Snow's 10G Critters of Chaos (TOTM)

[Snow_Phoenix]

7 hours ago, aclman88 said:

I wanted to ask, what are the settings on your light as well as the mounting height?  I have this (which I think is the same light you have) on my 9to5 office build and am not sure a good light setting.  I also think that having the light in the canopy is creating hot spots in the tank since it keep the light mounted about 3 inches above the waterline.

Hi, I'm currently using 100% blues and 90% whites (almost max. settings; I only dial down the whites further when taking pics). Mounting height is roughly ~5" above my tank lids, and 7" above my waterline. I think it is possible that the canopy is causing heating issues. The lights do have fans to cool them down and prevent overheating, but the best way to ensure the heat dissipates properly is by making sure the fans aren't blocked at all at the top and there is a free flow of air. 

 

Hope this helps! Your office build was really cool btw. 😊👍

[Snow_Phoenix]

7 hours ago, aclman88 said:

I wanted to ask, what are the settings on your light as well as the mounting height?  I have this (which I think is the same light you have) on my 9to5 office build and am not sure a good light setting.  I also think that having the light in the canopy is creating hot spots in the tank since it keep the light mounted about 3 inches above the waterline.

Also forgot to add: mine appears to be an older model. No timer. It's called M029; I think yours is Gen. 2 A029. 👍

 

Not sure if the LEDs are exactly the same colors either, but the total output (30W) and overall design appears to be the same otherwise. 

[aclman88]

10 hours ago, Snow_Phoenix said:

Hope this helps! Your office build was really cool btw. 😊👍

It was helpful.  I have the setting pretty low, around 40% blues and 10% whites on a short photoperiod (about 6 hours).  Maybe I need to bump up the lights a bit in power, time, or both.  My tank is a standard 5.5, so about 10.5 inches tall.  I see yours is around 11 inches, so I am wondering if my lights are set too low for the tank.  I had initially turned them down and shortened the period since due to a cyano and algae outbreak. 

 

I also may do away with the canopy so that I can raise the lights and get a more even spread.  I don't think heat is much of an issue, since I created holes in the canopy for the light's fan and tank to vent.

[Snow_Phoenix]

1 hour ago, aclman88 said:

It was helpful.  I have the setting pretty low, around 40% blues and 10% whites on a short photoperiod (about 6 hours).  Maybe I need to bump up the lights a bit in power, time, or both.  My tank is a standard 5.5, so about 10.5 inches tall.  I see yours is around 11 inches, so I am wondering if my lights are set too low for the tank.  I had initially turned them down and shortened the period since due to a cyano and algae outbreak. 

 

I also may do away with the canopy so that I can raise the lights and get a more even spread.  I don't think heat is much of an issue, since I created holes in the canopy for the light's fan and tank to vent.

Yeah, I think you'll have to slowly ramp up your lights over time. Check on your corals frequently though - if the light is creating heat spots, it *might fry some of the more sensitive species. 

 

I had cyano issues at one stage too, and I cut down the photoperiod to 6 hours as well. It eventually went away on its own - I attribute it to the usual uglies phase in setups that are still finding balance. My photoperiod is now 8.5 to ~9 hours a day. 👍

[Snow_Phoenix]

Snapped a few pics today! My tank is still sulking after yesterday's 80% WC:

 

 

At least Pickle is happy! 🥰

 

 

 

 

Speedy. 😊 :

 

 

 

Harvey. 🥰

 

 

 

 

 

[Snow_Phoenix]

Pavona growing out:

 

 

Yuma pile:

 

 

Fascination favia is still a bit discolored: 😕

 

 

Coral wars have begun again:

 

 

Looks like I'll have to trim the leptastrea back again. 😕

[Snow_Phoenix]

The Zoa Garden. 🥰

 

 

 

 

A closer look:

 

 

 

Zoa Ledge #2 :

 

 

Zoa Ledge #3 :

 

[aclman88]

1 hour ago, Snow_Phoenix said:

Yeah, I think you'll have to slowly ramp up your lights over time. Check on your corals frequently though - if the light is creating heat spots, it *might fry some of the more sensitive species. 

 

I had cyano issues at one stage too, and I cut down the photoperiod to 6 hours as well. It eventually went away on its own - I attribute it to the usual uglies phase in setups that are still finding balance. My photoperiod is now 8.5 to ~9 hours a day. 👍

Thanks!  I appreciate the advice.  The only downside to the light, as you know, is the adjustment is definitely tedious for sure.  I will up the light a bit and see how everything reacts.

[Snow_Phoenix]

3 minutes ago, aclman88 said:

Thanks!  I appreciate the advice.  The only downside to the light, as you know, is the adjustment is definitely tedious for sure.  I will up the light a bit and see how everything reacts.

