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Jedi's Science Reef


jedimaster1138

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jedimaster1138
Well after a year and a half with my 50g mixed reef and my ~10g nano, it became time to get down to business and stretch my legs...you know what that means...UPGRADE !!! So...
120g of Science
Full Tank Shots - latest on top!
The Jedi Temple has gone ATI T5 - pictures to come.
July 2013:
FTSJuly20132_zpse43ce302.jpg
2-28-2013:
fts_2-28-2013_1600_zps6cb30e18.jpg
FTS with lights finally installed:
hanginglightsfinally_zps8a9e0878.jpg
FTS before life:
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Interesting thread stuff - aka photos - index!
#21 Construction photos
#53 How thin are those lights? - that thin - except they don't grow acropora
Equipment
Tank: Marineland/Perfecto 120g regular glass aquarium, dual corner overflows, each with a 1" drain and 3/4" return with split LocLine nozzles. Black silicone.
Stand: Marineland Monterey Stand, black.
Sump: custom sump designed by me, built by CustomKing
Return pump: SpeedWave DC Controllable - 2640 GPH max - feeds chiller too
In-tank Flow: 2x Vortech MP40wES - mostly ReefCrest Random, randomized by Apex
Lighting: 2x Maxspect Razor, 27", 160 watt, 16000k
ATI Sunpower T5 - 8x80w bulb, 60" fixture.
Bulb configuration, front to back:
60" BulidMyLED bar - 2:1 450nm : 405nm
ATI Blue+
ATI Coral+
ATI Actinic - D/D
ATI Blue+
ATI Coral+
ATI Blue+ - D/D
ATI Coral+
ATI Blue+
Single 24" royal blue Ecoxotic Stunner strip, dimmed to nearly off, for moonlighting
Controller: Neptune Apex with 3x EB8's, WXM, Breakout Box
Dosing: 3x BRS dosing pumps for BRS 2-part Ca, Mg, and Alkalinity.
ATO: switches from autotopoff.com wired into the Apex BoB and custom code. CustomKing reservoir ~ 14 gallons
Heat: Cobalt Neo-Therm 200w solid state and Cobalt Neo-Therm 150w
Chiller: JBJ Arctica 1/5 HP
UV: 25 watt Emperor Aquatics Smart UV, inline to return, with bypass.
Skimmer: Royal Exclusiv Bubble King Double Cone with Red Dragon 3 DC controllable pump
2x TLF 150 Reactors - one for BRS Rox Carbon, one for high capacity GFO (PA or BRS)
Substrates
Rocks - mix of Fiji Standard, BRS Pukani and a lot of Marco rock Key Largo standard and Prime cuts. Marco Mortar too. Schedule 40 PVC 3/4" pipe and fittings for rock work frames. Some rock was live and brought over from the old 50g tank to seed the 120g. Also 240g worth of Dr. Tim's One and Only was used to boost the nitrifying bacteria population.
Sand - Caribsea Fiji pink, 120 lbs, installed after the rock work and frames.
Livestock
Fish:

Blue Hippo Tang
Copperband Butterflyfish
Firefish
Royal Gramma
Diamond Watchman Goby
Yellow Wrasse
Green Chromis
Evansi Anthias
Dispar Anthias
Ignitus Anthias x3


Corals:

SPS

ORA Purple - Stylophora pistallata

ORA Green - Montipora digitata
ORA Forest Fire - Montipora digitata
ORA Bird of Paradise - Seriatopora hystrix
ORA Ponape Birdsnest - Seriatopora sp.
ORA Green Birdsnest -Seriatopora sp.
ORA Pearlberry - Acropora desalwii
Jason Fox Unknown - Acropora sp.
UC Rainbow Millie - Acropora millepora
UC Super Blue - Acropora tenius
UC Reddish Blue - Acropoa milliepora
Dan Riggle Tyree Tri-color Valida - Acropora valida
Jason Fox Barney - Acropora sp.
ORA Marshall Islands Purple and Green - Acropora sp.
Shawn Bennett Yellow Tort - Acropora tortuosa


