Kyle's 125 build

[Kyle Rinker]

I have to mention that I attend the INDMAS frag swap for the first time this year, and simultaneously became an INDMAS member. I totally loved it. I even convinced my wife to go with me. Ultimately that meant I spend less total time at the swap than I wanted, but still it was nice to be able to share my love for reefs with her. I did have a second Neptune DOS I was not using, so I took it with me. I was able to trade my DOS to another aquarist for quite a few corals. Mostly various Montis, but also picked up some other nice pieces. I still have 1 Neptune DOS I am currently dosing my 2 part with. I ended up going with ATI elements because I am able to dose Calcium, Alkalinity, magnesium, and a slew of trace elements. In this regard, the elements are basically identical to the Triton elements, but they only require 2 dosing pumps. So in this way, I am able to use a single Neptune DOS unit for all my dosing. In the future, if I decide I want to use a DOS for auto water changes, I can switch my dosing out to my Jebao 2 pump doser instead. Enjoy the photos of everything I got from the frag swap PS--I'm not sure what I'm doing wrong, but I've always had this issue. Whenever I post images, I end up with several of them posting more than once. When I go to edit my post, it only displays it once. Weird?

 

[Kyle Rinker]

I have always wanted to use an LED/T5 hybrid over my reef. The whole idea behind this type of format is to use the LEDs you already have and then just buy the hybrid fixture, saving you cost in the long run over buying an entirely new system. Well, that wasn't going to work for me. My LED lights are Maxspect Ethereals, which are too wide from front to back to fit on the standard fixtures like those from Aquatic Life. I know you can buy new side rail brackets that make the fixture deeper from front to back, but then the problem is that my tank is only 18" from front to back, which is the stock depth for these fixtures. In order to do a T5/LED hybrid, I had to either buy new LEDs or make my own fixture. the least expensive option was the do the latter. I didn't want to buy a kit--I wanted to fully build the system myself. I came up with a plan to build a wood box out of appearance grade pine, and add 2x6 support bracing on each end and then 2x4 supports to mount my LEDs to, along with the T5 reflectors. Here was the material used for the project:
(2) 8' 1x8 pine boards
(2) 8' 2x4 studs
(1) 8' 2x6
(2) Fullham Workhorse 7 ballasts
(2) wiring kits from BRS
20 feet of 3/16" wire
(20) cable clamps
(8) thimbles
(4) turnbuckles
(2) 5' 1.5" PVC pipes
(3) 60" blue plus bulbs
(1) 60" purple plus bulb

I began first by building the outside skirt of the light fixture. There were 3 screws placed along each corner to hold it together.

A 2x6 was added on each end for stability and for a mounting point to suspend the fixture. 2x4 pieces were added in 3 sections t provide mounting points for the Maxspect LEDs.

Steel plates were added as mounting points for the LED lights.

Test fitting the Ethereal lights.

Holes drilled in the back side for cable management

Painted the fixture. T5 end caps mounted.

PVC pipes ripped in half lengthwise to create reflectors. Mounted to sides of the frame.

Mounting the first ballast.

Wiring after mounting both ballasts

Testing each light bank

Lights mounted above tank (FINALLY!)

Top shot

Front shot

This project turned out almost how I wanted. I discovered how much of a pain it will be to do things like mount corals in the tank. The turnbuckles do not lift the fixture high enough to really get down into the tank well. There is, however, enough space to do water changes. I am planning to change the mounting structure in the coming days by integrating a pully system to be able to raise the fixture close to the ceiling for more rigorous maintenance.

 

[Kyle Rinker]

As mentioned in the previous post, I needed to come up with an alternate solution on how to lift the hood up higher out of the way. I looked all around at different mounting options and finally settled on something a little unorthodox. On Amazon, I found a link for a kayak hoist from RAD Sports. It is rated for a 125 capacity. I got to thinking that, my light fixture is sort of the same general shape as a kayak. It is also way under the maximum weight limit. I'm guessing that with the LEDs on top, the fixture is around 50 pounds. The main problems noted with the hoist were that the rope didn't seem like it was as good of quality as it could be. Most people never had trouble with it, but a few stated the rope broke and their kayak ended up on the floor. I definitely didn't want that with my light fixture falling into the fish tank. The other major complaint was that the straps made the kayak hang too far down from the ceiling. So to correct the problem I attached the hook directly to the fixture with some tow hooks and replaced the stock string with 750lb paracord. Considering that each rope would only be holding about 25 pounds, I felt this was strong enough and definitely better than what came in the pack. Below is the solution I came up with.

