pschom Posted August 6, 2011 Author Share Posted August 6, 2011 And my Aquailluminations SOL White LED Module. I opted for the White module because I already had the stunner strip and from several pics and videos out there I felt the SOL Blue had a very saturated look. I figure I'd add my two cents about this unit on my thread. Before buying this I looked for so much information about it, but was never satisfied with what I found. Now more people have them so maybe its easier to come by, but here's my experiance. Ordered it from Aqua Cave ( Aquacave) for a good price. Found the Zero Edge Aquarium Light tree and bracket and ordered (NOT for a good price IMO). Easy install of stand and bracket. I got the 10 inch at first and it was not long enough so had to order the 14 inch. Mounted the controller to the front door of the stand with some 3M sticky velcro from Target. Took a few weeks to get the settings just how I wanted them. I played around with it so much...partly becuase I wanted to F with it. I ended up contacting the company for the settings to match a 14K Halide bulb. They said that at 100w/100b it would mimic a 14k halide look. I still have yet to raise it over 50w/60b for fear of damaging corals, but I'm ramping it up by 5 this weekend to see if my new RBTA responds with some bubbles... I also added an all blue Stunner Strip directly in the middle of the module using the sticky tape the strip came with. Fits perfect and adds great effect. Love the Thunderstorm effect. I like that you can set it for a percent chance of Thunderstorm so when your walking around, or lounging on the couch and you see flashing your like, 'Oh, its raining in the tropics.' I will say these LEDs are slightly more yellow than halide. A slight dissappointment as I was not expecting that. you end up trying to compensate with more blue than you really need for a natural effect and it ends up looking wierd. Overall I'd say its pricey, but worth it for so many reasons (controllability, ZERO added heat (even has built in fan that works like clockwork), less electric, SO easy and not just from a setup standpoint (I love the time cycles cause its not ON/OFF its smooth up and smooth down and its the same everyday!!! Minus the lunar cycle of course), and more. Current time cycle starts at 8AM and slowly ramps up until 2PM. Peaks until 6PM and slowly (slightly faster than the AM ramp up) ramps down until 10 and the lunar cycle starts. Initially I had it only blue in the AM, but its so much more natural if there's a little white compensation. And the Stunner starts at 10AM and goes until 9PM. Link to comment
MGDMIRAGE Posted August 6, 2011 Share Posted August 6, 2011 You have come a long ways! Upgrade to the 47 gallon! Also i love that fixture. Link to comment
digitalfreq Posted August 6, 2011 Share Posted August 6, 2011 Some pics. I'm really thinking about switching out the BC for a 47 gallon shallow. LFS said reef ready with stand is around $450. I can use all my existing hardware, just need a sump and MP10. Looking for a minimalist design with a few NICE pieces. Probably sell/trade to LFS most of what I have now. Its a thought. I love these Sun Coral Polyps. The wife makes most of the really good purchases.... The nems. Although the BTA is now a STA (Stringy Tip Anemone) I still like it. Hopefully he will change his mind and go with the bubbles.... The red and green one on the back wall finally moved. I'm assuming it was to get more light. He's coloring back up from a brief stint of SEE THROUGH. How did you get the maxi to stick on the wall like that?? Link to comment
pschom Posted August 6, 2011 Author Share Posted August 6, 2011 You have come a long ways! Upgrade to the 47 gallon! Also i love that fixture. Thanks! Yeah I'm really considering the shallow setup. I think they look real clean and sleek. Link to comment
pschom Posted August 6, 2011 Author Share Posted August 6, 2011 How did you get the maxi to stick on the wall like that?? Haha. If there's one thing in the universe that will never change, its that anemones go where they want. At first he climbed up so high that there wasn't sufficient light to keep the colors. I think he got tired of that. Link to comment
pschom Posted August 16, 2011 Author Share Posted August 16, 2011 I picked up a really small frag of what I think is Valida Acropora. It's light green (really soft green) near the base and light purple tips, and white polyps. Got it for dirt cheap. Lfs had three of the frags. The pieces must have broken off of a larger colony during shipping. Can't wait for It to start growing. I don't know what it is about acros, but they do very well in my tank. They keep their color and grow faster than zoas. The same cannot be said for montipora. For some reason (minus the caps which are growing like crazy) every Monti I have put in there has had a problem. This last frag took a nose dive right into a huge mushroom. Burnt the crap out of it. I thought it might recover but it's pretty white. On another note, since I removed the angel, which I miss..., the sps are happier and the water is extremely clean. Couple wcs and nitrates are almost 0. Wouldn't have guessed that the removal of only 1 fish would make such a difference. It was the largest one, but still. Not going to make any more fish changes until I change setups. I want something like this: http://www.nano-reef.com/forums/index.php?showtopic=225402 Link to comment
pschom Posted August 18, 2011 Author Share Posted August 18, 2011 Some pics. Not much different, but I like posting pics. Cyano may be creeping up on the Sun Coral. Have to wait and see. I did increase the light intensity...maybe I went too much. My Zoas are FINALLY growing! Nom...Nom... SPS The Shroom is Jeleous Sun Polyps in the Sun - Pic taken at mid day!! Those things come out for food. They don't care when.. It's Taking Over!! Loungin... Snail Needs to Shave Link to comment
