My Solana Superbrite Build
- Thread starter chad p
- Start date
Sorry tatuaje but the only picture I really have from the build is the one on the first page of this thread. I think I took more but I didn't load them on to photobucket or hang onto them.
I could give you the dimensions if you want. I ended up using like a 1"x3" (roughly) boards to build the frame. Then I surrounded it with cabinet grade ply wood (3/4" I believe). Then to avoid seeing the edges of the ply wood on the top I bought a 90* moulding to wrap the top edge with. I had to cut one of the sides of the molding a tad to keep it with a 20"x20" opening for the tank.
I'm really not crazy about the moulding on the bottom honestly. I found some that I like much more but the thought of sanding it, priming it and painting several coats just didn't sound like it was worth it. Maybe I'll change it down the road. We'll see.
If I had it all to do over again I'd probably make the frame differently so that it doesn't take up so much room in the stand. It's sturdy as could be which is nice but it could be a lot roomier if I did it differently or just built it strictly with ply wood like a lot of people do. Oh well, everything I need to fit will fit so I guess that's all that matters.
I could give you the dimensions if you want. I ended up using like a 1"x3" (roughly) boards to build the frame. Then I surrounded it with cabinet grade ply wood (3/4" I believe). Then to avoid seeing the edges of the ply wood on the top I bought a 90* moulding to wrap the top edge with. I had to cut one of the sides of the molding a tad to keep it with a 20"x20" opening for the tank.
I'm really not crazy about the moulding on the bottom honestly. I found some that I like much more but the thought of sanding it, priming it and painting several coats just didn't sound like it was worth it. Maybe I'll change it down the road. We'll see.
If I had it all to do over again I'd probably make the frame differently so that it doesn't take up so much room in the stand. It's sturdy as could be which is nice but it could be a lot roomier if I did it differently or just built it strictly with ply wood like a lot of people do. Oh well, everything I need to fit will fit so I guess that's all that matters.
Thanks Mang!
Thanks a lot Grnrado. I actually had the light mount made. I bought a 16 ft. length of 1" square tubing from Home Depot. Then I drew up some plans and had a guy at work weld it up. I painted it white to match the stand and I'm really happy with it.
It's ALIVE!!
It's ALIVE!!
So I've said it before...I have no patience. I had planned on waiting a couple/few weeks to move into the new build but it wasn't meant to be. I've been so busy with work lately that when I finally got a full day today to do whatever I wanted it was an easy choice.
I checked all the parameters in the new tank and everything was good to go. I don't expect any kind of a cycle with established live rock and live sand. Hope I'm right.
First thing I did was string the power cable up for the Sol. I had a wire snaked through which I tied onto the end of the power cable. Then I wrapped the end with electrical tape to keep it from hanging up.
It was a bit of a pain and I had to empty out almost half of the water in a tub so I could pull it forward and get at the light mount better but I managed. Looks pretty good and you can only see the 2 cables from one angle. Other than that the wires are completely hidden.
I moved my GFO/carbon reactor over and now the sump isn't as neat and tidy as it once was. Oh well, everything is pretty easy to get to and it's functional.
I pulled out several gallons from the new build and replaced 8 gallons of it with water from my old tank. I put all my corals in two 5 gallon buckets. Then I took out all the rock and placed it in the new tank. Then I netted my fish and moved them over. My poor purple fire fish hitched a ride in some of the rock. I hadn't even noticed that he was missing when I netted them. Then I put some food in later and he darted out of the rock and it occurred to me that he must have been in the rock when I moved it over.
Once I got the rock and fish over it was time for the most nerve racking part...placing the frags/mini colonies in and getting them where I wanted them. I had my scape perfect. I was so happy with it. Then my wife goes "what about the big rocks in the buckets with corals on them. Ugghh!!!
I ended up with a scape I can live with though but I ended up having to leave out a nice piece of Fiji rock that's loaded with coralline algae. Oh well. Here's how the scape turned out.
And finally...Here's how she looks as a whole now that she's up and running.
And from the front...
