Help with a rebuild!

rlablan

rlablan

Active Member
Here are the pictures I promised. They are phone pictures but It's all I got... The other camera is way too much to deal with today.
goby jail
new rock work front- it's similar but I really like it before. Now its just okay...
new rock work from the left side.
Cardiff FTS New rock work
New green maxi mini carpet hem I hope his color stays this bright!
sun polyps from the big guy in the Cardiff now. I think they are happier here. They are almost always out like this when the lights are on. fully extended when its dark.
from the left side. This is where he frag rack used to be.
right side of the tank. Moved the frag rack. Now it's not in the middle of the tank, which is nice.
Anyone know what these little guys are yet? They are starting to turn colors!! It's white on the outside (bleached), and then turning bright green and just started getting the orange.
Oscar's new cave. I undid the last one and replaced all of the sand he had cleared away. I hope he stays back in the rock work this time. He ruins my whole tank scape. but I can't bring myself to get rid of him. He's such a cute little rascal. :)
 
rlablan

rlablan

Active Member
thanks flower :) I am way better than yesterday... and not all teeth. just 4. two had to be cut out. tell you all about it later.
 
rlablan

rlablan

Active Member
I am ridiculous.
I just went and picked up a bag of sand and a New Aqueon Evolve8 for the watchman to live in... ugh. I suck. I amd just gonna fill it with existing water but Now live sand.
Hopefully I like the LED light that it came with, if not... that is a super easy fix.
I also looked at the fluval edge and while My BF and I really like the way that it looked, I have many concerns. 1)the light looks hard to change 2) gas exchange seems limited 3)it was a little bit more $$$ than I wanted to put into this little tank. I would rather spend that on other stuff. 4) I want the extra 2 gallons so I can get him some little fish friends. Maybe just 1 or so... who knows. Was thinking some catilina gobies? Don't those need really cold water though?
So I am going to fill this bad boy up and see what I think. I'll be taking picys for you all.
I really have a bad problem. I really am in pain from my surgery. But I've been laying in bed for 2 days now and I am soooo tired of taking naps/watching tv. My butt hurts from laying on it. lol
I also blame this spurt of energy to all of the starbucks coffee icce cream that I ate... I dk if thats a thing but I think that that is a thing. :)
 
rlablan

rlablan

Active Member
And it's all set up. The pics are pretty boring. Empty with light off and then on, Sand with blue light, Sand with white light, half full, totally full... but I will post them for you all tomorrow AM. The BF is working on the computer and I don't wanna steal it from him.
I think, if I have the energy, we will go to get a few small rocks tomorrow since I only have rubble here, or two really huge rocks that I removed while doing the rebuild.
So now there are three tanks and a home reno on this thread. oops. Should I change the name to "the most random thread about all kinds of stuff with some fish thrown in here and there" ? lol
About this little tank so far-
I am not sure that I need it, as the pump it came with is rated for 95 gph, but I added a koralia nano that I had just laying about. If I don't need it in there, I shall remove it but I will leave it for now. Should help the water to be more clear by morning.
I actually like the light that it comes with. I wish the blue and white lights were on separate switches. As It is, they are not. I am thinking of only having this tank be blue all the time anyway. If that is the case, then this switch will be fine. If not, I'll have the BF program it to on/off on an insteon switch and then I will just have to turn the night time lights on whenever.
The color of the white/blue on together is actually really nice looking. It's crisp blue, like we SW people like, not yellow. I was afraid because they only advertise for freshwater on the box that it would be ugly yellow. :) The light also has a nice swivel type dealy so I can move it out of the way really easy. I like that so cleaning and such. Tis good.
There is a nice little "false wall" going on with this guy. plenty of room for a heater or a small skimmer (do they make skimmer that small? Not just the airstone ones, I hear those are awful), or maybe even a little chiller if I needed. I like that the filter and such is all hidden away.
This little tank is very quiet. No vibrations or weird noises.
The whole tank and around 10lbs of LS cost 120 bucks. Can't beat that. It's more finished looking than if I were to DIY my own setup. And for that amount of money, I can't really beat it.
I will say that the quality of the acrylic on this tank is pretty sub par. Along the top edge, there appear to be like little "stretch marks" inside of the arcylic itself. It's above the water line though and they reall aren't noticable. For the price, I'm okay with it.
There are some other superficial scratches on it, but I can remove those easy with some scratch remover. That should be easy enough. I think those were caused by transport. They could have wrapped the tank with some plastic or foam to prevent all of the stuff included from maring the tank but obviously they did not think that is a thing.
Other than that, I am quite pleased. This whole tank took me about 35 minutes to set up and that includes taking water from another tank and replacing it. So I set up this little guy AND did my other water change that I hadn't had time to do before surgery.
This tank has a mixture of 30% new water, 70% old water and all new live sand. I will seed it tomorrow with some sand from the other tanks.
Also, if I want to, I can easily add a HOB "refugium" made from an aquaclear. It won't clutter the tank because it can be installed behind the "false wall". I could not do that with the fluval.
In the end, I saved about 40 bucks, gained two extra gallons and have a much more customizable setup. I'm one happy camper, except for the 4 gapping holes in my mouth.
Taking some unisom! goodnight all!
 
