vuqchu 25g LEDs SPS Cube

[vuqchu]

Hi. I love seeing other people's build threads and especially progession shots so thought I would do one for this tank. Nothing fancy. I just need a place for me to keep track and stay on it.

Tank: Mr. Aqua 25g low iron drilled with small sump
Lighting: 2 x AI Sols
Flow: Sicce Syncra 2.0 + 2 x MP10s


Initial plan for the tank was zoas, softies/flowy corals and anemones that my wife likes but then they grew pretty quick for the tank size. Then I got the SPS itch again and cleared them out to make room for SPS. Most of the frags are recently added about a week before SoCal Reefapalooza this year (beginning of October) and a few I picked up at the show. I wanted the classic pieces I had in the past so visited Steve Garrett's coral farm and got some frags.

Enough talk...time for the pics

Stand...



Playing around with rocks...


Filled...




Tank started with just one AI Prime for the softies but I felt wasn't enough for the coverage I want for SPS. I then added one AI Sol but wanted the full coverage I had with ATI T5s so added another one so now 2 x AI Sols. I would hands down use an ATI fixture but tank is only 18" x 18" and the shortest ATI fixture is 24" and it would have looked a little odd over the tank sticking out on the sides. Do have a MH fixture on standby but so far so good with AI Sols. Some people have asked why AI Sols vs other LEDs fixture. Answer is 1) because it's white and the mrs. wanted it to match the stand 2) I like the way the pucks are spread out in a broader area than the newer fixtures that AI makes now.



Sump...

 

[vuqchu]

Pics are just point and shoot and I don't know how to work the camera and the photo software so please bear with me. Will try to take some pics during the middle of the day for the next update so they don't come out so blue/purple.

 

[vuqchu]

wild milli that I'm really starting to like more


my old TDF that's all green for now


pink lemonade


wild shortcake


garf bonsai


my old red table


pc rainbow I got at RAP


red planet


oregon tort


setosa

 

[vuqchu]

red dragon


hawkins echinata


green slimer


jf flame acro (another one I got at RAP)


pc superman (tiny crumb leftover from a larger piece a friend was trying to save from entering coral heaven)


pearlberry


mr pacman

 

[sahin]

Good to see you back with another tank! :beer: Will be following the thread for sure. Lets see what you do with LED's as opposed to T5's. What camera are you shooting with?

 

[sahin]

You have two tanks? I thought you broke the other tank down? I spy a larger tank in one of the pics.

 

[vuqchu]

Good to see you back with another tank! :beer: Will be following the thread for sure. Lets see what you do with LED's as opposed to T5's. What camera are you shooting with?

You have two tanks? I thought you broke the other tank down? I spy a larger tank in one of the pics.

Thanks Sahin! :beer:

That tank is long gone. This cube has been running since around May and that's when the picture of the cube was taken

Do miss T5 a lot but this is also an experiment on straight LEDs to see how it goes.

 

[markalot]

Following along, cube is looking good.

 

[Wazzel]

That is a really nice little cube, well done.

 

[.equis]

vuqchu 25g LEDs SPS Cube

Man you your cube looks really nice! even better in person haha. Glad that pc superman is recovering.

 

[M007]

Very nice attention to detail. You little encrusting SPS pieces are very cool, totally to scale

 

[vuqchu]

Following along, cube is looking good.

That is a really nice little cube, well done.

Thanks guys!

Man you your cube looks really nice! even better in person haha. Glad that pc superman is recovering.

Yeah. It's growing nicely. Hopefully crumb to colony one day.

Very nice attention to detail. You little encrusting SPS pieces are very cool, totally to scale

Thanks! :lmao: Not much room to work with so trying to make the best of it. Do miss the larger colonies but kinda nice seeing how things grow from tiny boogers again.

 

[vuqchu]

Tank running like usual. Added a few pieces recently so I thought I should take some quick cell pics and keep track of those as well.

Pink Floyd


Lime in the Sky (need to find a permanent spot for it)


Wild unkown piece

 

[sahin]

Hey buddy, hope Xmas was nice and you got some nice coral presents.

How are the sps colours under the LEDs compared to T5? Would love to see some new photos.

Lastly, what settings are you running the white channel at?

 

[vuqchu]

Hey buddy, hope Xmas was nice and you got some nice coral presents.

How are the sps colours under the LEDs compared to T5? Would love to see some new photos.

Lastly, what settings are you running the white channel at?

Hope you had an awesome Xmas too buddy. I didn't get any corals for Xmas but did pick up a couple wrasses with one being the Earl's Fairy Wrasse that I have been on the lookout for at least a year. Got a few pieces a couple weeks before but have not had a chance to update. Been meaning to take updated pictures for the two month mark but schedule has been a little busier than usual during holidays. Will take some pics this week for the progress report and update.

So far LEDs have been not too bad. Colors are there but have to admit the colors don't "glow" like they do under ATI. I have the two AI Sols linked on the same controller so they are set at 65% blue, 62% royal blue, and 30% white for now. Will be bumping this up a little bit more to probably end up at around 70% in the next month or so. I have some zoas in the tank and noticed they don't get very happy when I have white over 30% for some reason. They would show signs of bleaching and the skirts would shorten up where you can barely see the skirts.

 

[vuqchu]

Hope everyone had an awesome Xmas. Just an update to keep track on progress for the past couple months.

A few weeks ago I noticed something was a little off. The smooth skin acros including red dragon, hawkins, and mr. pacman started getting little bumps on the skin so I suspected something may have been rusty. Sure enough, it was a little tiny pump I used to move water around for the RBTA's in the sump. I caught it too late to save the Mr. Pacman so lost that one but the other corals all recovered and growing nicely again.

I'm sure there are other pieces I may have missed taking pictures of but here goes...

 

[vuqchu]

Wild milli that's been growing nicely for the past two months.





Wild shortcake


Tyree Pink Lemonade


PC Superman starting to encrust more and showing colors from tiny crumbs a couple months ago.


JF Flame Acro


Another wild piece I added. Showing promising signs


Garf Bonsai


Red Table

 

[vuqchu]

Pearlberry


Hawkins


TDF


Setosa


PC Rainbow


Red Planet


Oregon Tort


Pink Floyd


Branching Cyphastrea

 

[vuqchu]

Pieces I added recently...

rommel's rainbow


Old school shortcake and bubblegum milli.


My old PM back


ASD Rainbow. On the verge of coral heaven when I got it back a couple weeks ago but starting to encrust and getting colors back.


Friend called it Superman Tenuis


Other corals...

 

[ian09]

Wow, amazing shots Vu! I hope my little cube becomes even a little bit as amazing as yours. I need to start some sps pieces of my own [emoji106]