kien's 150g Room Divider Mixed Reef & Stuff

[kien]

:lol: I just noticed the tags attached to my build thread. Thanks Brad :razz:

[Dez]

Why do you guys always have to bring up my balls. That was 3 years ago...:redface:

[lastlight]

:lol: I just noticed the tags attached to my build thread. Thanks Brad :razz:

:cry:

So quick to forget where 74 of your thread posts came from.

[kien]

:cry:

So quick to forget where 74 of your thread posts came from.

Now you know how it feels when I write you chalk love notes in the pathway that you completely ignore. Ya, it hurts doesn't it?

[lastlight]

Now you know how it feels when I write you chalk love notes in the pathway that you completely ignore. Ya, it hurts doesn't it?

:sad:

It does.

[kien]

:sad:

It does.

By the way, thanks for airing our dirty laundry in my build thread.

[Aquattro]

:lol: I just noticed the tags attached to my build thread. Thanks Brad :razz:

Wasn't me, you're faster than I am :) I can guess who did tho...

[kien]

Why do you guys always have to bring up my balls. That was 3 years ago...:redface:

Haven't you heard? They're back in style.

Wasn't me, you're faster than I am :) I can guess who did tho...

Ya, I figured it out.

[kien]

Currently in the reef..

http://i1002.photobucket.com/albums/af144/muzanji/9BC8A295-D8C6-41AF-B1AF-80D59C694D0D-566-000000582701C1AE.jpg

http://i1002.photobucket.com/albums/af144/muzanji/D23F7479-F72E-4FEB-B76D-3F54DC67E154-566-00000058212CC6AF.jpg

http://i1002.photobucket.com/albums/af144/muzanji/C6B280EF-8655-4859-921D-1C13C92B052E-566-000000581867A2FF.jpg


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Sent from the future on my iPhone 10 using Tapatalk

[lastlight]

ORP looks a little off. I suggest you dose 30mV of ORP DOWN and get back to us.

[Bblinks]

Kien, don't know how I missed this thread.... I am only on page 20 something and already I am mesmerized by all the eye candies. Love all the pictures dude, keep them coming.

[kien]

Kien, don't know how I missed this thread.... I am only on page 20 something and already I am mesmerized by all the eye candies. Love all the pictures dude, keep them coming.

Thanks man! :biggrin:

[Marlin65]

I see you have a clown trigger always really wanted one of those.
have you had any problems with yours?

[kien]

I see you have a clown trigger always really wanted one of those.
have you had any problems with yours?

Ya, I used to have a clown trigger in my 131g "FOWLR" that was plumbed into the 150g mixed reef. I shut the "FOWLR" down a few months ago though. Just have the 150g mixed reef now with no triggers :( I do miss tiggers..

He behaved just like any other psychotic trigger :lol:

Possibly in the future when my kids are much older and I have a bit more time on my hands I would like to set up another dedicated FOWLR for fish like the triggers, etc.

[kien]

Saturday morning..

http://i1002.photobucket.com/albums/af144/muzanji/12F85359-CD16-4DBF-BC11-1982AC447AEE-566-000000FF850F0A78.jpg


______
Sent from the future on my iPhone 10 using Tapatalk

[daplatapus]

Lookin' good man! How do you like those Hanna checkers? I have one for Po4 but was wondering how the Alk, Ca and Mg ones were.

[kien]

Lookin' good man! How do you like those Hanna checkers? I have one for Po4 but was wondering how the Alk, Ca and Mg ones were.

I don't have the Mg one (actually don't even know if they have those yet). I do love the alk and calc checkers tho.

[kien]

Out with the old..

http://i1002.photobucket.com/albums/af144/muzanji/7FFBA041-4256-4631-8B22-7D2775B311D1-1507-000000E81FB48191.jpg

In with the new!

http://i1002.photobucket.com/albums/af144/muzanji/6756F007-8E09-473C-A903-B1261552F8C1-1507-000000E82524806A.jpg

http://i1002.photobucket.com/albums/af144/muzanji/01AF839C-5513-426A-BA5D-DC63886A1557-1507-000000E819A9BF49.jpg



______
Sent from the future on my iPhone 10 using Tapatalk

[Bblinks]

Sexy! I got the same holder to my probes, at first I thought the magnet would interfere with the readings but I haven't had any problems yet. Nice buy kien.

[kien]

Sexy! I got the same holder to my probes, at first I thought the magnet would interfere with the readings but I haven't had any problems yet. Nice buy kien.

Ya, it's kinda funny because when I started this build 3 years ago had planned from the get-go to get something like these holders. I put it on my to-do list, but in a pinch I figured a piece of styrofoam would do the trick. It did do the trick except for some annoyances like, in order to keep them from banging into each other the piece of styrofoam had to be pretty big. Also, whenever the sump water went up (due to return pump off), the whole set of probes would rise also. This wasn't a problem until the sump water went back down but left the probes dangling in the air snagged onto the lip of the sump :lol:

Anyway, fast forward 3 years and I can finally cross that off of my to-do list. yay! :cheer2:

I have to admit, you are right, they are pretty sexy probe holders! I have not noticed any interference due to the magnets either.

[michika]

Why do you guys always have to bring up my balls. That was 3 years ago...:redface:

They're legendary, of course we'd bring them up...again and again and again. :lol:

[kien]

They're legendary, of course we'd bring them up...again and again and again. :lol:

Indeed. And their reputation knows no bounds. The Pheasant Balls have graced at least 5 different build threads :surprise:

[michika]

At least... I think they're in minimum two of my builds.

[Seriak]

Now I am feeling left out.

[Leah]

Now I am feeling left out.

What about the Cheato Balls?

[kien]

http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8062/8201485133_4e461755c2_o.jpg

http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8483/8201480211_47b2f9cea8_o.jpg

http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8337/8202573512_83e7c1a6b8_o.jpg

http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8481/8202575072_465c4df1f1_o.jpg

http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8478/8202575944_ef8dcace4f_o.jpg

http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8067/8202576388_a1cacfb529_o.jpg

http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8342/8202574402_b329c88242_o.jpg

Treehugger..

http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8484/8201484719_3380a68bf3_o.jpg

Goodness gracious great balls of fire..

http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8060/8201485025_07d9ed5753_o.jpg

http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8197/8202574500_d5720693a2_o.jpg

[kien]

FEED ME!

http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8200/8201481473_b2a5636f7b_o.jpg

http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8070/8202574452_3a68e5a16a_o.jpg

http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8337/8202575142_b1f816071c_o.jpg

http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8481/8202574784_4497d11971_o.jpg

http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8350/8201483813_d1f032504e_o.jpg

http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8340/8202576968_9de2b2e57b_o.jpg

http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8205/8201484515_990558423c_o.jpg

http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8483/8202577670_769a7efa55_o.jpg

http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8210/8202578528_df4b55884c_o.jpg

http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8483/8202578184_77d4e899f7_o.jpg

[lastlight]

is that an orchid dottyback or a gramma?

TLC is payin' off bro it's looking nice.

[kien]

is that an orchid dottyback or a gramma?

TLC is payin' off bro it's looking nice.

Thanks man. Purple Pseudochromis :-)

[kien]

The Full Montis..

http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8488/8201482693_8fc448e378_o.jpg

http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8070/8202575752_52a3ced79e_o.jpg

http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8480/8201481843_af5bb6d55e_o.jpg

http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8339/8201481707_ee7c6fe479_o.jpg

http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8060/8201484045_76537dab70_o.jpg

http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8204/8201480653_484da8066a_o.jpg

http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8202/8201479743_fc4d284d50_o.jpg

[Seriak]

Amazing shots! I can never seem to get pictures like that!

[sphelps]

Looking good, your pictures seem to get more interesting every time I visit.

[christyf5]

Fantastic photos! They almost make me want to take up reefing again :razz:

[kien]

Amazing shots! I can never seem to get pictures like that!

Looking good, your pictures seem to get more interesting every time I visit.

Fantastic photos! They almost make me want to take up reefing again :razz:

Thanks! One of my joys in reefing (in case you didn't already figure it out) is taking photos of all the cool stuff in the tank. You can easily miss a lot of cool details when you're sitting/standing back and just gazing at your tank as a whole. I love getting in there and up close and personal with everything going on in the tank. It's actually kinda funny 'cuz my fish are somewhat used it now. Whenever I have the camera up close or in the tank the fish are always hovering around trying to photobomb my coral shots.

Christy, I didn't realize that you had gotten out of reefing :cry:

[Bblinks]

nice shots kien. Love to see it in person one dy.

[kien]

nice shots kien. Love to see it in person one dy.

Thanks! If you're ever in Cowtown just drop me a line. I'm not one to pass up a Reef Geek-Out session :-)

[lastlight]

Fantastic photos! They almost make me want to take up reefing again :razz:

I saw you get rid of that 90 but thought the 180 was still going. It was looking really great what happened? Sorry to hear.

[christyf5]

I saw you get rid of that 90 but thought the 180 was still going. It was looking really great what happened? Sorry to hear.


Oh I'm not totally out, I'm just calling this phase the "I have a tank phase". I wouldn't call it a reef anymore, unless its one of those after the hurricane/too much pollution death tanks. I figure if it keeps up the way its going (stuff dying) I'll be at the FOWLR or "I have a tank full of water and algae" phase within a year.

Sorry to crap on your thread. Moar photos! :mrgreen:

[lastlight]

Oh I'm not totally out, I'm just calling this phase the "I have a tank phase". I wouldn't call it a reef anymore, unless its one of those after the hurricane/too much pollution death tanks. I figure if it keeps up the way its going (stuff dying) I'll be at the FOWLR or "I have a tank full of water and algae" phase within a year.

Sorry to crap on your thread. Moar photos! :mrgreen:

Best of luck I guess at least you're still in it. Don't worry about the hijacking I owe him some. If there's anything else you feel like chatting about please stop in again.

