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Steely's 40 breeder


steely185

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Order placed on the tek fixture. I just need to get my sump fixed up and I should be ready to roll with the transfer.

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  • 2 weeks later...
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All parts have arrived. Other than one piece of plumbing to do this weekend it is ready. I plan to move the contents of my 20 to the 40 on monday.

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Decided to set it up today since I had a half day at work. I'll take pics when the water clears and rock is scaped better. Flow is awesome with the mag7, K3 and K4. The tek fixture is bright.

 

Bulb setup from back to front is:

 

ATI blue +

ATI blue special

KZ fiji purple

ATI blue +

ATI blue special

ATI blue +

 

Can't wait for the water to clear.

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I will be picking up some more rock this week to cycle in the old tank (before becoming a frag tank) in the garage. Probably going to be between 10-15 lbs of dry punkani rock. I may pick up a new Geismann pure actinic bulb to swap out with one of the bulbs. Just a note before the pics: rockwork has been redone twice for stability purposes. Sorry for the quality but they are phone pics.

 

 

09-17.jpg

 

09-1-7.jpg

 

09-2-7.jpg

 

09-3-7.jpg

 

I'll update more later with better quality and after I've had a chance to work on things a bit.

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WOW Dan. Tank really looks great. Not that the 20H ever looked bad, but this size tank really does all of your frags justice. They were just too packed into your 20H to see how really nice they are.

 

We might have to get a little trade going sometime. You have some killer pieces.

 

-Adam

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Thanks Adam. Definately when I get some frag worthy growth I will be willing to do some trading.

 

I'm still getting use to T5's over MH for now. I want to swap out a ATI blue special for a super actinic or Geismann pure actinic to give the extra pop.

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I'm going to swing by the LFS on the way home in a bit and pick up some more rock. I'm going to get 10-15 lbs of punkani dry rock and start cycling it in my old 20H out in the garage. Some of the old sand is still in that tank in water and I'll move some rubble over to kick start the cycling. When everything has finished cycling I'll do some rescaping in the 40 and turn that 20 into my new frag tank.

 

Last little tweak on the 40 will be to tighten up my return line from the pump in the sump to the tank with some zip ties (it stays submerged so the zip lines will have to do). I had my pump blow out the tubing last night when I was securing a ball valve. At least it blew out while I was working with it and not while I was asleep.

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Had to settle for 15 lbs of dry pukani rock from bulk reef supply. Price was almost identical to buying it in the LFS but got a couple extra pounds online. LFS was out so hopefully I get some nice pieces of rock.

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Picked up a UVL super actinic today to play with the color. I currently have running:

 

back

ATI blue +

ATI blue special

KZ fiji purple

ATI blue +

UVL super actinic

ATI blue +

front

 

We'll see how I like this over the next couple of days.

 

Corals are finally getting use to the change from MH to T5. More zoas are opening, and SPS is popping. Joe the coral is looking great with fantastic polyp extension (loves the K3 and K4 combo). I'll post some pics tomorrow.

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Looking forward to seeing how the corals look with the addition of the super actinic. What would you say the overall look is with all of those bulbs firing?

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I didn't notice much difference with changing the blue special for the super actinic. It may be slightly dimmer. I was a afraid that an extra blue plus would give it too much blue but I still may try that in the future. I swapped positions on the KZ and super actinic late last night so I'll see when I get home from work how everything looks. Overall I would have to say that everything has a very 14K look with a little extra pop on greens and pinks. Everything is definately brighter than with the MH. When I moved everything I did notice a few pale areas on my Montipora spumosa where the light from the MH could not reach .

 

Note: previous pics are much dimmer than the aquarium appears, mostly camera

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Here are some updated pics with the new bulb. I still feel the pics don't do it justice as they seem too white but I have to adjust brightness with this camera. Please let me know what you think. I can't wait for more rock so everything can get properly mounted.

