jlanger's 120gal Arts and Crafts Inspired Reef Build (1 Viewer)
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mathshop3
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Keep us updated, those percs are amazing and i love the shots.
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jlanger
@thatfishcookieguy
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Filter socks? No.
Filter floss in a media basket? Yes.
I use the craft floss that's marketed for quilting that I change out every other day or so. The media basket is placed right before the return pump so it traps anything flowing through the sump.
There's a couple tricks I use for getting clear water in my pictures.
Since I take most of the pictures during my water changes, all if the pumps are turned off to allow any detritus in the water column to settle out onto the sand bed.
And the other trick is called a spot healing brush in photo editing software. It blends the pixels in a given range that essentially removes small bits of noise from a photo.
But having the pumps turned off helps a lot.
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jlanger
@thatfishcookieguy
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Before I left for work this morning at 4AM, the eggs had not hatched; I didn't expect them to be.
But when I got home today at 3PM, they were all gone. So they must've hatched early this morning.
Not to despair, the male and female were busy cleaning off their nesting spot. The female is fat and her ovipositor is readily visible, so they may lay another batch tonight; maybe even right now!?
But when I got home today at 3PM, they were all gone. So they must've hatched early this morning.
Not to despair, the male and female were busy cleaning off their nesting spot. The female is fat and her ovipositor is readily visible, so they may lay another batch tonight; maybe even right now!?
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jlanger
@thatfishcookieguy
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Busy, busy, busy...
The pair started laying the eggs when I had to take my daughter to dance class; of course!
I did take some top-down video also; both the cleaning efforts and egg laying. I'll post those sometime...
The pair started laying the eggs when I had to take my daughter to dance class; of course!
I did take some top-down video also; both the cleaning efforts and egg laying. I'll post those sometime...
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jlanger
@thatfishcookieguy
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Day 9.
The male is still busy tending to the eggs. Although this time around, he does venture away more often and gets to eat which must mean that he feels that there's no real threat to the eggs anymore.
The real reason I was taking pictures tonight was to show off the little Bangaii Cardinalfish.
When I transferred it from the Fluval tank, the fins were badly torn and almost nonexistent, but after a couple of weeks with no aggression the fins are coming back nicely. The fish's confidence has also grown as it now hovers above the rocks and will swim into the water column when feeding.
And here's another pic of the other new addition, the Flameback Angelfish.
This little fish is high on life in such a big tank. It can get in and out of some of the tiniest holes that none of the other fish can.
Here's about the best photo I can get of any of the anthias. How does ChristopherKriens do it? :bow:
I have an idea, but he must take hundreds of shots before he gets those incredibly clear and detailed photos.
Here's just a neat pic of the ORA Red Goniopora during high flow.
This coral has been swelling up very well the past week or two. I'm not sure if it's due to my change in supplements or if it's just coincidence.
And this Banded (Black Foot) Trochus Snail was busy munching on the front glass; in the way of where I wanted to shoot. And since I haven't shared any snail pics, here's a close up.
The male is still busy tending to the eggs. Although this time around, he does venture away more often and gets to eat which must mean that he feels that there's no real threat to the eggs anymore.
The real reason I was taking pictures tonight was to show off the little Bangaii Cardinalfish.
When I transferred it from the Fluval tank, the fins were badly torn and almost nonexistent, but after a couple of weeks with no aggression the fins are coming back nicely. The fish's confidence has also grown as it now hovers above the rocks and will swim into the water column when feeding.
And here's another pic of the other new addition, the Flameback Angelfish.
This little fish is high on life in such a big tank. It can get in and out of some of the tiniest holes that none of the other fish can.
Here's about the best photo I can get of any of the anthias. How does ChristopherKriens do it? :bow:
I have an idea, but he must take hundreds of shots before he gets those incredibly clear and detailed photos.
Here's just a neat pic of the ORA Red Goniopora during high flow.
This coral has been swelling up very well the past week or two. I'm not sure if it's due to my change in supplements or if it's just coincidence.
And this Banded (Black Foot) Trochus Snail was busy munching on the front glass; in the way of where I wanted to shoot. And since I haven't shared any snail pics, here's a close up.
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jlanger
@thatfishcookieguy
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Nothing interesting happening here.
I returned the macro lens and porthole to Chris, so I haven't been quite as active with my camera lately.
The second clutch of eggs hatched after Day13 again; and I missed out on finding any fry.
No third batch of eggs were laid.
Still manually dosing supplements, but I managed to piss of the left side of my tank as I was adding the soda ash solution to the high flow of the pump which meant I was blowing the solution right into the corals. Some of them really didn't like the concentrated chemical wash they were receiving, so some of them crashed or suffered some irritation. So now I'm strictly dosing the solution into the sump; where I should've been doing it all along. I was lazy and the corals suffered from it.
I did order and receive a couple of T5 light strips to add to my canopy.
I'll be making a new light rack to fit inside my canopy to mount the two Radion LED fixtures in between the T5 fixtures.
I also have a WiFi Smart Socket to install in the canopy so I can control the T5 photoperiod with my phone.
I'm hoping the addition of a couple of Blue+ bulbs will benefit a couple of corals that really looked nice under my old T5 lighting years ago. And I hope the bulbs will help fill in some sections of the reef that don't receive direct light from the LED pucks.
And the most notable upcoming change for the tank will be hockey season.
Now that my son has started high school hockey, we'll be plenty busy with games and tournaments at both the JV and varsity levels.
When most people come inside and concentrate on their tanks, I'm busy running around all of WI/MN and need to find time to work on my tank. But I wouldn't trade my time watching him play hockey for anything!
I returned the macro lens and porthole to Chris, so I haven't been quite as active with my camera lately.
The second clutch of eggs hatched after Day13 again; and I missed out on finding any fry.
No third batch of eggs were laid.
Still manually dosing supplements, but I managed to piss of the left side of my tank as I was adding the soda ash solution to the high flow of the pump which meant I was blowing the solution right into the corals. Some of them really didn't like the concentrated chemical wash they were receiving, so some of them crashed or suffered some irritation. So now I'm strictly dosing the solution into the sump; where I should've been doing it all along. I was lazy and the corals suffered from it.
I did order and receive a couple of T5 light strips to add to my canopy.
I'll be making a new light rack to fit inside my canopy to mount the two Radion LED fixtures in between the T5 fixtures.
I also have a WiFi Smart Socket to install in the canopy so I can control the T5 photoperiod with my phone.
I'm hoping the addition of a couple of Blue+ bulbs will benefit a couple of corals that really looked nice under my old T5 lighting years ago. And I hope the bulbs will help fill in some sections of the reef that don't receive direct light from the LED pucks.
And the most notable upcoming change for the tank will be hockey season.
Now that my son has started high school hockey, we'll be plenty busy with games and tournaments at both the JV and varsity levels.
When most people come inside and concentrate on their tanks, I'm busy running around all of WI/MN and need to find time to work on my tank. But I wouldn't trade my time watching him play hockey for anything!
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jlanger
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So before anyone was awake this morning (persons and fish), I installed my new T5 lighting fixtures with my new light rack.
I purchased two Sunblaster NanoTech T5 combo fixtures to supplement my LED lighting.
The rack itself is very simple.
I built the rack to match my canopy; even though you really don't see it once it's installed.
The end caps are sized to fit the T5 fixtures. The clips are screwed to the end caps and the fixtures pop into place.
The rails are spaced to align with the mounting holes on the Radion fixtures. I needed to turn the Radions so they now run length-wise with the tank.
I picked up some longer hex bolts and some stainless steel washers to mount the Radions.
Here's the finished appearance of the both the Radions and T5 fixtures mounted to the light rack.
Since the hex bolts for the Radions are mounted in between the rails, the fixtures are able to slide back and forth above my reef for optimum location. The light rack itself has about three inches of room inside the canopy to slide towards the front or back if needed.
Since the T5 fixtures have no method of controlling a photoperiod, I purchased a WiFi Smart Socket for around $25. The socket can be controlled through my iPhone/iPad to turn on when I choose or through programming a light schedule. A nifty little gadget that can be used in place of a timer or controller.
I plan on running a pair of ATI Blue+ bulbs during the midday; about five to six hours based on the coral's reaction.
With the new light rack and fixtures installed, I definitely have more light and less shading.
I'm still waiting on the ATI bulbs to arrive next week so I'll be playing around with my lighting schedule next week. The standard bulbs are just a common grow lamp at 6400K so it washes the tank out completely.
I purchased two Sunblaster NanoTech T5 combo fixtures to supplement my LED lighting.
The rack itself is very simple.
I built the rack to match my canopy; even though you really don't see it once it's installed.
The end caps are sized to fit the T5 fixtures. The clips are screwed to the end caps and the fixtures pop into place.
The rails are spaced to align with the mounting holes on the Radion fixtures. I needed to turn the Radions so they now run length-wise with the tank.
I picked up some longer hex bolts and some stainless steel washers to mount the Radions.
Here's the finished appearance of the both the Radions and T5 fixtures mounted to the light rack.