[kien]

Oh I'm not totally out, I'm just calling this phase the "I have a tank phase". I wouldn't call it a reef anymore, unless its one of those after the hurricane/too much pollution death tanks.

hmmm.. ya, I wouldn't know anything about that... :pound: :lol: :rofl: :lol: :pound: :lol: :rofl: :rofl: :lol: :neutral:

[kien]

If there's anything else you feel like chatting about please stop in again.

I'm pretty sure that's why Brad put "& Stuff" in my thread title..

[christyf5]

Best of luck I guess at least you're still in it. Don't worry about the hijacking I owe him some. If there's anything else you feel like chatting about please stop in again.

well lets face it, this thread is at 105 pages and theres no way its all reef talk, especially when its a Kien thread :razz:

[kien]

well lets face it, this thread is at 105 pages and theres no way its all reef talk, especially when its a Kien thread :razz:

http://i1002.photobucket.com/albums/af144/muzanji/Oh_Snap.jpg

[kien]

So shortly after I got my tank back on track this past fall you may recall that I put a few tester SPS colonies in to test the waters (hehe I'm so punny). Well, those pieces have coloured up nicely and have started to grow.

Browned out STN'ing digi..

Before:

http://i1002.photobucket.com/albums/af144/muzanji/4EB706DB-DA6E-4BCC-9D3A-EC8E3C8C83DF-9436-00000731E6121DF1.jpg

After:

http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8204/8201480653_484da8066a_o.jpg

So anyway, once I was satisfied with their progress I decided to go all-in and start stocking up on frags 'n such. I pretty much hit up anyone in town that had anything available. Thanks to all my local reefer buddies my tank now looks like a 150g frag tank :lol: I'm not complaining though. Part of the fun is watching things grow (or not grow and trying to figure out why? :neutral:).

This particular frag pack is from my one of my all time favourite vendors, Oceanic Corals.

http://i1002.photobucket.com/albums/af144/muzanji/F8287282-34D2-4769-94C6-87F983C6DC55-6973-000004FD60C35212.jpg

P.S. excuse the diatoms on the sand bed. Apparently that's what happens when you change out your sand bed :lol:

[christyf5]

This particular frag pack is from my one of my all time favourite vendors, Oceanic Corals.

http://i1002.photobucket.com/albums/af144/muzanji/F8287282-34D2-4769-94C6-87F983C6DC55-6973-000004FD60C35212.jpg

P.S. excuse the diatoms on the sand bed. Apparently that's what happens when you change out your sand bed :lol:

Oh my, whats the green birdsnesty thing on the right? It looks cranky but pretty, any idea what it ends up looking like or if they gave it a fancy name?:wink:

[kien]

Oh my, whats the green birdsnesty thing on the right? It looks cranky but pretty, any idea what it ends up looking like or if they gave it a fancy name?:wink:

All of the frags pictured here just came out of the bag so they're all a bit cranky. It's a Bird of Paradise and looks like this when its happy :-)

http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8199/8201482397_2ab347da17_o.jpg

http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8480/8202575600_61bbba7398_o.jpg

[christyf5]

Nice! I had one of those that was supposed to be a bird of paradise, instead it was just a pigeon. I ended up selling it at a frag swap. It was pretty disappointing as all my other birdnests have done fine and colored up nicely.

[lastlight]

is it wrong that i'm staring at your cloves and hoping mine colour up like that too?

[kien]

is it wrong that i'm staring at your cloves and hoping mine colour up like that too?

wait.. the cloves I gave you browned out?! That's okay, just throw them in the trash and come get more LOL.

[lastlight]

No they're a nice pale purple but not bright like yours. they're a bit shaded under beast torch.

[kien]

http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8200/8201479675_a8425dd50c_o.jpg

http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8065/8201480309_ab2c138fd0_o.jpg

http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8479/8202576570_0028f3a030_o.jpg

http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8341/8202572990_1b7a9d1fea_o.jpg

http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8347/8201483427_fa93584c3e_o.jpg

http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8059/8201483569_3dbe602119_o.jpg

http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8482/8201479965_b163a55de6_o.jpg

http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8201/8202573046_011dc0fd3c_o.jpg

http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8204/8202573162_9865913312_o.jpg

http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8349/8202572948_2e80142db3_o.jpg

http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8206/8202573204_ea81aea189_o.jpg

http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8069/8202573634_361c13d805_o.jpg

[kien]

http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8202/8202574092_0cb6daebb6_o.jpg

http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8205/8202574044_b11b0ffd0f_o.jpg

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http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8346/8201481023_b449b0d200_o.jpg

http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8070/8202573988_6020456b67_o.jpg

http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8207/8202574720_b7655518f2_o.jpg

http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8350/8201481637_d2a5dbd0b9_o.jpg

http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8350/8201481779_06cd85fac4_o.jpg

http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8200/8201482015_15f8a8d77f_o.jpg

http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8058/8202575442_a171602635_o.jpg

http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8062/8201482295_c3b145cac6_o.jpg

http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8481/8202577300_6791ac49b7_o.jpg

[kien]

http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8345/8202576648_07c34d1d75_o.jpg

http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8062/8201484095_5454ba98cb_o.jpg

http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8483/8201484153_9a83266a40_o.jpg

http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8343/8201484395_c1895a06d4_o.jpg

[Rice Reef]

Simply gorgeous! :biggrin:

[miuYH]

Perfect shots.
Amazing!

[FishyFishy!]

WWWOOOOO REEF PORN!

Loookin goood! I LOVE that birdsnest, awesome color

[Coleus]

god damn it Kien, now you makes me think of doing a full sps tank only. Appreciate those awesome close up shot those. everytimes, wife sees i am browsing your thread, she asked me when you are going to take pictures of our kids lol. I better look at your thread at work only

[JDigital]

:shocked!: Amazing stuff Kien!

[fishoholic]

Drool drool!!!!

[kien]

Thanks guys and gals! Almost done here, just a few more..

http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8489/8201483219_e3d83ab062_o.jpg

http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8058/8201483643_7684916d8b_o.jpg

http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8210/8201480117_403b3c2d0e_o.jpg

http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8481/8202574328_9e886cf39e_o.jpg

http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8060/8201482507_e400d78a61_o.jpg

http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8063/8201482201_850ebc78cf_o.jpg

http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8208/8201482543_a5b7f7e7a8_o.jpg

http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8208/8202575860_ca61f2159d_o.jpg

http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8343/8201483707_83e20623a1_o.jpg

[kien]

http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8200/8201484431_22793f7e44_o.jpg

http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8060/8202575982_0c2aa518e5_o.jpg

http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8337/8201483181_41df17d8fc_o.jpg

http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8063/8201482927_76f2116cf6_o.jpg

http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8201/8202576194_525f6c2ec2_o.jpg

http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8339/8202576124_99c4e78abb_o.jpg

http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8197/8201484003_64692f5538_o.jpg

http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8348/8201482983_9e04774d70_o.jpg

[Nano]

I'll take one of each please :P

Man I need some blues and purples in the tank haha. Nice pieces kien

[Coralgurl]

Gorgeous shots! How bout a fts??

[kien]

Gorgeous shots! How bout a fts??

Thanks! The South Side :-)

http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8487/8201485633_5fdefe0a50_o.jpg

[mrhasan]

Do you dose this?

http://a.tgcdn.net/images/products/frontsquare/dc05_awesomesauce_hot_sauce.jpg

[Coralgurl]

Yep, beautiful!! Nice work!

[kien]

Do you dose this?

http://a.tgcdn.net/images/products/frontsquare/dc05_awesomesauce_hot_sauce.jpg

When I can remember to, yes! Often times I forget to though.. and it shows :lol:

[lockrookie]

Dagnabit that's what I'm doin wrong I dose with this

http://i998.photobucket.com/albums/af103/lockrookie/1F3C80F1-62CA-46C7-A80F-AEA9DDB42DCE-388-00000035CC199DAE.jpg


Sent from my porcelain aquarium

[Zoaelite]

I tried to make a meme about you coming back.







Failed. :neutral:.







Nice sticks and wicked photos as always!

[reefwars]

dude im gonna cry....i think you know why lol

[kien]

http://i1002.photobucket.com/albums/af144/muzanji/3AEADD4C-4646-42E4-833C-7031D6F3DAED-6973-00000570F25AE57C.jpg

:-)

[kien]

dude im gonna cry....i think you know why lol

:cry:

[mrhasan]

:cry:

Come on! Have popcorn :D :popcorn:

[Rice Reef]

http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8337/8201483181_41df17d8fc_o.jpg


http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8201/8202576194_525f6c2ec2_o.jpg


http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8348/8201482983_9e04774d70_o.jpg

Man, super macro pics! Can you tell me what these three are? I need to add them on my Xmas list! :biggrin:

[reefwars]

http://i1002.photobucket.com/albums/af144/muzanji/3AEADD4C-4646-42E4-833C-7031D6F3DAED-6973-00000570F25AE57C.jpg


man tell me that dont look like brett no?? lol

[kien]

Man, super macro pics! Can you tell me what these three are? I need to add them on my Xmas list! :biggrin:

Thanks!

They are Acropora SPS.

[mrhasan]

"kein" was intentional :P

http://i1304.photobucket.com/albums/s522/mrhasan1/meme.jpg

[lastlight]

http://i1002.photobucket.com/albums/af144/muzanji/3AEADD4C-4646-42E4-833C-7031D6F3DAED-6973-00000570F25AE57C.jpg


man tell me that dont look like brett no?? lol

be more convincing if my wife ever wanted me to come to bed with her lol.

[kien]

Damn that Kein guy!!

[mrhasan]

Damn that Kein guy!!

I know right! All $10 frags goneeeeeeeeeee :cry:

[reefwars]

be more convincing if my wife ever wanted me to come to bed with her lol.


gee awesome now im cleaning pepsi off the floor that i couldnt help spit out of laughter ;PPPP

[Rice Reef]

Thanks!

They are Acropora SPS.

