CT 265 Build - Page 13

ca1ore · 03/24/2015, 01:24 PM

Same circuit, but different apex outlets. Had a third heater that's fine, so maybe just coincidence.

ca1ore · 03/24/2015, 01:43 PM

My 'experiment' with the new Kessil lights being deemed by moi as a success, I used the removal of my old MH fixtures this past weekend as an opportunity to redo the rails in my light hood. The old rails were simply plywood strips that had started to bend somewhat alarmingly (used 3/8" ply to try to save on weight). So, I bought a bunch of 80/20 T-Slot rails and replaced the saggy plywood. Hood is now slightly lighter, there is no sagging, and it's much neater.

Four 24" rails proved sufficient for both photo lights and my five Kessils.

ca1ore · 03/26/2015, 11:04 AM

After a bout of STN, things appear to have rebounded nicely. Not sure if its the new lights (MH have now been completely removed) or the more stable calcium reactor, but SPS growth has been spectacular and color is better than ever. You don't really get a perfect sense from these pictures, but close enough.

Crowding is now becoming a problem, particularly since my frag tank is already almost full of cuttings. The final picture, though not a particularly good one, is of the colony that was most affected by STN. I had to remove it completely and aggressively frag it. What you see there is the biggest chunk - and its re-encrusting at the base. Next step is to introduce a group or resplendent anthias that have been in QT for a while; which will pretty much complete the fish population.

SpikeDangles · 03/27/2015, 12:58 PM

looks amazing! nice to see someone in my neck of the woods killing it with a reef like this!

ca1ore · 03/28/2015, 09:39 AM

Thanks. We have good LFS too

rgulrich · 04/10/2015, 07:43 AM

And a happy school of Resplendent Anthias it is, too! Look at how up, about and alert they are!

ca1ore · 04/11/2015, 01:58 PM

Last weekend I added 9 anthias that a had been plumping-up in QT. They are all quite small; immediately the smallest fish in my display. And I believe I'm done with fish now .....

Of the 9 added, 6 resplendents are congregating around and in the large red plating monti where the marauding Bartlett's cannot really get them, and 2 princess are paired up and are periodically venturing out on the other end of the tank. The ninth, a female resplendent, has not reappeared. Although I fed these fish a lot over almost 8 weeks of QT, given their size (most sub 2 inches) I'll be very happy if there is only the single casualty - and she may yet appear.

At this point I'm at 43-45 fish:

16 anthias (across four species; 17 if the last one shows)
6 Tangs (one is in the connected frag tank)
3 Wrasses
3 PJ Cardinals
3 Pyramid Butteflyfish
3 Chalk Bassletts
2 Clowns
2 Dwarf Angels (added a post QT, eating Venusta a month ago, but haven't seen it since; so maybe 3)
2 Green Chromis
Watchman Goby
Mandarin
Yellow-Tail Damsel

I think I'd better be done ......

ca1ore · 04/20/2015, 07:53 AM

Slightly better pictures .....

ca1ore · 04/23/2015, 11:55 AM

CuzzA · 04/23/2015, 11:08 PM

Looks great Simon! I love a tank with a lot of fish. I see some of these tanks and they're so concerned with keeping nutrients undetectable they forget that a reef doesn't look right without a good amount of fish. My 90 is stocked on the high side and I've yet to have any nuisance anything pop up. Knock knock. I plan on stocking the 300 heavy too.

I see you got a mag rock in there. Man those things take freaking forever for coralline to grow on them. Mine is just now starting to look more natural after almost 8 months.

Keep up the good work.

ca1ore · 04/24/2015, 06:31 AM

Thanks. Yes, mag rocks do take their sweet time coloring up. I just got a couple of new ones; 'icebergs'! There are also a couple of older ones that are now pretty much coral and coraline encrusted (about 8 months I think).

ca1ore · 04/24/2015, 10:23 AM

dave.m · 04/24/2015, 10:53 AM

Thx for the FTS. Lookin' good!

Dave.M

iced98lx · 04/24/2015, 11:59 AM

Looking great, love the group of anthias!

prop-frags · 04/25/2015, 11:41 AM

Great pics of your beautiful mixed reef, Simon! Love those pyramid butterflyfish and congrats on the new anthias!

ca1ore · 05/03/2015, 11:52 AM

I never seem to quite get in pictures what I see with my own eyes. This is yet as close as I have come .....

dave.m · 05/03/2015, 11:58 AM

Obviously you need to take bigger pictures, say 1920x1080. Or movies. Movies work great, too.

Dave.M

ca1ore · 05/03/2015, 02:15 PM

I'm 54, which means I'm at least three generations in arrears when it comes to technology. I'm just happy that I can link pictures. Now I have to go unpack some newfangled device called a VCR .... Woohoo!

dave.m · 05/03/2015, 02:39 PM

Ha! I'm much older than you. I remember VCRs:

12:00 12:00 12:00...

