Barebones 20H Reef Tank

[jservedio]

5 minutes ago, Steemax said:

Not gonna lie, that sounds delicious.... gonna have to fatten it up if I want to have any chance at getting a bite out of em. 😄

Usually she isn't a reliable source for reefing tips, but I've got to say Giada de Laurentiis really knows what she is talking about when it comes to shrimp. I can confirm it is in fact fantastically delicious and easy!

[Steemax]

Well past two days I've spent about a couple hours trying to get the shrimp out. The little POS is too smart for it's own good. 

I tried just grabbing it but letting it come up to my hand and picking at it. I tried netting it by putting a piece of shrimp in it (usually goes insane from just the smell) but it wouldn't even budge. At this point it's learned the net. Even after 24hrs the moment it sees the net it's in hiding. 

 

I tried making a trap out of a bottle and even then it wouldn't come near it! I'm at my wits end. It's pissed me off to the point buying a predator fish has crossed my mind 😂

 

Any suggestions?

 

In the meanwhile, enjoy a couple top down pics I snapped with my cell phone with the current turned off today. Hammer has really grown and the RBTA is doing great. Clowns are still ignoring it though. 😕

 

[Steemax]

i'm having too much fun with Vegas so don't mind me...

 

 

[A.m.P]

My clowns are such fat, lazy-buggers, they just cuddle the silicone-seams of my tank and nap all day.

[Steemax]

4 minutes ago, Amphrites said:

My clowns are such fat, lazy-buggers, they just cuddle the silicone-seams of my tank and nap all day.

I wish mine were a bit more tame 😂

They are constantly zipping around the tank probably getting on the RG's nerves causing havoc. One of them even thinks it's a tang constantly picking algae off the rocks and picking stuff off the snails shells. 

[A.m.P]

1 minute ago, Steemax said:

I wish mine were a bit more tame 😂

They are constantly zipping around the tank probably getting on the RG's nerves causing havoc. One of them even thinks it's a tank constantly picking algae off the rocks and picking stuff off the snails shells. 

I have one who will briefly wake-up from naps to swim, head-cocked with one-eye looking at the surface for food before giving up and going back to sleep. Does that count as being active?

[Steemax]

1 minute ago, Amphrites said:

I have one who will briefly wake-up from naps to swim, head-cocked at the surface looking for food before giving up and going back to sleep. Does that count as being active?

I guess that's something lol! I just don't see mine settling in the anemone. They're too hyper to sit in one spot for more than a minute. 

[A.m.P]

2 minutes ago, Steemax said:

I guess that's something lol! I just don't see mine settling in the anemone. They're too hyper to sit in one spot for more than a minute. 

Think less sitting and more occasional body-checks.

[Steemax]

Picked up an Australian Elegance today from the LFS. Had been eyeing it for the past couple weeks. My first time with this coral so a bit nervous especially hearing all the issues with them lately. Open pics are 3 hours after placing it in the tank so I anticipate it will open a bit more than this. 

 

[A.m.P]

I love elegance corals.

[Steemax]

Well I caved and bought an ATO. Went with the Duetto and found a nice snug spot for the sensor. Hopefully won't have issues with it. Also picked up a 2.5 gallon container. Was a straight forward install. No more topping off the tank half awake at  5am.

 

 

 

[Steemax]

Well well well... look who we have here. Finally caught the bugger. Made a water bottle trap placed it in the tank with a piece of raw cocktail shrimp, woke up to no shrimp. Re-positioned it before work when I got back I was greeted with a "shrimp in a bottle". Looked like he had it been struggling for a while to get out and was out of energy. Took him straight to the LFS where he can leave my corals alone. 

 

 

Also the BTA has found it's spot all the way at the top. Hasn't left this area for a while and has gotten noticeably bigger. Been feeding it brine shrimp twice a week. Unfortunately the clownfish can care less.

 

[aclman88]

On 2/4/2020 at 3:48 PM, Steemax said:

Loving it thus far. It's my first "high end" LED fixture and now I see what all the hype is about. It's plenty powerful to grow anything you could possibly want and adjust ability is great to get your desired spectrum. I also like how you can share and upload other peoples light profiles. I do recommend getting the diffuser like I did, completely eliminates any disco ball/static effect. 

How high are you mounting above the tank to get adequate coverage? Do you have any light spilling from the front? My tank is in the living room and I have a youngster so want to avoid his ability to stare directly into high powered LEDs 

[mfield16]

Tank is looking great. Are you still using your S8 for pics? I have a Note10 but your pics look better than mine. User error I assume. 

[Steemax]

2 hours ago, aclman88 said:

How high are you mounting above the tank to get adequate coverage? Do you have any light spilling from the front? My tank is in the living room and I have a youngster so want to avoid his ability to stare directly into high powered LEDs 

 

It's 10 inches above the water level to the LED puck and it's an even coverage but there is light spill and will be blinding to your young one from below. The diffuser drastically cut down on it but there is still some spill. Some sort of canopy would be the only solution I can think of to completely block it. 

