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Spyd's 180G Mixed Reef
Hi everyone,
I have decided to start a tank journal. I run a standard 180G tank that has been running since August 2012. 3 sides Starphyre glass, Starphyre Eurobracing and external overflow. Stand is metal w/ custom maple wood exterior that uses magnets to snap into place. The sump is located behind the tank in my furnace room. I also plumbed in a water change tank and RDSB tank that will eventually turn into my frag tank once things grow out. I run a Water Blaster HY10000 pump and have plumbed all my reactors and multiple tanks off of it. Works great and runs extremely quiet!! Other equipment: - 2 x Tunze 6101, 1 x Tunze 6105 and controller - 8 lamp x 80w ATI Sunpower T5 fixture. 5 x Blue Plus, 2 x Coral Plus, 1 x Purple Plus - Vertex UF-15 reactor w/ approx 500ml of bio-pellets - BRS Dual Reactor w/ GFO and Carbon - 3 x BRS Dosing Pumps - Cal ALK, Mag - Elos Osmocontroller and 30G RO/DI resevoir tank. - Vertex Puratek RO/DI unit. - BK Super Marin 200 skimmer - Apex Lite Controller - 3 x 250w Ebo-Jager heaters As for fish I have: Foxface Rabbitfish, Purple Tang, Fowleri Tang, Sailfin Tang, Hippo Tang, 10 x Blue Streak Cardinals, 2 x Leopard Wrasses, 2 x Yellow Wrasses, Flame Angel, Six Line Wrasse, Blacker Ice Clown, Snowflake Clown both are hosted by my Flame BTA, Ultra Maxima clam. The highlight of my tank are really my corals. I have a lot of nice SPS and LPS. I am growing my chalice and acan collections right now. So, lets get to some pics all ready: Here is the stand in the early stages. Custom made. It sits nice and high so you can look in the tank at eye level. I lined the inside with white melamine. http://i1160.photobucket.com/albums/...psfcbed76d.jpg Here is my initial aquascaping. I used all most all eco-reefer dry rock and only about 20 lbs of live rock. Most of the live rock went in my sump and only a couple pieces into the display. http://i1160.photobucket.com/albums/...ps88ceee8a.jpg Here is the back room setup: Sump below. Water change tank above that is directly plumbed into the system. Top left is my RDSB tank and under that is my RO/DI resevoir. http://i1160.photobucket.com/albums/...psd557a597.jpg Here is a look at my tank about 6 months ago. A lot of the larger corals were moved over from my old 75G tank which I had running for a few years. http://i1160.photobucket.com/albums/...ps41535442.jpg So here is my tank as it stands today. You can see my mammoth show piece Hollywood stunner isn't doing so hot. I went on vacation back in the beginning of December only to have my BTA split and house on the bottom of my chalice for a week. The chalice did not take a liking to it. Ever since then, I have been trying to nurse the chalice back to health and have not had much luck. Everything else in the tank though is uber healthy. http://i1160.photobucket.com/albums/...psec110c16.jpg Side shot: http://i1160.photobucket.com/albums/...psa1525e70.jpg Individual coral Pics to follow. |
Here are some individual coral pics:
Here are some more close ups that I took last week. SPS growth is coming nicely as are the chalices: Rainbow Lobo, Kryptonite Candycane, RR Cyphastrea, Ultra Maxima, Tyree Miami Hurricane, Gobstoppers? and my Magician Palys.http://i1160.photobucket.com/albums/...pseec38d0e.jpg http://i1160.photobucket.com/albums/...ps1ba438e7.jpg http://i1160.photobucket.com/albums/...psee338fc4.jpg http://i1160.photobucket.com/albums/...pse00081dd.jpg One of my Favs as it is self Grown but unnamed for now... I lack the creativity. ::) It is a nice bright red w/ blue tips and green base. Behind are frags of my Purple Dragon and MRT Northern Delight. http://i1160.photobucket.com/albums/...pse7c11f6c.jpg My Tyree Sand Dollar, Fire & Ice Milli, MRT Bottlebrush, Tyree Rainbow Stylo and ORA Red Planet. http://i1160.photobucket.com/albums/...ps7a166fe4.jpg Front & Center pic of my nicest frags. http://i1160.photobucket.com/albums/...psdc74b5a4.jpg ORA Birds of Paradise and Tyree Ponape Birdsnest http://i1160.photobucket.com/albums/...pscc1c7ff0.jpg MRT Mummy Eye Chalice http://i1160.photobucket.com/albums/...ps1a74fd94.jpg Another new MRT Chalice http://i1160.photobucket.com/albums/...ps5ea69cff.jpg BB Dragon Scale Chalice. Very nice colours! http://i1160.photobucket.com/albums/...ps31f21cfd.jpg Poison Ivy frag. It does