pschom Posted August 18, 2011 Author Share Posted August 18, 2011 Pom Pom Crab Rain Dance LOL Coooommmmmeeee Oooouuuuutttttt...................... Link to comment
SouthFlorida_Tron Posted August 18, 2011 Share Posted August 18, 2011 First FTS with the light shinin through looks sick! Link to comment
pschom Posted August 18, 2011 Author Share Posted August 18, 2011 Rics and Yuma...this yuma was pink under halide, but it looks WAY cooler under the blue LEDs. War Coral is growing and IMO likes it better under more flow. Tentacles are nearing an inch at night. Porcelin Crab is the sh!t FTS Link to comment
pschom Posted August 18, 2011 Author Share Posted August 18, 2011 First FTS with the light shinin through looks sick! Thanks! The next setup, probly next year, will be perfecto.. Link to comment
pschom Posted August 20, 2011 Author Share Posted August 20, 2011 Water Test Results at 8:30 am Sal - 1.026 with about 1.5 inch drop in chamber 3 from evaporation *Sal - 1.025 exact after a top off Ph - 7.4 still getting swings in Ph even with the chaeto going at night Nitrate - 5-10 Ammo - 0 Dkh - 7.4 Alk - 2.63 Calc - 440-450 Mag - no test kit yet Link to comment
pschom Posted August 20, 2011 Author Share Posted August 20, 2011 the Mini Maxi is out of the nozzle and looking for a spot. That MFr better not crawl into the back so I can't see it. I'd be so pissed I'd probably frag it and put the second one in the front. lol Cool pic of my War Coral. It's lovin the new spot. Link to comment
pschom Posted September 24, 2011 Author Share Posted September 24, 2011 LOC LINE! Pics tomorrow. Ok well that didn't work out as planned at all... I new it might cut down on the flow a little but what's coming out isn't enough to stir a shroom. G@y. Taking that back. I had high hopes for that too. Oh yeah, and I have an aiptaisia outburst. F()CK! Link to comment
pschom Posted October 24, 2011 Author Share Posted October 24, 2011 So that brilliant locline idea I had was a failure. Took up way too much space and affected the flow so much that nothing was moving... So I returned it. On another note I took the rio pump out and cleaned it and NOW it's pumping more than ever! Great. I also re-adjusted the nano koralias to opposite of the return pump and placed them up high. Now the sps are growing like crazy and look so much better. Had to relocate the Yuma and ricordea cause there was too much flow on the bottom on that side. I may get a low light sps and stick it there. I need a larger tank! Also I have switched to Reef Crystals. HUGE difference IMO. Dissolves faster and water parms are always on point with a 5-7 gallon water change weekly. I'll never go back to regular salt again. Link to comment
SouthFlorida_Tron Posted October 24, 2011 Share Posted October 24, 2011 Premix > NSW any day, so many less variables... All the LFS' down here use natural seawater but I couLdnt get answers as to some problems but clean saltwater did that! Link to comment
pschom Posted November 14, 2011 Author Share Posted November 14, 2011 Nice biocube 29!! Just saw this. Thanks. Yours is amazing. Link to comment
pschom Posted November 14, 2011 Author Share Posted November 14, 2011 I've been too busy posting on other threads and making the new pico that I haven't really said much here. I had, and still have, an aiptaisia outbreak. They are growing in really hard to reach areas like the rear chambers. I've killed most of them in the display and got a peppermint shrimp (hopefully this one won't go carpet surfing like the last one). There's a HUGE one on a piece of rubble in the back. Gotta get that out. Other than that everything is doing really great. I said it before but hands down the biggest thing to improve growth was start using reef crystals. I'll put a couple pics up along with an updated FTS. Link to comment
Boboli Posted November 14, 2011 Share Posted November 14, 2011 WOW! Lolololololololololololololololololololololololol Link to comment
pschom Posted November 14, 2011 Author Share Posted November 14, 2011 WOW!Lolololololololololololololololololololololololol Uhh, wow what? Link to comment
pschom Posted November 17, 2011 Author Share Posted November 17, 2011 Some crappy iPhone pics Picked this up today. Not sure what it is yet. This Bird of Paradise is doing great. The polyps are longer than when I saw it in the lfs. Some pics of the growth since I started with reef crystals. This monti cap grew like crazy in the past week. Also the rainbow monti here was half this size two weeks ago. This green monti looks amazing (minus the crap that always seems to collect in it's cup). It's growth is way less than that of the red monti, but the skeleton is much thicker. I love this acro. I wicsh it grew up more than out, but the long purple tip there is just from the last two weeks. Lastly, a crappy overhead shot. If you look back in the thread you will see what this was just several months ago! Look at those PD's go!!! Link to comment
pschom Posted November 30, 2011 Author Share Posted November 30, 2011 New frag pics. Not sure the name of this acro? Crappy pic but you can see the polyps are LONG like sweepers. ORA BOP. Link to comment
SouthFlorida_Tron Posted November 30, 2011 Share Posted November 30, 2011 Ya I remember when my bop would get so much PE! I think it's a growth thing cuz then it would slow down a bit Link to comment
pschom Posted December 1, 2011 Author Share Posted December 1, 2011 Seems like everything slowed down a bit. Maybe it goes in cycles with the lunar setting. Full moon=more growth? Link to comment
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