1/4 Gallon Open Top SPS Cube

[Weetabix7]

It's amazing to me that something that small can be viable, but it looks great.

What kind of growth have you been seeing?

Do you supplement 2 part, and if so how do you measure how much to put in?

What kind of WC regimen do you have?

[thesmallerthebetter]

very very nice, really hope the best for ya! I can't wait to see those frags start to take over and really cover things up. Its gonna be awesome i know it!!

 

Keep up the good work!

 

i know! im super excited to see it start to grow in

 

 

Very nice. Isn't 32oz a slurpee size?? Scary small... How much top off daily??

 

haha. during the build stages it seemed incredibly small to me, but once i got water and rock in it, and started working with it it isnt really all that much smaller than a half gallon or so haha. i use a gravity ato that gets refilled every week or so for top off. evap is low due to a low surface area (6 square inches of surface) and the leds and "pump" adding very little heat into the system.

 

It's amazing to me that something that small can be viable, but it looks great.

What kind of growth have you been seeing?

Do you supplement 2 part, and if so how do you measure how much to put in?

What kind of WC regimen do you have?

 

its amazing to me too i had an idea, wasnt sure it would work, and now its got sps in it haha.

 

growth is hard to measure, alot of the frags are still acclimating to the new system and lighting, but ive seen dramatic improvements in color on a few in the short time theyve been under the LEDs. the purple tabler on the back wall has neon green polyps, and it was brown on brown when i added it

 

no dosing for me, i find that with daily water changes(sometimes twice daily) my calc hovers around 430ppm, which isnt a bad number. the coraline seems to like it too its taking over the rocks and side panels

[gabe_j]

that is just too cool!

[jerzsky]

this is absolutely without a doubt the coolest tank i have ever seen!!!!outstanding job!!!!

[thesmallerthebetter]

so......

 

long time no updates eh?

 

i guess the first thing to say is YES. the tank is still running. and yes, it still has sps and corals in it.

 

the second thing to say is YES alota crap died haha

 

the current stock list is something like this:

 

Current Stock:

 

Non-Photo:

Mini Orange Dendrophyllia

 

Acroporas:

Bali Tricolor - browned out a lot, still there tho

Blue Boa Echinata - receded away to just a tip, slowly coming back

 

Montipora:

Green Montipora sp. (Setosa?) - two polyps left....they seem to be trying to hold on tho

Red Montipora Setosa - no longer just a polyp haha. its a branching piece now

Neon Purple/Green Montipora Capricornis - slowly showing nubs on the edges...gonna be a wicked scroller when its done

 

Softies:

Pink Yuma - it bleached a while back, shrinks a bit every day...prolly wont make it, i think its hating the LED

Devils Armor Palythoa - 3 polyps now thats 2 more than when it started

Black hitcher zoo (found on the underside of a rock during a rescape so mounted it up front)

 

Other:

Ponape Birdsnest - got so many nubs that are trying to be branches!!!!! its gonna be awsome when it starts taking off

 

CUC:

5 Mico Ceriths

Stomatella Snails

Micro Pistol Shrimp

1 Sexy Shrimp - crazy bugger

 

i really think that the losses are more a result of the LEDs being too strong, it seems like the pieces i mounted lower on the rocks seem to be doing good. almost every piece seems to have at one point of another receded back to nothing and then came back....odd....

 

also....i learned that taking pics of this tank is IMPOSSIBLE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

 

i cant get a shot worth a crap for all my trying...i dont know what to do.....

 

i really am thrilled that the peices that have survived are amazing, growing/recovering, and are going to killer colonies in a few months....

 

does anyone have a nice dslr that they are willing to bring over and photograph the tank? i would be very grateful i might even give up the goods on the "pump" in exchange for a photo sess

[brandon429]

we'll take a cell phone pic

[reef2.5]

Man if I was a photographer I would drive fly or walk to you for the goods on the "pump".

 

P.s. you ever do any thing with the other tank???

[yoshii]

It's hard to get good/accurate pics with LEDs

 

If the LEDs are too strong, can't you move them up higher?

[thesmallerthebetter]

we'll take a cell phone pic

 

haha. i have several times all i get it a nepn blue orb of sorts hahahahaha.

 

Man if I was a photographer I would drive fly or walk to you for the goods on the "pump".

 

P.s. you ever do any thing with the other tank???

