My 500 gallon reef tank. 650 gallon overall volume.
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revhtree
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Wonderful reef!
Hi,new to here as of today,I have 2 kessil 360 we over my 150 (48x24x30) have had them now since March,I purchased the controller as well..question is what's your light settings at? They are pre set options,currently using option 1,after acclimated what's your recommendation?
OP
OP
Here you go. Keep in mind that my lights are 8" off the water and I have 10 of these of my tank which is 48" x 96" x 24" tall. I used to run a bit higher intensity but I reduced it when I increased my count to 10 lights.
The orange line is intensity and the blue is color.
OP
OP
My corals have been growing extremely well. So well that I decided to add a small frag tank to my system. I had a custom rimless built to fit some space on the desk next to the display refugium. The tank is 36"x20"x12" and has a corner overflow. I plumbed it into my main system last weekend. I'm using a GHL Mitra 6200 to light it up. I have that mounted to the underside of the cabinet above the tank using an articulating mount much like the ones I use for my Kessils over my main display.
Since it was being plumbed into the existing drain from the display refugium, I had to align the PVC WYE (the 3 way drain connection between the fuge and frag tank) with the drain bulkhead union on the display refugium.
This the WYE that ties the frag tanks drain into the display refugiums drain. That union fitting connects to the double union ball valve on the display refugiums drain.
You can see where it connects under the display refugium in this picture.
This is looking behind the display refugium where the frag tanks drain will ultimately connect to the main drain going back to the return section of the big refugium below my main display.
The drain and feed line between the display refugium and the frag tank. It's not far from the wall at all. I may paint the line wall color which will help it disappear.
The connections below the new frag tank.
I moved my Profilux over to the frag system. It happened that I had a nice little shelf for the Profilux under one of the cabinets. The cubby used to be occupied by a power distribution controller for my computer. That is long gone and the Profilux fit the space perfectly. I mounted the Profilux touch display to the wall next to the frag tank. The Profilux controls the Mitra as well as my Tunze and serves as a second monitor to my system. A bit of redundancy to my Apex from a monitoring standpoint. I still need to mount the Profilux power bar in the cabinet but I will do that later. I also finished my frag racks.
A couple shots of the fish room.
Since it was being plumbed into the existing drain from the display refugium, I had to align the PVC WYE (the 3 way drain connection between the fuge and frag tank) with the drain bulkhead union on the display refugium.
This the WYE that ties the frag tanks drain into the display refugiums drain. That union fitting connects to the double union ball valve on the display refugiums drain.
You can see where it connects under the display refugium in this picture.
This is looking behind the display refugium where the frag tanks drain will ultimately connect to the main drain going back to the return section of the big refugium below my main display.
The drain and feed line between the display refugium and the frag tank. It's not far from the wall at all. I may paint the line wall color which will help it disappear.
The connections below the new frag tank.
I moved my Profilux over to the frag system. It happened that I had a nice little shelf for the Profilux under one of the cabinets. The cubby used to be occupied by a power distribution controller for my computer. That is long gone and the Profilux fit the space perfectly. I mounted the Profilux touch display to the wall next to the frag tank. The Profilux controls the Mitra as well as my Tunze and serves as a second monitor to my system. A bit of redundancy to my Apex from a monitoring standpoint. I still need to mount the Profilux power bar in the cabinet but I will do that later. I also finished my frag racks.
A couple shots of the fish room.
OP
OP
I stopped by Vivid on Tuesday and grabbed a few nice frags and a few snails For the frag tank. It's hard putting the frags in the frag tank when I could easily put them in the big tank. I need to do some fragging in the big tank too but I've been a bit lazy. I'll keep an eye on the new frags in the frag tank for a little while and use them to judge my Mitra light settings. Also picked up a Mandarin Goby for the big tank. They had a nice Regal angel that I put on hold in their QT system so I can observe it there for the next week as I've been wanting a Regal Angel for the big tank for some time now.