Little bit of light spill happening but it's a pain to lower the light mount. It's not that it's hard to move it up and down but it is when it's up against the wall. When we move to another house not too long from now I'll drop the light an inch or so.
My dirty little secret. The hidden corner with all my tank junk and the ATO water.
I'm having a minor issue with running the ATO from my Apex. When the float switch goes down it starts the pump but only after about a 15 second delay. That's no problem except it has the same delay after the float switch moves up into the open position. This means that the fresh water continues to get pumped in for another 15 seconds even after it's topped off. I'll have to get to the bottom of that this week. Might require a call to the Neptune folks.
I'm really happy with the tank. It's quite a bit roomier even though it's only a handful of more gallons compared to my nano cube 28. Also, the quality of the glass is definitely noticeable. Everything just looks so much brighter and the colors are more true. With the nano cube I used to have to look down through to top to see the true color and brightness of the corals. Now it shows from all sides.
Anyways, I promise that I'll post some pics of the livestock and do it with BETTER quality pics. Time to break out the DSLR and play around with the white balance. Everything always looks so blue.
Well, let me know what you guys think so far.
It's ALIVE!!
So I've said it before...I have no patience. I had planned on waiting a couple/few weeks to move into the new build but it wasn't meant to be. I've been so busy with work lately that when I finally got a full day today to do whatever I wanted it was an easy choice.
I checked all the parameters in the new tank and everything was good to go. I don't expect any kind of a cycle with established live rock and live sand. Hope I'm right.
First thing I did was string the power cable up for the Sol. I had a wire snaked through which I tied onto the end of the power cable. Then I wrapped the end with electrical tape to keep it from hanging up.
It was a bit of a pain and I had to empty out almost half of the water in a tub so I could pull it forward and get at the light mount better but I managed. Looks pretty good and you can only see the 2 cables from one angle. Other than that the wires are completely hidden.
I moved my GFO/carbon reactor over and now the sump isn't as neat and tidy as it once was. Oh well, everything is pretty easy to get to and it's functional.
I pulled out several gallons from the new build and replaced 8 gallons of it with water from my old tank. I put all my corals in two 5 gallon buckets. Then I took out all the rock and placed it in the new tank. Then I netted my fish and moved them over. My poor purple fire fish hitched a ride in some of the rock. I hadn't even noticed that he was missing when I netted them. Then I put some food in later and he darted out of the rock and it occurred to me that he must have been in the rock when I moved it over.
Once I got the rock and fish over it was time for the most nerve racking part...placing the frags/mini colonies in and getting them where I wanted them. I had my scape perfect. I was so happy with it. Then my wife goes "what about the big rocks in the buckets with corals on them. Ugghh!!!
I ended up with a scape I can live with though but I ended up having to leave out a nice piece of Fiji rock that's loaded with coralline algae. Oh well. Here's how the scape turned out.
And finally...Here's how she looks as a whole now that she's up and running.
And from the front...
Little bit of light spill happening but it's a pain to lower the light mount. It's not that it's hard to move it up and down but it is when it's up against the wall. When we move to another house not too long from now I'll drop the light an inch or so.
My dirty little secret. The hidden corner with all my tank junk and the ATO water.
I'm having a minor issue with running the ATO from my Apex. When the float switch goes down it starts the pump but only after about a 15 second delay. That's no problem except it has the same delay after the float switch moves up into the open position. This means that the fresh water continues to get pumped in for another 15 seconds even after it's topped off. I'll have to get to the bottom of that this week. Might require a call to the Neptune folks.
I'm really happy with the tank. It's quite a bit roomier even though it's only a handful of more gallons compared to my nano cube 28. Also, the quality of the glass is definitely noticeable. Everything just looks so much brighter and the colors are more true. With the nano cube I used to have to look down through to top to see the true color and brightness of the corals. Now it shows from all sides.
Anyways, I promise that I'll post some pics of the livestock and do it with BETTER quality pics. Time to break out the DSLR and play around with the white balance. Everything always looks so blue.
Well, let me know what you guys think so far.
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Pics and Reviews. One Week Anniversary!!
