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Pod Your Reef

Final Try at Reefing


ahud

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Hello,

 

I’m 0-3 at reefing. Each time I lose interest, but eventually a youtube video or picture peaks my interest again. Its a vicious cycle. 
 

I think part of the issue is I always skimped and was not happy aesthetically with the tank and equipment. And being in small places, I never had an easy way to store and make saltwater. We are in a much bigger place now so I can make all of that easier. 
 

So this is my last shot, if I get out if it this time I am done.
 

I have a rimless 40x18x18 that was most recently a high tech planted tank with co2. I had a blast with it,  But trimming each week got old. I plan to drill for overflow and sump. Lighting will be two AI prime HD. I still need to research other equipment. Open to suggestions. 
 

I hope the AI primes will let me adjust to a whiter light. I hate hate hate heavy blue, its probably because Im coming from fresh water. 

 

The end goal is a aesthetically pleasing layout  with soft corals and lps. I also want some gorgonians. I think the 40 breeder size is a good mix between easy to maintain and enough room for livestock. 
 

i’ll post a build thread once I make headway. Feel free to throw suggestions my way for skimmer and other equipment. 
 


 

 

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22 minutes ago, ahud said:

The end goal is a aesthetically pleasing layout  with soft corals and lps. I also want some gorgonians. I think the 40 breeder size is a good mix between easy to maintain and enough room for livestock. 

Welcome back. A 40B is a great size. I had one for about 8 years. Loved that tank.

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filefishfinatic
24 minutes ago, ahud said:

Hello,

 

I’m 0-3 at reefing. Each time I lose interest, but eventually a youtube video or picture peaks my interest again. Its a vicious cycle. 
 

I think part of the issue is I always skimped and was not happy aesthetically with the tank and equipment. And being in small places, I never had an easy way to store and make saltwater. We are in a much bigger place now so I can make all of that easier. 
 

So this is my last shot, if I get out if it this time I am done.
 

I have a rimless 40x18x18 that was most recently a high tech planted tank with co2. I had a blast with it,  But trimming each week got old. I plan to drill for overflow and sump. Lighting will be two AI prime HD. I still need to research other equipment. Open to suggestions. 
 

I hope the AI primes will let me adjust to a whiter light. I hate hate hate heavy blue, its probably because Im coming from fresh water. 

 

The end goal is a aesthetically pleasing layout  with soft corals and lps. I also want some gorgonians. I think the 40 breeder size is a good mix between easy to maintain and enough room for livestock. 
 

i’ll post a build thread once I make headway. Feel free to throw suggestions my way for skimmer and other equipment. 
 


 

 

i think yoiu should get 2-3 relassy lights. remember, gorgs LOVE LIGHT. macros and possibly a pair of harlequin filefish would be very nice. they need masstick but once they eat prepared they are easy. 

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27 minutes ago, debbeach13 said:

Welcome back. A 40B is a great size. I had one for about 8 years. Loved that tank.

Thanks. I hope it proves to be the ticket. On the smaller nano’s I tried, its less interesting that there is not space for coral to grow and develop. 
 

what draws me to salt is how tanks can mature.  You can’t really get the same effect in fresh water because the plants grow so fast, and eventually, you need to do a major overhaul. 
 

i would love for this tank to last 8 years. 

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37 minutes ago, filefishfinatic said:

i think yoiu should get 2-3 relassy lights. remember, gorgs LOVE LIGHT. macros and possibly a pair of harlequin filefish would be very nice. they need masstick but once they eat prepared they are easy. 

Are those grow lights?

 

Im pretty set on something with a nice sleek form factor. Since the tank is rimless and Im building an ADA style stand to match. 
 

the tank itself is an off brand because it was so cheap. Its not as nice as an ADA tank, but still looks great for the price. 

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1 hour ago, ahud said:

I plan to drill for overflow and sump.

It is possible to go the route of lily pipes if you really want an uncluttered look. Two possibilities :

a glass overflow and a sump

overflow-770x500.jpg

or canister filter (with inline heater)

 

 

Edited by M. Tournesol
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The AI prime seems like that perfect balance between price and features. Im not aware of anything else that comes close?

 

I do want to stick with easy corals. Moving to easy plants made my planted tank so much more enjoyable. So Im applying the same lesson to the reef. Plus I love the look of softies. 

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filefishfinatic
35 minutes ago, ahud said:

Are those grow lights?

 

Im pretty set on something with a nice sleek form factor. Since the tank is rimless and Im building an ADA style stand to match. 
 

the tank itself is an off brand because it was so cheap. Its not as nice as an ADA tank, but still looks great for the price. 

relassys arent ridiculousy adjustable but they are like 1" thick and silent and cheap. you can get 3 relassys for the price of 1 prime. the besgt one is 80$ and is a reef light. they arent growlights. 

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6 minutes ago, M. Tournesol said:

It is possible to go the route of lily pipes if you really want a uncluttered look. Two possibilities :

a glass overflow

overflow-770x500.jpg

or canister filter (with inline heater)

 

 

I do already have lily pipes and canisters with inline heaters. 
 

main worry with that route is stuff still ends up in the tank. Mainly the auto top off. And the canisters are a pain to open up and clean. 
 