Since the hex bolts for the Radions are mounted in between the rails, the fixtures are able to slide back and forth above my reef for optimum location. The light rack itself has about three inches of room inside the canopy to slide towards the front or back if needed.
Since the T5 fixtures have no method of controlling a photoperiod, I purchased a WiFi Smart Socket for around $25. The socket can be controlled through my iPhone/iPad to turn on when I choose or through programming a light schedule. A nifty little gadget that can be used in place of a timer or controller.
I plan on running a pair of ATI Blue+ bulbs during the midday; about five to six hours based on the coral's reaction.
With the new light rack and fixtures installed, I definitely have more light and less shading.
I'm still waiting on the ATI bulbs to arrive next week so I'll be playing around with my lighting schedule next week. The standard bulbs are just a common grow lamp at 6400K so it washes the tank out completely.
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looks great! what are your thoughts on the sunblasters? looks like you got the "nano-reflectors" too. I was a little sticker shocked by the price of those but they keep it looking clean.
are you not running a controller now? (wifi outlet reasoning)
are you not running a controller now? (wifi outlet reasoning)
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jlanger
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I've only had the fixtures up for just a couple of days, but I really like them.
The cost wasn't too bad from Amazon; bought the fixture and reflector as the kit so it was less than $100 for the pair of lights. I was hoping there was a way to buy the kits without the bulbs. I have no use for the bulbs so I wished I could've saved a few bucks there. But for a plug-and-play T5 fixture, it still cost less than the retro-fit kits. And the reflectors do a good job directing the light towards the tank.
I still have my controller, but it's located in my stand. Since I do not want any cords being visible, I have power coming from the ceiling into my canopy. Thus the Radions are controlled through my ReefLink and the T5's are controlled through the new Smart Socket.
My new bulbs are scheduled to arrive tomorrow, so I'll be able to start adjusting my lighting program soon.
The Smart Socket is basically like the timers you plug into the wall, but you have complete control through their app. I can remotely turn the switch on/off, I can program the switch on/off many times per day/week and even set up a countdown. After setting it up, there's a lot of other uses I thought of for having more of these.
I ended up selling my bulbs to a freshwater guy. Didn't get much but people might want them. Or since star wars is almost out, light bulb sabers are always fun.
Hmm you might of just given me an idea for my canopy. Wires are so ugly. Wouldn't it be great if you could have a "satellite outlet" that could be controlled via apex?
Thanks for explanation!
Hmm you might of just given me an idea for my canopy. Wires are so ugly. Wouldn't it be great if you could have a "satellite outlet" that could be controlled via apex?
Thanks for explanation!
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jlanger
@thatfishcookieguy
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After three long days in Rochester, I came home to find this sitting at my front door.
Woohoo!! :ac15: Thanks, Garrett!
I know what I'll be doing tomorrow morning; just like a kid on Christmas morning!
Woohoo!! :ac15: Thanks, Garrett!
I know what I'll be doing tomorrow morning; just like a kid on Christmas morning!
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Nice!! Doing 2 part or something more advanced?
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jlanger
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Doing 2-Part. I'm trying the ESV B-Ionic supplements this time.
I think my 2016 "Reef-olution" is to maintain stable water parameters; Ca/Alk/Mg/NO3/PO4.
Stable alkalinity is my biggest foe. I've tried liquid supplements, kalkwasser, and 2-Part (manual and automated dosing) with varying degrees of success, but I've not yet found what works best for my system; AKA "Why aren't my corals growing into big colonies?!" And I'm not really keen on trying a calcium reactor; yet.
I'm hoping that by having the DOS Pump with Fusion access, I can get a handle on keeping my levels where they fit with my system. Being able to control the dosing pumps with my iPhone, iPad or computer is much easier than the push button interface on most dosing pumps.
This is the one area of the hobby where I struggle.
So I'll keep testing, testing and testing until I get some sense of stability and control.
Oh.. the pump is already installed, now I'm trying to find some slick containers for the solutions that fit in my small corner of the stand.
That light rack is gorgeous! I really like how you implemented those T5s.
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jlanger
@thatfishcookieguy
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A few weeks late, but here's the FTS of the 120gal at the three year mark.
The past year was actually a struggle. I dealt with two different issues that resulted in coral loss; high salinity and an alkalinity swing.
The high salinity caused many of my macro frags to RTN from the base and eventually claiming a few corals. I debated on going back to a montipora spp. dominated system until I figured out that my bad calibration fluid caused the high salinity issue. The corals that survived the ordeal have begun to grow back over the lost tissue and looking much better.
