Reefmack Posted August 19, 2008 Share Posted August 19, 2008 Pictures are worth a thousand words (at least). Nice explanation picture! Link to comment
Trapper125 Posted August 20, 2008 Share Posted August 20, 2008 Who is next in line for V3.0? Let's see your creativity, I know it's out there lurking waiting Link to comment
JimDantin Posted August 22, 2008 Author Share Posted August 22, 2008 Lighting Mod Results The results are in -- and it's a winner! After installing the actinic 03 bulb in the lid and closing everything up, I am really happy with the results. These pictures show the RSM under the three different lighting conditions. I was careful to treat each image exactly the same except for exposure. The color differences are pretty striking. Original bulbs only: Original bulbs plus new actinic 03: Actinic 03 only: Link to comment
StevieT Posted August 22, 2008 Share Posted August 22, 2008 The actinic only is really nice! Link to comment
JimDantin Posted August 23, 2008 Author Share Posted August 23, 2008 Finally a way to get some drama with staged lighting! I'm running actinic only from 8-9am, all bulbs 9-10a, only RSM original bulbs from 10a-7p, all bulbs 7p-9p, actinic only 9p-11p. This is easiily modified with the ReefKeeper -- in fact, I could add an additional time segment to the actinic bulb if I wanted to. Link to comment
Lizzie1324 Posted August 24, 2008 Share Posted August 24, 2008 Wow, tank is looking great, and I love the new lights! Really cool. Link to comment
Phullbrick Posted September 9, 2008 Share Posted September 9, 2008 thanks Jim for posting me a link to your thread, very interesting MOD which is maybe not really easy to achieve for everyone. I'm trying to get a spare hood from Red Sea (depends on the price they'll ask) and I'll may go into that mod. I'm a bit surprised the water doesn't get hotter with 1 extra tube because of the heat Link to comment
JimDantin Posted September 20, 2008 Author Share Posted September 20, 2008 Near Disaster! The remnants of Hurricane Ike delivered 70+ mph winds throughout the midwest. The power outages caused by falling trees and limbs are so widespread we don't really know when everyone will get their electricity returned. I was in Indianapolis when the wind hit Louisville. We really didn't have significant wind in Indy. I had made contact with Ian from the Circle City Aquarium Club so I could buy some of his frags. We met Sunday morning and I came away with 12 very nice corals. We were watching the football game when the wind hit. I got a call from a neighbor who told me the power went out an my condo and the damage was widespread in the area. We returned home around 6pm and started preparing for a long period of darkness. I did not have a generator or any battery powered pumps. I did some manual aeration in my tanks and hoped for the best. The next morning greeted me with one dead fish, a dead coral banded shrimp, and three dead sexy shrimp. My 12 new corals were still in the bags. I did a large water change and continued with aeration throughout the day. Thankfully, our power was restored around 4am Tuesday -- a 28 hour outage. It looks like I got lucky and didn't lose any other livestock or corals. We stayed out of the refrigerator and freezer and didn't lose any food. Many other reefers, as well as over a million other midwesterners, are still without power. On Tuesday, I ordered a 3KW generator and it was delivered on Thursday. We'll probably never have another outage, but I can sleep better. Hope everyone else gets through this with minimal losses. Jim Link to comment
StevieT Posted October 11, 2008 Share Posted October 11, 2008 post a pic when you get a chance of where you want that crocea. Link to comment
JimDantin Posted October 11, 2008 Author Share Posted October 11, 2008 October 2008 Update Here's an update after surviving Rita's wrath on Kentucky. I only lost one fish, some shrimp, and one coral. Many people in my area were without power for a week. I consider myself lucky, and my new generator should get me through future power outages. All the corals are flourishing. The SPS frags that I bought only hours before the power outage have done fine, except for one plate frag. I accidentally fragged the staghorn, but I think all the pieces are going to be fine. I'm thinking about adding a clam -- You can see a slideshow of many more images here. I've also posted a video here or Link to comment
StevieT Posted October 11, 2008 Share Posted October 11, 2008 wow, that clown is huge! You may want to remove some of the polyps before adding the clam, it may not like it's foot directly on them. More research on that would be neeed as I don't really know. I have zoas growing around the clam, actually not much is going to survive under it, it is just getting it to take hold that may be the issue. Link to comment
JimDantin Posted October 11, 2008 Author Share Posted October 11, 2008 He's only about 2.5-3" long. I was pretty close to him. I guess I'll try to clear out a place for the clam -- it's not going to be easy, I'm afraid. Thanks Link to comment