 

DSCN0600.jpg

 

DSCN0605.jpg

 

DSCN0606.jpg

 

love this section

DSCN0603.jpg

 

good variety in color

DSCN0604.jpg

 

center

DSCN0599.jpg

 

fts

DSCN0598.jpg

 

left side shot

DSCN0610.jpg

 

favorite shot from the right

DSCN0609.jpg

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:mellow: I am such a sult for acros, and you have some wonderful ones! I really hope to get a system going in the next year focused more towards keeping acros.

 

Also I love how that maroon is so much bigger than most of the other stuff in the tank, he/she is like a watchdog! :lol:

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Got my additional rock today from bulkreef supply. I got 15lbs of dry pukani rock and must say I'm impressed. Good quality size rock. I have that cycling in my old 20 with about half of the old sandbed to seed it. It will definately make swapping out a few rocks for better looking and better mountable rocks easier.

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  • 2 weeks later...

Quick update. New rock is about halfway through cycling and growing plenty of algae.

 

Added 4 new pieces over the weekend. Here they are:

 

DSCN0635.jpg

 

DSCN0636.jpg

 

Unknow green SPS, but very green

DSCN0637.jpg

 

Turaki

DSCN0639.jpg

 

 

Not new but better pics

ORA purple with green polyps

DSCN0641.jpg

 

Garf Bonsai

DSCN0640.jpg

 

Montipora Spongodes

DSCN0642.jpg

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Thanks. Picked up the GARF bonsai from Atlantic sea farms. They are a small aquaculture facility here on the east coast. Look them up on the net. Good prices (my garf was cheaper when I bought it).

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Last night I transferred some of my CUC (large turbo, a couple hermits and some stomatellas) to the 20 to trim the algae. It looked better this morning so I am interested to see what it looks like this afternoon.

 

I also put in a order for various snails for the 40 from reefcleaners. I've had some cyano built up on the sand bed in the 40 so the new snails should help out. If I get the opportunity to rescape this weekend I will.

 

I have been using FUEL about once a week after the lights go out and think it might be helping out. I finally had a tricolor frag start to color up that I've had a couple months. I just wish my red planet would finally color up. I have one piece of acro that has had some trouble and may be dying off. It has bleached tremendously with the new lights along with a few different varieties of zoas. Overall I have noticed new growth on most SPS and better basing out of frags. I give the T5's a thumbs up for the SPS.

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  • 2 weeks later...

I got my order from reefcleaners yesterday. Good stuff and recieved about twice the number of cerith's that I ordered (ordered about 40 and got more like 100). Waiting for the cerith's to revive after shipping.

 

Tank is doing great right now and I may move in some new rock and do some rescaping over the weekend. Kind of undecided on new scaping. Not sure if I want to move rock deeper & taller in the tank giving more room up front or leave equal room in front and back of the rock work. Thinking ahead for maximum growth room and spots to mount coral.

 

Got a reefclub meet in another week and I'm thinking of unloading a few frags. I'm not looking to add much more to this tank other than a blue tenuis, a pearlberry and some acans. Maybe an encrusting monti or two. That's about it for now. Hopefully I'll add some pics soon.

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Just wanted to post some shots of what one month's growth has been.

 

Before

DSCN0606.jpg

 

After

DSCN0657.jpg

 

Before (ORA green birdsnest)

DSCN0610.jpg

 

another before shot

DSCN0589.jpg

 

After (ORA green birdsnest, lots of new nubs and branching)

DSCN0663.jpg

 

Before (superman monti)

DSCN0603.jpg

 

After (superman monti)

09-1-9.jpg

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I've got a meet this weekend and should be picking up a few new pieces and letting go of some frags. I got a purple prostrata, pink stylo, and green pocillipora lined up. I'm still waiting to hear back to see if I have a blue tenuis lined up as well. I've also been thinking of just picking my best pieces and leaving them in the 40 while moving what's left to the 20. I do have quite a bit of frags so I may go for my best and grow out the rest in a frag tank or sell them. Just a thought.

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