulb or 20K bulb config are available here in the US. I was able to get those easily by contacting Premium Aquatics who was listed as one of their distributors and Jeremy got me 4.

The other fixtures I run are also Japanese are the MT-150's, they also make an MT-250 if you want more juice.

Another option if you don't want to go through the hassle and cost of importing would be to build some yourself. I toyed with the idea of building a number of spotlights out of theater lighting pieces and doing some mods to them. I think some par 36 cans would probably work out really well for such a project. I was darn close to going that route myself...

 

[dmorel]

I just skimmed this entire build and it's simply fantastic. Thanks too, because you've given me some great ideas for covering up some remote lines!

Thanks for the kind words. The raised floor (which I still need to get finished eventually!) really worked out very well. Fortunately we had the forethought to build in a channel for all the plumbing and left that section with a removable lid so I can get in there if I ever have an issue without having to rip it up!

 

[tonyespinoza]

Thanks for the details! Much appreciated.

 

[aquainas]

The tank is coming along very nicely! I may have to take a field trip one day to check it out. The lighting scheme is awesome and the growth is simply amazing being under a yr, hats off to you!

I am seriously debating whether to go with a CA reactor seeing your success, but I too have friends that say "Yeah it's set and forget" which keeps me in limbo, but you are definitely giving me good reasons to order up some BRS 2-part.

 

[dmorel]

Thanks for the details! Much appreciated.

No worries, good luck!

The tank is coming along very nicely! I may have to take a field trip one day to check it out. The lighting scheme is awesome and the growth is simply amazing being under a yr, hats off to you!

I am seriously debating whether to go with a CA reactor seeing your success, but I too have friends that say "Yeah it's set and forget" which keeps me in limbo, but you are definitely giving me good reasons to order up some BRS 2-part.

Hey, let me know if you want to swing by, I'm always happy to have a beer with a fellow reefer and chat about the tank.

As to two part vs calcium reactor, here is a recent thread in the SPS forum. A lot of folks are liking the two part over calc reactors. Count me among them...

 

[dmorel]

Well last weekend I added two small new fish.
I saw the blue spot jawfish goby for the first time this morning!
He's a beautiful little guy, but so shy.
Same actually can be said for the swalesi basslet I added, though a TAD more visible.

Normally I work on SPS pics, cause that's kind of my thing, but I do have a real soft spot for nice zoa's so here's a selection of pics from the new arrangement (I moved a bunch into an island to grow out)...

I shot this in raw and used PS to crop out a few individual pieces, didn't work out great, they all came from the last pic, which is probably the best color representation actually.

 

[dmorel]

Ah heck... while we're doing non SPS pics, here's some acans (and one micro) shot just after the first lights came up this morning.

 

[dmorel]

OK, I'm done with the camera for the day, but I tried to go "around the dial" and get most of the tank with a couple of full tank like shots. It's a bit tough because there is not a ton of room the whole "back" of the tank is wrapped with a couch, and there are walls pretty close to the "sides" and to make matters worse... three windows and four skylights around to contend with.

None the less here is around the tank, starting from the "front" which is what you walk into first, going right, back and left from there...
Hope you enjoy.

Front

Right Side

Back

Left Side

 

[Elliott]

you have done an outstanding job, looks absolutely gorgeous

 

[dmorel]

you have done an outstanding job, looks absolutely gorgeous

Thanks Elliott, you're always so kind.

 

[dmorel]

So I spent almost all of yesterday futzing around with the tank.

I realized that I had several corals that were not getting the best light for their coloration and/or things just were not where they should be. Green w/purple rim cap for instance will do and look much nicer under the whiter bulbs from the MT-150 rather than the deep blue of the SuperKaru's... The same can be said for this sweet acro (posted below) that's been under the MT's white light when it really sparkles under the deep blue of the SuperKaru's...

I've also learned that shooting at night rather than in the morning yields better pictures, no issues with glare from the windows or skylights...

Couple more shots of the right side acro island after the changes yesterday.

Special focus on one of the pieces I moved that really looks SO MUCH better under this light...

 

[rholguin]

Awsome looking corals and great looking tank. Keep up the great work.

 

[erics3000]

Your corals are growing fast. You feeding or adding anything? Looking great

 

[sfsuphysics]

Yanno, it gives me great pleasure to see this thread everything I pop over to this forum, I really am getting a hankering for "unusual" shaped large tanks (i.e. bucking the rectangle trend), even though a cylinder is hardly unusual, you don't often see it. Keep up the good work.

Out of curiosity though, with LEDs getting to be quite nifty as far as power output and being quite the spotlight, have you ever thought about replacing some of your other spotlights with them?

 

[dmorel]

Awsome looking corals and great looking tank. Keep up the great work.

Many thanks! I'll keep trying to make it better and better!

Your corals are growing fast. You feeding or adding anything? Looking great

Not really, a little phyto and a little cyclops now and again, but really just try and keep everything super stable.

Yanno, it gives me great pleasure to see this thread everything I pop over to this forum, I really am getting a hankering for "unusual" shaped large tanks (i.e. bucking the rectangle trend), even though a cylinder is hardly unusual, you don't often see it. Keep up the good work.

Out of curiosity though, with LEDs getting to be quite nifty as far as power output and being quite the spotlight, have you ever thought about replacing some of your other spotlights with them?

Thanks for the great compliments!

Not only have I thought about LED spots...

 

[dmorel]

Two quick pics of a few additions from this weekend, I didn't try on these pics at all just went full auto... trying to get those two goofballs swimming around is tough.

the clowns

ORA Red Planet

 

[aquainas]

Did you happen to get a shot of the cap under the whiter bulbs?

 

[dmorel]

Did you happen to get a shot of the cap under the whiter bulbs?

Hmm, sorry I didn't. Probably needs a few weeks or so there to really color up anyway, but I'll get one soon.

 

[aquainas]

Gotcha! The quality of the pics have gotten so much better, I can only hope my livestock looks as good as yours

 

[dmorel]

Thanks, I'm trying to get better at pics and it's getting a little better. I really need to work on macro's, but in time in time...

I am certain with your system that the livestock will be looking fantastic. I've got a rack full of frags to get you started when that tank is done cycling, I'm super impressed with how nice your tank looks.