15 gallon Kessil lit.

[Quantum]

I can't tell from the fts. Is it fake sand or bare bottom?

[pschom]

Where did you buy the Kessil light? Looks pretty great! It's interesting a 'dense matrix led'. Supposed to form a more 'single point' light source. If they made one larger I might give it a try.

[miniwhinny]

drool over your maxi and mini. Your tank look awesome! How do you like your Kessil so far?

 

Absolutly LOVE it !!! It is by fat THE best light I've ever owned. However...it is very powerful. I'm going to have to raise it today because it's bleaching my fuzzy shrooms

 

One thing I've found with this vs. the Rapids I have is that the Kessil seems to bring out the coral colors across the spectrum whereas the Rapids tended to favor certain colors.

 

I have the 15,000k and highly recommend it

 

Wow the tank looks insane mini..I shouldnt have expected any less.

 

:bowdown: Coming from someone who has a tank I drool over - I take that as a very big compliment

 

I loke the rockwork alot. great use of space.

 

Thanks

 

I can't tell from the fts. Is it fake sand or bare bottom?

 

It's fake. I think page one or two tells about it. It's mixed with epoxy so it's totally sealed in Loving it so far. Looks 100% like a normal sand bed but keeps clean

 

Where did you buy the Kessil light? Looks pretty great! It's interesting a 'dense matrix led'. Supposed to form a more 'single point' light source. If they made one larger I might give it a try.

 

Got it from Marine Depot. The single point light source sure allows for some amazing shimmer

 

I think I've tried to start way too many builds in the past. This tank is my "keeper". I'm really excited to see it develop.

[Sub]

Those Maxi minis are sweet! Do they move around at all?

[miniwhinny]

Those Maxi minis are sweet! Do they move around at all?

 

Yes and no (sorry that's not much help) When you first introduce them they tend to move until they find their sweet spot but after that they'll usually stay put. They do well in all types of conditions but from experience with mine I've found they like higher light and fairly strong flow. The only times I've had them move around is when they were in lower light/lower flow areas.

[miniwhinny]

Candy Apple Reds

 

CAR's and a Yuma that I just got last weekend.

 

Some unnamed zoas that I think need a name OKay, these are Cat on a Hot Tin Roof Zoas. There, now I feel better *grin*.

[pschom]

That light is awesome. I'm really digging the single point source thing that it's creating. I need to do some more research to see if I could use two close together on my 24x24.

[miniwhinny]

That light is awesome. I'm really digging the single point source thing that it's creating. I need to do some more research to see if I could use two close together on my 24x24.

 

I think two would be awesome! They're such neat little lights to look at too - just a bit smaller than a soda can.

The one thing I didn't realize was just how powerful they are. You can grow anything under them. I've had to tuck my new Yuma under an overhang lol.

 

 

 

This is what I like with the single point light

 

 

check out those shadows going across the zoa from it's skirt.

[Paigee]

Looks super sharp!! Glad the transfer went well and everything is thriving!

[pschom]

I think two would be awesome! They're such neat little lights to look at too - just a bit smaller than a soda can.

The one thing I didn't realize was just how powerful they are. You can grow anything under them. I've had to tuck my new Yuma under an overhang lol.

 

 

 

This is what I like with the single point light

 

 

check out those shadows going across the zoa from it's skirt.

Yeah that's what I mean. I wonder if I get two of them and hang them two inches apart I can get enough spread. I gotta check a par test as well.

[miniwhinny]

Looks super sharp!! Glad the transfer went well and everything is thriving!

 

Thanks Paigee

[KissMyDSM]

Looking great MW very well done.

[steely185]

Glad to see you like your kessil. I definitely agree with you on the light. I was skeptical when I bought my ocean blue a few months ago and I'm very happy I did. It definitely hits every color rather than just a couple and the light blends so much better than other LED's that I've seen.

 

Looking good.

[miniwhinny]

Thanks guys

[gearhead364]

Looks great, love the crispness of the kessil...

[gerbilbox]

I love the lighting, the rock work and the fake sandbed. Last year a rep from Kessil demoed their new light at my club, and it is indeed a fantastic light.

