rbaby Posted September 13, 2011 Share Posted September 13, 2011 v2 FTS - June 26, 2014: v1 Rockscape (retired): v1 more corals: v1: more corals v1 too much corals...time to pare down and start picking favorites...growth was a little overwhelming. This is the point when I realized that I needed to gut my tank and somewhat start over. My poccilopora spawned and started growing everywhere, in between polyps, on rocks and in places it really does not belong. Vermetids started to grow in between polyps as well. My corals such as the Leptastrea was bleaching and there was no relief so I needed new rock work that would have shade for lower light corals. I sold off most of my corals and kept my favorites. Cliffs Notes DIY 80/20 AI Nano Mount / Light Tree October 2011 FTS October Coral Growth Glazer Surface Skimmer Green/Purple Mini-Mini Anemone Zoas, Acan, Birdsnest, Porcelain Crab Yellow/Orange Maxi-Mini Anemone Side Shot Hornet Growth Glazer Vortech Shield Early Christmas Maxi Minis & Hammers December 2011 FTS Red St. Thomas Mushroom New Fluorescent Maxi Minis! Torch, New Zoa & Yellow Cuc January 2012 FTS May 2013 FTS - Bare after birdsnest spored on me and eventually killed lots of my coral, sigh... Mini-Mini Red Anemones Upgrading to Vega 60F version 2: Redid rock and replaced sand and cleared out corals I no longer wanted. I first had a Nano Customs 126w Nano Cube 12 about 10 years ago...then went to a custom 20+10 (plumbed and planned by Tigahboy), then quit for a while and started up a Fluval Edge. I made a custom LED setup with the hood, and after salt creep started to lay claim to my light, I decided it was time to just get a different setup altogether. Due to sheer laziness, one of my Ricordeas started to bleach since my light became so ineffective with salt creep eating up each and every diode...woopsie.I really liked the shallow tanks, the ease of maintenance and also the intensity of any light I chose. After much research I decided to go with an ADA 60-F and the AI Nano.I\'m placing it in my living room on top of a bookcase that\'s will make it visible on all 3 sides. I never really had much livestock to begin with, so I currently have plenty of room to stock the 3 visible sides with some corals .Equipment ADA 8.g 60-F 8-10 lbs of Carib Sea Aragamax Oolitic Sand GFO/Carbon Eheim 2213 - stuffed with carbon/gfo and live rock Hydor Inline Heater Koralia Pump MP10 Cal Aqua Lily Pipes Aqua Illuminations LED Nano Super Blue Aqua Illumination Color Vega ADA Thermometer, Mat & Nimble Nano DIY Light Mount 80/20 Glazer Surface Skimmer Glazer rbaby (yehey!) Vortech Shield AI Controller This move is relatively easy because I have *very low* bioload. My clean-up crew is pretty non-existent as I\'ve never had a problem with algae before.TankShipped VERY well, packed well and passed the leak test. I also didn\'t get gouged on shipping--it was $25 vs $60 with other vendors. Highly recommend ordering from Steve: http://www.adana-usa.comThe seams are *perfect*, I think you\'ve seen enough people rave about ADA quality. It's not hype, it's just a well-established reputation.LightsGood spread--not enough for the 24" width. Since the standard arm is pretty pathetic for the Nano to begin with (leans too far forward for 12" depth...), I will be figuring out a mounting solution for my light to get it off the rim. To increase my spread I'll probably increase the distance b/w the light and waterline to cover the full 24", the mount is about 4" distance, to get the proper coverage it's about 6-8".Controls are pretty awesome--I plan on getting the controller soon as well. This light's pretty perfect for nanos, the color temperature's close to 14k without it looking windex blue. I can only imagine how ridiculous the full unit is. My corals have really responded well to this light--though it is bleaching out my coralline, but that's to be expected.Initial SetupI rinsed the sand (this is dead sand, not live sand--I didn't want a spike with the dieoff from live sand and getting a whole new cycle), placed most of my surface sand from the established tank, all of the live rock and any non-coral that I could move. I let it sit for about 12 hours, got the temperature the same and started to carry over the water before I carried over the corals."Front" Side: "Back" Side: Water has cleared up:10/1/11: Finally built my light stand, pleased with it Link to comment
ednangel Posted September 13, 2011 Share Posted September 13, 2011 it seems the 60-F is the new kid on the block Link to comment