Pics and Reviews. One Week Anniversary!!
The Nano Reefs section has been a Solana party up in here so let's keep it going!
OK so I thought I'd give a couple my impressions now that this tank has been up for a whole week or so. Oh and I thought I'd add a few pictures that are finally marginally better than the cell phone pics that I've posted in the past to show some of the livestock.
First some impressions of the build and some of the equipment...
SCA-301 skimmer: I wasn't sure if I wanted to skimp on my skimmer with a smaller off-brand one and after a week of use I'm still not sure. It's pulling some junk but I just don't feel like I've gotten it really dialed in exactly right. Also, the tank is really new and clean so I'm not expecting a whole bunch of thick sludge. I'll give it a month or two but I'm definitely keeping the door open to upgrading to something else like a Canadian export.
Apex Lite Controller: What can I say about the Apex that hasn't already been said? Nothing. So I'll just say that it is awesome and leave it at that. I've got it controlling my return pump, GFO reactor pump, AI Sols, heater, MP10, ATO, OK...basically everything. I also added a small Aqua Tec fan over the sump that will come on if my water temp gets over 79.5*.
Glass-holes Overflow: Overall it's pretty sweet. I kind of wish they made an intermediate overflow box between the Super Nano Con Dientes and the 700GPH one. Maybe a Ultra Nano Con Dientes de Caballos?? Anyways, as long as you don't try to push it to hard it is pretty nearly silent. I'm glad I added the ball valve because I can run the return pump as hard as possible without getting gargling in the overflow. If anything, I wish I had gone with a gate valve instead to really push it as far as possible and dial it in perfectly. I could always rearrange my plumbing later though.
AI Sol: Again, what can I say that hasn't been said about this oldie but goodie? Nothing but I threw it in here because I'm actually planning on upgrading it to a Hydra in the near future. It's not that I'm not happy with the Sol per se, it's just that I want more of a full spectrum. I have a few corals that I don't think I'm getting all of the color out of them that I can. Sure it could be a number of things but I'm kind of narrowing it down to the light at this point and I'd like to see if the addition of violet and red changes anything. We'll see.
I'd also like to add some more flow. The MP10 does a pretty good job on 100% reef crest but It needs to be spread more throughout the tank. I think I'm going to add a 2nd one and place them 8-10 inches apart, both on reef crest at about 60-70%.
OK now for some pics. Let's be honest. That's what we're really after right? Nothing too amazing here because most everything are still frags. But it should give you an idea of what's to come.
Colors don't really do the corals justice but they're not way off.
Here's a rock with some of my favorite frags. Top row from l to r is emerald acro, sunset milli, reefers rainbow. Bottom row l to r is rouge milli, SD Aqua Rainbow and raspberry lemonade.
Cali tort (my only real mini colony) on top, blue matrix on the bottom:
Lobos are a dime a dozen but I like this guy. I'm adding a flameback angel next week so hoping he doesn't eat this guy:
Cali tort mini colony. The tiny frag on the right is actually a piece of Palmers Blue milli that used to be amazing deep blue. It's one of two frags that I've added that lost their color. The other was GARF Purple Bonsai. The light green one on the left is AV's Mellow Yellow. It didn't ship well (not AV'S fault) but it's recovering well. The ice blue piece on the far left edge was sold to me as Reefer's Rainbow:
These guys are on the right side of my tank. top/left to bottom clockwise are Palmers Blue (faded but I've still got hope. Gets decent PE), Turquoise Tort (lost a lot of color after shipping but made a nice comeback before swapping tanks. It'll come back to beauty), small rouge milli, AVs Orange Crush, faded GARF (see the green polyps when you squint?), green acro:
Zoa garden...every reef tank should have one. Some of them include AoG, circus, rastas, chong bong, PPE, dragon eyes, eagle eyes, everlasting gobstoppers etc. I'd like to add a few like BBEB, Fruit Loops and a couple others:
Ponape Birdsnest. Another mini colony I guess. It's coloring up real nice since I dialed back my LEDs a couple months back:
Purple firefish calls the zoa garden his home:
Ric rock with forestfire digi and lobo in the background:
Finally the FTS. OK I realize that it's basically a dressed up frag tank but I can imagine it all grown in and it brings a tear to my eye. I'm like Clark Griswold's dad on Christmas Vacation when the house won't light up..."Clark I can see it now and it's beautiful!"
