Nano Sapiens 12g - Ye Olde Mixed Reef

[Nano sapiens]

I always enjoy reading a thread that I genuinely learn from.

Thanks for the food for thought.

 

You are most welcome! Glad you find the info of value

 

There's still a lot to learn regarding a coral's complex holosymbiont, especially defining the roles that bacteria, viruses, protists and thraustochytrids play. The next decade or two should be enlightening as more scientific attention is now being paid to the coral reef ecosystem due to the rapid decrease in coral cover as well as to try and predict the consequences of global warming on the aquatic life.

[Weetabix7]

 

You are most welcome! Glad you find the info of value

 

There's still a lot to learn regarding a coral's complex holosymbiont, especially defining the roles that bacteria, protists and thraustochytrids play. The next decade or two should be enlightening as more scientific attention is now being paid to the coral reef ecosystem due to the rapid decrease in coral cover as well as to try and predict the consequences of global warming on the aquatic life.

 

This was stuff I honestly had no idea about.

Fascinating, and helps just a little more to put some past reefing experiences into perspective and to add a couple more pieces to the puzzle.

[Nano sapiens]

 

This was stuff I honestly had no idea about.

Fascinating, and helps just a little more to put some past reefing experiences into perspective and to add a couple more pieces to the puzzle.

 

Considering all the different organisms involved, makes one double-think the notion of adding bottle X, Y or Z to quick-fix a problem when the effects on the holobiont are unknown, or poorly understood, at best.

[Weetabix7]

 

Considering all the different organisms involved, makes one double-think the notion of adding bottle X, Y or Z to quick-fix a problem when the effects on the holobiont are unknown.

 

Agreed, knee jerk panic reactions rarely lead to positive results in this hobby.

 

On the other hand, how else are we to learn if we don't try something?

However, we need to do it intelligently, and I think it should be documented.

[Nano sapiens]

 

Agreed, knee jerk panic reactions rarely lead to positive results in this hobby.

 

On the other hand, how else are we to learn if we don't try something?

However, we need to do it intelligently, and I think it should be documented.

 

Agreed, nothiing against innovation if it benefits the system as a whole.

 

I'll admit to having had my fair share of dubious ideas and projects over the decades. Some were fairly successful while others were failures, but I did learn the hard way what worked...and what didn't. Today we have a wealth of experience both anecdotal and scientific to draw upon and one would think that it should be much easier for a reef aquarist to setup and maintain a successful reef tank over the long term.

[Nano sapiens]

Petroglyph Zoas looking rather well expanded today and around 1" across the disk/tentacles (hard to get close enough with the ruler without touching the Zoa):

 

 

 

My favorite Zoa

[vlangel]

Wow, those are big zoas! They look a picture of health, too. Very nice.

[Nano sapiens]

Wow, those are big zoas! They look a picture of health, too. Very nice.

 

Healthy and proliferating

 

Feeding time...Speckled Apple Cider attempting to munch a mysid:

 

[teenyreef]

Petroglyph Zoas looking rather well expanded today and around 1" across the disk/tentacles (hard to get close enough with the ruler without touching the Zoa):

 

 

 

My favorite Zoa

Wow! I had no idea they grow that large! I love those zoas

[Nano sapiens]

Wow! I had no idea they grow that large! I love those zoas

 

I was talking to Darwin from Legendary a while back and he says they typically reach 1/2" or so.

 

I guess these are imitating the Rics and going 'super-sized'

[ABC]

That is impressive

[Nano sapiens]

That is impressive

 

Definitely surprised me.

[dulcelife]

Outstanding work. Your information is going to save me a ton of money.

[Nano sapiens]

Outstanding work. Your information is going to save me a ton of money.

 

Glad to hear it

[Nano sapiens]

Christmas presents for the tank

 

Really Pink Wild Yuma (it's even brighter in person, believe it or not). Still a little guy at around 1-1/4". Arrived rather smushed by the large rock it was attached to and had expelled everything in it's gut, but with some TLC it seems to be content with the lighting (160 PAR) and is eating small frozen Mysid (a good indicator that it is 'happy'). I pulled out every acclimation trick in the book on this one and it seems to have paid off. Now the questions are how will it do for an extended period...and will it grow up to 4" across?