not like the intense light. Bleached out at first but is coming back nicely. I will slowly move it up the tank. http://i1160.photobucket.com/albums/...psa17b907f.jpg Meteor Shower Cyphastrea growing like crazy! http://i1160.photobucket.com/albums/...psdddc2d94.jpg Bought as a $10 frag. I love it!!! Bright green w/ orange polyps. I believe it is a Goni. Quickly becoming a favourite! http://i1160.photobucket.com/albums/...ps42a118bc.jpg Some acan love!! Also, my gold chalice and MRT Christmas Favia. http://i1160.photobucket.com/albums/...psc115a492.jpg Purple Valida w/ not so hot stag in the background.... My Flame BTA split and I managed to get it our right away but not before it stung the crap out of the stag. http://i1160.photobucket.com/albums/...ps8194a88b.jpg BS Bright Green Stag... http://i1160.photobucket.com/albums/...ps68cca010.jpg Close up of my Tyree Miami Hurricane. Started as 4 - 6 eyes and is now a good 20 plus!! Time to move it to a larger tile! http://i1160.photobucket.com/albums/...ps9ca57500.jpg Close up of my Gobstoppers? Armour of Gods? I don't really know but they are awesome!!!! http://i1160.photobucket.com/albums/...psfe86f106.jpg RR Bleeding Apple Chalice. Growing like crazy!!! http://i1160.photobucket.com/albums/...ps42f72e32.jpg Some beauty Rainbow Echinatas. Also, my Dragon Soul Favia which is coming back now and another Favia that I just can't seem to get it going. http://i1160.photobucket.com/albums/...psd8c42b92.jpg Random Photo. Classic Palmers Blue Milli and MRT A. Convexa http://i1160.photobucket.com/albums/...ps42fea725.jpg New addition - Wolverine frag. Looking really nice! Beside that is my ORA Pearlberry which is finally showing a little growth. Behind is my MRT Cobalt Tort. Love that one! http://i1160.photobucket.com/albums/...ps515412b4.jpg Tyree Purple Monster!!!!! MRT Sarmentosa growing nicely! In the back is an awesome Red Milli. It is hairy as all get out. I love it! http://i1160.photobucket.com/albums/...psaff0d7fa.jpg MRT Candlelight growing like mad and Mustard Acro. That thing has some SICK colours! Pic does not do it justice at all. http://i1160.photobucket.com/albums/...ps93ac0e59.jpg |
Even more:
A better pic of my Mustard Acro! http://i1160.photobucket.com/albums/...psabc11a0b.jpg ORA Hawkins Echinata, Growing like crazy and exceptional colour! Tyree Satosa slow grower but the colour is amazing!! BS Hulk Aculeus. Super Green!! http://i1160.photobucket.com/albums/...ps55b6afdd.jpg Tubbs Pink Jade! Awesome coral!!!! Green base, blue tips and pink/red polyps!!! Fast grower too!! http://i1160.photobucket.com/albums/...ps25ce711f.jpg RR Gold Bar Acro. Took forever to start growing but has now taken off! Gold / yellow w/ purple polyps. Pic doesn’t do it justice. http://i1160.photobucket.com/albums/...ps4a438873.jpg Tyree Pink Lemonade! Slow grower but it has finally started spreading and new growth tips! http://i1160.photobucket.com/albums/...ps2d02426e.jpg MRT Limeade. Growing fast! Another nice acro - bright red w/ some yellow tips! Behind that is my version of Strawberry Fields. Green w/ orange tips instead of red. Far left is MRT Tri-Colour A. Nana growing fast! http://i1160.photobucket.com/albums/...psdf1dea70.jpg Another pic of them. Tyree Stag in the back and RR Avengers! Amazing colour! Yellow w/ blue tips & Red Polyps. It’s not doing much but it is happy! http://i1160.photobucket.com/albums/...ps55da775e.jpg Tyree Red Dragon. My fav! Complimented with a nice large Tyree Undata behind it. http://i1160.photobucket.com/albums/...ps89cb6bd5.jpg MRT Ultimate Bonsai. Growing nicely now and awesome colours! http://i1160.photobucket.com/albums/...ps011426a8.jpg Some BS Blue Ice Birdsnest. Fast growing and great colour! http://i1160.photobucket.com/albums/...ps5a9ffb63.jpg I bought both as Confusias and I am certainly confused because the colour difference is staggering! Lol. http://i1160.photobucket.com/albums/...psf5b7dcee.jpg BS Valentines Day Massacre chalice. This thing grows like a weed and awesome colours! http://i1160.photobucket.com/albums/...ps85b52ddf.jpg Group Shot. Tyree Red Dragon, BS Stelleta, MRT Deswali & RR Peacock. http://i1160.photobucket.com/albums/...ps132164be.jpg MRT Crazy Chalice! Absolutely stunning chalice and growing nice!!!! http://i1160.photobucket.com/albums/...ps1b717cf4.jpg Group Shot. More Acan love! Also, my Kaleidoscope Chalice growing well! http://i1160.photobucket.com/albums/...psdf862694.jpg Close up on a nice Acan. Lots of babies!! http://i1160.photobucket.com/albums/...pse54cdf46.jpg Aussie Gold Torch – Hard to get a nice pic. http://i1160.photobucket.com/albums/...ps58b7d9f1.jpg Two Face Hammer. http://i1160.photobucket.com/albums/...psc50ee4ec.jpg Group Shot. Again, the lower hammer and Torch are a lot more gold in colour but hard to get it right with the camera. http://i1160.photobucket.com/albums/...pse9f91ffc.jpg |