I'll definitely update the thread from time to time when I add stuff or as stuff grows out. I'll also try to get better pics in the future and break out the tripod and all that instead of being lazy. Hope you guys like the build so far and I'm hoping there are some good things to come.
Pics and Reviews. One Week Anniversary!!
The Nano Reefs section has been a Solana party up in here so let's keep it going!
OK so I thought I'd give a couple my impressions now that this tank has been up for a whole week or so. Oh and I thought I'd add a few pictures that are finally marginally better than the cell phone pics that I've posted in the past to show some of the livestock.
First some impressions of the build and some of the equipment...
SCA-301 skimmer: I wasn't sure if I wanted to skimp on my skimmer with a smaller off-brand one and after a week of use I'm still not sure. It's pulling some junk but I just don't feel like I've gotten it really dialed in exactly right. Also, the tank is really new and clean so I'm not expecting a whole bunch of thick sludge. I'll give it a month or two but I'm definitely keeping the door open to upgrading to something else like a Canadian export.
Apex Lite Controller: What can I say about the Apex that hasn't already been said? Nothing. So I'll just say that it is awesome and leave it at that. I've got it controlling my return pump, GFO reactor pump, AI Sols, heater, MP10, ATO, OK...basically everything. I also added a small Aqua Tec fan over the sump that will come on if my water temp gets over 79.5*.
Glass-holes Overflow: Overall it's pretty sweet. I kind of wish they made an intermediate overflow box between the Super Nano Con Dientes and the 700GPH one. Maybe a Ultra Nano Con Dientes de Caballos?? Anyways, as long as you don't try to push it to hard it is pretty nearly silent. I'm glad I added the ball valve because I can run the return pump as hard as possible without getting gargling in the overflow. If anything, I wish I had gone with a gate valve instead to really push it as far as possible and dial it in perfectly. I could always rearrange my plumbing later though.
AI Sol: Again, what can I say that hasn't been said about this oldie but goodie? Nothing but I threw it in here because I'm actually planning on upgrading it to a Hydra in the near future. It's not that I'm not happy with the Sol per se, it's just that I want more of a full spectrum. I have a few corals that I don't think I'm getting all of the color out of them that I can. Sure it could be a number of things but I'm kind of narrowing it down to the light at this point and I'd like to see if the addition of violet and red changes anything. We'll see.
I'd also like to add some more flow. The MP10 does a pretty good job on 100% reef crest but It needs to be spread more throughout the tank. I think I'm going to add a 2nd one and place them 8-10 inches apart, both on reef crest at about 60-70%.
OK now for some pics. Let's be honest. That's what we're really after right? Nothing too amazing here because most everything are still frags. But it should give you an idea of what's to come.
Colors don't really do the corals justice but they're not way off.
Here's a rock with some of my favorite frags. Top row from l to r is emerald acro, sunset milli, reefers rainbow. Bottom row l to r is rouge milli, SD Aqua Rainbow and raspberry lemonade.
