Soulpatch's build thread (ongoing)
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soulpatch
New member
So I was a bit behind in cleanings of the tank going to the beach and the holiday but got around to it yesterday. Apparently my leaving the tank alone was great as I had been trimming the bryopsis and culpera during the week. The middle of last week I lifted the one rock with culpera and really went at it clearing it away. Either way both are not visible right now. I figure they are still there but if I cant see them then I am happy.
Here are some top down pics with my phone as the water was drained:
Here is my growing ric branch rock and acan hill. The frogspawn in the bottom right for some reason was nto looking too good this week in the one branch. It doesnt look like it is splitting but last time it looked like this that is what happened so who knows. And yes that small bit of cyano and the glass were cleaned following this pic...:
My GSP that needs trimmed and my purple stylo are in this pic. The stylo is slowing coming back around to the Kessil after I burned her switching over. The palys in this pic are also being slowly trimmed. I take a couple polyps a week so as to not send too much toxin into the water.:
Here is my new utter chaos and some other random orange polyp. The frogspawn in this pic has been on rescue duty since my black bugs. I have tried moving him around the tank in various flows and lighting but he doesnt extend like he once did. Not sure what else to do with him so he is currently riding it out where he is at.
Here is my torch. The pics dont do it justice. Same for the rainbow acan on the sand bed. When my blue balance turns up these two totally pop and look awesome. My brain on the sand is also much more orange and neon green in person.
Top down FTS:
Here are some top down pics with my phone as the water was drained:
Here is my growing ric branch rock and acan hill. The frogspawn in the bottom right for some reason was nto looking too good this week in the one branch. It doesnt look like it is splitting but last time it looked like this that is what happened so who knows. And yes that small bit of cyano and the glass were cleaned following this pic...:
My GSP that needs trimmed and my purple stylo are in this pic. The stylo is slowing coming back around to the Kessil after I burned her switching over. The palys in this pic are also being slowly trimmed. I take a couple polyps a week so as to not send too much toxin into the water.:
Here is my new utter chaos and some other random orange polyp. The frogspawn in this pic has been on rescue duty since my black bugs. I have tried moving him around the tank in various flows and lighting but he doesnt extend like he once did. Not sure what else to do with him so he is currently riding it out where he is at.
Here is my torch. The pics dont do it justice. Same for the rainbow acan on the sand bed. When my blue balance turns up these two totally pop and look awesome. My brain on the sand is also much more orange and neon green in person.
Top down FTS:
Looks good, thanks for sharing the pics. Good luck keeping the GSP at bay... After "clearing them out" I'm now seeing a few heads coming back here and there from nooks and crannies.
I love the topdown look... And the pictures actually come out with the kessil. With the LEDs more spread out, it's harder for me to get a decent top-down pic. Oh well. Great growth, and that torch really is huge, very cool!
I love the topdown look... And the pictures actually come out with the kessil. With the LEDs more spread out, it's harder for me to get a decent top-down pic. Oh well. Great growth, and that torch really is huge, very cool!
soulpatch
New member
I do believe I am finally to the point of dosing though. I need to test this week nd see how I deplete before my next water change. Yesterday was not a fair test since I slacked in water changes so will need to monitor this week starting tonight. I dont think Kalk can keep up any longer. Just some things I see in the skeletal structures tells me I am lacking at least calcium.
soulpatch
New member
So after seeing that one post in the cadlights thread and doing some reading on here I might be going with a SC aquarium. Actually looking to step up to the 120 gallon and slightly step away from my cube ideas. It is drilled with three bulkheads in the overflow so I could do a herbie stock and still utilize the one bulkhead for a return OR I could drill the top back of the tank for a return line to come in and use the 3 holes for a bean animal. Tank is apparently always on sale for more then on their site so looking at like 600 or so and that includes shipping...
I still am waiting to hear from the LFS about the marineland 93 cube but after 3 rejects I am not sure I will go that route at this point. I do love a cube but at the same time with a 4 foot front on the sc aquarium I can see a bit more perhaps.
Final semi affordable option is custom. There is an acrylic shop about 7 hours away and I could get a 36x36 cube with an external coast to coast overflow for around 1300. Though not sure I want acrylic with rockwork that moves, snails, crabs, and more. I fear scratching it and the eventual discoloration.
Either way I would need to build a stand so I still get that project which is cool as I am looking forward to that (though also scared in case I screw up).
I just need to recoup from the 1000 I blew today getting my daughter a mattress after she decided to climb out of the crib Friday night. So in the next month or so I will hopefully be placing an order to get things moving along again.
I still am waiting to hear from the LFS about the marineland 93 cube but after 3 rejects I am not sure I will go that route at this point. I do love a cube but at the same time with a 4 foot front on the sc aquarium I can see a bit more perhaps.
Final semi affordable option is custom. There is an acrylic shop about 7 hours away and I could get a 36x36 cube with an external coast to coast overflow for around 1300. Though not sure I want acrylic with rockwork that moves, snails, crabs, and more. I fear scratching it and the eventual discoloration.
Either way I would need to build a stand so I still get that project which is cool as I am looking forward to that (though also scared in case I screw up).
I just need to recoup from the 1000 I blew today getting my daughter a mattress after she decided to climb out of the crib Friday night. So in the next month or so I will hopefully be placing an order to get things moving along again.
soulpatch
New member
That acan looks like an ultra acan. Like I said, "baller!" Very nice additions [emoji106]
I have 3 ultras in the tank. One is not coloring as it should be though and I am hoping my recent move to the Kessil helps it out.
