Lev F.
New member
People might have mixed feelings about this, so please no flaming.
I wanted SPS only to find out that they need a large amount of light. being 13, I could neither afford or support thse huge Metal Halides. I wanted to try LPS, but they also needed a large amount of light. Plus, everyone has SPS or LPS. I wanted something different. Something interesting to look at, but not needing a huge amount of light. Then, i found my answer. Something inexpensive, fun to watch, not needing a huge amount of light, and providing some degree of challenge: Soft corals, Gorgonians and other Nonzooxanthellate invertebrates. A couple of months ago, i started my project. I had asked my father to build me a custom NO flourescent fixture. It had been spanning for several weeks, but as of this evening, It is complete! It has four bulbs; 2 Marine-Glo Actinics, and 2 10'000K Power Glo lights. Ballasts were store bought, wire were store bought, and so was everything else, except the Canopy itself, which was actually a used metal halide canopy at one point. It was a great canopy, aluminum, stain proof, and with an acrylic shield. Then, the construction began. I have watched my father working several times and helped him out when he needed it. I do not know how to explain all the "technical stuff", but here are some pics.
The light has a reflector, so you cannot see the wires, those pics are without the reflector one. I will post more pics tommorow, because it is now the evening and the tank is on it's night cycle. somewhere in the future, moonlights will be added. I really thank my dad for making this project possible. I some of my invertebrates would be in need of live foods. Already in the making is a little thing called a BBU. a BBU is short for Brine Shrimp Breeding Unit.
It has a clever design that I had taken a couple of weeks to perfect. When fully stocked, the BBu will hold 30-50 Pairs of adult Artemia. Once the artemia start breeding, the nauplii will slide down the tiny gap and into the main tank, where they will be gorged apon my corals, fish, and gorgonians. An automatic feeder will be suspended above the BBU, feeding the artemia when needed. The BBu will be placed cleverly as so when the nauplii get out, they are swept towards the large gorgonian, which can eat at it's leisure. Of course, the Gorg's feeding will also be supplemented with spot feedings every 4-5 days. Another future project is the Rotifer-Phytoplankton dripper. It is a Kent dripper equipped for breeding rotifers and phytoplankton. When a good culture of phytoplankton starts within the container, I will add rotifers. Then, I will activate the drip cycle, and food will be available for plankton feeders.
The current occupants of this system are as follows:
1 Orange Gorgonian (Feeding heavily every 2nd day until the BBU becomes Active.
2 Colonies of Tubastrea Sun Polyps.
1 Hawaiian Feather Duster Worm
In the future, occupants would include:
Many species of Mushroom corals.
Species of Leather Corals.
Green Star Polyps
Gorgonians
Tube Anemone
Christmas Tree Worms
Coco Worm
Black Tubastrea
and possibly some more. (any suggestions?)
I will try to get more pics up tommorow, if you guys are still interested. I hope some of you might find this thread interesting, if not long. Feel free to post comments, questions, or concerns.
I wanted SPS only to find out that they need a large amount of light. being 13, I could neither afford or support thse huge Metal Halides. I wanted to try LPS, but they also needed a large amount of light. Plus, everyone has SPS or LPS. I wanted something different. Something interesting to look at, but not needing a huge amount of light. Then, i found my answer. Something inexpensive, fun to watch, not needing a huge amount of light, and providing some degree of challenge: Soft corals, Gorgonians and other Nonzooxanthellate invertebrates. A couple of months ago, i started my project. I had asked my father to build me a custom NO flourescent fixture. It had been spanning for several weeks, but as of this evening, It is complete! It has four bulbs; 2 Marine-Glo Actinics, and 2 10'000K Power Glo lights. Ballasts were store bought, wire were store bought, and so was everything else, except the Canopy itself, which was actually a used metal halide canopy at one point. It was a great canopy, aluminum, stain proof, and with an acrylic shield. Then, the construction began. I have watched my father working several times and helped him out when he needed it. I do not know how to explain all the "technical stuff", but here are some pics.
The light has a reflector, so you cannot see the wires, those pics are without the reflector one. I will post more pics tommorow, because it is now the evening and the tank is on it's night cycle. somewhere in the future, moonlights will be added. I really thank my dad for making this project possible. I some of my invertebrates would be in need of live foods. Already in the making is a little thing called a BBU. a BBU is short for Brine Shrimp Breeding Unit.
It has a clever design that I had taken a couple of weeks to perfect. When fully stocked, the BBu will hold 30-50 Pairs of adult Artemia. Once the artemia start breeding, the nauplii will slide down the tiny gap and into the main tank, where they will be gorged apon my corals, fish, and gorgonians. An automatic feeder will be suspended above the BBU, feeding the artemia when needed. The BBu will be placed cleverly as so when the nauplii get out, they are swept towards the large gorgonian, which can eat at it's leisure. Of course, the Gorg's feeding will also be supplemented with spot feedings every 4-5 days. Another future project is the Rotifer-Phytoplankton dripper. It is a Kent dripper equipped for breeding rotifers and phytoplankton. When a good culture of phytoplankton starts within the container, I will add rotifers. Then, I will activate the drip cycle, and food will be available for plankton feeders.
The current occupants of this system are as follows:
1 Orange Gorgonian (Feeding heavily every 2nd day until the BBU becomes Active.
2 Colonies of Tubastrea Sun Polyps.
1 Hawaiian Feather Duster Worm
In the future, occupants would include:
Many species of Mushroom corals.
Species of Leather Corals.
Green Star Polyps
Gorgonians
Tube Anemone
Christmas Tree Worms
Coco Worm
Black Tubastrea
and possibly some more. (any suggestions?)
I will try to get more pics up tommorow, if you guys are still interested. I hope some of you might find this thread interesting, if not long. Feel free to post comments, questions, or concerns.