Cali tort (my only real mini colony) on top, blue matrix on the bottom:
Lobos are a dime a dozen but I like this guy. I'm adding a flameback angel next week so hoping he doesn't eat this guy:
Cali tort mini colony. The tiny frag on the right is actually a piece of Palmers Blue milli that used to be amazing deep blue. It's one of two frags that I've added that lost their color. The other was GARF Purple Bonsai. The light green one on the left is AV's Mellow Yellow. It didn't ship well (not AV'S fault) but it's recovering well. The ice blue piece on the far left edge was sold to me as Reefer's Rainbow:
These guys are on the right side of my tank. top/left to bottom clockwise are Palmers Blue (faded but I've still got hope. Gets decent PE), Turquoise Tort (lost a lot of color after shipping but made a nice comeback before swapping tanks. It'll come back to beauty), small rouge milli, AVs Orange Crush, faded GARF (see the green polyps when you squint?), green acro:
Zoa garden...every reef tank should have one. Some of them include AoG, circus, rastas, chong bong, PPE, dragon eyes, eagle eyes, everlasting gobstoppers etc. I'd like to add a few like BBEB, Fruit Loops and a couple others:
Ponape Birdsnest. Another mini colony I guess. It's coloring up real nice since I dialed back my LEDs a couple months back:
Purple firefish calls the zoa garden his home:
Ric rock with forestfire digi and lobo in the background:
Finally the FTS. OK I realize that it's basically a dressed up frag tank but I can imagine it all grown in and it brings a tear to my eye. I'm like Clark Griswold's dad on Christmas Vacation when the house won't light up..."Clark I can see it now and it's beautiful!"
I'll definitely update the thread from time to time when I add stuff or as stuff grows out. I'll also try to get better pics in the future and break out the tripod and all that instead of being lazy. Hope you guys like the build so far and I'm hoping there are some good things to come.
Lighting Change
Lighting Change
OK so in fairness I really didn't give the Sol Blue a chance to see whether or not I was happy with it. After using it for a couple of months it seems like it was performing as well as my Kessil but with better spread. Nothing to complain about.
However, I still have a few frags that I'm convinced just don't like LEDs. I may be wrong but I can't help but wonder what kind of changes in color I'd see if I went to MH lighting. I considered upgrading to a Hydra for better spectrum but I was able to pick up a 250W Hamilton Cayman Sun reflector with a new 14K bulb for $95 shipped so I figured why not conduct a little experiment? I ordered a Lumatek adjustable ballast which will be here tomorrow and we'll see how things go.
The first thing I did was to disassemble the reflector so I could paint the shell white to match my system. Here it is over my tank. Not quite as sleek looking as the Sol that's for sure, but still not too clunky.
We'll see if I get too much spill from the back:
I'll post another pic in the next few days as well to give my initial thoughts about the light and how it compares to my Sol. And of course I'll update and let you guys know if I get any return in color from some of my pale frags.
The 3 frags that have dulled out since moving them from MH to my LEDs are:
-GARF Purple Bonsai
-Palmers Blue Milli
-Turquoise Stag
-unknown acro (acropora nana?)
If I can get some color back from these pieces along with a little better color from some other SPS I think it'll be worth the extra cost/heat from the MH but we shall see.
I also lost 2 fish which is a bummer. Especially since one of them was my $84 Swales Basslet. This little guy was so awesome with alternating day-glow orange and powder blue stripes. The only problem was that he was so shy that he rarely ever came out, even to eat.
The other one was my little purple firefish. He was shy too and just never really asserted himself enough to get enough food I think. I did a 5 gallon water change once I realized that they bit the dust. I also picked up a small 6 line wrasse. I don't really have any pest problems that I know of. I just like these fish. I plan on adding a dwarf angel too at some point. Either a Flameback or a Cherub.
I tested my parameters now that my tank has been up for a couple of weeks and things look OK:
Nitrates: 0 ppm
Calcium: 540 ppm
Magnesium: 1540 ppm
Alk: 8-9 DkH
I don't have a phosphate test but I plan on getting a Hanna Phosphate checker.
I think I can cut back on my B Ionic calcium from the 2 part but not the alkalinity. Not sure why my Mg is always so high. I don't add it but it's always between 1500-1600. I use Reef Crystals which I've never heard of being that high in Ca. or Mg. out of the bag.
I did start to see a bit of cyano on the sand in one corner just before taking down the Sol. Not sure if it's an issue due to losing the fish or not. It's something I battled twice with my old tank and I'm hoping I don't see a major outbreak after I fire up the new light but I decided to set up the new reflector and go lights out for today and tomorrow anyways.
Lighting Change
OK so in fairness I really didn't give the Sol Blue a chance to see whether or not I was happy with it. After using it for a couple of months it seems like it was performing as well as my Kessil but with better spread. Nothing to complain about.