Beautiful tank and corals. Good job. And I like how you give names and descriptions of your coral pics. I wish everyone would do that.
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98% off my corals are all aquacultured frags. Most SPS have come from Reefer_Madness. He has the nicest tank I have ever seen and he has really helped me out big time with my collection.
My tank has really hit its stride now and parameters are very stable. I perform 20% water changes every 2 weeks on the dot and check levels once a week. I also blow off rocks and stir up sandbed once a week as well. I dose MB7 once a week to help prevent cyano caused by the bio-pellets. It seems to really work and keep any cyano in check. We held our first annual FragFest in London, ON and it turned out to be a great success! I also purchased a chalice frag pack from there and got a lot of nice pieces out of it. As for SPS I have a frag rack full of RR Pearlberry, RR Diablo Stag, RR Ice Fire Echinata, RR Blue Tenuis, MRT Pommegranate Acro and a couple Aussie Millis growing out right now that will be getting placed on the rock soon. Also, I found a beauty of an Ultra Acan and even came across a Orange / Green Convict chalice frag. Last, but cetainly not least, I picked up an awesome Orange Lepto frag from Darryl as well. |
Very nice collection! I too like your descriptions. LOVE the Tyree red dragon.
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Wicked as always Derek. Great work buddy, its great to see your tank doing so well.
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Love that two faced hammer!
Tank is looking great. |
Very nice update Derek! Like I said in darryl's thread! I think there is something in Woodstock water! Because so sooo madjelly of your growth and colour!
-Tony |
things look awesome you've got a sweet collection there.
That pic with the 3 acans and the chalice... aren't you going to have issues when the chalice touches them? |
Thanks for the compliments guys. It is really just a waiting game now and see how everything fills in.
As for the acans there, I am sure I will have to move that chalice at some point. My goal is to have that entire rock fill in solely with acans. Since they are all frags though, and are notoriously slow growers, I have a while before I have to move things around. |
Now that's what I call a photo-dump! :mrgreen: Very nice looking tank.
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Nice looking tank, love the sps and Lps. Great job!
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Very nice collection. Thanks for sharing.
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Finally snapped some more photos. I wanted to start off with my pride and joy. My Rainbow Chalice colours are just popping like crazy now!!! Enjoy!! I have also added some additional chalice shots. SPS coral shots to follow:
http://i1160.photobucket.com/albums/...ps122376a1.jpg http://i1160.photobucket.com/albums/...ps773d38bb.jpg http://i1160.photobucket.com/albums/...ps11aa833a.jpg http://i1160.photobucket.com/albums/...ps1f71c8a2.jpg WWC Toxic Pie Chalice: http://i1160.photobucket.com/albums/...ps679f0357.jpg DV My Crazy Chalice: http://i1160.photobucket.com/albums/...ps0d6af43a.jpg Tyree Miami Hurricane: http://i1160.photobucket.com/albums/...psc5a02432.jpg |
Derek your collection is getting out of hand! Everything looks amazing! P. S I want a piece of that wwc toxie pie!
~Tony |
Really impressive the growth and color you are pulling.
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Coral comes 2nd to a build that in my mind "Has done did do right the first time" ... You have set yourself up for success with just the build alone.
Awesome Tank, I'm for sure jealous 1 for the space you have to set all that up. 2 for all the coral! |
Thanks for the compliments everyone!