Haha... What's their fancy names...:wink:

[reefwars]

Haha... What's their fancy names...:wink:


fancipora sp.

:mrgreen:

[kien]

Haha... What's their fancy names...:wink:

The first one I'm going to call "Blue Steel Delight".

The second one (Acropora Tenuis) I shall call, "Arctic Winter nights"

The third one (Acropora Plana) I will call "Aurora Borealis Rave"

Hope that helps!

[Rice Reef]

The first one I'm going to call "Blue Steel Delight".

The second one (Acropora Tenuis) I shall call, "Arctic Winter nights"

The third one (Acropora Plana) I will call "Aurora Borealis Rave"

Hope that helps!

Sure does now where can I get one of each? I want them!:twised:

[kien]

Sure does now where can I get one of each? I want them!:twised:

sorry, not too sure where you would find these in Victoria.. I got mine from a LFS (Concept Aquariums) here in Calgary. I think they are fairly common though? Not sure what the first one is but the second one is just a blue tipped Acropora Tenuis and that third one is a Acropora Plana.

[mrhasan]

sorry, not too sure where you would find these in Victoria.. I got mine from a LFS (Concept Aquariums) here in Calgary. I think they are fairly common though? Not sure what the first one is but the second one is just a blue tipped Acropora Tenuis and that third one is a Acropora Plana.

Sorry to hijack but are concept aquariums and concept aquatics two different shops? I always wondered that :neutral:

[kien]

Sorry to hijack but are concept aquariums and concept aquatics two different shops? I always wondered that :neutral:

is it even possible to hijack and derailed train??

http://i1002.photobucket.com/albums/af144/muzanji/thread_derail.jpg

Anyway, they are the same shop :-)

[mrhasan]

is it even possible to hijack and derailed train??

http://i1002.photobucket.com/albums/af144/muzanji/thread_derail.jpg

Anyway, they are the same shop :-)

Ah that makes sense. I was always confused because of two different websites :|

[kien]

Ah that makes sense. I was always confused because of two different websites :|

They are having a bit of an identity crisis at the moment but I think they will have that sorted out soon :-)

[kien]

It's been over a year since I last gave my return pump a good soaking..

http://i1002.photobucket.com/albums/af144/muzanji/398D15AD-D720-4F3D-AB4A-03133D8BE71C-20968-00000F068BAAF012.jpg

So sparkly after the vinager bath. Also noticed more output from it.

Sump firing on all cylinders!

http://i1002.photobucket.com/albums/af144/muzanji/69CD5465-E5B9-422B-BBE2-E6DE3F4E8344-20968-00000F0692CD4F60.jpg

4 cylinders in fact.

[thmh]

amazing set up!!! like your thread your tank set up is just as organized, iam so mad jelly!

[rhody605]

So shiny.

Looks like a brand new setup again.


Mike

[kien]

amazing set up!!! like your thread your tank set up is just as organized, iam so mad jelly!

Thanks !

So shiny.

Looks like a brand new setup again.


Mike

Ya it's remarkable what a spot of cleaning can do lol

[fishoholic]

Ya it's remarkable what a spot of cleaning can do lol

I think you should visit my tank next! :razz:

Looks good :biggrin:

[lastlight]

what's the deal with your table of content?! i want to navigate to all the recent points of interest why did you stop updating it?!

#Crying

[Leah]

what's the deal with your table of content?! i want to navigate to all the recent points of interest why did you stop updating it?!

#Crying

Maybe cause you were the only one. :wink:

[rhody605]

I hope you didn't mix some of that windshield washer fluid into the vinegar. Lol


Mike

[kien]

what's the deal with your table of content?! i want to navigate to all the recent points of interest why did you stop updating it?!

#Crying

Are you kidding me brah? Try having another look. It's up to date.

[lastlight]

Are you kidding me brah? Try having another look. It's up to date.

omg it is haha. poor brad.

[Aquattro]

. poor brad.

It's true..

[kien]

So last month I had an opportunity to try out a couple of LED light fixtures. Specifically the Radion and a Kessil 350W. I know that both of these lights work great and there are a lot of people who have grown all sorts of stuff under these lights so their effectiveness was not what I was interested in. What I'm really interested in is how they appear to me over my tank. Simply put, how do they look (in my eyes). I have seen a lot of LEDs over tanks at LFS and haven't really been impressed by the light that they cast. Some of them exhibit noticeable discoing effect while many others just seemed dim to me.

What I did was mount each light in the middle of my tank, more or less exactly where my middle metal halide sits and took pictures of them at a fixed exposure setting on my camera. I did this because I was curious to compare the light output of these lights with my metal halide. It is hard to compare light output with your naked eye because our eyes will adjust the light automatically and we have absolutely no control over that. However, with an dSLR camera you can fix the exposure so that the sensor is capturing the same image and amount of light each time.

First up was my 250watt 15K eBay halide.

http://i1002.photobucket.com/albums/af144/muzanji/IMG_2336.jpg

One thing to note here is that I have some major over hangs, and even so you can still make out some details under them. This is with the halide directly above the middle structure.

Next up is the Kessil 350W. This is the WIDE ANGLE version of the 350. For those who don't know kessils, they are not programmable, but they do have dials on them that allow you to manually adjust the BLUE channel and the WHITE channel LEDs. This picture is with both the blue and white channels maxed out.

http://i1002.photobucket.com/albums/af144/muzanji/IMG_2339.jpg

My impressions:
1. It's way too blue for my taste.
2. It isn't quite as bright as the halide (but I sorta knew that going into this). I can see that it is a bit darker under the overhangs.
3. It's funny that one of the claims to fame with LEDs is their ability to provide you that shimmer effect that Halides give you. HOWEVER, with this unit I personally found the shimmer to be overbearing. Yes, to my eyes there was way TOO MUCH shimmer. I didn't know that was possible, but sure enough, it was there and very distracting. In fact, if you look at the light as it enters the tank at the top you can see the light rays! I suppose it is possible that over time my eyes would adjust to it and I would just get used to it.

Here is the Kessil 350W again redialed with the blue channel taken down a few notices to try and match the colour temp of the halide.

http://i1002.photobucket.com/albums/af144/muzanji/IMG_2340.jpg

Impressions:

1. The temperature here is closer to the 15K halide but in order to achieve this I had to knock the blue channel down quite a bit. As a result there is a significant loss of light. It is much dimmer now.

2. The insane shimmering was reduced due to less blue channel being cast.

Finally, here is the Radion unit at full blast mounted in the same spot.

http://i1002.photobucket.com/albums/af144/muzanji/IMG_2346.jpg

Impressions:

1. The colour temp is more or less the same as the Kessil at full blast. I did not bother to play around with the programming to adjust the colour temperature for the following reasons.

2. Already I could tell that it was dimmer than my halide (again, I kinda knew that going into this).

3. While the shimmering was there it was not as intense as it was with the Kessil.

4. While not annoying and overbearing like with some other units, I could still notice some degree of discoing (separation of LED channels on the sandbed and on some of my lighter coloured corals). I know that a lot of people don't notice the disco with Radions but all of our eyes are different. I can see why some people would not notice it. It's very subtle but I can still notice it (compared to T5s or Halides).

Final Thoughts..

* Both of these lights seem to put out a lot of light. Obviously not as much as Halides, but not everyone needs to blast their tanks with halides. There are people successfully growing SPS under both of these lights so there is enough light there.

* Both lights shimmered as they should but the Kessil had way too much shimmer for some reason. I don't know why.

* I could still see a disco effect with the Radion but not with the Kessil. The Kessil has a much more tightly packed LED array which virtually eliminates this. The Radion's LED array is still far enough apart that I can notice it, but many other people apparently do not.

* I really like the manual adjustability of the Kessil. In searching for a new light we all have different needs. For me, all I really want my light to do is turn on and off. Kind of like with my current light. I can not dim my halides or T5s and I'm OK with that. I don't really need to dim my LEDs either. I don't need lightening storms or programmed cloud cover. I'm fine with just an ON/OFF function for them. As a result of this simplicity the Kessil ends up being MUCH MUCH cheaper than other units with built in computers for programmability.

* And finally, if my halide and T5 combo fixture were to break down today and I was forced to buy a new light I would first try to find a new Halide and T5 combo fixture. However, if I could not, and I was forced to go with LEDs, I would get the Kessil 350 and possibly add T5 supplementation for dusk and dawn viewing. Thankfully my fixture is still trucking along and I don't really have any issues with it. Sure, replacing bulbs is a bit price in the long run but whatever, I wouldn't be in this hobby if I wasn't prepared to spend some money. The halides do throw a bit of heat into the tank but so long as my central AC unit is working it does a perfectly fine job of cooling the house and the tank down. That in conjunction with fans that I have on the controller have worked out well. Mind you, this may all change if I ever get my hands on a GHL Mitras..

[FishyFishy!]

Halide/T5 combo FTW!

[lastlight]

Since the maristar has generously sized reflectors (for a complete fixture) it's able to decently light your generously sized tower of rock. I don't think any canon styled LED pendant is going to be a fit over your tank due to your scaping (especially the center of the tank).

Even tho I haven't seen the 350 in action yet it is worrisome to think about how much intensity is lost when trying to achieve a slightly blue overall colour temp. At the same time I feel my 150 could use just a tiny bit more blue but supplementing an array of 150s with some blue strips will likely produce colour banded shadows so it's lose/lose. Decisions decisions!

[sphelps]

First off LEDs suck compared to Halide T5 combos, get use to it. Second a Kessil isn't right for you, I could have told you that and Radions have color blending issues. Buy the right fixture next time :wink:

[Coralgurl]

Thanks for sharing the pics and experiences with the light fixtures. I've never owned MH, but do agree the LED's do not compare. I'm curious though, do the pics with the LEDs actually reflect what you saw in person as far as coloring is concerned? I ask because I have a T5/led combo on my 55 and my slr has no problem picking up the tank as I see it. My 180, with 3 radions however looks completely different in photos, with the same settings and the pictures are not true to color. I still have not nailed down the settings for pictures for this tank.