However, I still have a few frags that I'm convinced just don't like LEDs. I may be wrong but I can't help but wonder what kind of changes in color I'd see if I went to MH lighting. I considered upgrading to a Hydra for better spectrum but I was able to pick up a 250W Hamilton Cayman Sun reflector with a new 14K bulb for $95 shipped so I figured why not conduct a little experiment? I ordered a Lumatek adjustable ballast which will be here tomorrow and we'll see how things go.
The first thing I did was to disassemble the reflector so I could paint the shell white to match my system. Here it is over my tank. Not quite as sleek looking as the Sol that's for sure, but still not too clunky.
We'll see if I get too much spill from the back:
I'll post another pic in the next few days as well to give my initial thoughts about the light and how it compares to my Sol. And of course I'll update and let you guys know if I get any return in color from some of my pale frags.
The 3 frags that have dulled out since moving them from MH to my LEDs are:
-GARF Purple Bonsai
-Palmers Blue Milli
-Turquoise Stag
-unknown acro (acropora nana?)
If I can get some color back from these pieces along with a little better color from some other SPS I think it'll be worth the extra cost/heat from the MH but we shall see.
I also lost 2 fish which is a bummer. Especially since one of them was my $84 Swales Basslet. This little guy was so awesome with alternating day-glow orange and powder blue stripes. The only problem was that he was so shy that he rarely ever came out, even to eat.
The other one was my little purple firefish. He was shy too and just never really asserted himself enough to get enough food I think. I did a 5 gallon water change once I realized that they bit the dust. I also picked up a small 6 line wrasse. I don't really have any pest problems that I know of. I just like these fish. I plan on adding a dwarf angel too at some point. Either a Flameback or a Cherub.
I tested my parameters now that my tank has been up for a couple of weeks and things look OK:
Nitrates: 0 ppm
Calcium: 540 ppm
Magnesium: 1540 ppm
Alk: 8-9 DkH
I don't have a phosphate test but I plan on getting a Hanna Phosphate checker.
I think I can cut back on my B Ionic calcium from the 2 part but not the alkalinity. Not sure why my Mg is always so high. I don't add it but it's always between 1500-1600. I use Reef Crystals which I've never heard of being that high in Ca. or Mg. out of the bag.
I did start to see a bit of cyano on the sand in one corner just before taking down the Sol. Not sure if it's an issue due to losing the fish or not. It's something I battled twice with my old tank and I'm hoping I don't see a major outbreak after I fire up the new light but I decided to set up the new reflector and go lights out for today and tomorrow anyways.
Thanks E.intheC. I'll post a pic or two of the tank lit up by the MH tomorrow. The ballast was supposed to come in on Saturday. I was working and had no idea it needed a signature. I took down the Sol and got the MH reflector all set up just to come home to a note that my package would be delivered Monday. Uggghh!
I'm really looking forward to being able to update this thread after 1, 2 and 6 months etc to see how my color and growth changes assuming there are noticeable changes to show.
I'm really looking forward to being able to update this thread after 1, 2 and 6 months etc to see how my color and growth changes assuming there are noticeable changes to show.
Tiger Conch for that sand bed.
I'm open to anything calistyle. I battled it twice in my old tank and it was a huge PITA. Never got that out of hand but just enough popping up on the sand bed to bug the heck out of me. I tried everything other than chemical additives.
I really think more flow, and more importantly, more widespread flow in the tank will do the trick. I'm going to add another MP10 soon and probably a Koralia 750 too to really stir things up.
Thanks a lot Noamurmac. I'd love to get more artsy fartsy with the scape but I'm all about having tons of room for corals. I've probably got more SPS than I should really have once they start to grow in but I've got at least another 5 must-haves that I want to add. :headwally:
So here she is lit up with the new MH:
There's a lot of spill out of the back because the light doesn't sit dead center. I think I'll live with it instead of customizing the mount. Otherwise it'll be a pain to get in there and work in the tank.