The two on my sand bed are nice ultra rainbows though with great color. Hard to get accurate colors with my phone and the wife is demanding a lookdown case and a new macro glass for her to take pics with her good DSLr. The minute greens, yellows, and such seem to wash out with my phone which is frustrating to try to show off...
mav3rick478
Premium Member
What kind of culerpa do you have? Next time you trim I'd like some if you don't mind shipping some since no one is allowed to ship any to California.
ian09
New member
I'm so envious of you haha! You're wife encourages you but mine doesn't lol! I'm sure when I have fish and some color she'll come around and appreciate it more. Question for you soulpatch, what do you set your Kessil to? I have a Kessil 360 and yet to connect the Kessil controller to it. For example what percentage are running your lights? I know you have the apex so I'm sure you have it set with it, I hope the Kessil controller can do the same where I can mimic dusk/dawn effect. I haven't really messed with it yet.
soulpatch
New member
The spectral controller works great so no worries there. I ramp mine up to around 35-40% intensity and my color ramps up to 80% through the day. Still playing with it some but that is where I am at.
As for the wife supporting it she likes some corals but not as supportive as I would like. SHe knows I hve my hobbies and toys and simply doesnt ask about prices and such. She has her own and I dont ask either.
As for the wife supporting it she likes some corals but not as supportive as I would like. SHe knows I hve my hobbies and toys and simply doesnt ask about prices and such. She has her own and I dont ask either.
mav3rick478
Premium Member
No worries, I've had fern culerpa before when I lived in Hawai'i. I think we used to get it while diving or get a sniping from someone else. It's the idiot people who dump stuff in the ocean who don't know what they're doing that ruin it for all of us. I appreciate the honesty and respect your views so it's all good.
ian09
New member
I agree the Kessil can get pretty intense so although the tank looks good when it's at full intensity it's assuring that I won't need to go towards the higher intensity zone. If your tank is doing well with just 35-40 percent in sure I can get by then. Im glad because I'm having a little issue with heat right now as my temps seem to fluctuate from 77-82 throughout the day. It doesn't help that we are having some bipolar weather. Yesterday was in the low 80s and today it's low 90s sigh. I just made a quick stop at a new fish store since I was in the area and was looking for lock lines to extend and play/vary my flow using the return nozzles but I also came out with a $45 cooling (seriously! A little fan is so expensive lol!). Oh well, I'm sure we all have that problem in this hobby. We go to the fish store to purchase 5 gallons on rodi and end up coming out with a couple frags, another pump we don't need, and an upgrade tank lol!!! I'll try to plug my fan into my RKL hopefully today.
soulpatch
New member
so having decided on a 48x24x24 tank (thanks to unexpected mattress purchase and bedroom redecoration for my toddler has been pushed a month or so) I am now comtemplating my lighting.
I have 2 Kessil a360WE. I have one over my biocube and one currently on loan at my LFS. They have a spread of 24 inches so should be able to hit the full breadth of the 48" tank but I would imagine there are going to be some dead spots in the tank corners and potentially other places depending on the rock work. I am in a bit of an impasse for the next step. I could try to the 2 Kessils though I am pretty certain that they will not give adequate spread. I could buy a third to guarentee good light spread or I could buy a different fixture like a t5 or MH unit to get best of all worlds.
I am strongly considering a t5 unit like the ati dimmable sun power unit. A 24 inch unit would leave me 12 inches on either side to then mount the Kessils. This gives me the benefits of both worlds. I was looking at the cebu sun fixture as well since it mixes MH with t5 bulbs so that I would get every type covered.
My issue is that I do NOT want to run a chiller if at all possible. That is an added expense that I am not budgeted for (nor the light actually...) as and such heat can be an issue. The lights will be suspended above the tank if I go T5 or MH with most likely some sort of floating canopy made from 80/20 aluminum brackets and skinned in the wood for the stand to minimize light bleed. I saw someone else do somethign similar and used a cantilever tv mount to hang it from wall so that they could move it around as needed which I thought was genious. (though again more costs for wood, tv mount, aluminum framing)
So thoughts from rest of you?
I have 2 Kessil a360WE. I have one over my biocube and one currently on loan at my LFS. They have a spread of 24 inches so should be able to hit the full breadth of the 48" tank but I would imagine there are going to be some dead spots in the tank corners and potentially other places depending on the rock work. I am in a bit of an impasse for the next step. I could try to the 2 Kessils though I am pretty certain that they will not give adequate spread. I could buy a third to guarentee good light spread or I could buy a different fixture like a t5 or MH unit to get best of all worlds.
I am strongly considering a t5 unit like the ati dimmable sun power unit. A 24 inch unit would leave me 12 inches on either side to then mount the Kessils. This gives me the benefits of both worlds. I was looking at the cebu sun fixture as well since it mixes MH with t5 bulbs so that I would get every type covered.
My issue is that I do NOT want to run a chiller if at all possible. That is an added expense that I am not budgeted for (nor the light actually...) as and such heat can be an issue. The lights will be suspended above the tank if I go T5 or MH with most likely some sort of floating canopy made from 80/20 aluminum brackets and skinned in the wood for the stand to minimize light bleed. I saw someone else do somethign similar and used a cantilever tv mount to hang it from wall so that they could move it around as needed which I thought was genious. (though again more costs for wood, tv mount, aluminum framing)
So thoughts from rest of you?
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