Renton's Evolution from 200 to 440 gallons

[Renton777]

I have been thinking about adding some supplemental LED's that fill in some of the color spectrum that may be missing from my AI SOL blue LED lights. After looking at a few different routes I went with a custom http://www.buildmyled.com . They let you pick the LED colors you want for a 12" section of your light and then repeat that pattern across the whole light.

My light is 5ft and my LED selection was heavy with Violet, Cyan and Green with a few blues and reds mixed in.

The light its self was thinner in both width and height then I thought, which is great for potential mounting options.

I may mount the light at the front of my tank in the rim that was recently added and angle it towards that back, still playing with the idea.

The light intensity is also controllable via my apex controller.

Here are a few pictures of the light, the ghosting effect in the lit up picture gives you an idea of each LED color in the strip

 

[Renton777]

In mounting the new LED strip, I wanted to be able to angle it and adjust it from time to time. So, I mounted the light to a 1x2 and then mounted the 1x2 to the inside of my top rim using an "L" bracket. I am able to then move the 1x2 and light up and down, allowing me to play with the angle of the light.






The light itself adds a "sea green" color to the tank. It will be a while before I really power the lights up. I am currently running them for a few hours a day at 40% to allow the corals to acclimate to the new light.

 

[TJ's Reef]

WOW! Your Reef Tank has come a long way and is looking very good, it has been quite a while since I've seen an update and hadn't realized you were on this forum til now. Curious to know how you like the added colors making it a full spectrum now. A big fan/proponent of full spectrum just in case you haven't read any of my long winded posts on the subject....lol

Cheers, Todd

 

[Renton777]

WOW! Your Reef Tank has come a long way and is looking very good, it has been quite a while since I've seen an update and hadn't realized you were on this forum til now. Curious to know how you like the added colors making it a full spectrum now. A big fan/proponent of full spectrum just in case you haven't read any of my long winded posts on the subject....lol

Cheers, Todd

Thanks Todd! What other forum have we crossed paths on? Did you have a different username? I am also curious to see if the added light spectrum affect coral coloration and growth.


Just a few quick update shots. Merry Christmas!

 

[revhtree Verified Admin]

Beautiful update!

 

[TJ's Reef]

Yea, what ^Rev ^ said and I was a member and Mod on RF (TJL) for sometime plus that other huge forum out there. I know its personal perspective and all but really only a fan of 'Full Spectrum' Reeftanks with a 'Natural' aquscape or what one would see while snorkeling a Reef in the wild. So.... easy to complement one who has similar style....lol

Cheers, Todd

 

[skinz78]

Looking great!

 

[SunCorals]

I would looovveee to see your AI schedule and percentages I am still struggling with my two. I have read all the threads about them on the internet. I just like seeing the details of everyone elses. Espically yours because my gosh it is stunning!!! :beer:

 

[Renton777]

Thanks for the compliments guys.

I would looovveee to see your AI schedule and percentages I am still struggling with my two. I have read all the threads about them on the internet. I just like seeing the details of everyone elses. Espically yours because my gosh it is stunning!!! :beer:

Here are my settings:

	White	Blue	Royal Blue
7:15:00	0	0	1
7:35:00	33	43	59
8:45:00	22	40	54
11:30:00	30	40	58
12:30:00	60	69	73
14:55:00	51	64	62
17:30:00	70	82	86
19:15:00	40	55	59
19:30:00	4	13	50
20:30:00	0	2	35
22:15:00	0	0	1

There is not a whole lot of "scientific" research that went into my light schedule, its just what ended up working well for me.

 

[SunCorals]

Thanks so much I use a similar schedule! More pictures!!! Lol

 

[SunCorals]

Ohhhhh how high do you run yours mine are roughly 14" AWL

 

[Renton777]

Thanks so much I use a similar schedule! More pictures!!! Lol

Ohhhhh how high do you run yours mine are roughly 14" AWL

I like to take pictures so I am sure there will be more soon.

My lights are about 16" AWL

 

[Lacktaters]

Awesome tank! One of the nicest collection of fish I've ever seen. I've got a couple questions about your corals:

Where did you get the flamethrower blasto? That's a subtly beautiful piece. It looks insane under actinic lighting!

Is this WWC's Bounce Mushroom?

 

[Lacktaters]

Can't forget about these blastos. Stunning!

 

[Daniel@R2R Verified Admin]

This is such a beautiful tank! I need to come by and see it again!!

 

[SunCorals]

Do you ramp any of your times? They have some great colors using these numbers.

 

[Renton777]

Awesome tank! One of the nicest collection of fish I've ever seen. I've got a couple questions about your corals:

Where did you get the flamethrower blasto? That's a subtly beautiful piece. It looks insane under actinic lighting!

Is this WWC's Bounce Mushroom?

Thanks. I got the flamethrower blastos from Tidal Gardens and you have a perfect description of them "subtly beautiful".

Yes, that is a WWC Bounce Mushroom that I got from Jason fox at a local swap.

Can't forget about these blastos. Stunning!

Unfortunately that blasto completely died off. Talking to a different vender then the one I bought it from, they also got 2 or 3 mini colonies of that variety and they all died off as well. I would be interested to know their place of origin and what conditions they live in.

 

[Renton777]

This is such a beautiful tank! I need to come by and see it again!!

Anytime (that my wife will allow ), I always enjoy looking at the tank and talking with fellow reefers.

Do you ramp any of your times? They have some great colors using these numbers.

Yes, there is between a 10 to 20 minute ramp period between each time setting.

 

[Renton777]

I have been keeping my eye out for a Moyers Red Dragonett for a while, but I was not taking extreme measures to get one. I got word yesterday that an LFS had got three of them in. I showed up there with a friend right when the store opened as was fortunate enough to have my pick of the three. All three looked to be in good health and I chose what I believe to be a male.

He is a tiny little guy compared to the female phsycadelic and female target dragonett I currently have but they have not seemed to care much about him. He made it through the night and I have seen him pecking at rocks and possible food I have dropped in.

Here are a couple quick cell phone shots:

 

[Renton777]

A video of the Moyers Red Dragonet, he has picked out a cluster of rocks to hang our around for the most part. He had been very active and often is in a view-able location.

Just fed before taking the video and the foods included cyclopes an ova, so the Dragonet may be eating those or just random pods crawling around.

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