 

 

 

I also needed some hardy, fast growing Zoas to fill in a spot that my large Leptastrea was trying to colonize, so a plug of 'Fire and Ice' Zoas seemed perfect. Very nice purple disk on these, but was a bit surprised at the burnt orange skirt (typically bright red in this morph). Oh well, they are big, fat, eat anything and are healthy...so they'll do just fine:

 

[vlangel]

The pink yuma is gorgeous! I hope it continues to do well.

[Nano sapiens]

The pink yuma is gorgeous! I hope it continues to do well.

 

Thanks, me too!

[Marc.The.Shark]

That Yuma's Purdy! Always nice to see lighter shades of red in a tank, my red setosa is kinda pink under the higher light I have it under & it looks sweet. Your tank is a beaut as always Sapiens.

[Nano sapiens]

That Yuma's Purdy! Always nice to see lighter shades of red in a tank, my red setosa is kinda pink under the higher light I have it under & it looks sweet. Your tank is a beaut as always Sapiens.

 

Thanks for the compliment.

 

I expect the pink Yuma will darken up a bit in the next few weeks as it did loose Zooxanthellae during the shipping process. I'll enjoy the 'Hot Pink' look while it lasts

 

My orange Setosa went pink when subjected to bright light, too quickly. After a few weeks it went back to orange again. I hear you on the red and it's often difficult to maintain with LED lighting.

[teenyreef]

Wow, that pink is stunning! I'm interested to see how the color morphs as it settles in.

[Nano sapiens]

Wow, that pink is stunning! I'm interested to see how the color morphs as it settles in.

 

The vendor's photo (tiny pic, blown up and blurry, for color reference):

That's about what I expect in a month or two, but we'll see...

[Nano sapiens]

DIY (5) Channel LED Array

• DIY LED Solderless (w/Coralux 5-up board and STORM controller):

CH 1 ('White'): (4) Cree XML-2 'NW', (1) Cree XML-2 'WW'

CH 2 ('Blue'): (6) Cree XT-E 'RB', (2) Cree XML-2 'B', (2) OCW 'B'

CH 3 ('Violet'): (6) Exotic 'HV' 428nm, (2) Exotic 'V' 403nm

CH 4 ('Lime'): (2) Philips 'Lime', (2) OCW 'Cyan'

CH 5 ('Red'): (2) OCW 'Red'

• 'Daylight' total: 10 hrs.
• All LEDs (highest programmed settings): 4 hrs.
• Spectral Description: ~ 14k
• PAR: 155 (center, mid point of tank)

 

'Project Box' (Coralux 5up board w/Meanwell 700mA drivers, STORM controller & power supply):

 

 

 

Just one cable (instead of three previously...and no bulky timers):

 

 

 

Unlit array:

 

 

 

Lit array (yay, it's Christmas!):

 

 

 

FTS (color still needs tweaking):

 

 

 

PAR readings ~7% less than previous setup and peak daylight time lowered from 5 hrs. to 4-1/2 hrs. and the total lighting time from 10 hrs. to 9-1/2 hrs. to assist acclimation. No unusual/negative effects from the corals.

 

Besides the increased control going from 2 channels to 5, I was having to replace the previous RB stunner strips ever year to 1-1/2 years at $30 a pop. No bueno...

 

So far it's all working as planned and the ramp delay (in this case it allows the 'Blue' channel to come on one hour before the other channels) and smooth dimming effects are really quite nice.

 

Thumbs up to LEDGroupBuy for the accurate delivery/service and Ben at Coralux for quick answers to a few questions so I could prevent blowing things up

[RollaJase]

Nice new LED build. Looks like you are getting great colour out of it.

[Nano sapiens]

Nice new LED build. Looks like you are getting great colour out of it.

 

Thanks. As it's set up right now it's visually quite similar to my previous setup. The new 'Lime' and 'Red' channels are both only at 10% and I'll be gradually tweaking these in the future once the corals have adjusted completely.

[teenyreef]

Looks really nice. Being fully automated and not having to replace the stunner strips must be great!