OP
OP
Around 10:30AM on Weds, I got a text from my Apex that there was a leak in my closet.. I immediately took off and headed home. Sure enough, I came home to a wet floor in the closet next to the tank. After inspection, I found that the gate valve that I added to my system to supply water to the new frag tank and a crack in it. I don't think I over tightened the threaded fitting going into but it's entirely possible that I did. That said, this was an old valve that I had sitting in my plumbing supply drawer so its also possible the crack was there before hand. Fortunately I had everything I needed to fix it. I shut the flow valve off as well as the drain valve to the frag tank and then swapped the valve out. A bit of PVC glue and some thread sealant and I was done. Like an idiot, I opened the flow valve and all was well.. Until.... I realized that the frag tank was overflowing. LOL.. Stupid me forgot to open the drain valve and it took nearly 5 gallons flowing out the back of the frag tank and down the holes in the desk for me to realize it. I quickly opened the drain valve and mopped up the mess then placed a fan nearby to dry everything out. Haste makes waste. No big deal. Fortunately my floors are all tiled so it was a simple mess to clean up and nothing was damaged in the process.
Since I was home early for the day I decided to mount up the 7" Fire Tablet that I've had for a while. It took the place of the Apex display that was flush mounted. I've been working on some surface and flush mounts for these Fire tablets for a while now and figured it was time to mount this thing up. I moved the Apex display to the shed and changed the pH probe display on it to reflect the calcium reactor in the shed.
Here is the cracked valve.. Fortunately it was a small crack and the leak was minimal. Also fortunate are the leak sensors placed strategically around the tank including in the closet. I need to add additional sensors below the new frag tank next.
The replacement valve wasn't a 1" one like the one I replaced. All I had was a 1/2" gate valve but since the feed line is 1/2", this worked just fine and saved me a trip to the store.
This is how the Apex display was mounted up until today before being moved to the shed..
The 7" Fire tablet mounted in the new surface mount where the Apex display used to be. I figured I would surface mount it rather than flush mount it for the moment. That will allow me to use the fire tablet daily to make sure I like it here before making permanent changes to my wall. The surface mount screwed right to the wall through the opening where the Apex display was flush mounted.
Key information shown on the display as well as quick access to my feed buttons.
Here is the Apex display mounted in the shed giving me a quick view of the calcium reactor pH when I'm in there.
Since I was home early for the day I decided to mount up the 7" Fire Tablet that I've had for a while. It took the place of the Apex display that was flush mounted. I've been working on some surface and flush mounts for these Fire tablets for a while now and figured it was time to mount this thing up. I moved the Apex display to the shed and changed the pH probe display on it to reflect the calcium reactor in the shed.
Here is the cracked valve.. Fortunately it was a small crack and the leak was minimal. Also fortunate are the leak sensors placed strategically around the tank including in the closet. I need to add additional sensors below the new frag tank next.
The replacement valve wasn't a 1" one like the one I replaced. All I had was a 1/2" gate valve but since the feed line is 1/2", this worked just fine and saved me a trip to the store.
This is how the Apex display was mounted up until today before being moved to the shed..
The 7" Fire tablet mounted in the new surface mount where the Apex display used to be. I figured I would surface mount it rather than flush mount it for the moment. That will allow me to use the fire tablet daily to make sure I like it here before making permanent changes to my wall. The surface mount screwed right to the wall through the opening where the Apex display was flush mounted.
Key information shown on the display as well as quick access to my feed buttons.
Here is the Apex display mounted in the shed giving me a quick view of the calcium reactor pH when I'm in there.
My corals have been growing extremely well. So well that I decided to add a small frag tank to my system. I had a custom rimless built to fit some space on the desk next to the display refugium. The tank is 36"x20"x12" and has a corner overflow. I plumbed it into my main system last weekend. I'm using a GHL Mitra 6200 to light it up. I have that mounted to the underside of the cabinet above the tank using an articulating mount much like the ones I use for my Kessils over my main display.
Since it was being plumbed into the existing drain from the display refugium, I had to align the PVC WYE (the 3 way drain connection between the fuge and frag tank) with the drain bulkhead union on the display refugium.
This the WYE that ties the frag tanks drain into the display refugiums drain. That union fitting connects to the double union ball valve on the display refugiums drain.
You can see where it connects under the display refugium in this picture.
This is looking behind the display refugium where the frag tanks drain will ultimately connect to the main drain going back to the return section of the big refugium below my main display.
The drain and feed line between the display refugium and the frag tank. It's not far from the wall at all. I may paint the line wall color which will help it disappear.
The connections below the new frag tank.
I moved my Profilux over to the frag system. It happened that I had a nice little shelf for the Profilux under one of the cabinets. The cubby used to be occupied by a power distribution controller for my computer. That is long gone and the Profilux fit the space perfectly. I mounted the Profilux touch display to the wall next to the frag tank. The Profilux controls the Mitra as well as my Tunze and serves as a second monitor to my system. A bit of redundancy to my Apex from a monitoring standpoint. I still need to mount the Profilux power bar in the cabinet but I will do that later. I also finished my frag racks.