Dave.M

nanoreefer1000 · 05/03/2015, 04:13 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by ca1ore

Stunning!!!

ca1ore · 05/07/2015, 03:57 PM

Most kind!

Finally received the Vortech MP60 quite drive that I had ordered months ago. Will swap it in tomorrow. Sure hope it lives up to the marketing copy as the vortech is the only really noisy thing on my tank.

cFloor · 05/07/2015, 07:01 PM

Your tank is looking very nice! Great job

ca1ore · 05/08/2015, 09:23 AM

MP60 is now essentially silent.

nivram · 05/08/2015, 11:47 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by ca1ore

MP60 is now essentially silent.

This is good to hear as I just got my new QD driver for my mp60.

Great looking tank!

ca1ore · 05/08/2015, 11:54 AM

It's really a dramatic difference. Have to put my ear quite close to the dry side to hear it. Downside is that I can now easily hear the one remaining non-QD MP40 ..... It's always something

03/24/2015, 01:24 PM	#301
ca1ore Grizzled & Cynical Join Date: Apr 2006 Location: Stamford, CT Posts: 17,319	Same circuit, but different apex outlets. Had a third heater that's fine, so maybe just coincidence. __________________ Simon Got back into the hobby ..... planned to keep it simple ..... yeah, right ..... clearly I need a new plan! Pet peeve: anemones host clowns; clowns do not host anemones! Current Tank Info: 450 Reef; 120 refugium; 60 Frag Tank, 30 Introduction tank; multiple QTs

03/24/2015, 01:43 PM	#302
ca1ore Grizzled & Cynical Join Date: Apr 2006 Location: Stamford, CT Posts: 17,319	Re-Built Light Hood My 'experiment' with the new Kessil lights being deemed by moi as a success, I used the removal of my old MH fixtures this past weekend as an opportunity to redo the rails in my light hood. The old rails were simply plywood strips that had started to bend somewhat alarmingly (used 3/8" ply to try to save on weight). So, I bought a bunch of 80/20 T-Slot rails and replaced the saggy plywood. Hood is now slightly lighter, there is no sagging, and it's much neater. Four 24" rails proved sufficient for both photo lights and my five Kessils. __________________ Simon Got back into the hobby ..... planned to keep it simple ..... yeah, right ..... clearly I need a new plan! Pet peeve: anemones host clowns; clowns do not host anemones! Current Tank Info: 450 Reef; 120 refugium; 60 Frag Tank, 30 Introduction tank; multiple QTs

03/26/2015, 11:04 AM	#303
ca1ore Grizzled & Cynical Join Date: Apr 2006 Location: Stamford, CT Posts: 17,319	Almost 18 Months .... After a bout of STN, things appear to have rebounded nicely. Not sure if its the new lights (MH have now been completely removed) or the more stable calcium reactor, but SPS growth has been spectacular and color is better than ever. You don't really get a perfect sense from these pictures, but close enough. Crowding is now becoming a problem, particularly since my frag tank is already almost full of cuttings. The final picture, though not a particularly good one, is of the colony that was most affected by STN. I had to remove it completely and aggressively frag it. What you see there is the biggest chunk - and its re-encrusting at the base. Next step is to introduce a group or resplendent anthias that have been in QT for a while; which will pretty much complete the fish population. __________________ Simon Got back into the hobby ..... planned to keep it simple ..... yeah, right ..... clearly I need a new plan! Pet peeve: anemones host clowns; clowns do not host anemones! Current Tank Info: 450 Reef; 120 refugium; 60 Frag Tank, 30 Introduction tank; multiple QTs

03/28/2015, 09:39 AM	#305
ca1ore Grizzled & Cynical Join Date: Apr 2006 Location: Stamford, CT Posts: 17,319	Thanks. We have good LFS too __________________ Simon Got back into the hobby ..... planned to keep it simple ..... yeah, right ..... clearly I need a new plan! Pet peeve: anemones host clowns; clowns do not host anemones! Current Tank Info: 450 Reef; 120 refugium; 60 Frag Tank, 30 Introduction tank; multiple QTs

04/10/2015, 07:43 AM	#306
rgulrich greybeard Join Date: Jun 2007 Location: MD Posts: 893	And a happy school of Resplendent Anthias it is, too! Look at how up, about and alert they are! __________________ The true sign of intelligence is not knowledge but imagination. Albert Einstein Current Tank Info: 360 degree walk around 300 DD island–4 300W & 2 165W ViparSpectra, 4 Kessil A350W, 2 A360WE, 3 XF150, 1 XF250, 1 XF350 Gyre along with 2 PP40 and 2 IceCap 3K gyre for robust current. Basement 150 gallon RubberMaid sump, SKIMZ skimmer, DCP18000

03/27/2015, 12:58 PM	#304
SpikeDangles Registered Member Join Date: Mar 2015 Location: Norwalk CT Posts: 126	looks amazing! nice to see someone in my neck of the woods killing it with a reef like this!

