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wooboodoo

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Hi everyone,
I want o share my new zeo tank to all you guys, my mistakes and I hope soon success ;)
here is short story...
In 2002 when I came to US I buil my first here 102 gal tank have it for about a year then got acrylic 180 gal 6'x2'x2' this one I was enjoying till august 2010 when I downgraded to Marineland 93 gal Deep Dimension cube 30"x30"x24" couple months ago I decided to build new tank a little bit longer than 93 gal cube and low iron (starphire) glass this time...
New tank dimension finally are 48"x30"x22" high it is something about 137 gal.
Here are some buil progress pics, i don't really had time to get decent pics so i used my phone, I'm sorry for that ;)
tankbuildprocess.jpg

next day...
tankbuildprocess1.jpg

In my opinion 1/2" thick glass is enough cause tank is only 22" high.
I don't know if is any prestige when tank is rimless I'm European my first tank was rimless and that was 26 years ago when I was 8 years old, all my tanks in Europe was rimless by the way that's why I'm always smiling when people here in US saying "my tank is rimless" it sounds like something miracle to me ;) Usually I'm building stands myself but this time I got help from my friend Martin (Special thanks for you Martin and all Modern Wood crew !!!) he own beautiful woodwork company and build excellent cabinet under my new tank, to make it strong and waterproof he used 1" thick Baltic Birch Plywood which is two times stronger than reg 1" plywood and much more water resist.
BalticBirchPlywood.jpg

cabinet.jpg

I moved everything already to new tank and now I'm looking to buy some good light fixture, temporary i'm using two AI led modules but it doesn't work.
I understand I should do this before but still can't decide which one to buy... I was thinking to buy T5 fixture for my new tank but when I started counting expenses I'm not sure if I want them any more, for my tank I gonna need 8-10x54w bulbs fixture 432w-540w Every 6 months bulbs has to be replaced for new one, each 54w bulb is about $30 shipped so that's gonna be $240-$300 twice a year... I know people have beautiful sps growing under the T5 fixtures but the expenses makes me want to stay with LEDs.
For the led market I was looking at AI but I don't really like them since I'm using them right now, Vertex Illumina looking promising but is a bit expensive...
Reeftech Prometeus LED fixture, second generation the slim one just arrived to the US the new look and design is beautiful, personally it couldn't be any better.
I already had the first generation above my 93 gal cube and one unit was perfectly covered 30"x30" area. I don't want to waste my time looking for another brand I'll try the new one now and see if one can cover 48"x30" area.
 
Here is a shot of my tank today... is totaly mess I still have to build some aquascape the rocks and corals are just transferred, everything is temporary ;)
newquarium.jpg

I'll update more informations and pics soon...
All the best guys.
mark
 
Last edited:
really pretty ha ha at first thougt you were setting it up in front of the tv ! really love that rimless look
 
really pretty ha ha at first thougt you were setting it up in front of the tv ! really love that rimless look

Hahaha, I wish to leave it in the middle of my living room on the front of my tv cause I'm watching my tank more than tv but my wife will not be happy :)

Thanks guys.
mark
 
Thank you Reef keeper !

I spend couple hours yesterday to move rocks and arrange some aquascape, I hate this job however I move them I dont really like the result... I don't know if is only me or you guys have the same problem?
always when I visit friends I like their fish tanks but when watching mine it looks like something is missing...
Anyway I'm already tired of moving the stones and decided to leave them ;)

snapped some picture...

newtank.jpg


My corals don't looking good after I moved them to new tank :(
It gonna take some time and my hard work to get all colors back...

regards,
mark
 
I like it nice, simple, clean and open can't go wrong there man...;) looks great I wouldn't change a thing... Btw I know what your saying I always hate my aquascape haha your looks good let the corals grow and no one will ever see it anyways...
 
Thank you Troylee, I'm glad to hear someone like my job... :)
Couple days ago finally installed my new ReefTech LED fixture, have been busy and I could not get any pics earlyer.
Here is some sample how one unit covering my 48"30" tank:

prometheusmk2.jpg


I'll get more pics and maybe some video soon...
After I moved my sps to new tank they lost colors I want to check how long it takes them to get back, I hope not too long because tank looking ugly :(

tbc...
 
Is three months already after last time I updated my tank thread...
Since I sold ReefTech light and got Fauna Marin Star Fire T5 I see some changes in my tank, don't have cyanobacterias any more and finally almost all corals got back their colors!
Water parameters are the same all the time so that was probably lighting problem.
I have some before and after pics to see the progress... :)
Here are few for example:

Tricolor Valida Before:

tcvbefore.jpg


And after:

tcv.jpg


Red Planet Before:

rpbefore.jpg


And After:

rp.jpg


I know is blitch i reduced one channel (6 bulbs) to 50% and getting better every week...

Strawbery shortcake before and also before this big colony just died! :(

sscbefore.jpg


Here is small colony I have now:

ssc.jpg


And here are some other corals before and after...

acro5before.jpg


After:

acro5.jpg


Before:

acro4before.jpg


After:

acro4.jpg


Before:

acro1before.jpg


After:

acro1.jpg
 
Before:

acro6before.jpg


Add After:

acro6.jpg


I know some corals still need more time but I'm so happy many of them doing much better under T5's...

This one here still need more time:

acro7.jpg




And few more pics...

hippo.jpg


mili1.jpg


mili.jpg


goby.jpg


monti.jpg


acro8.jpg


geometric.jpg


acro3.jpg


acro2.jpg


My Wyoming Whites also doing good ;)

ww.jpg
 
Really nice before and after shots. And those macro shots are amazing! so, have you lost all faith in LED's???
 
Really nice before and after shots. And those macro shots are amazing! so, have you lost all faith in LED's???

Thank you, I'm glad you like it!
About the LEDs... well I wish to try one of them one more time, ecoxotic
50w spot lights 4-5 units should be just perfect for my tank, that's why I was planning to sale my T5 fixture but many people told me to not do it... To be honest I have to think about that I don't want to mess up my tank again.
Maybe I gonna buy some extra LEDs and will retrofit my T5 fixture? I think is one of the best and safest solution right now.
 
What an amazing tank! I Have a similar setup and I thought about switching to LEDs but just have not had the courage to do so. T5s for now
 

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