yaradartist's 36g

[yardartist]

Great suggestion. There were a couple class like sessions right before BOD meetings last year. We should pick that up again.

 

[yardartist]

Caught the coral beauty on the second day of setting the self made trap. It is now in the refugium as it waits for a new home.

http://s870.photobucket.com/albums/ab269/yardartist/fish%20trap/

Yesterday separated the refugium and cleaned all the K pumps. The water level is down about five inches and it looks great.

Flow is creased adding a K-3 to replace the return water movement. A few LPS not happy. The SPS benefit. Also noticed the assesors did not come out first thing this morning, and went to the rock early last evening. Could flow send them to more calm parts of the inner rockwork?

 

[screebo]

Very cleaver fish trap. I'm not too sure about the bonding method. lol

 

[r0ck0]

Nice fish trap, nice fish too. Its too bad that those pygmy angels are nippers.

If the current is too strong the fish will hold to the rocks more. IME

 

[yardartist]

The angel never consumed coral, but it was hitting one in particular at least once an hour so it was not able to open. I wonder if small tank with no other large active fish contributes to OCD?

 

[yardartist]

NO3- has jumped up to around 25 now that the refugium is off line. Holding with water changes.

Color on the acros is still improving under the new lighting, and they are growing. The LED is wired and lit, but no hood to hold it in place and protect the lamps from spray.

 

[Coral reefer]

Aquatic collection has more of the bright green favia you commented on in my tank just in case you wanted some. Mine are looking good, no real growth yet though

 

[yardartist]

Aquatic collection has more of the bright green favia you commented on in my tank just in case you wanted some. Mine are looking good, no real growth yet though

Thanks for the heads up. I'm sure I will stop in after the swap. Like having dessert on thanksgiving.

 

[yardartist]

Reef Angel monitoring the tank temp tonight! With + or - 6 degree temp swings in a day, a thing of the past.

I have to put the saw to use tomorrow and get the top built for the LED. They are programed and waiting. Dave helped get them connected last week, and Roberto tuned in the program today. I fully understand why some of the tank build threads seem allergic to water at times.

Also a minor scare as the fragging I did on Friday for the swap, sent all the coral into shock. No polyp extension on the SPS, and other corals shriveled up for the day saturday. Water change this morning and they are all getting back to normal. One of the varieties of blasto chrushed up some as I tried to cut it. My guess is the higher nitrates combined with those chemical battles caused the irritation. Water tests showed no large change in alk, Ca or Mg, nor in NO3-. If reefing were like Jeopardy game show, nine times out of ten I would say,' What is water change?'

 

[yardartist]

The coral for the most part bounced back after water change. In the photos the sunset and setosa still look a little shocked. The rocks slipped a little and these two are not in as much flow as they were before. Might be adjusting the current. Thanks for taking such clean photos Ian!

http://s870.photobucket.com/albums/ab269/yardartist/tank%20shots%20January%202011%20by%20Ian/#!cpZZ1QQtppZZ24

Some of the labels show what I am bringing to the swap. Brightest photos on second page.

 

[iani]

That cynarina is really sweet in person. Your tank looked really good Richard.

 

[yardartist]

Thanks. It was fun to strike when I saw it. Cash and trade to make the deal, and worth it to me. Next is to tweek the flow a tad so it will level out and fluff all around.

 

[yardartist]

Today spent four hours to clean up the aquarium closet beside my tank and move the LED fixture into place. They are at 50% for now. They are 6inches from the water, and the closest coral is JAR's purple monti at two inches and the rest are all at around 7 inches below the water line. The purple monti is glowing more rich than before. All of the colors are stepped up a tad. Just like the MH was more colorful than the PC.

No way to measure the difference, but I am very pleased with the look so far. My goal is to not fry the coral in the next few days. Then I will try to ramp up the intensity if the colors fade. I will be keeping a close eye on them all to move some around as the light may be too intense for some and not all.

Thanks everyone for your help in this. I think the group buy was about two years ago for the first parts.

 

[gimmito]

The tank is looking pretty sweet Richard.

 

[yardartist]

Thanks Jim. Glad to see you will be at the swap.

 

[yardartist]

Temp with all LED on at 50% was 115. I added a room fan and dropped the 11 LED actinic set and the temp is 104 with 24 LED on 50%.

Looks like I will have to add a fan pointing on the unit directly.

 

[yardartist]

Three days on LED and the coral all look no worse for wear. I am very glad and how the health stays as the colors are very intense for a few animals. My camera does not take good color representation. I did get a few more clear shots two days ago by holding the camera on a brace, but the color is not what I am seeing.

The setosa has a pure orange luminous skin over the red and hot almost pink looking tips.

Greens on palys, lepto, lytho, blasto, and slimer are radiant.

The light ratio is 1 UV, 2 red, 2 light blue, and 6 royal blue on the 'actinic' strand. The color on the rocks is a bit pink looking so not natural but very nice. With the two daylight strands on the tank color is very blue. Those two are each 7 royal blue and 5 white.

The purple monti is rich purple with actinics only. It washed out dull under blue moon lights.

 

[houser]

[youtube]wVWeVSd5gvI[/youtube]
DIY freak doesn't buy, he builds..

 

[Tamazula]

DIY freak doesn't buy, he builds..

That's been the story of my life for the last week.

Cut, strip, tin wire, tin iron, solder, wet iron, heatshrink, repeat. Every now and then bust out the DMM and check something.

 

[yardartist]

The LED are ramped up to 70% on daylight and I turned down the blue/red to 35% to get a better color in the evening with just the 'actinic look'. Colors are great. Growth is modest, but nitrates are present with the refugium off line and no skimmer.

With JAR help I have a shield on the light fixture. Pictures soon. Three weeks on a new job and I am just coming up for air.

The rock has been shifting for some time on the left side and about a week ago I lifted the top one and turned it a quarter turn and set it down. Much more stable The cave is more solid looking and the colonies on that rock are facing the light like they used to before the sliding and tilting started.

Also in the 'hood' is a fan, thanks to tech support from rygh, and the aluminum is warm to touch at most now. It had been getting hot with no movement. The tank koralias, fan, and LED all are near silent. The slight LED hum is the most audible part. One of the best things about the system right now.