04/11/2015, 01:58 PM	#307
ca1ore Grizzled & Cynical Join Date: Apr 2006 Location: Stamford, CT Posts: 17,319	Final Fish ...... Definately, Well Probably ... Sort of ... Last weekend I added 9 anthias that a had been plumping-up in QT. They are all quite small; immediately the smallest fish in my display. And I believe I'm done with fish now ..... Of the 9 added, 6 resplendents are congregating around and in the large red plating monti where the marauding Bartlett's cannot really get them, and 2 princess are paired up and are periodically venturing out on the other end of the tank. The ninth, a female resplendent, has not reappeared. Although I fed these fish a lot over almost 8 weeks of QT, given their size (most sub 2 inches) I'll be very happy if there is only the single casualty - and she may yet appear. At this point I'm at 43-45 fish: 16 anthias (across four species; 17 if the last one shows) 6 Tangs (one is in the connected frag tank) 3 Wrasses 3 PJ Cardinals 3 Pyramid Butteflyfish 3 Chalk Bassletts 2 Clowns 2 Dwarf Angels (added a post QT, eating Venusta a month ago, but haven't seen it since; so maybe 3) 2 Green Chromis Watchman Goby Mandarin Yellow-Tail Damsel I think I'd better be done ...... __________________ Simon Got back into the hobby ..... planned to keep it simple ..... yeah, right ..... clearly I need a new plan! Pet peeve: anemones host clowns; clowns do not host anemones! Current Tank Info: 450 Reef; 120 refugium; 60 Frag Tank, 30 Introduction tank; multiple QTs Last edited by ca1ore; 04/11/2015 at 02:04 PM.

04/20/2015, 07:53 AM	#308
ca1ore Grizzled & Cynical Join Date: Apr 2006 Location: Stamford, CT Posts: 17,319	Slightly better pictures ..... __________________ Simon Got back into the hobby ..... planned to keep it simple ..... yeah, right ..... clearly I need a new plan! Pet peeve: anemones host clowns; clowns do not host anemones! Current Tank Info: 450 Reef; 120 refugium; 60 Frag Tank, 30 Introduction tank; multiple QTs

04/23/2015, 11:55 AM	#309
ca1ore Grizzled & Cynical Join Date: Apr 2006 Location: Stamford, CT Posts: 17,319	18 Months __________________ Simon Got back into the hobby ..... planned to keep it simple ..... yeah, right ..... clearly I need a new plan! Pet peeve: anemones host clowns; clowns do not host anemones! Current Tank Info: 450 Reef; 120 refugium; 60 Frag Tank, 30 Introduction tank; multiple QTs

04/23/2015, 11:08 PM	#310
CuzzA Registered Member Join Date: Jan 2014 Location: Palm Harbor, FL Posts: 2,997	Looks great Simon! I love a tank with a lot of fish. I see some of these tanks and they're so concerned with keeping nutrients undetectable they forget that a reef doesn't look right without a good amount of fish. My 90 is stocked on the high side and I've yet to have any nuisance anything pop up. Knock knock. I plan on stocking the 300 heavy too. I see you got a mag rock in there. Man those things take freaking forever for coralline to grow on them. Mine is just now starting to look more natural after almost 8 months. Keep up the good work.

04/24/2015, 06:31 AM	#311
ca1ore Grizzled & Cynical Join Date: Apr 2006 Location: Stamford, CT Posts: 17,319	Thanks. Yes, mag rocks do take their sweet time coloring up. I just got a couple of new ones; 'icebergs'! There are also a couple of older ones that are now pretty much coral and coraline encrusted (about 8 months I think). __________________ Simon Got back into the hobby ..... planned to keep it simple ..... yeah, right ..... clearly I need a new plan! Pet peeve: anemones host clowns; clowns do not host anemones! Current Tank Info: 450 Reef; 120 refugium; 60 Frag Tank, 30 Introduction tank; multiple QTs

04/24/2015, 10:23 AM	#312
ca1ore Grizzled & Cynical Join Date: Apr 2006 Location: Stamford, CT Posts: 17,319	Fts __________________ Simon Got back into the hobby ..... planned to keep it simple ..... yeah, right ..... clearly I need a new plan! Pet peeve: anemones host clowns; clowns do not host anemones! Current Tank Info: 450 Reef; 120 refugium; 60 Frag Tank, 30 Introduction tank; multiple QTs

04/24/2015, 10:53 AM	#313
dave.m Registered Member Join Date: Jan 2010 Location: Canadia Posts: 4,276	Thx for the FTS. Lookin' good! Dave.M __________________ My Gawd! It's full of corals! Current Tank Info: None. Nil. Zip. Nada.