rbaby Posted September 13, 2011 Author Share Posted September 13, 2011 it seems the 60-F is the new kid on the block Far easier to maintain I think , I have short arms. Link to comment
ednangel Posted September 13, 2011 Share Posted September 13, 2011 Mine is sitting in my closet waiting for my stand to be finished; I hope mine will raise some eyebrows. Link to comment
rbaby Posted September 13, 2011 Author Share Posted September 13, 2011 Mine is sitting in my closet waiting for my stand to be finished; I hope mine will raise some eyebrows. Going from a small 4x6 point of entry tank to a full-fledged all-access shallow tank makes it all worth it. While shallow tanks are great, I mostly liked it for the ease of maintenance and access... Link to comment
ednangel Posted September 13, 2011 Share Posted September 13, 2011 Going from a small 4x6 point of entry tank to a full-fledged all-access shallow tank makes it all worth it. While shallow tanks are great, I mostly liked it for the ease of maintenance and access... TBD Link to comment
rbaby Posted September 13, 2011 Author Share Posted September 13, 2011 Can't get any harder/more irritating than a Fluval Edge or Nano Cube Link to comment
henryc524 Posted September 13, 2011 Share Posted September 13, 2011 This is so crazy. I own a fluval edge right now and just recently ordered my 60 f and I also have a AI nano just sitting here. I'm glad I seen how the spread was since I always wondered if it will cover the whole tank. Does AI make an arm for the sol? If so I might just get a sol since their prices dropped. I'll be following this for sure! Forgot to mention... Changing water or rearranging stuff in the Edge is pretty frustrating! Link to comment
ala Posted September 13, 2011 Share Posted September 13, 2011 i think if AI figured out some genius but aesthetically pleasing solution to mounting their lights with minimal obstruction (plus maybe a built in conduit to hide the cables) they could maybe hold onto some of the market share they're prob gonna lose to ecotech (not that ecotech has a mounting solution either). i have the sol blue and, like everyone, ran into the same problems. the mounting brackets they offer for the sols aren't the greatest. and i can't believe how the mounting arms for the nano's seem to overshoot the center of everyone's tank by a few inches. why not make it adjustable? sorry for the rant. with the sol price adjustment, you should def get that for the 60-F. Mine is over a 60-P. Kinda wish i went with the F Link to comment
ednangel Posted September 13, 2011 Share Posted September 13, 2011 It seems like we need a 60-F contest (teamschreiba not included) for obvious reasons. He was my inspiration but I’m certainly steering away from his technique. Mine will have a (not so) central overflow with a display sump, Kessil lightning and it will be mostly if not all invertebrates. Unfortunately my wife is in Europe and she took our only camera. I guess once I finish the stand and plumbing I’ll take a I-phone pic and post it here. ps: Schreiba should be the judge. Link to comment
rbaby Posted September 13, 2011 Author Share Posted September 13, 2011 It seems like we need a 60-F contest (teamshreiba not included) for obvious reasons. I would lose, I'm not the best at DIY and I'm going to take it easy on coral stocking since I want perty *Everything* haha! with the sol price adjustment, you should def get that for the 60-F. Mine is over a 60-P. Kinda wish i went with the F I'm thinking the same--EXCEPT I'd run into worse problems with how to mount. My ceiling and walls are all cement, I can't drill into them without causing a ruckus and damaging something...any ideas? I'm glad I seen how the spread was since I always wondered if it will cover the whole tank. Does AI make an arm for the sol? I am looking into getting a custom mount, if you raise it higher than the current 4-5" it is currently, you should get sufficient coverage without compromising PAR. I am pondering with the SOL's as well, but mounting it is an issue for me, if it isn't for you--you should get them for $50 more then can migrate over to your *next* upgrade AI does make a leg-mounting kit but it's pretty damn close to the water..it would cook your corals LOL...keep in mind the 60-F is about 7" - http://www.bulkreefsupply.com/store/produc...ting-rails.html Link to comment