 

i have been working off and on on the other tank, all the parts are piled on my workshop desk and waiting to be assembled hehe. its gonna be sweet

 

It's hard to get good/accurate pics with LEDs

 

If the LEDs are too strong, can't you move them up higher?

 

i have tried that, but i find that then the lower mounted pieces get not enough light. basically, the LEDs get pretty crappy penetration (they're optic-less) so to get the lower reaches of the tank lit they need to be basically at the water surface, but at that point the upper reaches are left uninhabitable due to the proximity of the lights. in future builds i will use a combo of optic-ed leds for penetration and bares for surface lighting

 

ps: im located in costa mesa CA if anyone wants to swing by and take lovely pictturzzzz for meeeeeeee

[.Newman.]

dude, put an FTS in your first post of this thread. most recent FTS i mean. good luck in the final months!

[thesmallerthebetter]

dude, put an FTS in your first post of this thread. most recent FTS i mean. good luck in the final months!

 

i dont think im still in the contest tho

 

i missed the submission deadline for this last month by a few days....

 

but heres pics that i took with a new camera....a little better than usual

 

 

check out the growth on the setosa frag:

 

8/24/10 (dead center, above the dendro)

 

12/16/10

 

[yoshii]

awesome! lol that sexy looks huge in there

[brandon429]

it takes professional companies months and months of trial r and d to get a new pump working reliably...the fact your built pump is still going all this time is really neat engineering wise!@

[thesmallerthebetter]

awesome! lol that sexy looks huge in there

 

that he does. the little bugger drives me crazy...always stealing food from the dendro and the black zoa....hes molted twice for me in the last month tho

 

it takes professional companies months and months of trial r and d to get a new pump working reliably...the fact your built pump is still going all this time is really neat engineering wise!@

 

it took me months and months too haha

 

but yea, i have a new design for a few components i want to put into effect in the next build....but im so consumed with all the other tanks (both mine and at work) that never get around to busting out the fabrication tools haha.

[brandon429]

hey what was the name of that orange coral with the polyps that look like pagoda? oxypora or echinopora?

 

also can you please resend me your text man i forgot to uncheck it when i cleaned out the pm box. I had read it once already but was going to go back and reread and type then it wasn't there/pls resend!

[thesmallerthebetter]

hey what was the name of that orange coral with the polyps that look like pagoda? oxypora or echinopora?

 

also can you please resend me your text man i forgot to uncheck it when i cleaned out the pm box. I had read it once already but was going to go back and reread and type then it wasn't there/pls resend!

 

hmm. the reddy orange sps in the back center of the tank? thats a Montipora Setosa. i dont recall having any LPS in here other than the lone Dendrophyllia polyp thats front and center

 

as far as other corals that resemble pagodas, try any of the dendrophyllia family, as that is where pagoda cups (Turbinaria) is classified

 

ill resend that message too

Edited December 23, 2010 by thesmallerthebetter

[thesmallerthebetter]

upgrade tease:

 

 

2x Cree XRE (Royal Blue) driven at 2W

1x Cree XRE (8000k bin) driven at 2w

 

 

that, and added new goodies tooooooooo stay tuned

[.Newman.]

wont get too hot?

[thesmallerthebetter]

wont get too hot?

 

its running today (the epoxy died last night). seems not to get any hotter than the old bulb. the new heatsink is larger (1/2" wider in diameter). and the crees run cooler than china leds when driven properly

 

ill try and snag pics tonight after the sandbed stirring/water change. there new acros are fairly happy it seems too

[Squared]

can't wait.

[.Newman.]

as long as theyre not too warm

[thesmallerthebetter]

can't wait.

 

just outta curiosity, where in socal are you located? did you take that pic of the harlys in your sig?

 

if so im in OC and if u wanted to come take pics of my tank id be VERY happy haha.

 

i can never get anything better than a washed out blur or a blue blur haha

[.Newman.]

i can never get anything better than a washed out blur or a blue blur haha

 

Wait, so thats your camera acting up? up to now I though its just algaefied glass lmao!

Edited January 6, 2011 by .Newman.

[Squared]

just outta curiosity, where in socal are you located? did you take that pic of the harlys in your sig?

 

if so im in OC and if u wanted to come take pics of my tank id be VERY happy haha.

 

i can never get anything better than a washed out blur or a blue blur haha

 

my camera is only 5mp...only about 1/5 macro shots turn out well. And yes, I took the pic of the harleys. may they rest in peace...

Edited January 6, 2011 by Squared

[aaron86]

wow i mean realy wow