04/24/2015, 11:59 AM	#314
iced98lx Registered Member Join Date: Apr 2012 Posts: 2,258	Looking great, love the group of anthias!

04/25/2015, 11:41 AM	#315
prop-frags SPS Slave Join Date: Aug 2003 Location: Richmond, VA Posts: 3,388	Great pics of your beautiful mixed reef, Simon! Love those pyramid butterflyfish and congrats on the new anthias! __________________ - Mike & Terry "Less technology, more biology ... indeed." - Gary White Current Tank Info: 200g temp garage tank

05/03/2015, 11:52 AM	#316
ca1ore Grizzled & Cynical Join Date: Apr 2006 Location: Stamford, CT Posts: 17,319	Playing around with the color balance .... I never seem to quite get in pictures what I see with my own eyes. This is yet as close as I have come ..... __________________ Simon Got back into the hobby ..... planned to keep it simple ..... yeah, right ..... clearly I need a new plan! Pet peeve: anemones host clowns; clowns do not host anemones! Current Tank Info: 450 Reef; 120 refugium; 60 Frag Tank, 30 Introduction tank; multiple QTs

05/03/2015, 11:58 AM	#317
dave.m Registered Member Join Date: Jan 2010 Location: Canadia Posts: 4,276	Obviously you need to take bigger pictures, say 1920x1080. Or movies. Movies work great, too. Dave.M __________________ My Gawd! It's full of corals! Current Tank Info: None. Nil. Zip. Nada.

05/03/2015, 02:15 PM	#318
ca1ore Grizzled & Cynical Join Date: Apr 2006 Location: Stamford, CT Posts: 17,319	I'm 54, which means I'm at least three generations in arrears when it comes to technology. I'm just happy that I can link pictures. Now I have to go unpack some newfangled device called a VCR .... Woohoo! __________________ Simon Got back into the hobby ..... planned to keep it simple ..... yeah, right ..... clearly I need a new plan! Pet peeve: anemones host clowns; clowns do not host anemones! Current Tank Info: 450 Reef; 120 refugium; 60 Frag Tank, 30 Introduction tank; multiple QTs

05/03/2015, 02:39 PM	#319
dave.m Registered Member Join Date: Jan 2010 Location: Canadia Posts: 4,276	Ha! I'm much older than you. I remember VCRs: 12:00 12:00 12:00... Dave.M __________________ My Gawd! It's full of corals! Current Tank Info: None. Nil. Zip. Nada.

05/07/2015, 03:57 PM	#321
ca1ore Grizzled & Cynical Join Date: Apr 2006 Location: Stamford, CT Posts: 17,319	Most kind! Finally received the Vortech MP60 quite drive that I had ordered months ago. Will swap it in tomorrow. Sure hope it lives up to the marketing copy as the vortech is the only really noisy thing on my tank. __________________ Simon Got back into the hobby ..... planned to keep it simple ..... yeah, right ..... clearly I need a new plan! Pet peeve: anemones host clowns; clowns do not host anemones! Current Tank Info: 450 Reef; 120 refugium; 60 Frag Tank, 30 Introduction tank; multiple QTs

05/07/2015, 07:01 PM	#322
cFloor Registered Member Join Date: Jan 2011 Location: Bay Area Posts: 1,552	Your tank is looking very nice! Great job

05/08/2015, 09:23 AM	#323
ca1ore Grizzled & Cynical Join Date: Apr 2006 Location: Stamford, CT Posts: 17,319	MP60 is now essentially silent. __________________ Simon Got back into the hobby ..... planned to keep it simple ..... yeah, right ..... clearly I need a new plan! Pet peeve: anemones host clowns; clowns do not host anemones! Current Tank Info: 450 Reef; 120 refugium; 60 Frag Tank, 30 Introduction tank; multiple QTs

05/08/2015, 11:54 AM	#325
ca1ore Grizzled & Cynical Join Date: Apr 2006 Location: Stamford, CT Posts: 17,319	It's really a dramatic difference. Have to put my ear quite close to the dry side to hear it. Downside is that I can now easily hear the one remaining non-QD MP40 ..... It's always something __________________ Simon Got back into the hobby ..... planned to keep it simple ..... yeah, right ..... clearly I need a new plan! Pet peeve: anemones host clowns; clowns do not host anemones! Current Tank Info: 450 Reef; 120 refugium; 60 Frag Tank, 30 Introduction tank; multiple QTs