Here are some of my fav recent macro shots: Rainbow Lobo http://i1160.photobucket.com/albums/...psbef80658.jpg Green / Blue Favia http://i1160.photobucket.com/albums/...ps2d01a59c.jpg Gobstopper palys http://i1160.photobucket.com/albums/...ps1b89c1e5.jpg Magician Palys http://i1160.photobucket.com/albums/...ps19fe6275.jpg BS Valentines Day Massacre - One of my personal favs http://i1160.photobucket.com/albums/...pseb967854.jpg Rainbow Echinata http://i1160.photobucket.com/albums/...ps88d5a6ee.jpg Pink / Yellow / Green Lobo http://i1160.photobucket.com/albums/...ps80deddf8.jpg Kaleidoscope Chalice http://i1160.photobucket.com/albums/...ps6ca94e9e.jpg Very cool Splatter Hammer Macro http://i1160.photobucket.com/albums/...ps583b8bda.jpg Branching Lobo http://i1160.photobucket.com/albums/...psf782db45.jpg Devil's Breath Acro http://i1160.photobucket.com/albums/...ps30ab05af.jpg ORA Hawkins http://i1160.photobucket.com/albums/...pse365ee2f.jpg ORA Pearlberry http://i1160.photobucket.com/albums/...psc2ef89dd.jpg Caribean Ric http://i1160.photobucket.com/albums/...ps03f925f0.jpg Tyree Setosa - Love this one http://i1160.photobucket.com/albums/...psfae09f13.jpg RR Gold Bar / Buddah Acro http://i1160.photobucket.com/albums/...psacb6c04e.jpg Tyree Pink Lemonade http://i1160.photobucket.com/albums/...ps097803d2.jpg Tyree Red Dragon http://i1160.photobucket.com/albums/...ps7977dd36.jpg Ultimate Bonsai http://i1160.photobucket.com/albums/...ps120f588a.jpg Tubbs Pink Jade http://i1160.photobucket.com/albums/...psc5d063ef.jpg Tyree Purple Monster http://i1160.photobucket.com/albums/...ps968c2172.jpg Red Acro w/ DV Limeade http://i1160.photobucket.com/albums/...ps15dbcb76.jpg TriColour A. Nana http://i1160.photobucket.com/albums/...psd5df62f4.jpg Tyree Undata w/ Red Dragon - Awesome shot http://i1160.photobucket.com/albums/...ps1bd14a0e.jpg DV Limeade http://i1160.photobucket.com/albums/...ps64c71840.jpg DV Candlelight Acro http://i1160.photobucket.com/albums/...psce2144a7.jpg Purple Valida http://i1160.photobucket.com/albums/...ps03e1c7a4.jpg SPS Growth shots to follow.... |
Some pretty sweet pictures there keep 'em coming
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Wow, great stuff you got there!
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NICE!
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Here are some before & after growth shots from the beginning of February to present. The Red Dragon before shot was from Sept of last year. This is still relatively a young tank as it has only been up and running for exactly 1 year now. I would say the first 6 months were pretty bad for growth and colour. The last 6 months I have really seen a big difference in both.
Tyree Pink Lemonade. This thing took forever to grow. I actually had this frag for about 1 1/2 years. It did nothing in my old tank whatsoever and pretty much only took off over the last 4 months I would say. http://i1160.photobucket.com/albums/...ps547ed69d.jpg Tyree Red Dragon. Actually got amazing growth as this is typically a slow growing coral. Not bad for 1 year. http://i1160.photobucket.com/albums/...psbf3ef57c.jpg DV Candlelight. Not a ton of growth over 6 months but it has easily doubled in size. http://i1160.photobucket.com/albums/...ps5752e8cf.jpg Tubbs Pink Jade - This has really grown well over the last 6 months. I even accidently fragged a large branch off when I bumped it once. http://i1160.photobucket.com/albums/...psf20de1aa.jpg Ultimate Bonsai - This has really taken off as well over the last 6 months. The colour is amazing now and has really only got nice and bright over the last 2 or 3 months. http://i1160.photobucket.com/albums/...pse8abc065.jpg Tyree Setosa. Another notoriously slow grower. It is doing its thing though and the colour is just getting deeper and brighter by the day it seems. http://i1160.photobucket.com/albums/...ps6c5d851b.jpg RR Gold Bar - Here is one that did absolutely nothing for 4 months until Feb where you can see some little tips starting to grow. Over the past 6 months it has easily quadrupled in size. http://i1160.photobucket.com/albums/...ps83c31c23.jpg ORA Hawkins - It actually started growing right when I got it and just keeps going nice and steady. The branches are growing really tight together and the colour is just unreal. One of my favourite pieces! http://i1160.photobucket.com/albums/...pse030549c.jpg Here's a shot of my Red Acro and DV Limeade. Both have grown nicely but that Limeade grows like a weed!!! http://i1160.photobucket.com/albums/...psc806a0af.jpg FTS Comparison. Lots of things have moved around and I lost my massive Hollywood Stunner. :( It's in frags now... You can see the big change in colour though. Some of it is the photo I am sure but the colours on my SPS is 10x better than 6 months ago. http://i1160.photobucket.com/albums/...ps64acf2b1.jpg |
An absolutely beautiful reef. Awesome collection of corals too. Look forward to more photos.