[kien]

Thanks for sharing the pics and experiences with the light fixtures. I've never owned MH, but do agree the LED's do not compare. I'm curious though, do the pics with the LEDs actually reflect what you saw in person as far as coloring is concerned? I ask because I have a T5/led combo on my 55 and my slr has no problem picking up the tank as I see it. My 180, with 3 radions however looks completely different in photos, with the same settings and the pictures are not true to color. I still have not nailed down the settings for pictures for this tank.

Yes, I have rendered the photos (colour temps) so that they closely match what my eyes see. What mode are you shooting in? I shoot in RAW format and process the photo myself rather than letting the camera process the photo for me. I have noticed that SLRs do have a hard time guessing what white balance to use on your LED lit tanks. Thats why I apply white balance manually.

[Coleus]

Kien, thanks for sharing. Now please test the mitras as well :-)

[lastlight]

http://www.fishbrains.net/images/28/pajama.jpg

Can't get over the size of your PJC. Ever think of selling?

[kien]

Can't get over the size of your PJC. Ever think of selling?

I'm pretty sure the PJC would cast a significant shadow in your tank under your Kessil.

[lastlight]

I'm pretty sure the PJC would cast a significant shadow in your tank under your Kessil.

I was just going to strap one of these (http://www.ebay.ca/itm/HOT-3-x-CREE-XM-L-T6-LED-4000LM-Bicycle-bike-HeadLight-Lamp-Light-Headlamp-/160908958983?pt=UK_SportsLeisure_Cycling_Bike_Ligh ts&hash=item2576ebdd07) to him to negate his effect.

[kien]

For flow in my tank I've been using two tunze 6105s. They are controlled by my Profilux controller and provide somewhat random water movement by alternating their speed. They've worked great for 3 years now but recently I have noticed that the Profilux control on one of them has started to act funny. I first noticed this when one of the power heads didn't stop when I activated the feed pause on my controller. Instead of trying to fix it I decided to just buy a new one and to re-purpose the defective one as a backup/general purpose mixing power head. Normally this would be somewhat of a trivial purchase. Swap out power head for a new one of the exact same model; YAWN! Well, when I got home with the new 6105 and opened it up I was pleasantly surprised by the changes and just had to post about it.

The first thing I noticed was that they now provide you with two options for the output nozzle/gate as seen here..

http://i1002.photobucket.com/albums/af144/muzanji/4262569C-D54B-4CEA-BBF0-875E72BFA355-29301-00001456336E7BB5.jpg

My original 6105 from 3 years ago didn't have those two options. Just the smaller of the two.

http://i1002.photobucket.com/albums/af144/muzanji/5BB90A15-ED8F-483A-958F-808109281E27-29301-000014562A0B5A2B.jpg

http://i1002.photobucket.com/albums/af144/muzanji/03B6F715-D828-435F-A944-F5D461E13CAA-29301-000014562466E955.jpg

The other thing I noticed was the addition of noise/vibration dampeners as seen here (blue feet)..

http://i1002.photobucket.com/albums/af144/muzanji/02056D07-D7BB-459C-A41F-678972BF0462-29301-000014562E8A7DD1.jpg

This is also quite a nice improvement. I have taken videos under water in my tank and when I play those videos back the powerheads can be quite noisy underwater! With an original 6105 in the tank and the new one I can definitely tell the difference even though the original 6105 wasn't that noisy (outside of the water) to begin with.

I'm quite happy with these improvements. The wider output makes a huge difference in my flow patterns. Not that I had any issues with flow from my original 6105s but flow just got more better! It's much wider and more randomer in areas that were not as randomy before. I like these so much that I'll be paying the Double-Ds another visit to pick up another one of these shortly to replace the other (older) 6105 that's still in the tank.

[FishyFishy!]

LOL the double D's!! Love it

[Arok3000]

Normally this would be somewhat of a trivial purchase. Swap out a 6105 power head for a new one of the exact same model; YAWN!

Normally this would be somewhat of a trivial purchase. Swap out a 6105.

trivial purchase. 6105.

:surprise::surprise::surprise::surprise::surprise:

[kien]

:surprise::surprise::surprise::surprise::surprise:

Yes, I should have maybe qualified that a bit. Trivial in comparison to a Vortech MP40ES purchase :lol:

[lastlight]

Yeah the blue dampeners have been around for a bit and are rad. The wide flow shroud (which you could order on its own to save $) came about after the flow tests by ecotech showed the tunze line flowed far less than advertised. Your new pump should also have come with a 24v jumper to boost output.

I wish the nano streams had wide flow options too :(

[kien]

Yeah the blue dampeners have been around for a bit and are rad. The wide flow shroud (which you could order on its own to save $) came about after the flow tests by ecotech showed the tunze line flowed far less than advertised. Your new pump should also have come with a 24v jumper to boost output.

I wish the nano streams had wide flow options too :(

Ya I seemed to have missed that while episode about the flow. Funny how they still sell the 6105s with the smaller shroud though. Also, I tried looking for just the shroud on J&L but couldn't find it :-(

[kien]

Your new pump should also have come with a 24v jumper to boost output.

HOLY CRAP! I didn't even notice that those jumpers were in there! I plugged in the 24v jumper (default was the 18v) and I nearly blew the tentacles off my torch! So awesome, thanks for the tip! :biggrin: Going to have to play with my programming to spin them down lower periodically.

[kien]

So recently I had an opportunity to try out a Radion and a Kessil (http://www.canreef.com/vbulletin/showthread.php?p=772730&postcount=1102)LED units to see how they compared. Two very different units but great at what they do and that is put out light. Not quite Metal Halide light but good enough I think.

Well, next up on my hit list is a GHL Mitras. First of all, this is one sexy unit! I'm a huge fan of silver. I believe they come in a black as well.

The control panel is quite easy to use and it's nice that it is on the side and not on the top like the Radion. I found the control panel on the Radion a bit of a pain to use. The GHL with its built in LCD panel is quite a nice treat.

http://i1002.photobucket.com/albums/af144/muzanji/MITRAS_20121215_010_zpsb326aa8c.jpg

And yes, they do come with their own sunglasses!

http://i1002.photobucket.com/albums/af144/muzanji/MITRAS_20121215_011_zpsd335d223.jpg

The Mitras is equipped with a generous 6 pods, each pod housing 12 LEDs with a mixture of Blues, Whites, Reds and Greens.

http://i1002.photobucket.com/albums/af144/muzanji/MITRAS_20121215_008_zps63714bcc.jpg

Just another quick disclaimer here. My intent is not to test the effectiveness of the LED unit. Rather, I am interested to see how the look compared to my tried and true Metal Halid+T5 combo. That is, can they match the aesthetics that I prefer?

For comparison sake I'm going to throw up my 250watt, 15K Metal Halide picture again. Note also that no T5s are on, just the Metal Halide. Also, these bulbs are about 8 months old so they are due for replacement which means they're probably burning closer to 12K or 13K.

Metal Halide.
http://i1002.photobucket.com/albums/af144/muzanji/IMG_2336.jpg

Next up is the Mitras at full blast. All channels, all on. (idental camera exposure settings as the Metal Halide photo).
http://i1002.photobucket.com/albums/af144/muzanji/MITRAS_20121215_001_zps7fa01229.jpg

Immediately you can see that there is a $#!t load of light here! LIke I mean A LOT! Now I know why it came with sunglasses. Seriously, like HOLY ****.

But, clearly this isn't the ideal setting. There's way too much red here. Next I dialed down the Red channel to ZERO.

http://i1002.photobucket.com/albums/af144/muzanji/MITRAS_20121215_002_zps7d8c5dd2.jpg

Still A LOT of light here! Plus, not a bad colour cast. I played around with the colour combinations a bit more (did I mention that I REALLY like the control panel? So nice!) to see if I could get something more in line with my taste. Here is the blue dialed down to something more appealing to me. Pretty close to 15K in my eyes.

http://i1002.photobucket.com/albums/af144/muzanji/MITRAS_20121215_003_zpsb86e1636.jpg

All in all a very pleasing look. Not quite as bright as the halide but still a lot of light. The most light that I've seen from an LED at this colour temperature for sure.

Okay, so ya, this light KICKS ASS. However, it isn't perfect. Sadly, like many others this LED unit does suffer from a noticeable disco effect. Keep in mind that everyone's eyes are different and this effect may not be noticeable by everyone. I on the other hand could definitely notice the separation of lights on my sand bed. It wasn't as bad as some units that I've seen, but not as good as the Kessil. The Kessil with its tightly packed LED array pretty much eliminated this effect.

Kessil LED Array:
http://i1002.photobucket.com/albums/af144/muzanji/IMG_2348.jpg

Mitras LED Array:
http://i1002.photobucket.com/albums/af144/muzanji/MITRAS_20121215_009_zpsa6c954e7.jpg

And here it is in all its glory (or gory?), the dreaded disco effect..

http://i1002.photobucket.com/albums/af144/muzanji/MITRAS_20121215_007_zps06c38b94.jpg

http://i1002.photobucket.com/albums/af144/muzanji/MITRAS_20121215_006_zps3e90df5f.jpg

http://i1002.photobucket.com/albums/af144/muzanji/MITRAS_20121215_005_zps46c481a2.jpg

Keep in mind also that these photos exaggerate the effect because of the freeze frame nature of the dSLR camera. However, it's there, and as I said, some people will notice it and some will not.

Final thoughts.

1. This is one sexy light. The build quality is excellent and by far the best that I've see on the market. Clearly a lot of thought has gone into this unit with its generous distribution of pods to its user friendly control panel with LCD display. Plus, it comes with a freaking hanging kit!

2. The colours are quite nice with a virtually an infinite number of possibilities! Plus, damn this unit is BRIGHT!

3. Like with all LEDs you get the coveted caustic effect (ie, shimmering). Sadly, like with most LEDs the shimmering is also its Achilles heel as that's where the dreaded disco effect rears its ugly head. Well, I suppose it won't necessarily be ugly to everyone.