This acro sp. frag lost a good section of tissue along the middle, but you can see that the base and remaining tips have started to grow again.
The alkalinity issue caused a crash with my "torts"; most notably the Miyagi Tort which was the worst for me.
But I was surprised that the Oregon Tort was not affected; even though it was placed right next to the Miyagi Tort. Notably slow growers, the frag has encrusted and looks to be ready to grow at a few places.
Now here's an unusual occurrence. I picked this "stag" frag up at one of last year's swaps. For the past year, it hasn't really showed any growth at all. But once I corrected my salinity and alkalinity, one of the branches started to show new growth. But it doesn't look at all like how a staghorn coral should be growing. The end of the one branch has at least two dozen new growing tips; almost table-like. The far left of the new growth shows radial corallites along the axial corallite. If I still had the macro lens
, I'd get a better picture.
Pay no mind to the vermetid snails. :grr: I haven't gotten to taking care of them yet. Yet!
And I told Eric I would try to get a shot of the Nautispiral frag I picked up from him.
The frag has encrusted onto the rock and has really nice growth along the entire perimeter. The old growth has a soft orange color and the growing edge is a nice pink. I really like the texture of this coral. Thanks, Eric!
The coral's color are a bit washed out in the pic, but it really is a nice piece!
This past year did have some awesome positive moments.
For the second time we were able to witness the transformation of a female anthias to a male!
My pair of clownfish had a handful of spawning events!
Updated to an Apex Controller, a DOS dosing pump and added T5 supplemental fixtures.
And I learned how to take better pictures; the new camera is awesome! Thanks, TCMAS!
I hope this fourth year will be full of exciting (and positive) steps forward.
I'll try to get some updated fish pictures; this post lacked in colorful fish!
The past year was actually a struggle. I dealt with two different issues that resulted in coral loss; high salinity and an alkalinity swing.
The high salinity caused many of my macro frags to RTN from the base and eventually claiming a few corals. I debated on going back to a montipora spp. dominated system until I figured out that my bad calibration fluid caused the high salinity issue. The corals that survived the ordeal have begun to grow back over the lost tissue and looking much better.
This acro sp. frag lost a good section of tissue along the middle, but you can see that the base and remaining tips have started to grow again.
The alkalinity issue caused a crash with my "torts"; most notably the Miyagi Tort which was the worst for me.
But I was surprised that the Oregon Tort was not affected; even though it was placed right next to the Miyagi Tort. Notably slow growers, the frag has encrusted and looks to be ready to grow at a few places.
Now here's an unusual occurrence. I picked this "stag" frag up at one of last year's swaps. For the past year, it hasn't really showed any growth at all. But once I corrected my salinity and alkalinity, one of the branches started to show new growth. But it doesn't look at all like how a staghorn coral should be growing. The end of the one branch has at least two dozen new growing tips; almost table-like. The far left of the new growth shows radial corallites along the axial corallite. If I still had the macro lens
, I'd get a better picture.Pay no mind to the vermetid snails. :grr: I haven't gotten to taking care of them yet. Yet!
And I told Eric I would try to get a shot of the Nautispiral frag I picked up from him.
The frag has encrusted onto the rock and has really nice growth along the entire perimeter. The old growth has a soft orange color and the growing edge is a nice pink. I really like the texture of this coral. Thanks, Eric!
The coral's color are a bit washed out in the pic, but it really is a nice piece!
This past year did have some awesome positive moments.
For the second time we were able to witness the transformation of a female anthias to a male!
My pair of clownfish had a handful of spawning events!
Updated to an Apex Controller, a DOS dosing pump and added T5 supplemental fixtures.
And I learned how to take better pictures; the new camera is awesome! Thanks, TCMAS!
I hope this fourth year will be full of exciting (and positive) steps forward.
I'll try to get some updated fish pictures; this post lacked in colorful fish!
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That teal stag/table looks really cool. In a year or more hopefully it shows its true form with all the teal coloration of the top tabling section.
The RR Nautispiral looks good. Is yours getting some green sheen in the middle?
Those damn acros and their finicky requirements! Everything looks like it's growing and colorful though. I too wish those torts would grow even faster. Did you completely lose the miyagi or is there a small piece recovering somewhere?
The RR Nautispiral looks good. Is yours getting some green sheen in the middle?
Those damn acros and their finicky requirements! Everything looks like it's growing and colorful though. I too wish those torts would grow even faster. Did you completely lose the miyagi or is there a small piece recovering somewhere?
TimSc2013
Senior Member
Nice clean colorful tank!!
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