• Dane's Mixed Reef Cube •

[Daniel@R2R Verified Admin]

NICE!

 

[DvgyCpT]

Thats epic skills bru. Lockdown got you moving with mods / ideas.

 

[Alemoki]

So I have my ATI fixture and I have it over the tank!

I'll be honest and say that I was extremely hesitant to make the switch from LEDs to T5 but after having this over the tank for only 2 days I'm already sold! The spread is unbelievable and is going to help me greatly as this tank progresses I believe.

I need to change out a few bulbs still bit that should happen in the next week or so. Currently it's all blue plus which is what it came with but I will be running a combo of 3 blue plus, 2 coral plus and 1 purple plus.

Here are some pics

 

[Chrisfish]

Beautiful!!

 

[Alemoki]

Beautiful!!

Thank you!

 

[Alemoki]

Been nearly 2 weeks with the new lights and bulbs.

I'm currently running (front to back)

ATI Blue Plus
ATI Purple Plus
ATI Blue Plus
ATI Blue Plus
ATI Coral Plus
ATI Blue Plus

It's a nice colour but I think a bit red for my liking. May swap the purple for another coral plus.

Frag tank now also has T5 over it so the hydras will be sold off now.

Some pics of everything

 

[Alemoki]

So the purple plus was just a bit on the red side and has been sent to the frag tank. I've replaced it with a coral plus

New bulb combo is
Blue +
Coral +
Blue +
Blue +
Coral +
Blue +

I'm very happy with this now and it's exactly the look I was after.

Frag tank has
Blue +
Purple +

I do believe I'm seeing some good growth already from the corals and it's nice to have the fish looking stunning with the more natural lighting I must say.

Have not been upset with the switch from my hydras to T5 one bit!

 

[Alemoki]

Today was my tanks 2nd birthday!

Here is a day one pic and a current pic of the entire setup to show the change from start to now.

My good friend took some insane photos for me with his wildlife photography setup and I'm attaching some of them here for those interested.

Hope you enjoy!

My Ornate Wrasse (Mrs Dot)

Squaretail Bristletooth Tang (Goldilocks)

Tailspot Blenny (Coffee)

And some coral shots....

Finally, me eyeing out my tank LOL

 

[Alemoki]

This thread is very quiet lol. Can hear myself echoing into the abyss.

Been contemplating shutting my system down due to work. It may or may not happen but for now I'm still going. Currently doing a fluconazole treatment for bryopsis and hopefully will be doing a vibrant treatment in the near future for the rest of my pest algaes.

I guess I'll update this thread if anything happens

 

[Tahoe61]

This thread definitely needs more love, it is definitely deserving.

The progression images are amazing. Your friend is a very talented, the fish images are stunning.

I hope you are able to keep the system.

And I agree T5 over AI until the cows come home.

 

[Alemoki]

This thread definitely needs more love, it is definitely deserving.

The progression images are amazing. Your friend is a very talented, the fish images are stunning.

I hope you are able to keep the system.

And I agree T5 over AI until the cows come home.

Thanks @Tahoe61

He is very good at his photography and specifically his wild life photography. He spends a good amount of time in one of the national parks here in SA taking photos.

I aim to keep he system as long as possible but i do see myself having to pull it down within a year most likely...

Loving the T5 as well, just need to finish my actinic bars now which is proving to be difficult as I cannot get my hands on any Royal Blue LEDs...argg

 

[Alemoki]

So I wanted to wait till I got my LEDs on the T5 unit and have the tank for just a few more weeks and then start the process of selling off but I'm honestly already kinda tired of the system. Everything is running great and looks great but I'm just drained everyday and the tank is just becoming a slug.

I've decided to start selling of my seperate system for my soft corals as they are easy to sell off and it can ease me into this transition of leaving the hobby. Once that system is sold I'll beginning selling off corals from my main system. This needs to happen over a short period of time as my coral demand is very high so I will be having to constantly adjust dosing.

By year end I'm hoping to have the tank shut down and everything sold off. Im sure I'll be back again but not for a few years at least. I aim to emigrate and get my own place and only once things are stable and consistent will I set up another tank, by which time I'm almost sure this hobby will have changed a lot. It makes my heart ache to think that this will no longer be a part of my life but it is also vital that I do it before I ruin the hobby for myself and crash my system due to lack of attention.

I will update this thread still if anything crazy happens but otherwise I guess that will probably be it

 

[DvgyCpT]

Dis baie sad

 

[Alemoki]

Dis baie sad

It is but it needs to be done hey bud

 

[Silent]

Really cool cube. Love the crisp color from your T-5s.