[Snappy]

What I find most amazing about the LED lighting is that it made all the stuff on the substrate disappear. It's like magic! :razz: Or perhaps the fish just moved them out of the way to clear the dance floor so they really groove to those disco effects. :wink:

[lastlight]

more sweet unbiased review action. the hunt continues!

[Coleus]

Ok I need to sell one of my kidney for these sexy mitras. Wonder how many can I get for my kidney.

[kien]

Ok I need to sell one of my kidney for these sexy mitras. Wonder how many can I get for my kidney.

In my opinion, considering the feature set, the build quality and the actual amount of light output, I would consider the Mitras moderately priced :-). In other words, you can spend the same amount of money elsewhere and end up with a lot less.

[sphelps]

Maybe my eyes adjusted cause I just checked my tank again and can't see any disco effect from the Mitras. Maybe your tank is too small, have you tried switching that out yet?

And where are you getting all these fixtures from? I think Dave might need better security :surprise:

[fishoholic]

And where are you getting all these fixtures from? I think Dave might need better security :surprise:

:lol: I was just thinking the same thing!

[Stones]

I haven't been doing as much lurking on the forum this summer/fall as usual so I totally didn't know you had a tank crash this summer! Looks like 2012 was a rough year for alot of us. Sorry to hear about the total loss but going by the last few pages of this thread, you can see why I didn't notice.

I'm quite envious of you guys in Calgary. It would take me years to collect that many awesome frags and colonies and you've repopulated your tank with a plethora of pure amazingness in just a few short months.

Thanks as well for the reviews on the radion, kessil and mitras. From what I've read online, it seems like the Mitras is definately a step up from all of the other modular LED fixtures currently on the market.

I can only guess you may be "borrowing" a Radion pro once they hit the shelves?

Corals are all looking great BTW.

[kien]

Maybe my eyes adjusted cause I just checked my tank again and can't see any disco effect from the Mitras.

Maybe you are just one of the lucky ones who are not as suceptable to the disco effect. The Mitras do a good job of reducing it with a tighter array unlike the Radions. Mind you, even with Radions there are those who don't notice disco with them. And of course there is also the possibility that you would just simply get used to it :-)

It kind of reminds me if the early days of DLP Projectors. Are you familiar with those? They have a spinning colour wheel. The first and second gen DLP projectors had horribly slow spins on their colour wheel and some people noticed colour banding as a result. Not everyone noticed it but a lot of people did. Then they sped up the colour wheel and gradually reduced the effect. Fewer and fewer people could pick up the colour banding (ie rainbow effect). I have a 4th gen DLP projector in my home theatre with a 6x speed colour wheel and I can still occasionally see the rainbow effect but rarely any of my guests do.

[kien]

Corals are all looking great BTW.

Thanks! I do consider myself lucky to be living in Calgary. We have lots of cool **** :-). I don't even mind the traffic. I used to live in Toronto so I know how bad it could be.

[Coleus]

Thanks! I do consider myself lucky to be living in Calgary. We have lots of cool **** :-). I don't even mind the traffic. I used to live in Toronto so I know how bad it could be.

dude, you don't really know Calgary traffic because your work is like 2 minutes drive from your home so shut the ***** up!!!!! :-D

[kien]

dude, you don't really know Calgary traffic because your work is like 2 minutes drive from your home so shut the ***** up!!!!! :-D

Yes, you are right Tai. I have a very easy 5 min commute to work with virtually no traffic. And this is exactly why I don't mind Calgary traffic (from my perspective). I don't really experience what goes on beyond my 5 km radius of work-chinook centre-Deerfoot meadows. So ya, im sure traffic is horrible elsewhere in the city, but i dont live elsehwere. I live where i do because traffic is nice here :-)

Having said that, I am a strong believer of the notion that if there is something you can change, don't bitch about it. Don't like your commute? Move. It's not like there is a shortage of housing in the city. Or wait, did someone force you to live where you live??? :-)

[Aquattro]

You're going to upset Tony with all this talk. Apparently Calgary traffic is solely designed to annoy him. Maybe he should move?

[Delphinus]

Not to get onto it too much, but I could write an essay about what is wrong with that. The reality is that the needs of the population are not going to go away and the "solution" as it were, is not to move, but rather should more involve things like that municipalities doing a better job of forward thinking, and thinking outside the box in their policy decisions. I would much prefer to personally take mass transit for a work commute but it isn't a viable option nor will it be for me for possibly another 20 years. Frankly I hope to be not working by then. This morning as I looked around at the cars around me, very very few had more than one occupant. If that doesn't annoy you, great and good for you ... but instead it annoys you that I'm annoyed by it, then frankly that speaks more about you than it does me.

You have a nice tank Kien, very enviable.

[Aquattro]

but instead it annoys you that I'm annoyed by it, then frankly that speaks more about you than it does me.

.

I think it's more amusement than annoyance :) Have you thought about riding a bike to work? Might be good for the soul to pass all the cars with one occupant. Might also be cold -lol

[kien]

but instead it annoys you that I'm annoyed by it, then frankly that speaks more about you than it does me.

You have a nice tank Kien, very enviable.

1. I totally agree with you that the city should be doing more to improve infrastructure. I am not sure that there are too many Calgarians that will disagree with this.

2. I don't recall saying that I was annoyed at anything? There are a lot of things in this world that are out of our control and we just simply have to live with it. It's not like I have never sat in traffic before. Yes, it's brutal, but it is what it is. Nothing I say or do is really going to change that. Instead, I just take a deep breath, turn on the radio and sing along :-) Or as Brad suggested, I could ride my bike to work. There's a guy on my Runkeeper street team who has been commuting to work on his mountain bike from Country Hills to downtown every day so far this winter.

3. Your tank is nicer than mine. :razz:

[ChizerBunoi]

For comparison sake I'm going to throw up my 250watt, 15K Metal Halide picture again. Note also that no T5s are on, just the Metal Halide. Also, these bulbs are about 8 months old so they are due for replacement which means they're probably burning closer to 12K or 13K.

Metal Halide.
http://i1002.photobucket.com/albums/af144/muzanji/IMG_2336.jpg

Next up is the Mitras at full blast. All channels, all on. (identical camera exposure settings as the Metal Halide photo).

http://i1002.photobucket.com/albums/af144/muzanji/MITRAS_20121215_001_zps7fa01229.jpg


Not only was the Mitras brighter, it blew all those SPS colonizes at the bottom of the tank away. Now das awesome. :wink:

Have you decided which unit you want to move over to? Or are you still part of the no LEDs club?

My clowns are just like yours, they never venture away from their cave.

[kien]

Not only was the Mitras brighter, it blew all those SPS colonizes at the bottom of the tank away. Now das awesome. :wink:

Have you decided which unit you want to move over to? Or are you still part of the no LEDs club?

My clowns are just like yours, they never venture away from their cave.

Well, I wouldn't say that I am necessarily NO LEDs. I'm quite open to the idea of switching to LEDs if I could just find one that I liked. This is why I've been trying a bunch out. I still prefer my MH and T5 combo for its over all look. However, if my fixture were to break today and I could not replace it with another one, I would either go with a Kessil 350W and T5 combo or just the Mitras.

Ya, I could probably place my anemone and clowns into a cup of water and they probably wouldn't notice. In fact, they might be happier since they don't really enjoy the company of any of the other fish. Mostly they get annoyed whenever someone swims near their anemone.

[Coleus]

Yes, you are right Tai. I have a very easy 5 min commute to work with virtually no traffic. And this is exactly why I don't mind Calgary traffic (from my perspective). I don't really experience what goes on beyond my 5 km radius of work-chinook centre-Deerfoot meadows. So ya, im sure traffic is horrible elsewhere in the city, but i dont live elsehwere. I live where i do because traffic is nice here :-)

Having said that, I am a strong believer of the notion that if there is something you can change, don't bitch about it. Don't like your commute? Move. It's not like there is a shortage of housing in the city. Or wait, did someone force you to live where you live??? :-)

Well I used to walk to my old work place but then the company decides to spend our bonus on rent in down town instead. Traffic is actually not too bad for me with my work hours 9:30 to 4:00 but I can understand why ppl is complaining about Calgary traffic.

I love where i live more than trouble i have to deal with commute so not really complaining, just saying you don't know what Calgary traffic is like during rush hours and you said it is not too bad which is kind of wrong statement :-)

[kien]

Calgary traffic is like during rush hours and you said it is not too bad which is kind of wrong statement :-)

Well, I think it's all relative. Calgary traffic is different in different parts of the city. Yes, I realize there are some really bad traffic areas, but there are some decent traffic areas as well. I drive over Deerfoot every day and I can see it backed up for as far as the eye can see, so ya, I can see how the people sitting in those cars would consider Calgary traffic terrible. But for the record, I never said Calgary traffic wasn't that bad. I think I said that I didn't mind the traffic. There's a difference there :-)

[michika]

I have to agree, my commute in and out of downtown from my house is between 10-45 minutes. With nobody on the road at 6:15am I can make it door to door in 10 minutes with the lights in my favour. If I have to work late and leave at 4pm it takes me 45 minutes to get home soley due to volume.

A trip from my house to any of our LFs is at least 45 minutes from door to door and again its volume more so then anything.

[kien]

I have to agree, my commute in and out of downtown from my house is between 10-45 minutes. With nobody on the road at 6:15am I can make it door to door in 10 minutes with the lights in my favour. If I have to work late and leave at 4pm it takes me 45 minutes to get home soley due to volume.

A trip from my house to any of our LFs is at least 45 minutes from door to door and again its volume more so then anything.

