Kasey's 60g

[kaserpick]

I would like to add that this tank has been my most challenging reef keeping experience. Over a year of running, and my growth is minimal. It's been both discouraging and exhilarating. I've never had to work so hard to find the happy medium for nutrients. My Alk uptake rose dramatically in the past few week; it caught me off guard today at a reading of 5.4 dKH. I usually sit in the mid 8's. That being said, I'm very slowly raising it.

I'm starting to see more and more growth tips!

 

[kaserpick]

Thought I'd show some pics of the growing that are exhibiting growth. This is huge to me, as I haven't had any sort of growth, besides base growth, for almost a year (not counting birdnest).

Copp's Miyagi Tort

Copp's Tricolor

ORA Red Planet

A. Nana I think

Pocci

Orange cap

Green Slimer

Thanks for looking!

 

[plyle02]

Wow Kasey,
Looking good, your colors are coming along nicely, and the overall coral health is superb. Great job bouncing back, the tank looks awesome!
Congrats...

 

[Fsurocks99]

Looking awesome as usual, Kasey!

 

[kaserpick]

Wow Kasey,
Looking good, your colors are coming along nicely, and the overall coral health is superb. Great job bouncing back, the tank looks awesome!
Congrats...

Thanks, Perry! It's been a fight, to say the least; there have been multiple times where I've entertained the idea of tearing it down. Now, I'm glad I never did. Hopefully, it stays that way. My alkalinity is worrisome; I've doubled my dose and frequency (from daily to twice daily), but it has still only moved to 5.7 dKH. Slow and steady, I suppose. Thanks again!

Looking awesome as usual, Kasey!

Thanks, Jack! I say that for two reasons: 1) Thanks for the compliment. 2) Thanks for keeping your tank going! It's been very encouraging and certainly helped me stay in this hobby. Keep up the great work! :thumbsup:

 

[Fsurocks99]

Thanks, Jack! I say that for two reasons: 1) Thanks for the compliment. 2) Thanks for keeping your tank going! It's been very encouraging and certainly helped me stay in this hobby. Keep up the great work! :thumbsup:

Likewise man! Of course, it looks like I may be moving out in July. I'm undecided as to what I'll do with the tank. I might strip it down and just keep the equipment, the clowns and the nem. Then, just put them in the old biocube. The other option is to get a custom tank (rimless cube either 2x2x1.5 or 3x2x2). Or just set up the tank as is in the new place...I find it hard to part with the hobby!

 

[kaserpick]

Custom! Custom! Custom!

Either way, I think you should keep, what you have, rolling.

 

[Fsurocks99]

Custom! Custom! Custom!

Either way, I think you should keep, what you have, rolling.

Haha I'm leaning towards that, but depends on cost cause rent isn't cheap...

 

[kaserpick]

Indeed, especially if you're staying in Hampton Roads. In Greenville, I could rent a nice and large town house for the price of a sketchy single bedroom apartment in Va. Beach. There's a lot of things I miss about home, but the cost of living is not one of them.

Looking forward to seeing what you do!

 

[kaserpick]

I made some progress on the light. The T5's are installed! I still need to install the LED's and wire the fans.

 

[kaserpick]

Lighting update:

Due to the age of my Radium bulb, I decided to hang the T5 hybrid fixture. It doesn't have the LED's installed, so it's not a hybrid, yet. I plan to complete that in the near future. I hung the fixture on the high side, so that it will hopefully not shock the corals. Time will tell. Here's a couple of pics:

In the next day, I'll be trying to get some close ups of the corals. The colors are a little off, due to the iPhone camera.

 

[Chrisrush]

Looking good Kasey. Glad to hear things are picking up (especially the growth). I have had a good couple of months of growth as well, which led me to re-aquascape, and now I'm back trying to get stable again.

Nice LEDs. I'm going to send you a PM.

 

[cugly]

Looking good you will like the led t5 combo I had great results with it..

Danny

 

[Reefed419]

Why did u decide to do an AIO?

 

[westreef]

Looking so awesome with nice color and great PE. :beer:I think your LED/T5 combo will do really good too.

 

[kaserpick]

Looking good Kasey. Glad to hear things are picking up (especially the growth). I have had a good couple of months of growth as well, which led me to re-aquascape, and now I'm back trying to get stable again.

Nice LEDs. I'm going to send you a PM.