 

Where did you get your maxi mini anemones? They are gorgeous.

[viplok]

OMG.! FAKE sand bad. i think this will be a great idea for my shallow tank. stupid mp10 is creating sand storms. can i please have more info on the procedures of the bottom? few more pics? please!

[CH2iS]

awesome aquascape and really like the look of the kessil! hmm, decisions decisions ...

[miniwhinny]

I love the lighting, the rock work and the fake sandbed. Last year a rep from Kessil demoed their new light at my club, and it is indeed a fantastic light.

 

Where did you get your maxi mini anemones? They are gorgeous.

 

Thanks you everyone

 

The maxi's came from all over. I got one (or two) from Reefgoddess. One from ebay and the others from various LFS's.

 

awesome aquascape and really like the look of the kessil! hmm, decisions decisions ...

 

Thanks and lol.

[miniwhinny]

OMG.! FAKE sand bad. i think this will be a great idea for my shallow tank. stupid mp10 is creating sand storms. can i please have more info on the procedures of the bottom? few more pics? please!

 

I used a product called Famowood Glaze Coat that I got from Lowes in the paint department. It's a 2 part epoxy (pics on page 2 of this build) You mix the 2 parts together as shown in the instructions. When it was all mixed in I poured it into a different container and mixed in my (precleaned) sand. When that was good and mixed I pours it all straight in to my tank. I then smoothed it out as much as possible. MAKE SURE if you get any bubbles ( I got lots of foams areas from the mixing) that you remove them. Luckily with the stirring they rise to the top so I got a piece of cardboard and scooped them up.

 

So far I'm loving it. Visually it's a normal sand bad. You can't tell at all that it's totally sealed in under epoxy. Cleaning wise it's a BB and all the detritus gets blown into one back corner where I siphon it out (or into my AC50)

[pschom]

What are the benefits of BB? Why is that better than sand? Other than you don't have to siphon the crap out during WCs.

[got2envy]

Tank is fantastic so far Mini!! I freakin' loooooove it

[miniwhinny]

What are the benefits of BB? Why is that better than sand? Other than you don't have to siphon the crap out during WCs.

 

For that exact reason...there is no crap Crap in a BB tank gets blown into your filter where it can be removed easily. It doesn't get pulled down into the substrate. Here's an example...go stir up a small potion of your sand bed and check out what comes out of it. That cloud of dirt that you now see was there all the time being hidden in the sand. I'm not saying one way is better than another. I'm only going by experience and what works for me. I run my tanks BB and I've never had an algae breakout and never had high nutrient levels. I only clean my glass once a week and then it's hardly needed. The one down side about BB is IMO it's so artificial looking with the bare glass. I think I've found the solution to that with this false sand bed because there's no way you can tell it's not real.

 

 

Tank is fantastic so far Mini!! I freakin' loooooove it

 

:bowdown: much appreciated

[GTi]

Beautiful tank! I currently have a Biocube 29 and a 3.7 gallon cube. I like the Pico because of the open top and clean lines (I am using a canister filter, lily pipes and a slim LED light fixture). Whilst the BC has been a great starter tank, I like the idea of a 20 gallon shallow tank and I was thinking if the Kessil, too!

 

I love the clean lines of your tank and the rockwork is amazing. I will definitely be following your progress and using your tank as inspiration!

[miniwhinny]

Beautiful tank! I currently have a Biocube 29 and a 3.7 gallon cube. I like the Pico because of the open top and clean lines (I am using a canister filter, lily pipes and a slim LED light fixture). Whilst the BC has been a great starter tank, I like the idea of a 20 gallon shallow tank and I was thinking if the Kessil, too!

 

I love the clean lines of your tank and the rockwork is amazing. I will definitely be following your progress and using your tank as inspiration!

 

Wow, I take that as a compliment, thank you

 

You'll love the kessil. At first I couldn't decide which I wanted to order (the sky blue or ocean blue) I went with the ocean and have no regrets. The colors just pop, shimmer is awesome and it's a very crisp blueish white light. Plus visually it looks neat and tidy because it's so small.