rlablan

rlablan

Active Member
good to see that no one has been around here. Including me.
I have been suffering some icky side effects from the wisdom teeth removal.
I'm pretty much over it now, two weeks later.
But- Updates.
The day after putting the watchmen in the 8 gallon, he jumped out because I left the lid off for like 2 hours. Sad :( I feel bad for the little guy. I have had him for a really long time, so it's upsetting for that reason too. I then cleaned and returned the tank to ***** promptly. It was kind of a piece of junk anyway.
1 less tank for me to worry about anyway. The BF is really serious about us getting a bigger tank. The money doesn't seem to scare him this time around. I dunno what is up with him. No complaints, I actually wanna go a little smaller but he keeps saying that he wants a huge tank. He is all for that. I am scared to go over like a 125... he wants something like a 180. So... We shall see. I will go for the bigger tank, but I am fighting for lighting.
Lighting is really important to me. For me, it is more important that a skimmer or brand of power heads, or anything else that you could have. Lighting effects your colors, your shimmer, the whole impact of the tank, not only the growth of coral.
My only experience with the LEDs has been my ecoxotic fixture. I really don't like them. The coloring is awful. None of my corals get any growth or even will extend under them... The lack of heat is great but I would NOT buy them again. They are not worth it.
We have also looked at the Kessel cannons. I hear that are supposed to be great and look so nice and lalalala. But I heard that about mine as well... Obviously, that was not a thing.
What do you all think of the kessel cannons?
I said that I would use supplemental LED lighting. And I will. But I want MH lighting for my main lighting. I want some shimmer, I want some glow and I want coral color, depth and extension. When I glance over at my small tank, which is lit with 150 MH lighting, It looks gorgeous. I really couldn't be happier. The LED tank leaves a lot to be desired.
I found a site that sells moving rails that hold MH lights or whatever you want to go over the tank, usually in a canopy. They're 70 bucks. The BF is more than capable to set this sucker up, so I am fighting for that. I think a 175 MH light would be awesome, or two 100s or 150s. They (or it) will slowly move back and fourth across the tank, spreading the light but adding a little something and also keeping some shadows in the tank. The LEDs omit like all shadows. But I was thinking just a few stunner strips or something in an all blue color. These will be actinics.
I like the idea of cannons but NOT FOR 700 bucks each. Plus, I don't trust that they will do what I want, which is the effects you get from MH.
Bathroom update- I have been literally bed ridden for about the last week. I am finally getting up and around. So, I am going to finish the flooring at this time and after laying and all that, I will grout.Then, we will cover the floors and paint and do all of that fun stuff.
We have decided against the bathtub and shower surround, at this time. We are so stressed at this time, both monetarily and physically. The ER bills should be rolling in sometime soon and we just want to put all of this nasty business with my negligent doctor and this surgery behind us, myself especially. I still can't believe that I have had this much trouble over wisdom teeth. Who would have imagined? Certainly not me.
Once I am feeling 100%, I will start working on the bathroom again. It's just gonna take some time.
 
mr. limpid

mr. limpid

Active Member
What do you all think of the kessel cannons? To much money and you need too many of them, look into SOL Vega
Glad to hear you are feeling better.
 
rlablan

rlablan

Active Member
Good morning!
Thank you Limpid. I really do appreciate the thoughts.
You are right, they are way too expensive.
With these SOL vega ones, are the LEDs "High" quality? I am told that I dislike my LEDs because they are "low" quality. I just know, they make me super mad.
Tanner- On a 72 inch tank, I would probably need to have 3 of the radions. (These are the ones that do the lightning storms, yes?) I believe that will be a very expensive endeavor as well. Also, I am still up in the air about the LEDs. I have yet to see one of the radion on a tank where it looks good. They are at some of the LFSs but they say they look like crap (which they do) because they aren't programmed right? I dk if that is even a think but when we looked at those last week, we were unimpressed by the few we saw.
The storms feature and the fact that it will plug into the Vortec powerheads, which we will have two of, is pretty cool though.
So this is my dilemma; I am concerned with buying LEDs because I hate the ones I have. And this fixture was around 700 bucks too. I would rather have a MH on this tank.
So with the new tank, I am trying to learn from all past mistakes and really plan stuff out. We are custom ordering our cabinet and all that, it appears. So, I don't want to make a beautiful tank look like crap.
Limpid- Another ?. Where you meaning this SOL guys as actinics? Do you think that those would work with the rail system and the 1 MH light?
Thanks guys! I know I am just full of questions. :)
 