A couple shots of the fish room.
Thanks for the pics!! I have been following your youtube videos!!!
OP
OP
Sneak peak at some soon to be new additions. Two of these Goldflake Angels will be going into the main display soon. I am selling one of the 3. They are currently in my frag tank. This achilles is also in my frag tank and will be going into the main display once I catch my Atlantic Blue Tank. I've got to get him out as I am afraid he will beat up the Achilles.
These pictures do no justice to these fish.
Frag tank filling up a bit. I am having a hard time not adding these new corals to the main display but I will likely need to remove some soft corals to give them adequate space. I have a ton of hairy mushrooms on one end of the tank that are on their own rocks which are easily removable. I will likely sell some of those rocks and get some new live rock and build a little rock pinnacle for some more SPS. I added a few pieces of live rock and some PVC to the frag tank for the angles and achilles to have some hiding places and something to pick at.
These pictures do no justice to these fish.
Frag tank filling up a bit. I am having a hard time not adding these new corals to the main display but I will likely need to remove some soft corals to give them adequate space. I have a ton of hairy mushrooms on one end of the tank that are on their own rocks which are easily removable. I will likely sell some of those rocks and get some new live rock and build a little rock pinnacle for some more SPS. I added a few pieces of live rock and some PVC to the frag tank for the angles and achilles to have some hiding places and something to pick at.
revhtree
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Looks awesome Scott!
OP
OP
The baby Goldflakes are like having an infant. I'm feeding them several times a day to put some weight on them. The smallest one is just starting to eat well. The other two are putting on weight quickly. I'm sure the smallest one won't be far behind. They are all eating NLS Pellets, Mysis, Reef Frenzy and fish roe. I soak the mysis and roe in Selcon. My frag tank is serving as a make shift QT while I observe and fatten the four fish up.
I'm going to need to relocate my Atlantic Blue Tang before adding the Achilles to the big tank. He's a bit of a tyrant. Fortunately There will most certainly be an issue between those two. Fortunately I have home for the Atlantic Blue. I'm also going to move the lemon peel to another tank temporarily so I don't need to worry about it beating up the gold flakes. I will likely put that in the display fuge or maybe the frag tank temporarily once I'm ready to move the Goldflakes in. A trap with a mirror on the back should make quick work of that. Both are agressive enough that they will go bonkers at the sight of themselves.
Here is a quick video of them. The lighting whacked the color of the video out. Everything looks washed out.
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I'm going to need to relocate my Atlantic Blue Tang before adding the Achilles to the big tank. He's a bit of a tyrant. Fortunately There will most certainly be an issue between those two. Fortunately I have home for the Atlantic Blue. I'm also going to move the lemon peel to another tank temporarily so I don't need to worry about it beating up the gold flakes. I will likely put that in the display fuge or maybe the frag tank temporarily once I'm ready to move the Goldflakes in. A trap with a mirror on the back should make quick work of that. Both are agressive enough that they will go bonkers at the sight of themselves.
Here is a quick video of them. The lighting whacked the color of the video out. Everything looks washed out.
"" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe>
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revhtree
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Love them!
Daniel@R2R
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My Tank Thread
Great job!!
OP
OP
A few weeks ago I got a GHL Mitras LX7 for the frag tank and I decided to take some pictures. These were all taken with my iPhone 7 Plus. It has a remarkably good camera that gives a real good true to life picture. No filters used and no editing was done to these pictures. I will preface this by saying that I am REALLY impressed with the light and my corals have responded amazingly.
The first is one of a large strawberry shortcake acro colony in my main display under my Kessil 360WE's. I post this because it shows the colors of this coral under the Kessils. I will note that this coral is a bit whiter in real life as this was taken through the viewing pane. Between this picture and the ones that follow, you will understand why I really want to change the lighting on my main display. These Mitras are amazing and I am seeing colors in my corals that I could only have dreamed of!
These two are Strawberry Shortcake frags. The tiny one of the left was an accidental frag from the colony above that I broke yesterday and placed in the frag tank under the LX7. The color difference under the two lights is nothing short of shocking. The bigger one looks just as nice and is encrusting the frag plug pretty quickly. The following shots were taken from a coral viewer looking through the surface of the water and these colors are about what I see when I look at them.