Ya, and sometimes the volume is completely unpredictable. I am surrounded by industrial parks which seems to be quite variable. Sometimes I can fly up and down Glenmore Trail, while other times (at the exact same time of day and on the same day) I could easily be at a stand still on Glenmore and not due to any accidents. Just volume in the area for whatever reason. Also, 18th Street SE which runs right through my community (Riverbend) has now been opened up at both ends with access from Deerfoot in the south. Some days it's all normal and there's a typical amount of flow on 18th Street while other times people appear to be jumping off of the Deerfoot and detouring onto 18th Street which causes grid lock through my community. I've been caught in it a few times but it is what it is.

[brotherd]

Kien it would be great to see your tank in person someday. I will chime in on the Deerfoot traffic. I as well drive that road daily from Harvest Hills to Heritage. If I don't leave my house by 7am I'm screwed. If I can leave work early it has to be by 3pm. Otherwise there's no point in leaving before 6pm. It seems like it gets worse every day.

[lastlight]

Sometimes I'll wake up and try and get to my office in the basement and one of the cats will be on the stairs. They like to cut you off and dive under your feet so I have to be really careful. This can affect commute times anywhere from 5 - 10 seconds. I need to get down there to work so I've come to accept it.

[brotherd]

Sometimes I'll wake up and try and get to my office in the basement and one of the cats will be on the stairs. They like to cut you off and dive under your feet so I have to be really careful. This can affect commute times anywhere from 5 - 10 seconds. I need to get down there to work so I've come to accept it.:lol:

[kien]

Sometimes I'll wake up and try and get to my office in the basement and one of the cats will be on the stairs. They like to cut you off and dive under your feet so I have to be really careful. This can affect commute times anywhere from 5 - 10 seconds. I need to get down there to work so I've come to accept it.

Not sure what's worse, road rage or cat rage ?

http://farm6.staticflickr.com/5148/5604121649_47235c9959.jpg

[lockrookie]

From what I'm reading I can never live in Calgary. With work I drive from job to job every day. By the end of the day the wife can't talk to me until I've either killed ppl on my Xbox or I've sat in silence for min 30 min. Regina is full of irritating drivers. And I know it's not anywhere near your issues. Or maybe I just need a happy pill lol


Sent from my porcelain aquarium

[sphelps]

Sometimes I'll wake up and try and get to my office in the basement and one of the cats will be on the stairs. They like to cut you off and dive under your feet so I have to be really careful. This can affect commute times anywhere from 5 - 10 seconds. I need to get down there to work so I've come to accept it.

Have you tried stepping on the cat? This has worked well for me in the past.

[Delphinus]

Well, I wouldn't say that I am necessarily NO LEDs. I'm quite open to the idea of switching to LEDs if I could just find one that I liked. This is why I've been trying a bunch out. I still prefer my MH and T5 combo for its over all look. However, if my fixture were to break today and I could not replace it with another one, I would either go with a Kessil 350W and T5 combo or just the Mitras.


Well interestingly enough I've been wanting to try the Mitras over my tank too just to see how they could compare. So far, most LED's on the market are marketed as (or "touted as") replacements for 250w, whereas I run 400w Radiums and 3 of them, so anything that is a "good choice to replace 250w" is a step down. The Mitras are the first that specifically don't limit themselves to the 250w niche.

The challenge though is that I'm not sure you get a really good picture over a longer tank like yours (or mine) with just one unit. Putting two side by side might have some cancelling effects on the colour separation ...then again it might just make it worse ... hard to anticipate! Unfortunately with the price point on these units it is an expensive proposition just to experiment with multiple units. Although given the positive comments from users I would imagine it is only a matter of time before we see larger data sample out there.

They may well be worth the price, but the flip side is that it's not a trivial thing either.


Ya, I could probably place my anemone and clowns into a cup of water and they probably wouldn't notice. In fact, they might be happier since they don't really enjoy the company of any of the other fish. Mostly they get annoyed whenever someone swims near their anemone.

I can speak a little to this. I've had my clowns and their host carpet in several different tank configurations over the years, including both larger communities and smaller dedicated setups. Before they were introduced to the 280g, they lived in a shallow 40g tank that was exclusively their home for the most part. Their behaviour however, was far more cryptic and shy in that tank than they ever were in the bigger tanks. The territory was barely a few inches, whereas now it is still small but not to anywhere near the same extreme. I am not certain if it was the tank size or shape (or confines of the smaller tank) or if it's the community/dithering effect of other fish to draw them out and force them to be a tiny bit more social.



I think it's more amusement than annoyance :) Have you thought about riding a bike to work? Might be good for the soul to pass all the cars with one occupant. Might also be cold -lol

Feel I have spoken too much about this already but FWIW, yes I do ride a bike in the summer and interestingly it tends to make me a lot happier person overall. The problem is, unfortunately, .. me. Anything colder than about 8c and I just can't handle the chill. (If anything my tolerance for cold has gotten worse over the years.) And anything colder than 8c can start anywhere as early as September and last anywhere up to all the way to June (it's highly variable though year to year).



3. Your tank is nicer than mine. :razz:

That is very kind of you to say, but it is simply not true. :razz:

[FishyFishy!]

Anything colder than about 8c and I just can't handle the chill. (If anything my tolerance for cold has gotten worse over the years.) And anything colder than 8c can start anywhere as early as September and last anywhere up to all the way to June (it's highly variable though year to year).


I totally get where you're coming from. I used to love going outside in the snow when I was younger, and it didn't bother me one bit. Now, every single year it gets worse and worse. To the point where now I'm grunting when its chilly outside during the spring or fall lol.

[kien]

http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8219/8286807662_3eb83066e2_o.jpg

http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8364/8286807556_8dbf6f272d_o.jpg

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http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8057/8285749853_4bca6ecb1d_o.jpg

[Coralgurl]

Man, you have some crazy photography skills!! Those shots are killer!!

[kien]

Also finally got around to paying another one of my all time favourite vendors a visit this past weekend. Just some of the loot that I came away with from Coral Master himself :biggrin:

http://i1002.photobucket.com/albums/af144/muzanji/A08AC2A4-5D09-4F31-9588-FEF310DD6317-34406-00001778F4E8B078.jpg

http://i1002.photobucket.com/albums/af144/muzanji/BE501FDD-40B0-45F2-91A8-D8CBA01FDBCD-34406-00001778EDA7AA63.jpg

There is a reason why we call him the Coral Master..

So much for my Christmas budget. Kids are getting frag plugs to play with. :lol:

[kien]

Man, you have some crazy photography skills!! Those shots are killer!!

thanks! :-D

[lastlight]

Nice haul man! Greg's tanks are full of sweet stuff.

[JDigital]

Nice stuff K-dawg! :mrgreen:

[lockrookie]

I am hoping my new lights allow me to join in some of the snappy club very nice haul indeed


Sent from my porcelain aquarium

[lastlight]

where did you score the purple deaths? I can't seem to make mine happy they're dwindling away while every single other piece of coral looks great. Mine has a sponge growing on the plug that is wrapped around most of the polyps. wonder if it's an issue?

[kien]

where did you score the purple deaths? I can't seem to make mine happy they're dwindling away while every single other piece of coral looks great. Mine has a sponge growing on the plug that is wrapped around most of the polyps. wonder if it's an issue?

I got those from fishy time a couple of years ago as a thank you for coral sitting for him during his first tank move. They have survived two coral crashes over the past two years and were flipped over for a couple of months his summer before I noticed. They once completely browned out. They survived my queen angel which pretty much destroyed my zoa collection. Now they seem to be happy as can be. Tough little buggers.

[Snappy]

Kien I have been meaning to message you to follow up to make sure the frags are doing ok. After seeing your post I will assume they are still alive & healthy. Thanks for stopping by for a visit. :biggrin:
Funny coincidence I haven't seen my dragon pipes for days, did one end up in one of your frag bags?:lol:

[kien]

Kien I have been meaning to message you to follow up to make sure the frags are doing ok. After seeing your post I will assume they are still alive & healthy. Thanks for stopping by for a visit. :biggrin:
Funny coincidence I haven't seen my dragon pipes for days, did one end up in one of your frag bags?:lol:

I saw one of your dragon pipes while I was there. No Brett, not *that* pipe, pervert!

Frags are doing awesome! :-)

[JDigital]

How do you find it keeping a Dragon Pipe in a large tank? Do you have to spot feed him (or her) at feeding time? Do any of his (or her) larger tank mates harass him (or her).

[michika]

How do you find it keeping a Dragon Pipe in a large tank? Do you have to spot feed him (or her) at feeding time? Do any of his (or her) larger tank mates harass him (or her).

That was quite the politically correct post.

[JDigital]

That was quite the politically correct post.

They are far and few between, so don't get use to them Catherine. :lol: Plus, I figured once I said him (or her), I couldn't then just start referring to him (or her) as a Him (or her) the 2 other times. :wink:

[kien]

How do you find it keeping a Dragon Pipe in a large tank? Do you have to spot feed him (or her) at feeding time? Do any of his (or her) larger tank mates harass him (or her).

I have 3 pipe fish currently and they do well in my tank. I've had other types of pipefish with no luck so I've concluded that the Dragon Pipefish are the easiest of all the ones available. I think this is mostly because they don't openly swim so they are not blasted around by the flow. They mostly just slink around hunting for pods. One pipefish I've had for a couple of years and the other ones I've had for about a year. I've noticed that they are quite sociable as they always sleep together and often hang out together during the day. I have never seen any of them eat mysis or any other prepared food. They strictly eat pods. Their mouths are so small I'm not even sure how they would eat mysis. I have not seen any other fish bother the pipefish and they are not skittish at all. Even my most aggressive fish, my pair of clown fish don't bother them if they slink near their anemone. Every time I am in the tank or near the tank they get very curious and come slinking by. They are ALWAYS photobombing whatever I happen to be trying to photograph, those buggers! :lol:

[JDigital]

So what your saying is I'm going to need a significant pod population in any tank I want to have them in. Gotcha! :razz:

Ideally I was thinking the tank at the office, as a few people have inquired about seahorses (which I have said no to) but a pipe or two might be enough to make them happy if they want something that is "delicate and graceful" :lol:

[kien]

So what your saying is I'm going to need a significant pod population in any tank I want to have them in. Gotcha! :razz:

Ideally I was thinking the tank at the office, as a few people have inquired about seahorses (which I have said no to) but a pipe or two might be enough to make them happy if they want something that is "delicate and graceful" :lol:

Ya, it's funny I get that question ALL the time from guests. "So, have you thought about putting a seahorse in your tank?", "how come you don't have a seahorse?", "When are you getting a seahorse". Then I gotta go into my whole spiel about suitable environments for seahorse, etc, etc.. But now I just point to the pipefish and that usually satisfies them.