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Nice work/ results your superb collection is growing well
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Love the growth shots! |
Really looking forward to seeing Dereks tank mature !
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Woah that's some amazing growth Derek!! Great work!! Colours are looking terrific as well!!
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Wow you've done an amazing job!!
Your corals look unbelievable. Especially that Hawkins. If you ever feel like making a bit of cash and feel like shipping some frags, let me know ... you have some stunning pieces. Again ... your tank looks so great! --Tyler |
Damn Derek! I love your progression shots..... You got some awesome colouration and growth! +1 with Dave for bada** tank!
~Tony |
Thanks everyone. It is still running smoothly for the most part. Had a wee bit of phospahtes registering though not much. I have switched to some high cap GFO to help control that issue. I have a lot of fish. Probably too much and need to cut down some. I am just waiting on my fish trap to arrive. Hopefully, it comes soon.
I will shoot some more pictures today or tomorrow. Also, I am currently constructing my new LED Actinic supplement lighting to go with my ATI fixture. Hopefully, I can have them up and running by the end of the week!! |
Can't wait to see what your tank looks like under the actinic LEDs!! Which ones did you get?? Royal blue?
I got some royal blues and a driver and such awhile back now from rapidled and still haven't got them going....maybe you will motivate me! :) Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk |
Yup. All RB from rapidled. 48 leds in total and 4 dimmable drivers to run off my Apex. Lights are built. Just waiting on my Apex expansion outlets for the 4 additional power cords. Pics to follow shortly.
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You might have to raise your lights a bit after getting that LED on there Derek. Not a bad thing though.
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So, I was FINALLY able to get my Actinic supplement LED lighting hooked up during the Christmas holidays. I have added 2 strips of 24 LEDs on either side of my ATI fixture. Looks nice and clean IMO. LEDs all came from RapidLED and are 3w Cree RB XT-E with dimmable drivers that are running off my Apex Controller. Please forgive the super purple pics but it is very hard to shoot pics with solely RB LEDs going:
Here is the modified fixture with solely the RBs running. http://i1160.photobucket.com/albums/...ps24541e2c.jpg Here's a FTS with solely RBs running: http://i1160.photobucket.com/albums/...ps78719357.jpg Here's a FTS with my Actinic T5's and RB's running: http://i1160.photobucket.com/albums/...psbfb60cb3.jpg Here's a FTS with all my T5's and RB's running: http://i1160.photobucket.com/albums/...ps2d3fd2ad.jpg Here are a few stand out corals with solely the RB's running: Absolutely insane colour on my Rainbow Lobo!! http://i1160.photobucket.com/albums/...ps169d617b.jpg Darryl sure named this coral correctly: The DV Glowstick: http://i1160.photobucket.com/albums/...pseab25977.jpg Tyree Pink Lemonade. The polyps just glow like crazy! http://i1160.photobucket.com/albums/...ps1c679289.jpg Here is my Tubbs Pink Jade: http://i1160.photobucket.com/albums/...5.jpg~original Here is my ORA Hawkins growing nicely! http://i1160.photobucket.com/albums/...psfe16eeb7.jpg And of course my Tyree Red Dragon: http://i1160.photobucket.com/albums/...ps8cc68864.jpg |
Very nice Derek!! How did you go about mounting those LEDs to your ati fixture?? I have an ati fixture and want to add some LEDs.....thinking about putting them inside around the perimeter of the canopy but kinda like your setup.
Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk |
All I did was drill and tapped the ends of the aluminum heatsink and used an L bracket. I then drilled and tapped holes into my ATI fixture for the othe end of the L bracket. With the one hole at each end of the heat sink, I can swivel the LED strips to get them angled properly.
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Wow! What a great assortment of corals you have! How long have you had the Hawkins and red dragon? It looks like they are really doing well...
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