LPS
Chalices - Echinophyllia sp.
Tyree Miami Hurricane
Unique Corals Purple Bubble Gum
Acans
ReefGen Mind Blower - Acanthastrea lordhowensis
UC Green Stripe - Acanthastrea lordhowensis
Candy Cane - Acanthastrea lordhowensis
Australian rainbow - Acanthastrea lordhowensis
UC Iron Man - Acanthastrea lordhowensis
UC Purple striped - Acanthastrea lordhowensis
Jason Fox neon green / painted blue hammer coral
ATL/JasonFox Meteor Shower - Cyphastrea Ocellina
DFS Australian Big Polyp - Blastomussa wellsi
Orange plate
Neon open brain
Zoanthids and Palythoas
Blue Abyss
Ring of Fire
Radioactive Dragon Eye (3 different color morphs)
Rastas
Sunny D
Sour Apple
Nuclear Green/Death
Armor of the Gods
Jason Fox Purple Death
Soft corals
red mushrooms
peach colt coral (in refugium)
Invertebrates: inverts

 

Livestock Vendors

 

Doctors Foster and Smith - Live Aquaria and Diver's Den - DFS

Manhattan Aquariums - MA

Unique Corals - UC

Pacific East Aquaculture, AKA Dr. Mac

Jason Fox Signature Corals - JF

Cherry Corals - CC

Aquatic Life Direct - ALD

Pop Corals

Blue Zoo Aquatics

Puppy Center and Aquarium

Coral Theory

 

... and many, many friends especially ZephNYC, MetroKat, MachV, and Cancerver0

 

 

 

So about the migration nightmare...
New tank has the pleasure of going where the existing one is. So that necessitated moving the existing one out of the way, well in advance of delivery of the new one. Uh...yay. Changing the tires on a moving car!
So I set up a 29g, 30" tank on the floor elsewhere in my apartment. Heater, thermometer, powerheads, mixed up plenty of new water, let it run in there for about a week in advance of D-day. Then on the day of truth, it began.
Special thanks to my buddy Kenny, aka SpecialK77 on here for his help in catching my fish and moving everything over. I apologize for all the saltwater on your shoes buddy. :-P
Moved over the "top" pieces of LR...ie the ones with corals encrusted on them. Then I started the process of catching the fish. It was a mix of good and bad. Oddly enough...the firefish was one of the easiest to catch - once EVERYTHING was out of the tank at least. Kole Tang was by far the worst. Impossible to corner. Finally did nab her, but it was horrendous and took 2 people a good 20 minutes. Somewhere along the way she must have scraped her head. Had a nasty bruise. The really bad thing is that I guess an infection must have set in because a few days later she developed several other bruises on her sides, then died the following day. Sad panda :-(
I also lost my royal gramma, which was odd as he was fine for a solid week in the 29g tank. Maybe it was just his time, I don't know. I thought those fish were indestructible. A few corals didn't make it either, though nothing big ... except my big ORA Hammer Coral which just refuses to open now. I don't know what's up with it. Last night I took it out and scraped off a big sponge that had formed on it's main stalk. I'm hoping that improves things. My theory is that it was irritating it.
Anyway, I digress. After about a week's worth of very late nights plumbing the new tank and mixing water, everything is living is in the big, new, 120g now and hopefully all getting used to life. They've been there...a little less than a week now I think. The fish are still a little skittish and hidey, but they are adjusting, and most importantly eating. The firefish is actually loving life right now - he never got along with the Kole Tang, so he wasn't sad to see her go like I was.
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Looking forward to see how this goes, love watching fresh starts. Kinda surprised you didn't do a diy fixture tho, was it not as cost effective as the razors to build an equivalent?

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jedimaster1138

How are you liking the maxspect? I got one on the way.

