Nano Sapiens 12g - Ye Olde Mixed Reef

[jball1125]

Very cool shot man, tank looks great.

[Nano sapiens]

Thanks! One of these days I hope to figure out how to get a true to real life actinic shot.

 

Any progress on that Turf algae problem?

[metrokat]

Here's my latest attempt at a full tank shot with just the blue spectrum lights on. This shot was actually taken with a proper yellow filter lens designed to block 'blue' light and thereby enhance viewing of other color spectra, but it looks like my Royal Blues are putting out a fair amount of violet/near UV and my Hydor blue LED spotlights are putting out a little Cyan, too (frontal area):

 

This is beautiful.

[Nano sapiens]

Thanks, Kat. I wish I could get it to look more like your florescent pics with a darker background look, but may not be possible with my old point-n-shoot digital camera.

 

I look forward to when only the blue lights are on since virtually everything in the tank has some type of florescence.

[demaria36]

Great thread overall! You've inspired me to setup this same CADlight after being out for a bit! I'm going to stay with softies (zoos, mushrooms, some LPS, would love another green Palau nepthea and yellow tonga leather). I was just wondering what stunner strips you would recommend either added to or in place of the same T5 lighting you have? I'd love for colors to just pop, but still maintain decent softy growth.

Thanks again!

[Nano sapiens]

'Hi' and glad you are getting back into it again. I have found the Cadlights canopy to be very good for mounting the stunner strips since there is plenty of space above the LEDS for heat to dissipate and escape. Haven't lost a single LED in all the time I've been running this setup (knocking on wood). A hybrid stock T5 and Stunner Strip setup for Softies and LPS should work out great (I run all LED strips with polished reflectors to get as much intensity/penetration as possible, with the least amount of heat, for the SPS corals).

 

Which strips largely depends on your viewing preferences balanced with what the corals need for growth and health. A single 'Royal Blue' plus two little 2W blue spotlights provided what you see in the photo above and they run on a separate power supply and timer. The main lighting is a mish-mash of strips that attempt to mimic 'full spectrum'.

 

Sounds like you would enjoy a bit more 'Actinic' to bring out the 'Pop', so besides the Royal Blue I'd recommend a 'Magenta/Blue' strip (more than one makes the tank look too purple, IMO). The rest can be 8k/Blue and 12K/Royal Blue with the 12k/Royal blue more 'white/blue' and the 8k/Blue' a bit warmer.

[demaria36]

Thanks for the tips! So you think the first hybrid mod you did would be okay for the softies and LPS?

I'd probably go with the magenta and royal blue along with T5's (I believe the t5's are powerglos and more lower K, whiter overall). When you added the stunners, was it a straight swap out of T5 bulbs for ecoxotic stunner strips?

Thank you again for all your advice!

[Nano sapiens]

You should have no problem with Softies and LPS with a hybrid system. I ran my system for a while as a hybrid setup when one of the stock T5 balasts failed. I was concerned that the other one would be on it's way out, too, so that's when I went all LEDs.

 

The Power-Glo is an interesting bulb. It's listed as 18K, but to my eye its somewhat pink-purplish-whitish (similar to the Stunner Magenta/8k that I have). It's a much better quality bulb than the stock bulbs. The Power-Glo I would run for 8 months before changing, but the stock bulbs I always switched at 6 months to be safe.

 

For a hybrid setup, you could use (2) T5s (possibly one Power-Glo and one 10K) and then maybe squeeze in (3) Stunner strips (Royal Blue, 8k/Blue and a 12k/Royal Blue). If you decide that you'd like still more Blue, then the easy option would be to switch the 10K T5 for an Actinic bulb). I'd strongly recommend the Ecoxotic reflectors for these lower power LEDs (adds about 25% more light into the tank). Softies have a reputation for not needing bright light because they can tolerate reduced lighting, however, as a general rule, they thrive in moderate-higher light.

[demaria36]

Great! I'm gonna try this out, your knowledge and thorough answers amaze me! Once again, great thread and thanks for the tips and advice, I'll definitely keep following!

[Nano sapiens]

Happy to pass on a little help.

[Nano sapiens]

Picked up this nearly dime sized Pink Yuma from Diablo Corals. Seems to have settled in nicely and I have high hopes for the little fella.

 

 

'Glow' shots...

 

 

 

 

[metrokat]

Psychedelic at it's best. The new yuma looks cute.

[Nano sapiens]

Psychedelic at it's best. The new yuma looks cute.

 

Like, 'Groovy' and 'Far Out'...

 

I guess you could say the Yuma is all 'bubbly' with joy in it's new home

[jball1125]

Psychedelic at it's best. The new yuma looks cute.

+1 Trippy!

[Nano sapiens]

 

I've had my eye on one of these for a while now and decided to nab the last one at LiveAquaria/Diver's Den: Red Galathea balssi from the Maldives.

 

There is very little aquarium related information on this species of 'Squat Lobster' (technically, it's a crab). It is commensal with sponges, but doesn't require them for survival. This one is about 2" long, including the very long front arms/claws.