*** Photobucket is down for maintenance so these pictures should show up a bit later once they are done with whatever they are doing ***
Scoly under the LX7
I forgot what this coral is (I wish I remember). I got it about a month ago. Since putting it under the Mitras, its spread to cover nearly the entire frag plug but and the colors completely changed from blue and a bit of yellow to this crazy rainbow color. I am absolutely in awe with how this coral has colored up under the Mitras and how fast it's encrusting the frag plug.
Next up, my branching hammer frags. These things look amazing under the Mitras and they are opening like never before. Completely different than what they look like under Kessils where these hammer corals were grown over the last couple years. I can't begin to tell you how impressed I am with these Mitras and how the corals have responded to them. Not only are they happy as can be but I'm seeing colors I've never seen before.
I've been pretty careful not to over do it with intensity and I used spectral charts from Advanced Aquarist that shows the peak spectral curve for photosynthesis in corals to come up with my present mix. My project is loosely based on a 21,000k project which I then modified with a peak between 420 and 460nm. Given that we know what nm diode is at each channel, it made it somewhat easy for me to come up with a lighting mix that provides a good light curve for coral growth with a bit of UV, Red and Green to help bring out colors. I have the UV diodes as well as the reds and greed diodes set low but the rest of the diodes are adjusted such that I have what I believe to be a good light curve to not only provide good coloration but also provide the needed spectrum for great coral growth. Bare in mind that I've been using LED's for the last 6.5 years and am very comfortable with LED's in general. I've got a 12 hour photo period with only 4 hours at peak intensity which is well below 100% on the highest channel. The rest of the photo period is a nice ramp up and ramp down. I've seen no adverse reactions from any corals. In fact, it's been quiet opposite as everything has responded very well to the new light.
Some other random shots of corals under the Mitras. All true to life color under them without any editing.
And a couple of the entire frag tank.
The first is one of a large strawberry shortcake acro colony in my main display under my Kessil 360WE's. I post this because it shows the colors of this coral under the Kessils. I will note that this coral is a bit whiter in real life as this was taken through the viewing pane. Between this picture and the ones that follow, you will understand why I really want to change the lighting on my main display. These Mitras are amazing and I am seeing colors in my corals that I could only have dreamed of!
These two are Strawberry Shortcake frags. The tiny one of the left was an accidental frag from the colony above that I broke yesterday and placed in the frag tank under the LX7. The color difference under the two lights is nothing short of shocking. The bigger one looks just as nice and is encrusting the frag plug pretty quickly. The following shots were taken from a coral viewer looking through the surface of the water and these colors are about what I see when I look at them.
*** Photobucket is down for maintenance so these pictures should show up a bit later once they are done with whatever they are doing ***
Scoly under the LX7
I forgot what this coral is (I wish I remember). I got it about a month ago. Since putting it under the Mitras, its spread to cover nearly the entire frag plug but and the colors completely changed from blue and a bit of yellow to this crazy rainbow color. I am absolutely in awe with how this coral has colored up under the Mitras and how fast it's encrusting the frag plug.
Next up, my branching hammer frags. These things look amazing under the Mitras and they are opening like never before. Completely different than what they look like under Kessils where these hammer corals were grown over the last couple years. I can't begin to tell you how impressed I am with these Mitras and how the corals have responded to them. Not only are they happy as can be but I'm seeing colors I've never seen before.
I've been pretty careful not to over do it with intensity and I used spectral charts from Advanced Aquarist that shows the peak spectral curve for photosynthesis in corals to come up with my present mix. My project is loosely based on a 21,000k project which I then modified with a peak between 420 and 460nm. Given that we know what nm diode is at each channel, it made it somewhat easy for me to come up with a lighting mix that provides a good light curve for coral growth with a bit of UV, Red and Green to help bring out colors. I have the UV diodes as well as the reds and greed diodes set low but the rest of the diodes are adjusted such that I have what I believe to be a good light curve to not only provide good coloration but also provide the needed spectrum for great coral growth. Bare in mind that I've been using LED's for the last 6.5 years and am very comfortable with LED's in general. I've got a 12 hour photo period with only 4 hours at peak intensity which is well below 100% on the highest channel. The rest of the photo period is a nice ramp up and ramp down. I've seen no adverse reactions from any corals. In fact, it's been quiet opposite as everything has responded very well to the new light.
Some other random shots of corals under the Mitras. All true to life color under them without any editing.
And a couple of the entire frag tank.
themcnertney
Valuable Member
Your unicorn and vlamingi tang, wow.
OP
OP
I guess I forgot to add this update here..
Last week a fellow reefer reached out to me as he was looking to get out of the hobby. His wife wants to travel which leaves no time for the tank. The tank is about 3 months old. It's an SCA 36"x 24"x 24" rimless glass tank with a custom SCA glass sump. It included a Radion gen 3 Pro with the radion mount. Vortech MP40 Quiet Drive, Ecotech Reeflink, Apex 2016, SCA skimmer, Custom ATO reservoir that fits next to the sump, Tunze Osmolator ATO, UV filter, live rock, Sicce return pump, Jebao Doser (wont be using that), dosing containers, GHL magnetic stirrer, a few corals, a blenny and much more. The deal was such that I couldn't pass it up and went out there that day to tear it down and bring it home.
I wish I could connect it to my big system as that would make my life much easier. The only way to do that would be to take down my display refugium but given the amount of hair algae and everything else in that tank coupled with the fact that my main display has absolutely no algae, I know that display refugium is doing it job along with my below tank refugium. As such, I ended up putting this tank in my entry way. I got it home with the help of my friend Jim. I gave him the corals from this tank as a thank you for the help along with a refractometer. I reset the Apex and got that setup on my Fusion account. I will be switching the Radion XR30 out in favor of a GHL Mitras 6200 that I have here. I will also be adding a GHL Doser 2. I have a GHL profilix that I thought about using on this tank but that is currently running on my frag tank and a secondary monitor and controller there and since I don't have any network lines near this new tank, the Apex 2016 is just fine for now.
The tank came with a Sicce 4.0 but I've switched that out for an RD3 80 that I had here.
Here it is at the gentlemans house as I was preparing to take it down.
Here it is in my entry way. It actually fits there well.
The skimmer will be switched out Monday. It came with an SCA-302 and I'd love to put a bubble king in it but I have an Aquamaxx CO-1 that I will be using as the SCA is the loudest thing on this tank. Once the tank has some load, I will be adding some chaeto from my other system to the refugium section.
All the wires hidden neatly behind cable covers. I've cleaned the wiring up a bit more since these photos were taken.
Last week a fellow reefer reached out to me as he was looking to get out of the hobby. His wife wants to travel which leaves no time for the tank. The tank is about 3 months old. It's an SCA 36"x 24"x 24" rimless glass tank with a custom SCA glass sump. It included a Radion gen 3 Pro with the radion mount. Vortech MP40 Quiet Drive, Ecotech Reeflink, Apex 2016, SCA skimmer, Custom ATO reservoir that fits next to the sump, Tunze Osmolator ATO, UV filter, live rock, Sicce return pump, Jebao Doser (wont be using that), dosing containers, GHL magnetic stirrer, a few corals, a blenny and much more. The deal was such that I couldn't pass it up and went out there that day to tear it down and bring it home.
I wish I could connect it to my big system as that would make my life much easier. The only way to do that would be to take down my display refugium but given the amount of hair algae and everything else in that tank coupled with the fact that my main display has absolutely no algae, I know that display refugium is doing it job along with my below tank refugium. As such, I ended up putting this tank in my entry way. I got it home with the help of my friend Jim. I gave him the corals from this tank as a thank you for the help along with a refractometer. I reset the Apex and got that setup on my Fusion account. I will be switching the Radion XR30 out in favor of a GHL Mitras 6200 that I have here. I will also be adding a GHL Doser 2. I have a GHL profilix that I thought about using on this tank but that is currently running on my frag tank and a secondary monitor and controller there and since I don't have any network lines near this new tank, the Apex 2016 is just fine for now.
The tank came with a Sicce 4.0 but I've switched that out for an RD3 80 that I had here.
Here it is at the gentlemans house as I was preparing to take it down.
Here it is in my entry way. It actually fits there well.
The skimmer will be switched out Monday. It came with an SCA-302 and I'd love to put a bubble king in it but I have an Aquamaxx CO-1 that I will be using as the SCA is the loudest thing on this tank. Once the tank has some load, I will be adding some chaeto from my other system to the refugium section.
All the wires hidden neatly behind cable covers. I've cleaned the wiring up a bit more since these photos were taken.
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OP
OP
Here is a video update (best viewed in HD) on my main display as well as the other tanks. The main display is looking better than ever and corals are all doing great! I also took a bunch of pictures and will post those later this evening if not tomorrow.
Something happened with the upload and the video was cut short. I am uploading it again and will post the link later.
Something happened with the upload and the video was cut short. I am uploading it again and will post the link later.
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