I'm starting the ballast at 175W for a week or 2 just to make sure that everything acclimates OK. I'm sure that it would be fine to crank it up to 250W without problem being that the corals have all been blasted with the LEDs. My GARF Purple Bonsai is pretty much white at this point.
I'm pretty happy with the color of the Hamilton 14K bulb even though it's a bit whiter than the Sol was configured. I'll probably try a 20K bulb sometime down the road but I think it will be too blue for my liking. I may jimmy-rig a violet+blue stunner strip onto the pennant too if I can do it without making it look horrible. Then I could get some more pop with the colors and a morning/night transition...we'll see.
I'm really psyched to see how everything colors up over the next several months. If I can get some of my pieces back to what they looked like when I acquired them it will be worth the hassles involved.
Here's a FTS with the new light. I'm fairly happy with the color but I'm definitely going to try a 20K in a bit to see how I like it. The 14K isn't necessarily too white for me, it's just that you lose a little pop of the colors.
It's definitely brighter just in terms of coverage and...well...brightness. There's less shadowing and dim spots. I remember when I switched from a 150W HQI to the Kessil, being underwhelmed by the brightness of it. I guess I got used to it and now the 250W MH looks insanely bright.
I was a little worried about how much the temp would swing but it ended up being fairly negligible on day one. My temp normally bottoms out at 77.4 and topped out at 78.1. Today it topped out at 80.1 and then started back down at about 6:00 this evening. I can deal with >3 degree swing. Of course I prefer as stable as possible in all my parameters but it's not like it's skyrocketing into the mid or high 80s.
I have a small dual fan over the sump that keeps it manageable. The Apex turns it on when the water temp reaches 78.5*. You can see the fan to the left of my sump. During abnormally warm days I could always move the fan to the top of the display tank blowing between the water surface and the pennant.
I took some pictures of some of my bleached or dull SPS so I can compare their color later under the 250W MH. I'll definitely update this with comparison shots if/when I see a return in color.
It's definitely brighter just in terms of coverage and...well...brightness. There's less shadowing and dim spots. I remember when I switched from a 150W HQI to the Kessil, being underwhelmed by the brightness of it. I guess I got used to it and now the 250W MH looks insanely bright.
I was a little worried about how much the temp would swing but it ended up being fairly negligible on day one. My temp normally bottoms out at 77.4 and topped out at 78.1. Today it topped out at 80.1 and then started back down at about 6:00 this evening. I can deal with >3 degree swing. Of course I prefer as stable as possible in all my parameters but it's not like it's skyrocketing into the mid or high 80s.
I have a small dual fan over the sump that keeps it manageable. The Apex turns it on when the water temp reaches 78.5*. You can see the fan to the left of my sump. During abnormally warm days I could always move the fan to the top of the display tank blowing between the water surface and the pennant.
I took some pictures of some of my bleached or dull SPS so I can compare their color later under the 250W MH. I'll definitely update this with comparison shots if/when I see a return in color.
Yes sir. That's the ebay special. So far I'm less than impressed but I'm going to give it some more time. I'm figuring that my tank is pretty clean since it's only been set up for a short time with live sand and fully cured live rock. I don't really want to pass judgement until the tank has been up and running for at least a few more months.
To me it just seems like it's hard to dial it in just right. The water level in that chamber of my sump stays constant but the skimmate that is produced is anything but constant. I prefer a bit of a wet skim. Not quite green tea but not sludge either. After constantly tweaking the thing I finally got it where I wanted it only to check on it the next day and it was half full of off color water. :angryfire:
Being that the tank is SPS dominant I want to make sure I'm skimming efficiently. My bioload isn't huge at the moment. I've got a pair of clowns, a royal gramma and a small 6 line wrasse. However, I want to add a dwarf angel and possibly a few uncommon chromis or something like that. I do plan on returning the royal gramma to the LFS at some point though. He's the lead suspect in a couple cleaner shrimp deaths in the past. I want to add a cleaner, fire shrimp and maybe a harlequin to handle my asterina sp.
I'll update down the road on how happy I am with the skimmer. If it doesn't work out I'm thinking of going with a SWC Xtreme 120 cone skimmer.
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