 

Here's what I have gathered:

 

Range: African coast, Indian coast, down to Australia, up to the coral Triangle (Indonesia, Philippines) and into Japan and China. Originally described in 1964.

 

Environmental ranges (Depth range based on 6 specimens in 1 taxon. Water temperature and chemistry ranges based on 2 samples):
Depth range (m): 48 - 216
Temperature range (°C): 22.375 - 22.742
Nitrate (umol/L): 14.700 - 15.744
Salinity (PPS): 35.889 - 35.960
Oxygen (ml/l): 1.292 - 1.316
Phosphate (umol/l): 1.443 - 1.634
Silicate (umol/l): 13.197 - 13.382

 

Seems to be from cooler 72 F waters, but hopefully it won't mind my 78 F over the long term.

 

(Info taken from EOL, 'Encyclopedia of Life')

 

 

Observations: Hangs out upside down under LR ledges with arms/claws fully outstretched. The multitudes of bristly hairs on the arms are used to detect food particles and the long claws quickly grab any items of interest. It also has long antennae which sweep in front and can also detect food items. As with most crustaceans, this one can detect food sitting nearby and in which direction it lies. So far, it hasn't moved more than 3" from where I put it and I noticed it always has one leg in contact with a dime sized ball sponge. Luckily, the position it has taken up is perfect for frontal viewing. Feeding hasn't been a problem (it was eating 1/2 hour after I put it in the tank). It has eaten micro pellets, frozen Mysis and Rod's food with gusto, but is not so keen on flakes. I am feeding it 3x/day or more. One interesting behavior involves it's location under a LR ledge with Rics hanging down in front. Every so often it will pinch the Rics to get them to retract out of it's space, but I don't see any permanent damage so far. I expect the Rics to eventually move upwards a bit to get away from the harassment. It sometimes picks up a stone in one of the large claws and holds it there for 1/2 hour, but I have no idea what that is all about. The Clownfish and the Blue Legged Hermit Crabs show no interest...and visa-versa.

 

Might not be for everybody, but I think it's a cool little addition

 

I'll be updating observation on the Red Galathea Crab here: http://www.nano-reef.com/topic/323976-red-galathea-crab-galathea-balssi/#entry4266629

[metrokat]

It is cool, lovely colors on the little guy. Well, maybe not so little in the pico. Looks good.

[Nano sapiens]

It is cool, lovely colors on the little guy. Well, maybe not so little in the pico. Looks good.

 

The body is small, about the size of a nickel, but the arms are about 3 or 4x as long, so it doesn't look out of place in the Nano tank.

 

The Clownfish came over to take a look and all I could see under the Rics was the claws shooting out like little spears in defense. Spunky little fella

[NanoTopia]

Cool crab Nano-S, love the tank, looks like the psychedelic melting rock.

 

Christine

[Nano sapiens]

Cool crab Nano-S, love the tank, looks like the psychedelic melting rock.

 

Christine

 

Thanks, Christine. Photographing coral florescence is a bit challenging, but fun.

[Nano sapiens]

Montipora digitata:

 

Before (one of two dime sized frags):

 

 

After both small frags reunited and branched:

 

 

The green A. millepora encrustation (right) has also picked up steam, M. setosa is on the retreat as it gets nuked by the Milli.

 

This kind of quick growth was induced strictly by increased food input (all other parameters within ranges and kept very stable).

 

Over last 3-4 months I've been slowly increasing food inputs while maintaining my regular maintenance routine. I reached a point in this process where color had improved to 'very good', but growth was very slow. As I increased feeding ~20% more, that's when all the SPS started to increase growth and I noticed more budding in my mini Zoanthid colonies. Interestingly, even at this more optimal rate of feeding PO4 (inorganic phosphate) is still undetectable (Salifert, using high-res test method) and the limited turf algae has not increased in volume. The only visible indication of the increased level of nutrients is a very slight brown bio-film coating on the glass which first becomes noticeable after 3 days. Organic phosphate from the feedings is fueling the addition growth.

[metrokat]

You're going to be proud of me, I siphoned the sand bed. Pictures for proof on my thread.

[MGDMIRAGE]

Holy smokes how did I miss this beauty!

[Nano sapiens]

You're going to be proud of me, I siphoned the sand bed. Pictures for proof on my thread.

 

Excellent! I see you got a full load of...dirty water Doesn't it feel good to get some of that gunk out of the tank?

 

Holy smokes how did I miss this beauty!

 

Thank you for the compliment! Following along on your 7g Cadlights adventure. It's going to be nice once you get the overflow teeth thing sorted.

[iSea]

Wow, one of the nicest ones I have seen. I almost got an 8G Cadlights back in December.

[Nano sapiens]

Wow, one of the nicest ones I have seen. I almost got an 8G Cadlights back in December.

 

Glad you like it. The tank itself has held up very well over nearly 5 years.