red tiger

red tiger

Member
Kessil rule!
and how do you figure you need lots of them??? For a few bucks more the 350W which is a 90w wide lens is the way to go. It has the 2 channels so you can tune the color you want.
In addition they have UV light so i don't see how you can go wrong, plus they take a beating.
 
mr. limpid

mr. limpid

Active Member
Limpid- Another ?. Where you meaning this SOL guys as actinics? Do you think that those would work with the rail system and the 1 MH light?
The SOL are stand alone fixtures Vega's or AI SOL they need no other light source. Basically you need 1 fixture every 2' or so. My thoughts MH were a good fixture, but the cost of replacing bulbs, the power consumption and the heat they throw off, makes the LED fixture a lot better.
 
tannersmith200

tannersmith200

Member
Well...I am also a big fan of these Ecoxotic 100W Cannons
Check 'em out http://www.ecoxotic.com/100-watt-elliptical-cannon-led.html
PS - The Radions do require some specific programming which could obviously hinder output if the unit is not programmed correctly. The Radions are the most flexible lighting fixtures on the market due to their environmental control features such as sinrise, sunset, lighting, and wave action (via vortech pumps).
 
acrylic51

acrylic51

Active Member
Quote:
Originally Posted by tannersmith200 http:///t/392624/help-with-a-rebuild/140#post_3496068
Well...I am also a big fan of these Ecoxotic 100W Cannons
Check 'em out http://www.ecoxotic.com/100-watt-elliptical-cannon-led.html
PS - The Radions do require some specific programming which could obviously hinder output if the unit is not programmed correctly. The Radions are the most flexible lighting fixtures on the market due to their environmental control features such as sinrise, sunset, lighting, and wave action (via vortech pumps).
I think the new GHL line of LEDs give Radion's a run for the money......
 
rlablan

rlablan

Active Member
Thanks for all the lighting responses!
I will say off the top, the Ecoxexotic canons are DEF a NO GO. There is brand new LFS in town and it is fully light by exoctic strips and canons. ALL OF THEIR CORALS look like total crap. They are pretty underwhelming. It's sad because their corals would be really neat and do color back up after about 2 months under my MH light, but their prices are also a little above others, so... It's kind of a bummer. Also, I have the ecoxotic, as I said. I don't want anymore of that line. I don't like it now, and having seen them in action... That's just not gonna happen.
As far as these others, I am gonna have to find some videos and pictures to compare. None of my stores here have those or have even talked about them, outside of the Kessil ones.
If any of you have these fixtures, could you give me all of your info as to why you have them, what you like or not... And also- - - the most important- - - do you have pictures? I don't trust google images for this, you never know what you are getting.
Any videos/pics of tanks that you know FOR SURE are lit by the above brands/types, Especially your own... let me see em! I need to be convinced! Sell me! :))
Thanks again everyone...
Nice to see more faces. :)
Rae
 
mr. limpid

mr. limpid

Active Member
Quote:
Originally Posted by tannersmith200 http:///t/392624/help-with-a-rebuild/140#post_3496184
hmmmm well thanks to acrylic, I may be changing my mind before I commit to the radion
diese Leuchte ist der Hammer! = this fixture is the sh** (in german) lol
gotta love german made things
http://ghlna.com/mitras-lx-6100-pendant
Just emailed them and they directed me to just two store that carry this brand in North America.
http://www.the-fishstore.com/fs_cart_splash.php
http://imagineanocean.com/mitras-lx-6100/
I'm sorry for over $1,000 a pop vs $500 for Vega's. I have a hard time with the price. Unless I saw a side by side comparson and the Mitras were twice as good as the Vega's, not for me or my child.
 
tannersmith200

tannersmith200

Member
Are the AI Vega's output sufficient for SPS growth? I have read something about adding PowerPucks to the fixture in order to receice whatever color spectrum you are looking for.
I have not read anything about PAR numbers. The AI Vega Color fixture appears to be the best bet for ultimate growth and color of corals.
 
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