I personally wouldn't recommend a pipefish unless you have a well established pod population. I have a dragonet fish that used to only eat pods as well and used to hunt pods with the pipefish. Then one day he figured out that he liked mysis better. He doesn't do much pod hunting anymore while the pipefish still do, even after seeing their pod hunting buddy quit that habit.

[michika]

Did you add all your pipefish separately?

[kien]

Did you add all your pipefish separately?

I started with one pipefish a couple of years ago, then added another two earlier this year.

[kien]

This..

http://i1002.photobucket.com/albums/af144/muzanji/AA9ADDE0-3B27-4436-B262-ACAA99A0A17E-480-0000005D21611A22.jpg

That is all, carry on. :pop2:

[jorjef]

Who lives in a pineapple under the sea....

[jorjef]

Porous, yellow and absorbent is he.....

[frizzo1983]

Hahahaha nothing like it!!!!

[Bblinks]

Lmao. Nice kien!

[Nano]

Can't help but feel there's a bit of advertising going on here ;)

[gridley]

Great pic!:lol:

[kien]

http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8090/8406757227_e0f3013a3b_o.jpg
http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8054/8407851336_89e4b1a828_o.jpg
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http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8056/8407852406_2048d611c9_o.jpg

[kien]

http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8355/8406758455_f04f5492b8_o.jpg
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[kien]

http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8236/8406759373_dfee8c01be_o.jpg
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[kien]

http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8518/8406761583_381185026b_o.jpg
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http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8473/8406761309_93efabb19f_o.jpg

[kien]

http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8188/8407855734_4af3eec24e_o.jpg

http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8229/8407855842_a33e8fefc7_o.jpg

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http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8492/8407856074_843742d86c_o.jpg

[Rice Reef]

Kien, these are killer shots! I really adore how your tank looks with the rock scape and arrangement! You have given me some great ideas for my upcoming tank transformation. Keep the reef porn coming! :biggrin:

[Bblinks]

Looking good as always Kien. Picture speak a thousand words and I think your is speaking in the millions. Looks like you are going to need a frag tank soon. :mrgreen:

[hillegom]

You make me sick.
Excellent shots and wicked corals

[fishoholic]

Why is it whenever I see your amazing pic's I can't help but repeat (in my thoughts) "Oooooh that's pretty" over and over and over again!

[Leah]

You make me sick.
Excellent shots and wicked corals

Ditto! Kinda jealous right know! :biggrin:

[lastlight]

things look amazing right now. the cyph and watermelon made me twitch a little!

[ruslicus]

Kien great shots and very nice colors. Share with us how you achieve this coloration in your tank?

[JDigital]

Your pics look OK. Would probably look better under LEDs though. :lol:

I keed! Great Macros Kien. Makes me want to get a camera again. :lol:

[Lance]

:thumb::thumb::thumb:

[lastlight]

Kien great shots and very nice colors. Share with us how you achieve this coloration in your tank?

Depends. Are you using Lightroom, Aperture or Photoshop?

[kien]

Thanks y'all :-)

Your pics look OK. Would probably look better under LEDs though. :lol:

ya, you're probably right. I guess I'll just have to live with my sucky sub par (no pun intended) lighting for the time being.. (ie, I'm just not cool enough) :cry:

Kien great shots and very nice colors. Share with us how you achieve this coloration in your tank?

Honestly, I'm not entirely sure what the answer to this question is. I just do the usual. Water changes (every 2 weeks), skimmer, lighting (MH+T5), GFO+Carbon, BioPellets, Alk and Calc on a doser. Top down photos help too :lol:

Looks like you are going to need a frag tank soon.
:mrgreen:

You're looking at my frag tank. All 150g of it :lol: Seriously though, it's amazing and cool to see how some frags can take off like a rocket, while others pretty much do squat.

November 20th ...... vs ....... January 20th
http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8483/8201484153_9a83266a40_o.jpg .. http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8505/8406760577_3e6614b09a_o.jpg

November 20th ...... vs ....... January 20th
http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8062/8201484095_5454ba98cb_o.jpg .. http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8227/8406760671_8e9cdfd32e_o.jpg

[Delphinus]

With the frags colouring up like that I can't imagine there is anything "sub-par" about those lights at all.

What is that last one? The colour of it in the Jan 20 shot is giving me goose bumps.

[kien]

With the frags colouring up like that I can't imagine there is anything "sub-par" about those lights at all.

What is that last one? The colour of it in the Jan 20 shot is giving me goose bumps.

ya, I love my lights :biggrin: They have served me well over the past 4 years. The last one is an Acropora. sp.

[ruslicus]

So Kien, no fancy Zeovit reactor and additives? :) LOL

I am using LightRoom but cannot get such a nice coloration. But I am working :) I need a BioPellets reactor now :)

Thanks y'all :-)



ya, you're probably right. I guess I'll just have to live with my sucky sub par (no pun intended) lighting for the time being.. (ie, I'm just not cool enough) :cry:



Honestly, I'm not entirely sure what the answer to this question is. I just do the usual. Water changes (every 2 weeks), skimmer, lighting (MH+T5), GFO+Carbon, BioPellets, Alk and Calc on a doser. Top down photos help too :lol:



You're looking at my frag tank. All 150g of it :lol: Seriously though, it's amazing and cool to see how some frags can take off like a rocket, while others pretty much do squat.

November 20th ...... vs ....... January 20th
http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8483/8201484153_9a83266a40_o.jpg .. http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8505/8406760577_3e6614b09a_o.jpg

November 20th ...... vs ....... January 20th
http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8062/8201484095_5454ba98cb_o.jpg .. http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8227/8406760671_8e9cdfd32e_o.jpg

[Delphinus]

The last one is an Acropora. sp.

:lol: ok then...

Perchance do you recall what vendor or hobbyist you acquired it from, so that I might attempt to inquire about availability of any others? Please and thank you.

[gridley]

Absolutely amazing pics! You are obviously doing a lot right. Great job.

[lockrookie]

I swear he owns a waterproof crayola marker set

[ChizerBunoi]

Looking great.

[gridley]

I swear he owns a waterproof crayola marker set

I've got to get me one of those sets! LOL :lol:

[kien]

:lol: ok then...

Perchance do you recall what vendor or hobbyist you acquired it from, so that I might attempt to inquire about availability of any others? Please and thank you.

There was a major frag buying frenzy in the fall/early winter from a lot of different vendors.. I believe this one may have come as a frag pack from a vendor out east who happens to like to "frag a lot". A lot of his frags came in virtually colourless or brown but have mostly all coloured up now.

So Kien, no fancy Zeovit reactor and additives? :)

Nope. The only thing that's added is two-part (alk and calc) from a doser. Although, I guess I do add bioPellets as well when they deplete every 6-8 months.

[kien]

I swear he owns a waterproof crayola marker set

would you happen to have any for sale?

[lastlight]

are these all top-down? you don't generally get that sense from the angles a lot of the time.

[kien]

are these all top-down? you don't generally get that sense from the angles a lot of the time.

Most of them, yes. I think there are only 2 or 3 that are not top downs but for the most part they are top down.

[FishyFishy!]

Its great to see your tank looking amazing again Kien! I love following your threads (when they're active :lol: )

[Youngster Dan]

I think you have perhaps my all time favorite tank. It's awesome.

[Stones]

Great looking pics Kien so thanks for sharing. Glad to see the frags are making some serious headway coloring up. You've got quite a few gems in that tank!

[yycguy]

Most of them, yes. I think there are only 2 or 3 that are not top downs but for the most part they are top down.

Hi Kien.... Great photo's! You say Top Down do you have something you are shooting through, when shooting top down?


Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk HD

[Leah]

Do you use a ladder for your top downs?

[kien]

Its great to see your tank looking amazing again Kien! I love following your threads (when they're active :lol: )

Haha thanks.

I think you have perhaps my all time favorite tank. It's awesome.

Thanks whipper-snapperDan! :-)

Great looking pics Kien so thanks for sharing. Glad to see the frags are making some serious headway coloring up. You've got quite a few gems in that tank!

Thanks man! Ya all the brownapora that I picked up from a LFS last fall have all coloured up nicely too. All they needed was a little TLC.

Hi Kien.... Great photo's! You say Top Down do you have something you are shooting through, when shooting top down?


Yup, one of those top down acrylic viewing boxes.

Do you use a ladder for your top downs?

No, I don't have a step ladder tall enough sadly. I use a bar stool.

[Leah]

:biggrin: Honestly... this is one of my favorite tanks too!

[kien]

:biggrin: Honestly... this is one of my favorite tanks too!

Thanks :-). Y'all are too kind. And since we are being honest, the encouragements do help keep things going, especially during the lows and we all have those low points in this hobby from time to time.

[Aquattro]

we all have those low points in this hobby from time to time.
Tell me about it. Just about decided to prune the whole tank down to frags last night. :)

[kien]

My big clam is spawning again. Gross!

http://i1002.photobucket.com/albums/af144/muzanji/D9929D71-8686-4B5A-A9CA-990713584878-10408-00000695DEA26F62_zps1826f14d.jpg

And yes, I am a pervert for watching and taking pictures.

[Bblinks]

Really cool kien. I gotta say your tank has always been on the top of my list. Just below mine. Lol

[lastlight]

lol that 4-stripe took a serious money shot dude.