I have thought about using a lily for the return paired with a traditional overflow (maybe the Eclipse M?). 
 

Siphon style overflows scare me to bad. The tank is on hardwood floors, so I am going to have to be super careful. 

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4 minutes ago, filefishfinatic said:

relassys arent ridiculousy adjustable but they are like 1" thick and silent and cheap. you can get 3 relassys for the price of 1 prime. the besgt one is 80$ and is a reef light. they arent growlights. 

Is it the panel style light on Amazon for 79.99?

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filefishfinatic
2 minutes ago, ahud said:

Is it the panel style light on Amazon for 79.99?

yes. it has like 170 ish watts i think. i havent tested par but i am going to consider testing it at my lfs. 

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I can definitely say out of all the lights i have used, i loved my Ai's the most.

 

I love how you can customize the settings to your liking with very few limits.

 

I also like the sunrise, sunset ability as well as the moonlighting which is based on the actual moon phases of your location.

 

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NoOneLikesADryTang
8 minutes ago, ahud said:

The Primes seem like a safe option. And I see them used often, so I think I can find two for less than $400. 

You definitely clan. There are often postings of lightly used AI lights on R2R. From the sound of what you’re going for, they’re a great choice, and fully controllable. You can make them as white as you’d like. 

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9 minutes ago, ahud said:

The Primes seem like a safe option. And I see them used often, so I think I can find two for less than $400. 

Look for the original HD'S.  Some stores may still have them. 

 

 the issues have been with the new 16hd, so maybe stay clear from those

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3 hours ago, Murphych said:

Yeah some of the presets you can get are mind boggling.. how someone would have the patience to sit and programme some of them is beyond me 🤣

They are a little more of a pain to custom program than stuff like Radions because it's all on your phone or tablet, but it isn't that that bad once you get the hang of it. It took me about 30 minutes to initially program my Primes with 8 set points to match my Radion's schedule exactly. If I have any desire to go crazy with it, it's just an XML file.

 

2 hours ago, Clown79 said:

I can definitely say out of all the lights i have used, i loved my Ai's the most.

 

I love how you can customize the settings to your liking with very few limits.

 

I also like the sunrise, sunset ability as well as the moonlighting which is based on the actual moon phases of your location.

 

Fourth'd? They are absolutely fantastic lights, super cheap, tiny, quiet, and fully programmable with a great interface. The only minor nitpick I have with them is the UI for doing custom programming when you don't have a tablet is a little bit of a pain compared to a Radion. But, it's also 1/4 the price...

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3 minutes ago, jservedio said:

They are a little more of a pain to custom program than stuff like Radions because it's all on your phone or tablet, but it isn't that that bad once you get the hang of it. It took me about 30 minutes to initially program my Primes with 8 set points to match my Radion's schedule exactly. If I have any desire to go crazy with it, it's just an XML file.

 

Fourth'd? They are absolutely fantastic lights, super cheap, tiny, quiet, and fully programmable with a great interface. The only minor nitpick I have with them is the UI for doing custom programming when you don't have a tablet is a little bit of a pain compared to a Radion. But, it's also 1/4 the price...

My hubby did all the programming, i don't have the patience for tech. Lol. 

He did say it was easier on a pc than the phone.

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NoOneLikesADryTang
8 minutes ago, ahud said:

So stick with the original Prime? I was looking at the Prime 16HD. 
 

Our house has lots of grey and white. So I need the white version to fit into the room. 

There are three versions of Primes. 

  1. Original Primes
  2. Prime HDs (this the version clown was talking about - we have them as well. Highly recommend them.) Note, these are controlled by WiFi, and your router has to be fairly close to them. I ended up having to get a WiFi extender to put in the same room as the lights, because our router is on the other side of the house.
  3. Prime HD 16 (This is the newest, and current version you’ll find at stores.) They have three more LEDs, but there has been numerous issues with them, so much so, that AI actually forced a software update on them, because so many people were burning their lenses. I think they’ve fixed most of the issues with them, now. Also, it should be noted, these lights are controlled by Bluetooth. 
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2 minutes ago, NoOneLikesADryTang said:

There are three versions of Primes. 

  1. Original Primes
  2. Prime HDs (this the version clown was talking about - we have them as well. Highly recommend them.) Note, these are controlled by WiFi, and your router has to be fairly close to them. I ended up having to get a WiFi extender to put in the same room as the lights, because our router is on the other side of the house.
  3. Prime HD 16 (This is the newest, and current version you’ll find at stores.) They have three more LEDs, but there has been numerous issues with them, so much so, that AI actually forced a software update on them, because so many people were burning their lenses. I think they’ve fixed most of the issues with them, now. Also, it should be noted, these lights are controlled by Bluetooth. 

Plus the double puck options which didn't have issues.

 

I'm not sure why the 16 has had so many issues because they never had these issues with the others.

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14 minutes ago, Clown79 said:

Plus the double puck options which didn't have issues.

 

I'm not sure why the 16 has had so many issues because they never had these issues with the others.

They did a fair bit of work on them, removing the effects and updated with improved lunar and acclimation controls. As well as took away cloud management in favour of local Bluetooth (BTE I believe). Followed with some bugs that over egged the output of some of the colours, if I remember right. 

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