sogreedy23 Posted September 13, 2011 Share Posted September 13, 2011 I love these shallow ADAs, so clean! Looking really good so far. My tank has similar dimensions and I've wanted to try the AI Nano, maybe even the Sol Blue but I'm having a similar problem as you- will it cover my tank (also 24 in long but an inch and a half taller at 8.5in) and how will I mount it to the tank? Does the light look as concentrated in person? Do you know if they have like 90deg optics for these or can you run them without them at all? What other coral do you plan on putting in this badboy? Edit: well you've already answered a lot of the questions in the post above >_> lol Link to comment
ala Posted September 13, 2011 Share Posted September 13, 2011 I'm thinking the same--EXCEPT I'd run into worse problems with how to mount. My ceiling and walls are all cement, I can't drill into them without causing a ruckus and damaging something...any ideas? maybe try something like this? http://www.nano-reef.com/forums/lofiversio...hp/t259670.html i kinda wanted to do this but i can't drill into the table i'm using as a stand (bc my gf would kill me) so i have a weird L bracket mount i made and kinda hate Link to comment
rbaby Posted September 13, 2011 Author Share Posted September 13, 2011 maybe try something like this? http://www.nano-reef.com/forums/lofiversio...hp/t259670.html i kinda wanted to do this but i can't drill into the table i'm using as a stand (bc my gf would kill me) so i have a weird L bracket mount i made and kinda hate The problem I see with that...with the Nano is that the 2 mounting holes are perpendicular to the lights: The mounting holes are top-bottom, the lights are left-right so if I mounted the light with a single bar like that, the lights wouldn't be in the direction of the length-spread, it would just cover the 12" deep part, not the 24" length. Not sure if I made sense... Link to comment
ala Posted September 13, 2011 Share Posted September 13, 2011 The problem I see with that...with the Nano is that the 2 mounting holes are perpendicular to the lights: The mounting holes are top-bottom, the lights are left-right so if I mounted the light with a single bar like that, the lights wouldn't be in the direction of the length-spread, it would just cover the 12" deep part, not the 24" length. Not sure if I made sense... yeah i see the problem with that unfortunately.............. Link to comment
rbaby Posted September 13, 2011 Author Share Posted September 13, 2011 yeah i see the problem with that unfortunately.............. Would work with the SOL's though Link to comment
ala Posted September 13, 2011 Share Posted September 13, 2011 Would work with the SOL's though there ya go! thats enough reason to upgrade Link to comment
rbaby Posted September 13, 2011 Author Share Posted September 13, 2011 there ya go! thats enough reason to upgrade Yup, I think I'm going to get the SOL's and figure out a side-mount somehow... Link to comment
henryc524 Posted September 14, 2011 Share Posted September 14, 2011 Maybe you can find a side mount that you can mount onto your stand? I'm in the same situation as you. My ceiling is a 12 foot concrete ceiling so hanging it is out of the picture. At this point i'm contemplating to get two Nano's Link to comment
rbaby Posted September 14, 2011 Author Share Posted September 14, 2011 Maybe you can find a side mount that you can mount onto your stand? I'm in the same situation as you. My ceiling is a 12 foot concrete ceiling so hanging it is out of the picture. At this point i'm contemplating to get two Nano's I think I have a solution now (I think)...but yes it will be side-mounted. Once I figure mine out I'll let you know --I think I will stick with the Nano though. After all the research, the regular Sol will just cook the crap out of my corals (what do you guys think?)...so I'll be using it at half intensity anyway and it doesn't seem worth it to spend the extra $200+ (because it'll require the controller to reduce intensity /sigh)... Link to comment
tiomm Posted September 14, 2011 Share Posted September 14, 2011 Sweet build! This going to be good, I can tell! Tagging along... Link to comment
bluebastion Posted September 14, 2011 Share Posted September 14, 2011 How did I miss this????? Link to comment
Twilton Posted September 14, 2011 Share Posted September 14, 2011 How did I miss this????? +1 Link to comment
henryc524 Posted September 14, 2011 Share Posted September 14, 2011 That's true. With the tank being so shallow the sol is over kill. Just have to find a way to mount the nano higher up. Link to comment
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