JimDantin Posted October 13, 2008 Author Share Posted October 13, 2008 I've cleared out an area for the clam -- removing the palys wasn't as hard as I anticipated -- I had put a number of smaller pieces of rock in the area and the palys grew over everything -- when I removed the rocks, the palys came with them. Our local club is having a frag swap on November 1 and I should be able to get a nice crocea there. Link to comment
got2envy Posted October 13, 2008 Share Posted October 13, 2008 I am in love with your blue cloves lol very nice RSM! Link to comment
JimDantin Posted October 13, 2008 Author Share Posted October 13, 2008 I picked up a rock that was covered with them - it's located in the center of the tank on the sand. I fragged off some 1/2" round patches and they reproduce like crazy. The patch on the upper right and middle left are from those frags. The funny thing is that their color varies from blue to violet in the frags that I put in another tank Link to comment
JimDantin Posted October 20, 2008 Author Share Posted October 20, 2008 An update on the lighting mod -- The actinic03 bulb has been a great addition to the tank and I have really enjoyed a couple hours of actinic-only light in the mornings and evenings. The coral colors are very vivid and the tank provides a nice soft glow in the room. I changed the timer settings for the actinic bulb and now leave it on all day. It adds nice blue highlights to the stock lighting, especially in the front of the tank. I have a spare ballast, socket, reflector, and two fans -- if you would like to install the light mod in your RSM, send me a pm and we'll work out a deal. Link to comment
JimDantin Posted October 20, 2008 Author Share Posted October 20, 2008 Live RSM Webcam I've added a new toy to my RSM installation -- a webcam. Take a look at the action here. Enter guests for the User Name, and password for the Password. You can move the camera by clicking on the image. Enjoy! Link to comment
JimDantin Posted November 19, 2008 Author Share Posted November 19, 2008 November 19, 2008 FTS Here's a new full tank shot for your opinions and comments. I've been doing some rearranging of the corals after adding quite a few new SPS frags and new frogspawn, a large 17-head candy cane, and Duncan specimens. My Florida ricordea are growing nicely and I've started fragging them off of the main rock and establishing them in other locations. I'm having mixed success with Aussie Acans. The pink one in the center of the display is doing fine, and there's a large red/green colony behind the hammer that's doing well. However, the white specimen just left of center near the front is doing poorly. I've been trying it in various locations, but it just isn't happy. The current location is my latest -- I just moved it. Most of the SPS frags are growing rapidly -- I've been dosing 10ml of B-Ionic 2-part every day. It really seems to make a difference. If I can stop accidentally fragging the corals during my meat-fisted cleaning sessions, they would be even more impressive looking! I'm using some homemade frozen fish food that contains fresh shrimp, along with a variety of dry foods. The fish. of course, attack it with gusto, and the corals get the small particles. There is an outbreak of little white snails underway. They aren't bothering any corals, but they are an ugly distraction. I'm going to try to suck them out when I do water changes. The lighting mod has really been a success. I recommend it highly! This shot has the original RSM lighting and the new actinic bulb on. Enjoy! Link to comment
mrnugget Posted November 19, 2008 Share Posted November 19, 2008 Wow! Truly an impressive and inspirational tank! I love the blues and purples, really makes the greens and yellows pop. I'm surrounded by green and red fans here, so I'm going to have to work some of those blues into my tank on my own somehow... Good luck, and keep the pics coming! Link to comment
JimDantin Posted November 19, 2008 Author Share Posted November 19, 2008 Thanks! Here's a video JimDantin's RSM November 2008 Link to comment
JimDantin Posted November 20, 2008 Author Share Posted November 20, 2008 mrnugget-- Try to find some of the clove polyps. They really give a nice color splash in the blue-violet range. The two patches up on the rocks were started with a tiny (1/2" diameter) scraping off of the rock in the foreground. A month ago I thought I was losing the colony on the original rock, but you can see that it has recovered nicely. The other blue color comes from mushrooms. Link to comment
mavjoy Posted November 20, 2008 Share Posted November 20, 2008 Looks very nice! Good combination of colors . Link to comment
JimDantin Posted December 7, 2008 Author Share Posted December 7, 2008 I've shelved the clam idea. I think the tank is getting a bit overcrowded! I did add a Yellow Watchman goby that I got from a local reefer who was taking down her tank. It's much bigger than the one I already had, and the two have started hanging out together. Link to comment
metrokat Posted May 9, 2012 Share Posted May 9, 2012 Holy corals Batman! look at that thing! and a bump needed perhaps. when was it taken down? Link to comment
Recommended Posts
Archived
This topic is now archived and is closed to further replies.