Pete's 110 build
- Thread starter psteeleb
- Start date
psteeleb
Team RC
here is another comparison
my main duncan colony from about a year ago - it was just a tad larger then a golf ball
now it's the size of a softball or about 5"-6" across, not only are the colony and individual polyps larger, the more significant change is the polyp tendril extension. My guess is the increased tendril lenght is from the daily feedings of cyclopsezes and every other day feedings of mysis, feeding of these meaty foods has encouraged the coral to put energy into it's ability to capture these types of foods. I would have thought flow had something to do with it but I have two other duncans from another source that are smaller in overall size, get less flow, and yet they still have grown the longer tendrils.
my main duncan colony from about a year ago - it was just a tad larger then a golf ball
now it's the size of a softball or about 5"-6" across, not only are the colony and individual polyps larger, the more significant change is the polyp tendril extension. My guess is the increased tendril lenght is from the daily feedings of cyclopsezes and every other day feedings of mysis, feeding of these meaty foods has encouraged the coral to put energy into it's ability to capture these types of foods. I would have thought flow had something to do with it but I have two other duncans from another source that are smaller in overall size, get less flow, and yet they still have grown the longer tendrils.
Bigjoe2531
Premium Member
Wow, you're having great success with these corals, congrats!!!
Bigjoe2531
Premium Member
How do you like LED lighting? I plan on using MH + T5 combo. on a 120. I was considering LED but decided on a proven method for my first reef tank which i will be starting this fall.
psteeleb
Team RC
thanks
I like the LED's, but right now I only have the Royal Blues, they do bring out the fluorescencent colors more then anything I've had so far. I'm planning on swapping out my other T5s for LEDs in the near future.
From my experiance Metal Halides are still the best over all for coral growth, color and depth penetration but are the least energy efficient. T5's are great for energy conservation and up front expense and you can get pretty good coloration but less pentration then MH's. LED's are proving themselves to be great at color, energy conservation and with optics you can get pretty good depth but the up front cost is prohibitive. The only other issue I have with T5's is you don't get the natural shimmer effect you get with MH's or LED's
thanks and can't wait to see your build log
psteeleb
Team RC
I need to work on that next time I'm home
psteeleb
Team RC
Still no FTS shot - I'll need to see if I can get a decent one using a tripod when the lights are back on
general update
Just about everyting is doing great. The new gorgonians are both doing fantastic, the orange finger sponge seems to be doing okay but the orange ball sponge has caved in some, so I'm not sure about it. I quadrupled the phytoplankton feedings to the tank to feed the sponges so I'm not sure if it's not getting enough food, or if it got damaged in the shipping ir just doesn't like the tank.
The new orange line cloves are doing great as are both sun corals. The only other newer coral that doesn't seem to be in top shape is the carnation coral, they are more difficult to keep but I thought I fed the tank enough so I decided to give one a try.
About 2 months ago my pink lemonade sps fell into an algea bed and wasn't noticed for a week, maybe two. I thought it wasn't going to make it but now it looks like it's getting its colors back.
The skimmer has been running a bit too wet as you can see in this picture showing 3 to 4 days of skim mate. I haven't cleaned the skimmer for 5 weeks as the swabbie has been doing its job with no issues. I'll clean the skimmer and swabbie this weekend and I'm sure it's going to be a gunked up mess to say the least.
I picked up a new Co2 bottle this week. It's a 7 lb bottle that is only 4" in diameter. Unfortunatly it is about 1/2" too tall, so I will probably figure out some way to mount it to the inside end wall of the stand at an angle or drill a hole in the top platform of the stand . My 10 lb tank is too large a diameter to fit inside the stand so it's been sitting out on the kitchen floor since I set the Co2 reactor up.
here is the purple gorg - think it's fuzzy enough?
and a couple pictures of the orange gorg
general update
Just about everyting is doing great. The new gorgonians are both doing fantastic, the orange finger sponge seems to be doing okay but the orange ball sponge has caved in some, so I'm not sure about it. I quadrupled the phytoplankton feedings to the tank to feed the sponges so I'm not sure if it's not getting enough food, or if it got damaged in the shipping ir just doesn't like the tank.
The new orange line cloves are doing great as are both sun corals. The only other newer coral that doesn't seem to be in top shape is the carnation coral, they are more difficult to keep but I thought I fed the tank enough so I decided to give one a try.
About 2 months ago my pink lemonade sps fell into an algea bed and wasn't noticed for a week, maybe two. I thought it wasn't going to make it but now it looks like it's getting its colors back.
The skimmer has been running a bit too wet as you can see in this picture showing 3 to 4 days of skim mate. I haven't cleaned the skimmer for 5 weeks as the swabbie has been doing its job with no issues. I'll clean the skimmer and swabbie this weekend and I'm sure it's going to be a gunked up mess to say the least.
I picked up a new Co2 bottle this week. It's a 7 lb bottle that is only 4" in diameter. Unfortunatly it is about 1/2" too tall, so I will probably figure out some way to mount it to the inside end wall of the stand at an angle or drill a hole in the top platform of the stand . My 10 lb tank is too large a diameter to fit inside the stand so it's been sitting out on the kitchen floor since I set the Co2 reactor up.
here is the purple gorg - think it's fuzzy enough?
and a couple pictures of the orange gorg
psteeleb
Team RC
thanks - the male mandarin has a very large dorsal spike in his fin he uses to show off where the female only has the normal or shorter dorsal fin without he large spike.
psteeleb
Team RC
the skimmer was not as bad as I thought it would be for letting it go three weeks - it was running fairly wet so I'm thinking there would be more build up if I ran it dryer
you can see the inside of the neck is pretty clean where the collection cup area has some scum build up
the swabbie gets some build up around the top from the foam pushing the nasty stuff up
you can see the inside of the neck is pretty clean where the collection cup area has some scum build up
the swabbie gets some build up around the top from the foam pushing the nasty stuff up
psteeleb
Team RC
I pulled the trigger tonight for my next LED upgrade. They should be enough to replace all the other lights but I'll leave in 4 T5s just in case.
this upgrade includes:
18 royal blue 3w Cree XP-E's with optics
16 Cool White 3w Creee XR-E's with optics
2 dimmable drivers
heat sinks, etc
here is the closest I go to FTS. I am at the conclusion that with all lights on the upper 1/3 of the tank is too bright compared to the lower 2/3rd's to get a decent picture or video.
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this upgrade includes:
18 royal blue 3w Cree XP-E's with optics
16 Cool White 3w Creee XR-E's with optics
2 dimmable drivers
heat sinks, etc
here is the closest I go to FTS. I am at the conclusion that with all lights on the upper 1/3 of the tank is too bright compared to the lower 2/3rd's to get a decent picture or video.
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NLreeftank
New member
Nice tank
psteeleb
Team RC
thanks and welcome to Reef Central
psteeleb
Team RC
some new pictures from today
only after I took them I realized the royal blue LED's were off
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only after I took them I realized the royal blue LED's were off
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psteeleb
Team RC
Keyhole Limpets Spawning
Keyhole Limpets Spawning
just happened to capture them in the act
sorry its not the best video as it was dark
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Keyhole Limpets Spawning
just happened to capture them in the act
sorry its not the best video as it was dark
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psteeleb
Team RC
here is a video of some of the fish taken from the end of the tank
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drummereef
Team RC
Awesome set of videos Pete. Corals and fish look great and super healthy. The spawning event was super cool too. I liked the banter between you and your wife, it's cool she takes such an interest in the hobby with you.