 

Well I've only had it a day, so I can't comment too strongly - yet - but so far so good. We'll see how the corals respond once I dial up the intensity. Right now I have both channels under 30% so, it's hard to say. I'm leaning towards 5% every 2 days or so for a few more days, then letting things percolate in the 55% range for at least a week. My SPS are in the lower reaches of the tank now anyway, so I don't think I'm in danger of bleaching things and my sand bed dwelling LPS look hungry.

 

I can comment on the build quality being very high. And the thing is SO thin. Almost to the point where I can't believe it generates the light it does. Great idea making it one giant heat sink too. Who needs all that extra plastic and such when you can just make the entire unit the heatsink?

 

Speaking of size - the power supplies are big. And heavy. They are also aluminum heatsinks themselves. I'm debating putting them outside my stand rather than in. I could do either. Aesthetically I'd prefer in, but my desires to not have to aim 3 fans at my sump in July tell me outside....

 

Looking forward to see how this goes, love watching fresh starts. Kinda surprised you didn't do a diy fixture tho, was it not as cost effective as the razors to build an equivalent?

 

I seriously considered it, in fact I was planning on it. But then I started reading about the Razor and it seemed like the best of the crop of pre-made fixtures (Radions, especially the Pro are overpriced, AI's have poop for par at depth and seriously lack spectrum, Vertex requires a second mortgage)

 

I priced it all out... a DIY would wind up costing ~20% more than two Razors (not including the need for a second variable voltage module for my Apex). Then there was the finish matter... I'd have to find a way to mount etc more than half a dozen drivers and dress the wires nicely (I'm OCD like that) Lastly, time. I honestly don't have a lot of it these days. I pictured myself soldering 96-124 LED's, drivers, power supplies, gluing lenses... yeah. Also, AlmostWife might have murdered me if I took over the dining room table with that project for 2 weeks like I took it over with plumbing :)

 

Also, JediBen said he liked the Razor as much as he can any pre-made, that seal of approval was enough to finish the decision for me.

 

In a perfect world, yeah, a DIY would have more of what I want, especially the ability to completely customize the included LED's and have total control over EVERY color channel...but like I said, I weighed the pro's and con's, the Razors won.

 

CoralVue's support doesn't hurt either. The ability to talk to Jeremy directly is a nice bonus.

 

Hopefully it works out long term.

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jedimasterben

Also, JediBen said he liked the Razor as much as he can any pre-made, that seal of approval was enough to finish the decision for me.

DAMN SKIPPY! :lol:

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Be careful with Jedi Temples, I hear Backstreet Boy back up singers tend to go insane and kill all the younglings in those b's.

 

Looks cool though!

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Then there was the finish matter... I'd have to find a way to mount etc more than half a dozen drivers and dress the wires nicely (I'm OCD like that) Lastly, time. I honestly don't have a lot of it these days. I pictured myself soldering 96-124 LED's, drivers, power supplies, gluing lenses... yeah. Also, AlmostWife might have murdered me if I took over the dining room table with that project for 2 weeks like I took it over with plumbing :)

:wub:

 

You know you need one of these as a scape right?

Jedi_Temple_Model_by_Xanatos4.jpg

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gulfsurfer101

Fraggin shweet man. That's a clean looking tank. How did every thing like the transfer going instantly from 30g's to over a 100. I'm trying to decide if thas the way I wanna go or let my monster tank fully cycle first then introduce my livestock afterwards.

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jedimaster1138

:wub:

 

You know you need one of these as a scape right?

Jedi_Temple_Model_by_Xanatos4.jpg

 

Yeah I might or might not have been staring at a picture like that for a while (read: hours, over several weeks at work) trying to figure out how to replicate it. I concluded that I need 48x48x48 cube to do it the right way...so... next build. Heh

 

 

Fraggin shweet man. That's a clean looking tank. How did every thing like the transfer going instantly from 30g's to over a 100. I'm trying to decide if thas the way I wanna go or let my monster tank fully cycle first then introduce my livestock afterwards.

 

Remember my biggest issue was having to move the running tank out of the way, shove everything into a couple holding tanks, and then move back. So it was hairy. If you don't have to do that, then I'd recommend letting your new tank cycle or maybe just bring over SOME of the LR and let it seed...

