My 280g Custom upgrade.....

a few more pictures with the t5's on and lights at 25%/45% intensity. Pictures taken with cell phone. I really need to keep my good camera next to the tank at all times.

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Found this guy just hanging out last night while I was cleaning the glass....

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Gotta love that scarlett.

Is the first pic of tubastrea sun coral? If so, I've found they do much better in shaded/low lighting and to really develop a thick flesh they need about 3-4 feedings weekly (at minimum). Not sure if that's a new addition or not:)
 
The scarletts are awesome!

That is a tubastrea and I've had it close to some rocks and an overhang since moving it to the big tank. I have been feeding it a couple of times a week and it has definitely been opening more since being under the new light. The t5's I had on the frag tank were way too strong for that tank. It was all opened last night and I tried to get a picture of it but of course I only had my cell and the picture didnt look good.
 
First full tank shot

First full tank shot

Lights just came on about 30 mins ago and happy to report that all corals and fish are doing great. I have been slowly increasing in the intensity on the leds and right now I am at 25% white and 55% all other colors with the t5's running a total of 3 hrs a day. I will increase that another 15 mins this week.

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Once again...still taking pictures with my cell phone
 
Looks good Steve. Not too bad for a cell phone pic. Carry your big boy camera downstairs and keep it by your tank. You will get some pretty good candid fish shots around feeding time...LOL.
 
Steve, looks great and that aquascape is definitely more populated than it was a few weeks back:) Really need to just keep that camera down by your tank!
 
thanks guys. I was up late last night working on the final piece of the system and that was tying the 80g frag tank into the main system. It was a little bit of a challenge as the space for the drain and return lines was very tight. I basically had to do the plumbing with one hand. Now the water storage tanks can be moved into their permanent spot and I can make some adjustments on that plumbing.

NITRATE UPDATE....... 5ppm and I am very happy with that. Scrubber is developing some nice growth and will get a cleaning later on today.

Now its time to seriously start thinking about livestock. I want to add a group of Anthias but can't decide which one.
 
Lights just came on about 30 mins ago and happy to report that all corals and fish are doing great. I have been slowly increasing in the intensity on the leds and right now I am at 25% white and 55% all other colors with the t5's running a total of 3 hrs a day. I will increase that another 15 mins this week.

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Once again...still taking pictures with my cell phone


How do you like the light fixture?
 
Adam, I really love how the light makes my tank look. A lot of the led lights I have seen look like they have a "neon" effect to them. These lights are so natural looking and my sps are already starting to show new signs of growth.
 
Water tests

Water tests

I ran my weekly water tests tonight and I am very happy with the results....

Alk 9.4 dkh
Ca 450
Mg 1320 need to start dosing mg
N03 5ppm
P04 .009 hanna ulr phosphorous checker
SG 1.027...not happy about this one. Not sure how it crept up but I will bring it back down.
Finally I took some pictures with the big boy camera and will get them uploaded later on tonight or tomorrow.

I have notice a couple of spots of what looks like cyano so I increased flow on the power heads.

NEED SOME FEEDBACK HERE......I am noticing bubbles being released from the rock in my tank. I don't remember seeing this the last time I used dry rock in my tank nearly two years ago. Is this normal or is something brewing in the tank?
 
Pictures

Pictures

The purple in my sps is finally starting to come back after having some po4 issues in the 80g tank that they were in before moving over to the new tank. These pictures were taken with the standard lens (need to get a macro) on my EOS digital camera during the sunset period for the light. Some were take at the beginning of sunset and others were taken about half way thru sunset. I took a lot of pictures that will be used for month over month comparison shots.

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yeah you think they are stronger than what they really are. The lose piece is actually from another monti I had that wasnt doing so well so about 6 months ago and I was able to salvage a 2"x2" piece and it has recovered nicely.

If you look at the last picture I posted you can see the bubbles and a little bit of what I believe to be cyano growing.
 
Blow it off with a turkey baster or powerhead, or (preferrably, but slightly more time consuming) use a piece of airline hose as a slow siphon to suck it off until the scrubber kicks into full gear
 
Looks good Steve! Glad you got the "Big Boy Camera" out to play with:thumbsup:

I like to remove the cyano with a baster just to make sure it does not land where I don't want it to. Increase that flow a bit and play around with the dead spots. Once those are dialed in and your Nitrates/Phosphates are in check they will lose the battle:D
 
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