 

1 hour ago, mfield16 said:

Tank is looking great. Are you still using your S8 for pics? I have a Note10 but your pics look better than mine. User error I assume. 

 

Thanks! Yes all the pics are with my S8. Only the videos are with a DSLR. I'm using it in "pro" mode and setting the white balance to 10k and increasing the contrast. It really cuts out that ugly blue glow you get in pics. 

[aclman88]

1 hour ago, Steemax said:

It's 10 inches above the water level to the LED puck and it's an even coverage but there is light spill and will be blinding to your young one from below. The diffuser drastically cut down on it but there is still some spill. Some sort of canopy would be the only solution I can think of to completely block it. 

Thanks!  I was really considering one of these (or another puck style) or a current orbit marine pro strip light and this kind of confirms what I already know.  Think I need to stick with a low profile strip light.  Thanks!

[mfield16]

1 hour ago, Steemax said:

Thanks! Yes all the pics are with my S8. Only the videos are with a DSLR. I'm using it in "pro" mode and setting the white balance to 10k and increasing the contrast. It really cuts out that ugly blue glow you get in pics. 

I use Pro mode as well, 10k. I haven't messed with the contrast though. The AZ camera app mentioned below only works on older Androids of course. 

[Steemax]

1 hour ago, aclman88 said:

Thanks!  I was really considering one of these (or another puck style) or a current orbit marine pro strip light and this kind of confirms what I already know.  Think I need to stick with a low profile strip light.  Thanks!

 

Yeah that would be the way to go. I've seen reflectors for the AI's before but I don't know where you get them. They are flaps that hang off the 4 corners of the light. Good luck!

 

24 minutes ago, mfield16 said:

I use Pro mode as well, 10k. I haven't messed with the contrast though. The AZ camera app mentioned below only works on older Androids of course. 

 

Yeah I don't use a 3rd party app. In Pro mode adjusting the contrast and some times saturation, temp helps greatly. Of course your LED settings also will play into this so 10k WB for me might not be correct for you. You'll have to play with all the settings to find the right balance. 

[A.m.P]

1 hour ago, Steemax said:

 

Yeah that would be the way to go. I've seen reflectors for the AI's before but I don't know where you get them. They are flaps that hang off the 4 corners of the light. Good luck!

 

 

Yeah I don't use a 3rd party app. In Pro mode adjusting the contrast and some times saturation, temp helps greatly. Of course your LED settings also will play into this so 10k WB for me might not be correct for you. You'll have to play with all the settings to find the right balance. 

They're probably studio-light hoods. Like whatcha' see on this bugger

Barn-door light shapers, they have a simpler name but I never remember what it is.

[Steemax]

Just now, Amphrites said:

They're probably studio-light hoods. Like whatcha' see on this bugger

Barn-door light shapers, they have a simpler name but I never remember what it is.

Exactly this! One of the popular youtubers had received one made for a AI Prime from an online reef store but I don't recall who or the stores name 😟

[mfield16]

11 minutes ago, Steemax said:

Exactly this! One of the popular youtubers had received one made for a AI Prime from an online reef store but I don't recall who or the stores name 😟

These?

[Steemax]

15 minutes ago, mfield16 said:

These?

Yup those are it! He had gotten them for the same reason so his son wont be blinded and it worked for him. 

[aclman88]

49 minutes ago, Steemax said:

Yup those are it! He had gotten them for the same reason so his son wont be blinded and it worked for him. 

Awesome... I am wondering if those would work for a AI Hydra 26.  Sorry to hijack your build thread btw!  Just trying to get tanks as awesome as yours set up with my 20H.

 

1 hour ago, mfield16 said:

These?

Thanks for finding these!!  Unfortunately, now I am back to square one of puck style vs strip light haha.    

[mfield16]

7 minutes ago, aclman88 said:

Awesome... I am wondering if those would work for a AI Hydra 26.  Sorry to hijack your build thread btw!  Just trying to get tanks as awesome as yours set up with my 20H.

 

Thanks for finding these!!  Unfortunately, now I am back to square one of puck style vs strip light haha.    

What about a NanoBox? I love mine. I've only had it a week, but it's great. 

[Steemax]

7 minutes ago, aclman88 said:

Awesome... I am wondering if those would work for a AI Hydra 26.  Sorry to hijack your build thread btw!  Just trying to get tanks as awesome as yours set up with my 20H.

 

Thanks for finding these!!  Unfortunately, now I am back to square one of puck style vs strip light haha.    

 

No worries! I'm not sure if they would be a direct fit but I'd imagine with some creativity you can make something work. But as @mfield16 suggested nanobox is a great light as well if you'd rather not go through the hassle.