 

 

in short, what I did was...

 

Build the new (dry) rock scape with pvc pipe, MarcoRock cement etc both outside and inside the dry tank.

 

Filled the new tank with the dry rock, sand and then water.

 

Plumbed and run the new set up to the point of being generally happy, salinity and temperature wise. By everything I mean my powerheads and return pump and heaters. No skimmer, dosers etc because...

 

I then moved all my live rock that didn't have any encrusted coral into my sump. The live rock with coral on them are in the display now (pictures coming) Fortunately there were only 2 or 3 large pieces, so I didn't have to think too hard about integrating the new, dry scape with the live rock. Honestly though, that integration was the hardest part, and it's still going on actually.

 

But yeah my sump is completely full of 1.5 year old live rock. With the drains and return running, despite that my DT is mostly new dry rock, I had an instant bio filter. Also, before I moved my fish I dosed the DT with a metric ton of Dr. Tim's One and Only. I figured it couldn't hurt. I don't trust that stuff completely, but I figured that plus 50+ lbs of live rock...

 

Sometime in the next few days I'm going to remove the LR from sump...well some of it. Most is going to live in the refugium for the forseeable future. I just want to get the first chamber cleared out so I can install my skimmer and bio pellet reactor, if I decide to go that way.

 

PS - all the new dry rock is Marco Rock. A combination of the regular stuff and Prime Cuts. Also I used some of his mortar...that stuff is VERY worth it. Highly recommended.

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gulfsurfer101

Thanks, sounds like a process you had going. I plan on using all dry rock and sand as well and just move my existing lr and sandbed directly into the larger tank and letting it seed the dry stuff. I'm not sure if that will harm any coral or if it'll be fine so I'll be following this thread to get a better example. Goodluck on the larger system, hope to see it full of sweet sweet sps!

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kickass! Can't wait to see this come about. My wife says I only get "Nerded out" for Star Wars and Saltwater tanks! :happydance:

 

I also have designs to combine the two with a Star Wars themed 48 gallon, Your going the Jedi route and I'm focusing more on the Dark Side.

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jedimaster1138

Here's a photo dump of some of the construction process.

 

The empty space...waiting...waiting... you can see my nano on the left. DIY lights too :) Hawaii photos all taken by me. That one right above is from a helicopter over the spot where the lava meets the sea and makes the Big Island uh, bigger! The one on the right is the north coast of Maui.

 

1024.jpg?md=1361433523000

 

Empty tank and stand finally arrive, after a week of foul ups and getting the wrong stand. This is also after 2 coats of black semi-gloss latex paint on the back of the tank. Came out perfectly. Painting on glass is easy -- use a foam roller and it's cake.

 

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This is less than half of my supplies...

 

1024.jpg?md=1361433575000

 

Yeah, that's a lightsaber on the window sill next to Mariano Rivera. Did you expect anything less from me? If you can figure out whose saber that is without looking it up, I'll respect you more :)

 

This is what my dining room table looked like for several days while aquascaping the tank.

 

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And here is the sorta dry rock result, after about 2 days of VERY late nights.

 

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jedimasterben

1024.jpg?md=1361433575000

 

Yeah, that's a lightsaber on the window sill next to Mariano Rivera. Did you expect anything less from me? If you can figure out whose saber that is without looking it up, I'll respect you more :)

My first thought was Luke Skywalker's saber, but I'm not 100% sure of that.

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I'm not a lightsaber expert but I'm going to say that's Obi Wan's. Then again it seem like most of the Jedis upgraded in every movie.

 

So are you planning to add it above the tank where you have those brackets for a shelf?

 

My Wife collects the new mini pod figures and she wants a shelf above the tank to show her collection off.

All my old figures were stolen during a move yrs back and my son's figures are torn up,missing arms and heads.

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I have a room ful of starwars collectables ,I wouldnt have it any other way:) but one light saber???? I would at least have 5-7 in any collection tho;)

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