Looking good you will like the led t5 combo I had great results with it..

Danny

Thanks for the encouragement! I'm very curious to see how the corals react to the LED/T5 combo. I've been feeding extra for the corals to help with any stress. Growth seems to continue, but time will tell.

Why did u decide to do an AIO?

Honestly, there were a few reasons: (in no particular order)
- An AIO meant more simplicity, as far as flood risks are concerned.
- I don't have a lot of livestock for a 60g. That being said, I felt like it was hard for me to find a balance of feeding and exporting, since I wasn't used to it.
- Visually, the DT section looks mor balanced to me.
- Lastly, my first successful SPS reef was achieved in a 30 breeder, set up very similarly. I've struggled a bit with this reef. I found myself regrouping, and while doing so, I felt drawn to turn it into something more familiar.

Bottom Line: I'm more comfortable with it, if that makes sense.

Looking so awesome with nice color and great PE. :beer:I think your LED/T5 combo will do really good too.

Thank you very much for the kind words!

EDIT: I forgot to reiterate that the LED's are not complete. I'm hoping to get some work done on it tomorrow. I've been playing around with the circuit using old LED's to understand it better. I really enjoy designing the board and configuration, but I'm an electrical novice. I take my sweet time because of this.

 

[biggles]

Wow you've been busy Kasey, the new light unit looks great over the display and not at all like a DIY hack job that Bello suggested it was going to look like in a PM a while back. Looking forward to seeing what you think once you have the LED's installed mate :thumbsup:
I haven't seen a side sump like that before but it looks great to me. Must make keeping an eye on everything easy and is flood safe to boot. I never close in my cabinets or hoods as i like to see what's going on anywhere at a glance so your setup would suit me fine
The corals are looking healthy and i'm sure keeping the nutrients up when SPS are under the weather helps, i do the same thing if and when i upset the acros with a goof lol.

 

[kaserpick]

Wow you've been busy Kasey, the new light unit looks great over the display and not at all like a DIY hack job that Bello suggested it was going to look like in a PM a while back. Looking forward to seeing what you think once you have the LED's installed mate :thumbsup:
I haven't seen a side sump like that before but it looks great to me. Must make keeping an eye on everything easy and is flood safe to boot. I never close in my cabinets or hoods as i like to see what's going on anywhere at a glance so your setup would suit me fine
The corals are looking healthy and i'm sure keeping the nutrients up when SPS are under the weather helps, i do the same thing if and when i upset the acros with a goof lol.

Thanks, Biggles. The lights been such a slow build, but even with only the T5's I'm very pleased. I can't wait to see what it looks like with the LED's. That sounds like Bello, always talking trash!

My 30 breeder had a side sump because it was in my dorm room back then. The thing literally took up my entire desk. Anyway, I agree; it really makes checking and monitoring things easy.

I hated to change the lighting as things were growing, but I just didn't want to buy a new Radium when I knew that I'd be using the hybrid soon. Thanks for the encouragement and kind words!

 

[kaserpick]

Bmullikin1 requested some information on how I converted this tank into an AIO system. Here's a pic of the tank while the silicone was curing (I may have already posted it, but it's my only relevant pic):

I simply bought a thick piece of acrylic (black) that was larger than the height and width I needed. I then measured the inside width of the tank and the desired height that I wanted my water level. I cut the acrylic to these measurements (something like 23"w x 12" tall). Once this was complete, I decided where to place the overflow and drilled holes that would become the bottom of the teeth. I then used a band saw to cut the teeth. Now, my dividing board was complete, so I silicones it on all three edges (bottom and both sides), making sure too apply silicone on the front and backside of the board. After it cured for 24 hours (for holding strength only. It's not fully cured until 48 hours I believe), I attached the neon green box behind the overflow to help minimize splash. I then let the tank sit for another 48 hours. Once I finished moving, I filled the tank and let it rip! I hope that helps, and I'm sorry that I don't have pics of the process.

 

[kaserpick]

Here's some updated pics. I'm currently having a small battle with either Dino's or diatoms. It's been going on for over a month. I believe it's my RO/DI filters, so I've ordered new ones. They should arrive next week. Nothing seems to be harmed, so I'm not really bothering with it, just cleaning it during a water change.

Took this before the water change:

These next two are after the water change (no computer to connect my camera to, so these are iPhone pics...terribly blue):

Things are growing, not at awesome speed, but they're growing.