With this setup, I can raise and lower the whole canopy about 15 or so inches, which is more than enough space for me to be able to easily work inside the tank. Pulling the canopy up and down is easy and only a 1 person job. It is also a quick job, so that if something goes awry inside, I can quikly lift up the canopy and take care of business.

 

[Kyle Rinker]

One supposed problem I ran into over the last couple of months was a strange-looking algae. It really started to take off and climb up some of my rocks. At first, I thought it was cyano, but it clung tightly to the rocks. I treated with chemiclean anyway and had no results. The algae only grew on the rocks and stayed off of corals and the sand bed. I also bought a "microscope" that plugs into a cell phone or computer. The image quality is not great. I was hoping to be able to really zoom in and see the structure of the stuff that was growing. I had narrowed my guesses down to either a weird type of sponge or the dreaded red turf algae. I also did a post on R2R, hoping someone would have seen this before also. But hey, when you have something weird, most people seem to not know what it is

Below are the photos of the stuff I had found growing on my rocks:

This stuff was encrusting, yet sort of squishy. I got 3 urchins and put them in my tank with hopes that if it was turf algae, they would eat it. They did eat some of it. But ultimately they weren't eating a ton of it. I got another 15 Mexican turbos and I couldn't tell if they were cleaning any of it or not. I went as far as to try some Live Rock Enhance to see if it would take care of it. It made my liverock look spotless--but left this stuff alone. I contacted John with @reefcleaners to see if he could be of any help identifying this stuff. Wouldn't you know it--it's just a strange coraline algae. I have 3 very different discernibly identifiable corallines in my tank, and this was one of them. Mystery solved. I haven't touched the stuff since and it's not changed a ton. It's just a different color and texture from the coralines I had experienced before. Needless to say, the urchins are now at a local pet store and the tank is looking good.

 

[Kyle Rinker]

I'm getting really good at waiting forever between updates. I have done several things since the last updated I had posted. Most notably, I have two some newer fish. IK was able to get a large blue tang from a LFS near me. I bought this guy around 8 inches or so. I also got a neon dottyback and 3 dispar anthias.

There have been many more updates as well, including the addition of lots of corals and some new equipment that I will update in a future post.

 

[Kyle Rinker]

It was time to add some corals but like the cheap person I am, I wanted to do it for less . I had several things I was able to trade to some local hobbyists for quite a number of frags. In all, I traded a wave pump, 2 ocean revive lights I wasn't using, and a couple of extra montipora frags and a torch to get more of what i was looking for in my tank. For the stuff above, I was able to get:
Holywood Stunner Chalice
Dragon Ball Z Chalice
Green Trumpet
Valida colony
Green Slimer
Birds of paradise
Green Birdsnest
Pearl berry Acro
Green Milipora
Forest Fire Digitata
Acropora Sarmentosa
ORA Scripts
Cali Tort
Winter Green Acro
JF Solar Flare
Red Planet

I did a dip using Bayer and then mounted all of them the same night. I normally would have placed them down in the sandbed for a week or two, but the diamond goby I have frequently buries anything I place in the sand Below are some of the photos of the newly placed corals. In a future update, I will include new photos. The stress of dipping and acclimation had them not showing their best colors at the time of mounting. Nevertheless, It was a great deal and it will help fill my tank.

 

[Kyle Rinker]

To keep anthias long term, I know that multiple feedings per day are necessary. I'm not home throughout the day, so I knew another option would be necessary. I wanted to purchase the Neptune auto feeder but I did not take the plunge just yet. Auto feeders in general do not have a great satisfaction rating, but the neptune feeder retailing at about $100 and having 3 or less stars on average isn't exactly encouraging. I opted to spend far less money on something that was rated at 4 stars. From Amazon, I bought the Decdeal Automatic Fish Feeder. It was an absolute breeze to set up, plugs in with a micro USB cable to the wall, and is Wifi programable, all for $22. Well, it lasted for about 1 week before crapping out on me Needless to say, I'm not sure if I got a bad unit or if they are all this unreliable, but considering the 4 star rating, I'm willing to give it another shot. I contacted Amazon for a replacement and one is forthcoming. I had it set up to feed 4 times per day at the smallest feeding amount, which was working really well to keep my fish and inverts happy.