[cuz]

lol that 4-stripe took a serious money shot dude.

lmao!!!

so what happens tankwise when a clam that big spawns? skimmer go nuts? do the corals feed off it?

[kien]

Really cool kien. I gotta say your tank has always been on the top of my list. Just below mine. Lol

What a coincidence, my tank sits just below yours on the top of my list too! :-)

[kien]

lmao!!!

so what happens tankwise when a clam that big spawns? skimmer go nuts? do the corals feed off it?

The tank gets cloudy for a bit but clears up within a few minutes. I haven't really noticed my skimmer acting any differently. Fish are also kinda oblivious. I suspect my carbon takes care of most of it?

[Xadieu]

Kien when is the next updated FTS?? :D

[kien]

Kien when is the next updated FTS?? :D

April :-). Or, you can come and park yourself in front of my house like Brett does.

[brotherd]

;)I need to see that tank in person! Maybe this Saturday...?

[kien]

;)I need to see that tank in person! Maybe this Saturday...?

Saturday is the reef meet :-). PM me and we'll set something up for next week maybe.

[kien]

Clown eggs. Again.

http://i1002.photobucket.com/albums/af144/muzanji/B78767B4-2746-4E59-A695-897F2D63B53F-10519-000006B7B5BA72A2_zpsb44be5f6.jpg

Clams and clowns gettin' bizzee in the tank today, so it seems.

[Xadieu]

are those blue clove polyps covering your rocks?

[kien]

are those blue clove polyps covering your rocks?

Yes :biggrin:

[Delphinus]

The tank gets cloudy for a bit but clears up within a few minutes. I haven't really noticed my skimmer acting any differently. Fish are also kinda oblivious. I suspect my carbon takes care of most of it?

For the most part. Unfortunately, depending on the size of the clam or the spawn, it can spike a tank hard. When I had some large squamosas that would regularly spawn, at least two events ended up being fatal because the amount of goo completely overwhelmed the skimmer and the O2 depleted. I came home to find spawning clams and a whole lotta dead fish.

Best to replace carbon and do a small water change shortly after the spawning stops.

Clams can go for hours. I remember once and 1.5 hours later I was all "is this going to stop anytime soon? Geeze." That's some stamina.

[kien]

For the most part. Unfortunately, depending on the size of the clam or the spawn, it can spike a tank hard. When I had some large squamosas that would regularly spawn, at least two events ended up being fatal because the amount of goo completely overwhelmed the skimmer and the O2 depleted. I came home to find spawning clams and a whole lotta dead fish.

Best to replace carbon and do a small water change shortly after the spawning stops.

Clams can go for hours. I remember once and 1.5 hours later I was all "is this going to stop anytime soon? Geeze." That's some stamina.

I think this is the third or fourth time that I've notice it spawn in the past 3 years. I did previously read a post that you had made a little while back about your spawning incident so I do keep an eye on everything whenever I notice it. It's just the one clam but he does seem to go on for a while. I do throw in an extra bag of carbon afterward. The extra water change probably isn't a bad idea though.

[Skimmerking]

That is cool kien my clowns wil lay eggs like every 2-3 weeks like clockwork on the lip of my clam.
With that being said i have never had a clam spawn ever. What causes anclam to spawn.

[kien]

That is cool kien my clowns wil lay eggs like every 2-3 weeks like clockwork on the lip of my clam

Ya these two go at it quite frequently too. This is the second time this month. Between them and my shrimp I probably don't even need to feed the tank. They are constantly providing micro foods for me.

[fishoholic]

For the most part. Unfortunately, depending on the size of the clam or the spawn, it can spike a tank hard. When I had some large squamosas that would regularly spawn, at least two events ended up being fatal because the amount of goo completely overwhelmed the skimmer and the O2 depleted. I came home to find spawning clams and a whole lotta dead fish.

Best to replace carbon and do a small water change shortly after the spawning stops.

Clams can go for hours. I remember once and 1.5 hours later I was all "is this going to stop anytime soon? Geeze." That's some stamina.

I vaguely remember that,it's a good reminder. I haven't noticed my clams spawning but my urchins do all the time, is it along the same sort of thing or is clam spawn harder on a tank then urchin spawn?

[sphelps]

I think this is the third or fourth time that I've notice it spawn in the past 3 years. I did previously read a post that you had made a little while back about your spawning incident so I do keep an eye on everything whenever I notice it. It's just the one clam but he does seem to go on for a while. I do throw in an extra bag of carbon afterward. The extra water change probably isn't a bad idea though.

You can tell when you get a bad spawning, I had a large squamosa clam that turned my 100 gallon tank into what appeared to be a large milk container. Other smaller clams didn't have that much of an effect. Chances are your clam isn't fully matured yet but give it some time :mrgreen: Keep in mind as well that if you add more clams they will more than likely be triggered to spawn at the same time if the original spawns again.

[kien]

You can tell when you get a bad spawning, I had a large squamosa clam that turned my 100 gallon tank into what appeared to be a large milk container. Other smaller clams didn't have that much of an effect. Chances are your clam isn't fully matured yet but give it some time :mrgreen: Keep in mind as well that if you add more clams they will more than likely be triggered to spawn at the same time if the original spawns again.

I do have a couple of maximas also but I suspect they are still too young to spawn. I've never noticed them spawn. And ya, my derasa is big but nothing compared to the monster clam you had!

[Steve...]

Wow Kein, you got all kinds of cool nice things happening in your tank :)
By the way, the birds nest is doing great, its covered in new growth!!!

[lockrookie]

My wife posted this in my wall on the today and instantly thought you being the popcorn king of canreef would enjoy.. Ease note the shrimp make this reef worthy lol

[lockrookie]

Crap forgot the link

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=B7UmUX68KtE&sns=em

[kien]

Crap forgot the link

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=B7UmUX68KtE&sns=em

HAHA that's awesome! I love the Muppets and I have never seen that video!

[Dearth]

I've always loved the Swedish chef he is so functionally dysfunctional .....

[kien]

So recently I have been reading a lot about this "Bean Animal" overflow that's supposed to be the Bee's Knees. Currently on my tank I employ the Herbie overflow which has worked out quite well. However, I do like to keep current whenever feasible. Plus, I'm not typically the type to knock something unless I myself have tried it. So, this morning I set out to see what all the hype was about with this "Bean Animal" overflow by attempting to convert my Herbie to the "Bean Animal".

First off, I have to say that this was probably one of the easier DIY projects that I have every done on the tank. Possibly the most fun as well. It went so smoothly that I didn't even have much down time to document the various steps (sorry; if you would like detailed instructions feel free to PM me!).

Here is the final result.

For comparison sake here's what the old boring Herbie overflow looks like.

http://i1002.photobucket.com/albums/af144/muzanji/IMG_3694.jpg?t=1248427749

And her is the new "Bean Animal" overflow.

http://i1002.photobucket.com/albums/af144/muzanji/81FDE160-609B-4A4A-AA55-18F99EE1386C-11513-0000080F94DBC427_zps7b1d4bad.jpg

http://i1002.photobucket.com/albums/af144/muzanji/6C234BAF-596B-4389-B577-2C707C1018FC-11513-0000080F8ED538BC_zps38803971.jpg

http://i1002.photobucket.com/albums/af144/muzanji/8E927E7B-5F00-40D6-B2CD-1140D220A240-11513-0000080F76CA1C7C_zpsc85816c1.jpg

http://i1002.photobucket.com/albums/af144/muzanji/6974EC49-55DC-4420-989B-5E26CDAAAEC1-11513-0000080F6F7C0B0F_zpsb300fce2.jpg

Conclusion:

I have to say, WOW!! What a difference this conversion made. Not only does the "Bean Animal" overflow liven up an otherwise boring Herbie/Durso/Stockman but man is this thing quiet. Dead quiet! My Herbie overflow was pretty quiet, but the "Bean Animal" has managed to surpass it in quietness. All overflow noise has been COMPLETELY muffled out. Truly AMAZING! Also, the "Bean Animal" overflow is truly set and forget. Once I set it up there was no further adjustment required. The "Bean Animal" overflow gets two thumbs up and my seal of approval. I will highly recommend it to anyone building a new tank in the future or anyone wanting to update their existing non-"Bean Animal" overflow.

[Delphinus]

Hahahahaha! The best part of that update was reading the text first by the email notification then seeing the pictures second. Well played sir.

[fishoholic]

:pound: Love the look of the bean animal overflow :mrgreen:

[gregzz4]

:lol:

That looks like an expensive conversion
I'm not sure I'm ready to spend that kind of dough right now
Maybe when I'm ready to do mine you could walk me through it ?

[Bblinks]

Lmao! Thank you Kien for bringing Saturday morning entertainment to the reefing community around Canada. Hats off to you sir! :lol:

[Madmak]

:)

Well now you know what all the hype is about!

[lastlight]

Haha! Looks like you've been into the pvc glue again =)

That's one pricey mod as well!

[Goatman]

But.....they are not filled with beans....but stuffing....I don't get it.

[kien]

But.....they are not filled with beans....but stuffing....I don't get it.

I sourced all of my bean animals from a reliable supplier. Trust me, they are all bean animals. I have all paperwork if you would like proof of their true lineage. I would not skimp out on such an important part of my tank.

[Lance]

:drinking: Oh Kien! You've been into the moonshine again, haven't you?

[lastlight]

I sourced all of my bean animals from a reliable supplier. Trust me, they are all bean animals. I have all paperwork if you would like proof of their true lineage. I would not skimp out on such an important part of my tank.

You have the CITIES documents as well?

[kien]

You have the CITIES documents as well?

Yes, they came from the cities of Shenzhen and Zhongshan China.

[Dearth]

My 10 yr old niece wants to know how many bean animals your using and you better not have a kitty in the mix or she will be very cross with you :biggrin:

[zhasan]

hahaha.. This is awesome! I read the email and was actually looking forward to see how this was different! You certainly brought a big smile on a lot of faces!!