Arce's Tank

[markalot]

Thanks.. Luckily there's a swap next weekend near me so ima go splurge on sticks to fill up the emptiness. Yea, its hard to get rid of them so i figured i needed to just throw it all out and let them all die off. Hopefully you got them and wont have any in your 29.

 

 

That's how I looked at it. More opportunity for placing sticks!

[Arce]

Here's what it looks like now..

 

[markalot]

Looks very good.

[Arce]

Looks very good.

 

Thanks.. Now i need to come up with a new plan for the tank and see what i want to get and were it would fit best in my scape.

[TheKleinReef]

sorry to hear about the MEN. tank is still looking good! how's that katropora?

[metrokat]

Here's what it looks like now..

 

It looks great

[Arce]

sorry to hear about the MEN. tank is still looking good! how's that katropora?

 

Its hanging in there, still decent color, but lost a lot with the alk issues. Now that i have my alk stable im hoping it comes back to its original color. Its encrusted a lot though so that's good. There was a crappy pic a page or so back in my thread.

 

It looks great

I wouldn't say great , but thanks kat.

[Arce]

I officially decided i want to add LEDs to my T5 light. Only issue with the light i currently have is i dont see a way to possibly do it. Sooo im going to build a new fixture and retro fit 4x24" t5s in with some LEDs in the middle. My knowledge of LEDs is minimal so the build will be interesting.

[Arce]

So lost on this light situation.. I really want to maintain 4 bulb t5, but those 4 bulbs alone is nearly the entire width of my tank which leaves barely any room for a heatsink for LEDs.. If i drop to 2 bulb im afraid im going to lose the look that T5s provide.

[markalot]

I have my 6 bulb unit hung from the ceiling and using a BML strip on the tank, angled back. Not perfect, but it works. If you use a long narrow heatsink you could build a strip type light and mount it somewhere in the middle of the 4 bulbs?

[Arce]

I have my 6 bulb unit hung from the ceiling and using a BML strip on the tank, angled back. Not perfect, but it works. If you use a long narrow heatsink you could build a strip type light and mount it somewhere in the middle of the 4 bulbs?

 

Was thinking about something like that, but i dont want to cast shadows by putting it in the middle. If i do 4 retrofit t5s thats already 12" in the reflectors alone, so if i put a narrow heatsink in, say 1.4" which can fit some rapid leds, that puts me over approx 3/4 of an inch on the front and back which isnt much light spill.

[Arce]

Picked up some new pieces yesterday... Got all of these for around $20 ea =)

 

Yellowish/Gold Milli

 

 

 

Green table

 

 

 

 

This piece has nice blue tips with a greenish base

 

 

 

Pink tabling acro, doesnt have the best color, but the LFS i bought it from has a similar colony in their DT and its amaingggg

 

[itzju]

nice pickups dude, where did you get em?

 

also, if you ever want to get into caps again, let me know i can throw you a frag of red and purple.

[Arce]

nice pickups dude, where did you get em?

 

also, if you ever want to get into caps again, let me know i can throw you a frag of red and purple.

Thanks Judeo. The first three smaller ones i got from Feng, stopped by his shop, his DT is amazing. The larger table i got from AO. Talking to Feng he said in about a month or two the MEN should die off. Need to decide what i want to do with my tank because the scape i made i based off of having montis, now that i may not have them, it doesnt work as well for acros.

[itzju]

Feng is awesome, i've been going to his store since 2009. lol best place to get diamonds in the rough SPS.

 

just upgrade haha

[Arce]

Feng is awesome, i've been going to his store since 2009. lol best place to get diamonds in the rough SPS.

 

just upgrade haha

Ive never been there before, was very impressed. Especially the fact he has zero filtration in his DT or doser, runs over 1.4 phos, and has amazing sps colonies.

 

Honestly ive been thinking about it........ Thinking about a 40B.. Or buying now rocks to make a new scape for the 29. If i keep the 29 though i need to upgrade my lights.

[itzju]

Feng, does massive daily water changes. lol one of these days ask him if he can show you his sump in the basement. keep in mind, he MADE everything himself.

 

I say go for the 40b. the 40b i current have is the only tank that i can say that i truly have enjoyed since day 1 of me setting it up and it has gone through being a frag tank/frag tank displayish. dimensions are great, real estate just right.

[Arce]

Feng, does massive daily water changes. lol one of these days ask him if he can show you his sump in the basement. keep in mind, he MADE everything himself.

 

I say go for the 40b. the 40b i current have is the only tank that i can say that i truly have enjoyed since day 1 of me setting it up and it has gone through being a frag tank/frag tank displayish. dimensions are great, real estate just right.

He did show me the sump and basement, i was talking to him for over an hour. The daily water changes are crazy, but apparently work extremely well.

 

Other than the financials, the only thing keeping me from switching is that this tank is already maturing, not sure i really want to start at square one and risk the frags / fish i have now. But i do love the dimensions, i wanted a 40b before but decided against it for some reason.

[itzju]

dude since your BB, just transfer everything over to the new tank with 50% old water and 50% new and you''ll be good to go.

 

wait for the dollar sale at petco to get a 40b

[Arce]

dude since your BB, just transfer everything over to the new tank with 50% old water and 50% new and you''ll be good to go.

 

wait for the dollar sale at petco to get a 40b

 

That's an option.

 

I dont know, i have to think it through and price out what an upgrade would cost me. Or if i just want to maintain the 29 and make it work till i move and in the mean time save for the dream setup.

[itzju]

if you plan on moving then just save up. makes things a lot easier in the end.

[Arce]

if you plan on moving then just save up. makes things a lot easier in the end.

 

I'm planning to get my own place by the summer, so i think i may just do that.

 

But in the meantime i need to make the 29 work, so i need to glue in some dry rock to my existing structure to give more landings for acros, and upgrade my lights because i truly regret getting this fixture.

[Arce]

6x24" ATI..... drool.... it measures 13.5" wide thats only .75" over hang & light spill....

[Arce]

^^^ Hmm think thats overkill? Boutta kill the bank account nd go ATI nd get this light situation over with... Or 4x24 w/ stunner strips?

[itzju]

i say you go with what will work for your future upgrade plans.

 

as much as i love the ATI fixture, why not just grab the coralvue fixture? save the hundreds of dollars for the tank you want. the coralvue can last you awhile and when you're at the point of where you want to be with your dream tank, go with the ATI.

 

with the advances of LED/T5 fixtures, you might be interested in another fixture down the road. you never know with this hobby.