50g Cube Build

TheEngineer · Jan 18, 2016

A picture is worth a thousand words, right? Looks like the nitrate dosing is causing algae blooms for me.

Salty1962 · Jan 19, 2016

Tank is coming along well. Nice to have a release from work.

TheEngineer · Jan 19, 2016

Salty1962 said:
Tank is coming along well. Nice to have a release from work.

Thanks! It's a blessing and a curse to work right next to the tank most days. It makes me obsess about little things more, but I also get hours of enjoyment daily now. I can sit on a call and stare at the tank.

TheEngineer · Jan 20, 2016

New DIY I'm working on, UV LED supplementation.

TheEngineer · Jan 21, 2016

I started a separate DIY thread for the LED supplement. You can find it here:
https://www.reef2reef.com/threads/diy-430nm-led-supplement.231485/

drstratton · Jan 21, 2016

I was hoping you would do that!

brandon4432 · Jan 21, 2016

icecool2 said:
New DIY I'm working on, UV LED supplementation.

How much of a difference will that make to coral growth/color? I'm curious because I would like to do the same

TheEngineer · Jan 21, 2016

Not a clue!

Colorwise it seems to give a bit of pop even with my Kessil at 70%. Growth improvement, I couldn't say. I'll let you know in a few months I guess.

brandon4432 · Jan 21, 2016

icecool2 said:
Not a clue!

Colorwise it seems to give a bit of pop even with my Kessil at 70%. Growth improvement, I couldn't say. I'll let you know in a few months I guess.

I run my Kessil at 50% max, I'll see how you like your UV mod and if you so maybe I'll replicate it[emoji13]

TheEngineer · Jan 22, 2016

brandon4432 said:
I run my Kessil at 50% max, I'll see how you like your UV mod and if you so maybe I'll replicate it[emoji13]

Temps are holding steady without any additional heatsink on the LED. I'm going to let it run for a few weeks and see if I notice a difference.

TheEngineer · Jan 23, 2016

Lots of snow today. At least 2' at this point. But the power stayed on

it's a good day.

TheEngineer · Jan 24, 2016

Made it through the storm unphased. PHEW! I played around with my DSLR a bit and snapped some shots with the actinics and UV LED on. No color editing here, just cropping and sharpening.

Alien Acne Zoanthid

Alien Acne/Green Implosion/Ring of Fire Zoanthids

Gatorade Zoanthid (focus point was off, but the colors were awesome)

KLEMS · Jan 24, 2016

What UV LED are you using?

TheEngineer · Jan 24, 2016

It's a 430nm violet. Three on one star. There's a link to the DIY build a few posts up ---^

TheEngineer · Jan 25, 2016

I'm starting to regret my choice to not have a glass cleaner. Having to put my arm in the tank is getting old.

TheEngineer · Jan 31, 2016

Picked up a bunch of new corals at the Reef Conservation Society frag swap in Lancaster, PA yesterday. Here's a quick iPhone shot.

From front to back:
Solar eclipse zoa
Eagle eye and radioactive dragon eye zoas (I wanted some green for the tank)
Utter chaos zoa ( so bright I can't get a shot)
Purple hornet zoa
Darth maul zoa
Purple tip hammer (I think it might be a hammer/frog combo actually)

drstratton · Jan 31, 2016

Very nice! I'm going to a swap next month and I'm hoping to pick up some more new coral!

TheEngineer · Jan 31, 2016

Best place to get great deals. Vendors and hobbyists alike bring some great stuff at great prices.

drstratton · Jan 31, 2016

That's what I've heard. I'm really looking forward to it. I'm hoping to get some more Zoa's, Blasto's, some Euphyllia and maybe a rock nem or two! Melev will be the guest speaker, I'm looking forward to hear what he has to share.

TheEngineer · Feb 11, 2016

I stopped by a small shop on Tuesday and wound up leaving with two frags. It was one of those days where I was supposed to be going to the grocery store and came back with corals (and groceries

)

Ignore the one top middle, those are from the last swap. The top right I think is a gold maul. The bottom one I have no clue. It was super bright and it was $10. So it became mine