(HD720p)S.MAC 600g SPS System/Full MH + Solaris/Surge/Prop/Fuge/Pond Chiller
- Thread starter Kraylen
- Start date
REEF SMAC
New member
Thanks Acronic.
Yah man trying to get some time in to practice taking some decent shots. Sure takes up some time to figure it out.
I've had pretty good luck mixing up different salt brands so far.
Oh Snap.. Steve got himself a Macro Lens!!Nice shots man..
Thanks you guys. Thanks for the kind words. Glad you're liking them.
Here's a few more for you-
steevareno2002
New member
Great tank! do you notice the corals coloring up more under MH vs. LED?
REEF SMAC
New member
Wowwzzy Steve this is extremely Macroficent I mean magnificent
So much detail I think one can make out whether the coral is male or female :lol2:
Great snaps you are mastering the art!!
Thanks you guys! Thanks for looking.
Thank you steevareno2002.
I really did find much of a difference when my LEDs were new. They worked really well for me, for well over a year. The colors they were putting out were just fine. They soon deteriorated quickly after that though.
I still have some 4 year old LEDs still running over my QT tank but they won't grow anything but brown corals at this point.
50,000 hours my a$$.
REEF SMAC
New member
Hello all,
Haven't put any updates on here for a while. So here goes a little update for you all.
I've been doing a major hack job on a whole bunch of stuff for a period of several months now. So much of my corals were just getting too large. Not really a bad problem to have actually, it was just getting to the point where the entire top canopy of my tank was just one solid coral mass. I was getting many corals that were dying at the bases from not being able to get any light and at the same time growing all the way to water surface and/or growing outward to where they were touching my viewing windows and making it really difficult to clean them. In fact, the entire lower half of my tank was becoming really shaded and just wasn't able to get much light at all. I was actually losing corals in the lower half of my tank that used to do really well and had just been shaded to the point of being brown and/or dead.
I've been spending many hours cutting out large colonies, chopping off all that lower dead underbrush, and replanting them back as a more manageable size. I've also tried to rearrange some of their placements, putting some of the ones that really table out solid to lower areas where they don't block out the light to everything below them. This never seems to work too well as they all seem to table pretty much once the reach a certain size, but I'll keep trying.
Some corals have responded well to the new changes, some not so well. Some of the ones that weren't getting much light, being shaded from above, suddenly are getting a ton more light. Some of those are looking better every day and others bleached from the light shock and still are pretty mad (or even dead). Some of the ones that I moved to different locations like their new spot, others hated it and RTNed. I've been trying to accomplish this task in phases, that way not causing too much of a shock to my system at one time.
Overall it's been positive so far. I never really seem to be able to make everything in my tank happy at the same time though anyway.
I put this project off for a long time, probably too long, knowing what a chore this was going to be. I still have a ways to go, as this is still a work in progress.
Here are a bunch of pictures I took before I began this massacre.
Haven't put any updates on here for a while. So here goes a little update for you all.
I've been doing a major hack job on a whole bunch of stuff for a period of several months now. So much of my corals were just getting too large. Not really a bad problem to have actually, it was just getting to the point where the entire top canopy of my tank was just one solid coral mass. I was getting many corals that were dying at the bases from not being able to get any light and at the same time growing all the way to water surface and/or growing outward to where they were touching my viewing windows and making it really difficult to clean them. In fact, the entire lower half of my tank was becoming really shaded and just wasn't able to get much light at all. I was actually losing corals in the lower half of my tank that used to do really well and had just been shaded to the point of being brown and/or dead.
I've been spending many hours cutting out large colonies, chopping off all that lower dead underbrush, and replanting them back as a more manageable size. I've also tried to rearrange some of their placements, putting some of the ones that really table out solid to lower areas where they don't block out the light to everything below them. This never seems to work too well as they all seem to table pretty much once the reach a certain size, but I'll keep trying.
Some corals have responded well to the new changes, some not so well. Some of the ones that weren't getting much light, being shaded from above, suddenly are getting a ton more light. Some of those are looking better every day and others bleached from the light shock and still are pretty mad (or even dead). Some of the ones that I moved to different locations like their new spot, others hated it and RTNed. I've been trying to accomplish this task in phases, that way not causing too much of a shock to my system at one time.
Overall it's been positive so far. I never really seem to be able to make everything in my tank happy at the same time though anyway.
I put this project off for a long time, probably too long, knowing what a chore this was going to be. I still have a ways to go, as this is still a work in progress.
Here are a bunch of pictures I took before I began this massacre.
REEF SMAC
New member
This Oregon Tort was up out of the water with my main pump off. I lowered it down about 8".
This Strawberry Lemonade grew massive onto the end of this piece of Tonga branch. I used a Sawsall blade on a handle to cut through the Tonga branch so I could move the entire colony. It was a beating but it worked.
And of course the FTS-
REEF SMAC
New member
Here is a shot of three buckets of coral skeletons that I cut out of my tank. I think this is actually pretty close to the same amount of media that I've dissolved in my CA RX over the few years it took to grow these corals. There is quite a bit of kalk in there somewhere too.
So after this coral massacre my tank is looking like this now--
So after this coral massacre my tank is looking like this now--
Reef_Noob
New member
Hiya Steve,
Ok now it's official you are a "Coral Serial Killer"
Jokes apart what an amazing update. I would say this is Reefing at one of its best. I can very well imagine the hard work you had put into trimming and relocating corals. Wow!!!
You should be so proud you have achieved such "nitrous" accelerated growth in your system. And corals looking truly beautiful even after the "massacre" in your terms
Welcome back "Coral Gardener"
You are a true inspiration to me and everyone who loves SPS. I was feeling lazy but going through this update has recharged my batteries and I'm gonna go finish plumbing my new tank...Right now!
Thank you for sharing your journey.
Ok now it's official you are a "Coral Serial Killer"
Jokes apart what an amazing update. I would say this is Reefing at one of its best. I can very well imagine the hard work you had put into trimming and relocating corals. Wow!!!
You should be so proud you have achieved such "nitrous" accelerated growth in your system. And corals looking truly beautiful even after the "massacre" in your terms
Welcome back "Coral Gardener"
You are a true inspiration to me and everyone who loves SPS. I was feeling lazy but going through this update has recharged my batteries and I'm gonna go finish plumbing my new tank...Right now!
Thank you for sharing your journey.
Santoki
Shimmer Addict
It's always a pleasure to see your updates. Without a doubt one of the of most well thought out systems I've seen and complete without being unnecessarily complex.
I think the surge system is almost certainly responsible for the density you're able to achieve. Now I just have to buy a new house so I can incorporate a surge system like yours!
One question regarding your early LED experiences...
You mentioned that it worked well for the the first year or so but then wasn't so good after that initial time. Do you know what type of emitters were used in your LED system? Do you think output dropped after the first year or was it a shift in spectra?
thanks and keep up the awesome work.
-Robert
I think the surge system is almost certainly responsible for the density you're able to achieve. Now I just have to buy a new house so I can incorporate a surge system like yours!
One question regarding your early LED experiences...
You mentioned that it worked well for the the first year or so but then wasn't so good after that initial time. Do you know what type of emitters were used in your LED system? Do you think output dropped after the first year or was it a shift in spectra?
thanks and keep up the awesome work.
-Robert
