dmorel's 220 Round & Shallow reef build
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Crab Rangoon
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SO GLAD to see this tank is no longer offline! I'm more of a reader/lurker, but this aquarium is hands down my absolute favorite of all my RC subscribed threads. Even though I have pretty different taste in fish & coral, the overall aesthetic of your aquarium and the execution of your tank & equipment is more interesting and original than most IMO. I can dream all day of owning a rounded / odd-shaped acrylic tank, but I really don't know I'll ever have the opportunity (and budget at the time) to do one. That being said, it's wonderful to follow yours :bounce3:
Glad to see a good mix of LED and MH going on now. May I ask what LED bulbs you are using? I have been using Ecoxotic PAR38's on my aquarium since the start, but I am not very happy with them after nearly 2 years. Don't get me wrong, they (and Nanotuners bulbs) work great. I just feel that the color & lens/optics options leave a bit to be desired. Since you were using & buying the Japanese MH fixtures & bulbs, I'm sort of assuming perhaps you're using some Grassy LeDio LED's?
On my own aquarium, I began with 6 of the 12k bulbs all using 40* lenses. Due to limited coral placement, I've gone down to only 4 of the bulbs. I'm now looking forward to upgrading to 1-2 AI Sol Blue units, with one or two PAR38's also in the mix. I'd love to hear what you're using & what you think of them (color/aesthetics more than growth) to help me make up my mind.
Glad to see a good mix of LED and MH going on now. May I ask what LED bulbs you are using? I have been using Ecoxotic PAR38's on my aquarium since the start, but I am not very happy with them after nearly 2 years. Don't get me wrong, they (and Nanotuners bulbs) work great. I just feel that the color & lens/optics options leave a bit to be desired. Since you were using & buying the Japanese MH fixtures & bulbs, I'm sort of assuming perhaps you're using some Grassy LeDio LED's?
On my own aquarium, I began with 6 of the 12k bulbs all using 40* lenses. Due to limited coral placement, I've gone down to only 4 of the bulbs. I'm now looking forward to upgrading to 1-2 AI Sol Blue units, with one or two PAR38's also in the mix. I'd love to hear what you're using & what you think of them (color/aesthetics more than growth) to help me make up my mind.
dmorel
Can I borrow your towel
Well thank you, that's an awfully nice compliment. I'm glad you enjoy it and I admit that there was a very specific look and a very specific set of usability components we were going for and think we got there. Glad you appreciate it as well.
I'm actually running all Ecoxotic's myself. I have 2 of the 12K and 3 of the Royal Blue's. I'm "OK" with the color, but admit they do not replace the amazing colors of the MH Spots. The blue feels more artificial and the 12K's aren't crisp enough for my liking. I sort of mix and match by "overlaying" the color from the MH fixtures that are running and I think that gives me the best color. Obviously nothing beats the shimmer of LED/MH mix, that's ideal and I'm super glad to have been able to mod the SuperKaru fixtures and keep the same aesthetic in the tank.
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Next up --- need to get the dosers back online. In 10 years I've never had a "snowstorm" until thursday when I must have added too much alk & calc two part in rapid succession and boom... super cloudy tank. Everything seems to have come through ok (Alk never went below 8 and calc bottomed out at 380) But BOY was that a scary night.
Crab Rangoon
New member
Glad to hear I'm not the only one with this stance. I felt my 12k's sorta "fell flat" on color, and not that they've changed over time but they still seem near a 10k to me. I've seen the 20K's in person and felt it was just too much blue for me, or too artificial for me to invest in.
I even tried the 100w multichip "LED Canon" fixtures from them on another tank, but the 12k is far too white, and the blue was artificial looking for me. I'm convinced those multichip fixtures would work much better on a tank like yours, any display with larger diameter or extreme depth. Not very applicable on my 36x36x27, and they weren't ideal on the 48x30x20 we tried them on.
What array of MH bulbs are you using now?
MarineGirl411
New member
I hear that the Kessil Multichip is really nice. I have seen a few online and they looked like a 150 watt MH. I know they are not quite enough light for your setup though. I am glad your tank is back up. I missed seeing all your pretty corals. =)
dmorel
Can I borrow your towel
Yeah, I have really mixed emotions on the LED PAR 38's right now. I'm doing a lot of "blending" of the varios LED bulbs and MH's to get the right mix. And it's hard to not put out too much light (I know right?) when mixing all those together.
I'm just running XM 20K's as the MH bulbs right now, it's a nice color and the corals seem to respond.
I still miss having PC actinic supplemental lighting -- those were the days
Thanks. I look forward to having all sorts of pretty corals again soon. (My ORA efflo is starting to color up nicely... sssshh don't tell anyone) I haven't looked too much at putting in different fixtures, I'm going to try and make this work if I can, but you never know...
Crab Rangoon
New member
There's something I haven't heard since T5's began to see the limelight - PC?! :lmao:Yeah, I have really mixed emotions on the LED PAR 38's right now. I'm doing a lot of "blending" of the varios LED bulbs and MH's to get the right mix. And it's hard to not put out too much light (I know right?) when mixing all those together.
I'm just running XM 20K's as the MH bulbs right now, it's a nice color and the corals seem to respond.
I still miss having PC actinic supplemental lighting -- those were the days
Thanks. I look forward to having all sorts of pretty corals again soon.
So how's everything looking now, almost one month later? I can't seem to recall if you ever posted any video footage of the tank before. With such a broad space and it being a round tank, I always thought video would be most ideal for showcasing your animals.
Crab Rangoon
New member
If you ever consider adding more PAR38 LED units, or changing to try another color/brand, which ones have you got in mind? All I can find (now that Grassy LeDio seem to have disappeared in the USA) now are OC Reef and Orphek offering units that are any different from the EcoXotic / NanoTuners type of set-up.
Patiently waiting for more photo / video updates, too :bounce3:
Patiently waiting for more photo / video updates, too :bounce3:
dmorel
Can I borrow your towel
Things are gonig "OK" not great. I think the par 38's are just so much light when focused that directly it's really hard to get good color and not bleach the corals. I've got a few things that look really nice (red planet in particular) but my cap's are sort of blah... it's either too much light or not enough.
I've dialed back the hours the LED's are on, and arranged the light so most of what is being used is actually MH at this point. I'm thinking it's just too shallow for these LED bulbs. I might switch some out later, but I'm not too keen to make a lot of changes right now until I've got the tank just completely dialed in.
Growth is pretty good right now, and I've FINALLY put the dosers back online so I'm dialing that in now to keep the alk and calc steady. Ozone is pumping and the skimmer is pulling some great stuff out. As of today, the chiller is back online (will break 100 today here in tempe) so at least the automation of the tank's paramaters is finally complete - though I'll probably have to dial in the length of time the dosers run over the next week or so.
I'll take some pics soon(ish).
Dave, this is one of my favorite tanks ever. Still looking great despite your troubles.
It occurred to me that your light rack is mounted fairly low given the intensity of those PAR 38s. If you have the ability to raise that whole rack up it might help things. Just an idea!
Fritz
It occurred to me that your light rack is mounted fairly low given the intensity of those PAR 38s. If you have the ability to raise that whole rack up it might help things. Just an idea!
Fritz
dmorel
Can I borrow your towel
Yeah, I think you're right that it's the intensity, but unfortunately I'd have to pull a ceiling fan out that is above the rack if I wanted to raise it and I would only get a few inches - and well I really like having the fan there for cooling.
I think it's going to end up being more about placement and maybe switching out some bulbs, again... I just don't know what with, yet. I'll get it dialed in though, have no doubt. In the mean time I have to find some nice fish that I like to keep me amused.
[I'm looking at you skip!]
dmorel
Can I borrow your towel
Well I did get some new fish! (and a few new frags) yesterday.
Lights aren't on yet but the misbar anthias were front and center watching the new Powder Blue Tang, which those who know me is by far my favorite fish - so I took this crappy iPhone pic.
Not pictured is the rainfords's who likes to hang out on the other side of the tank and is a little dude.
In other news, tank paramaters are spot on and things are starting to color back up - nothing ever died, just sort of greyed out a bit. There is a new working theory that it could have been too much ozone, which I have now dialed back a fair amount. Still working on a reduced light schedule with the LED too.
More soon.
Lights aren't on yet but the misbar anthias were front and center watching the new Powder Blue Tang, which those who know me is by far my favorite fish - so I took this crappy iPhone pic.
Not pictured is the rainfords's who likes to hang out on the other side of the tank and is a little dude.
In other news, tank paramaters are spot on and things are starting to color back up - nothing ever died, just sort of greyed out a bit. There is a new working theory that it could have been too much ozone, which I have now dialed back a fair amount. Still working on a reduced light schedule with the LED too.
More soon.
Crab Rangoon
New member
If this is a question, the answer is yes :thumbsup:
Bax
Premium Member
Yup! This tank is reefalicious! :bigeyes:
willyboy
New member
Is this tank still running? I read that the lighting can't be raised because of the fan which I know is great for cooling. How high do you think the lights could be while still being adequate for the corals? Maybe if a few more LED spotlights were added could it be as high as 3-4 feet?
dmorel
Can I borrow your towel
It is, albeit a minor shell of its once glorious self. Mostly a FOWLR at the moment and some ricordia. The owner of the tank has been a little neglectful of his maintenance duties due to an overwhelming work schedule. Tank probably needs a full reboot - or at the very least a paid assistant
I actually modded some of the spotlights to run LED instead of the MH spotlights, worked a treat - they are about 28" off the water surface, but the fixtures themselves are about 8" as well. There's no room to go any higher, but one could flush mount some LED's directly on the lighting rack for sure if that was desired.
thanks for checking in on the tank!
.dm
dmorel
Can I borrow your towel
Hello everyone. After a few false starts, the round and shallow reef lives once again.
Obviously we're a far cry from the tank at it's finest, but it's super exciting to see some life in there again. I owe a ton to my new friend and local service provider that is handling most of the heavy lifting required to get things back online. I'd like to check with him before I post his name, but he's an awesome service provider who knows his stuff. Without him, this tank might still be empty.
So - here's to be being wet again, I'll hope you'll enjoy following the revival of the round and shallow reef. I'll post some details of the many changes we've made and progress pics as we go.
Obviously we're a far cry from the tank at it's finest, but it's super exciting to see some life in there again. I owe a ton to my new friend and local service provider that is handling most of the heavy lifting required to get things back online. I'd like to check with him before I post his name, but he's an awesome service provider who knows his stuff. Without him, this tank might still be empty.
So - here's to be being wet again, I'll hope you'll enjoy following the revival of the round and shallow reef. I'll post some details of the many changes we've made and progress pics as we go.
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