I agree. The first time I bought it, I almost regretted it because of the dialing up/down to get it to the optimal settings for my tank. But after a lot of experimenting, I found a setting that worked best for my nano and I'm seeing quite decent growth/colors in the corals. The one major downside I can think of is the inability for this light to be on auto-timer on its own. Otherwise, it's actually a nice budget light. If you have anymore questions, just ask - I'll try to help in any way that I can. Best of luck! 🌺

[Snow_Phoenix]

Zoas. 🥰

 

 

 

Shrooms! 😊

 

 

 

[Snow_Phoenix]

Duncan. 🥰

 

 

SPS. 😊👍

 

 

 

 

[Snow_Phoenix]

Toxic green. 💦

 

 

Purple rhodactis - one of my absolute favorites since purple & blue are my favorite colors. 🥰

 

 

Glass is covered in a light layer of film algae. Nothing a good scrape wouldn't get rid of. Might consider getting another snail in the future - but they don't seem to last too long in this tank. Not sure why, because my other inverts are fine. 🤷‍♀️

[Snow_Phoenix]

Yep, definitely need a snail to clean the glass. 🤔

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Also thinking of moving my Firestorm zoas up to the main ledge. 🤔

[Snow_Phoenix]

Trimmed and fragged a few pieces today, including several zoas and palys. Just waiting for the bare spots to fill up again over time. 👍

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Also moved my orange bam bams and firestorms up to the main Zoa Ledge. Hoping they'd grow out better there because they seem to be struggling on the second ledge. 

 

My Midas is badly discolored too. 😕

 

Might shift that one up too, if it doesn't improve. 

[Snow_Phoenix]

Shrooms galore! 🥰

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Also fragged the pavona by accident:

 

 

Acro. 🥰 :

 

[Snow_Phoenix]

Weeping willow with full PE:

 

 

Orange leptastrea:

 

 

Acans:

 

 

Merlettis: 🥰

 

 

Trimmed back some of the leptastrea at the bottom so that it would stop stinging my digi:

 

 

[Snow_Phoenix]

Last, but not least :- 

 

Speedy the damsel:

 

 

 

^There's a stick at the back that looks half dead. It was actually located further back of the tank and was stung by the GSP. I broke of the tip and re-glued it next to other sticks in hopes of saving it. Unsure if it can bounce back, but we'll see. 🤔

 

And Geralt mooching on the duncan: 🦀

 

[Snow_Phoenix]

Purchased a new box of 25kg Fritz RPM salt today evening and just had it delivered to my house less than an hour ago. Also purchased some live pods to seed the tank, but those are tentatively set to arrive on Thursday. 👍

 

Salt prices have spiked up, as has literally everything. My country is currently experiencing a chicken meat shortage and prices have doubled - chicken is literally being sidelined as a 'luxury' here for now, which sucks. 😕

 

Even this hobby is a luxury. Many reefers have dropped out of it according to my LFS manager, because the expenses are best diverted to necessities. I'll try to keep reefing for as long as I can, but I am prepared to leave this if it becomes too expensive. 😔

 

For now, I'm quite content with maintaining my nano, but I am trying to slowly restock my larger 60G with budget-line corals and tiny corals I frag from my nano. That tank is different and has always been more fish-orientated, so perhaps I'll focus more on non-corals. This tank is the opposite. 

 

Just thankful that I still have my tank(s). 🌺

[Snow_Phoenix]

Everything is still in the midst of opening up for the morning. Some zoas and palys:

 

 

 

Fascination favia's recovery is slow but steady:

 

 

Ironman looks more vivid when it is still compressed and not fully spread out:

 

 

[Snow_Phoenix]

Geralt: 🦀

 

 

Harvey: 🦐

 

 

Yumas:

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[Snow_Phoenix]

Zoa Garden today:

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Harvey trampling on the Gold Mauls: 

 

[Snow_Phoenix]

Geralt on the duncan: 🦀

 

 

Merlettis growing out:

 

 

Sunny Ds from above:

 

 

 

SPS:

 

 

Ironman shroom:

 

[greenerdayz]

How do you take pictures? Everything looks so amazing and is growing so well!

[Snow_Phoenix]

On 6/2/2022 at 5:25 AM, greenerdayz said:

How do you take pictures? Everything looks so amazing and is growing so well!

I take them in Pro Mode using my S9 phone. I usually mess around with the ISO and the lights of the tank when I take pics. They tend to come out a bit dark and hazy sometimes, so I do very *minor touch ups in Lightroom to try and sharpen them, and improve brightness. 👍

[Snow_Phoenix]

Should have increased the brightness of the lights and removed the lids first - sorry if the pics are a bit dark. 😕

 

Anyhow, one of my favorite shrooms (favorite because it has *both of my favorite colors - purple & blue!) :

 

 

Also, the leptastrea is definitely conquering the monti. Not sure how to go about trimming it: