My 47G Rimless T5/LED Hybrid SPS Tank [Archive] - Reef Central Online Community

sahin

12/18/2010, 06:21 PM

My new tank arrived today. The tank stats are as follows:

Tank is 47G "Rimless" with 12mm Optiwhite glass and double base. This is my first ever sumped tank; all 3 of my previous reef tanks were sumpless.

I opted for a single durso and return. The tank is in the living room and I am not too bothered about noise etc from the overflow. The sump is fairly large and will accomodate about 25G of water, but is designed to run with about half of that.

Here are the first photos of the tank:
http://i685.photobucket.com/albums/vv217/Sahin_UK/DSC_5747.jpg

Side shot:
http://i685.photobucket.com/albums/vv217/Sahin_UK/DSC_5740.jpg

A closeup shot of the "Rimless" glass and the smoothed edges:
http://i685.photobucket.com/albums/vv217/Sahin_UK/DSC_5743.jpg

A shot of the sump area:
http://i685.photobucket.com/albums/vv217/Sahin_UK/DSC_5758.jpg

The cabinet has lots of height. I can easily lift the skimmer out of the cabinet whilst it is still in one piece. Plus there is space to build a shelf above the sump to place my Doser and other equipment. I have also fitted a strip light inside the cabinet to assist when working inside the sump.

Skimmer: from the photo above you can see a Bubble Magus NAC6 Skimmer. I went with this skimmer due to its value for money and performance.

Lights: ATI Sunpower: 5xT5 + 24xCree 3W LED
http://i685.photobucket.com/albums/vv217/Sahin_UK/IMG_0449-1.jpg

I bought a practically new ATI Sunpower 6x24watt T5 unit (with non working fans) and have modified this to include high power LED's. The LED's consist of 20 Cree Royal Blue LED's and 4 Cree Blue LED's. I am going to run them at 700mA. In total the unit now runs 178watts of T5 and LED. From my past experiance with T5's/250w+150wMetal halide/LED's, I estimate PAR to be well above that given by a 250w halide. There is a combination of 40, 60 and 80 degree lens on the LED's.

My reasoning for going with such a light unit is due to the good experiance with LED's in my previous build, and because T5's are known for thier ability to colour SPS corals really well.

Dosing: I am going to either purchase a Fauna Marine or GHL triple doser.

Water flow: Most likely Vortech pumps, but may go with Tunze Streams.

Topoff: Tunze Osmolator. This unit has so far proven to be 100% reliable and accurate.

Controller/Cooling: TC10 Temperature Controller. This unit has also proven to be extremely reliable and trouble free. This unit will control the switching of fans to achieve cooling via evaporative cooling.

I will keep the thread updated and add more info when appropriate.

iap

12/18/2010, 07:08 PM

Good start

dez

12/18/2010, 09:14 PM

That's a very clean look to your tank. I like it.

Dustin1300

12/18/2010, 09:17 PM

Beautiful tank. Very nice and clean looking. Where's the SPS though?

sahin

12/19/2010, 05:57 AM

Beautiful tank. Very nice and clean looking. Where's the SPS though?

Thanks guys.

Dustin, the SPS are in my current tank, and more waiting as frags from another reefkeeper. It will be a basic swap over at some point. Just need to get this tank in the best state as possible in terms of water chemistry and equipment setup.

I'll be using most of the water and all of the rocks from my current tank. Only the sand will be new.

I am sure the SPS will love my T5/LED hybrid light. :cool:

Dustin1300

12/19/2010, 08:55 AM

I was just kidding about the SPS. Is this going to be open top or will it have a canopy?

sahin

12/19/2010, 09:29 AM

With a Rimless, I'd be crazy to go have a canopy. LOL. Plus the ATI Sunpower looks so nice, its going to be open top.

Bello

12/19/2010, 09:32 AM

Looking good.... Just wondering if the LEDs will look too blue... but then again it isn't that difficult to swap 'em out for whites. Good job on the light unit though!

sahin

12/19/2010, 11:58 AM

Looking good.... Just wondering if the LEDs will look too blue... but then again it isn't that difficult to swap 'em out for whites. Good job on the light unit though!

Its not too blue. At least not for me. But I will only know for sure once its over the tank and some corals. If its too blue I can replace 1 of the 3 Blue + tubes with a white tube or a fiji purple tube.

Dex

12/19/2010, 03:06 PM

Lookin' good! Do you happen to have anymore pictures of your modded light fixture? Thanks

sahin

12/20/2010, 01:49 AM

Thanks. I dont have anymore photos of the lights. I will take more now that I have my DSLR back.

Chrisrush

12/20/2010, 07:54 AM

Looks great. Glad to see you got the modifications done.

Rodrigo_BG

12/20/2010, 05:28 PM

Nice display & stand Sahin, wish you the best on your new project.

sahin

12/25/2010, 06:06 PM

Have now finished the plumbing on the tank. I have also tested the sump today for leakage etc and its fine. Started to fill the tank with water and its a slow process-especially as its so cold outside.

Here is a shot of the skimmer in place and the plumbing done. Not much to show in the sump yet though:

http://i685.photobucket.com/albums/vv217/Sahin_UK/DSC_5796.jpg

I have also fitted a cabinet lock on the cabinet. With a 2 babies around the place I am not taking any chances:
http://i685.photobucket.com/albums/vv217/Sahin_UK/DSC_5793.jpg

Not much else done. All my SPS are dead now because of the Acro eating flatworms. I discovered the problem too late. I have less than 5 frags (had over 25+) now and they dont look too good. With only 5 frags left in a very sorry state, I just feel its not worth the risk putting them in the new tank. Plus, I am taking up my childrens tiny library area having setup a quarantine tank for the AEFW affected corals...and I just feel that I might as well bin the remaining frags and start again.

I will have to think about long term plans in terms of quarantine of any new SPS frags I buy in the future.

DML08

12/25/2010, 06:34 PM

awesome looking tank man.. nice and clean..

sahin

12/25/2010, 06:48 PM

Nice display & stand Sahin, wish you the best on your new project.

Looks great. Glad to see you got the modifications done.

awesome looking tank man.. nice and clean..

Thanks guys. You guys have such beautiful tanks with healthy and colourful SPS corals. I have based my new tank with inspiration from what you have done with your tanks. :)

smoyer

12/25/2010, 11:44 PM

Nice tank! Where did you buy it?

allsps40

12/26/2010, 01:37 PM

Looking good keep it up.

VITARTE

12/26/2010, 04:21 PM

Is that an ELOS?

sahin

12/26/2010, 06:00 PM

Nice tank! Where did you buy it?
I live in the UK; I bought it from ND Aquatics - they normally sell and build for the trade.

Looking good keep it up.
Thanks.

Is that an ELOS?
You know, your questions just made my day haha! And I just looked at my tank again and thought, yeah it kind of looks like an Elos. :lol2: The shape of the tank is similar, the cabinet is white and is tallish like the Elos cabinets...hehehe, its not an Elos, its a custom built to my own specification.

Mr.Maska

12/26/2010, 09:04 PM

nice setup, sweet light!

sahin

12/31/2010, 11:52 AM

Have got a few more things done now. I have setup the Fan Cooling system. I used a double fan unit from a broken Xbox unit, bits from an Azoo cooling unit and rigged up a pretty high performance fan cooling system

Once I take my nanocube down, I will install the TC-10 temperature controller to activate the fan cooling system at preset values.

My living room is always hot; normally 26-27 degrees, and my nano cube needs to be cooled throughout the day or else it will heat up beyond 27'C. Fortunately, I have found that the 47G Rimless runs at 26'C with the large return pump and the large protein skimmer pump. So with the fan cooling system I made, it will be easy to maintain a reasonable tank temperature.

I have also added sand into the tank. It is Caribsea Aragonite sand, the grain size is very fine to 1.5mm, and a handful of larger 5mm bits. I also mixed in a few large cups of larger grain sand, so that I am able to have lots of flow in the tank without the sand being blown around.

I have also started to dose the tank with bacteria (Zeovit + MB7) and a carbon food source to kick start the biological process. This is my 4th reef tank; on my last reef tank I dosed bacteria and a carbon source and found that algae problems are pretty much non existant when utilising this method.

I will start to dose Vodka and a few drops of MB7 or Zeobac on a weekly basis thereafter.

nice setup, sweet light!

Thanks.

allsps40

12/31/2010, 12:02 PM

No its not an Elos you can tell by the overflow. But a nice rimless tank none the less. Can wait to see it with water and rock.

cpllongjk

12/31/2010, 05:33 PM

sahin

12/31/2010, 06:41 PM

Im going to be following along! I really like how you modded the ATI SunPower... Its making me have thoughts of modding mine. All I can say is I think you have a great idea! Pictures would be awesome.

Did you have to add another ballast or are you using the standard ballast? Also is it adding the shimmer that LEDs add? Thats the only reason I want to add LEDs to my Sunpower, otherwise Im very happy with the sunpower.

Thanks.

I did have to add another ballast. the Sunpower 6x24w has 3 ballast that run two tubes. Hence I needed to replace a double ballast with a single ballast. Easily done. I then rewired every single T5 tube so now, tubes 1,4+6 light up together, and 2+5 light up together.

Here is the final bulb configuration:

From Front:
ATI Blue+
Arcdia 14K
24 Cree Royal Blue LED's
KZ Fiji Purple
ATI AquaBlue Special
ATI Blue+

There is only a SLIGHT shimmer with the T5's on. IF you are wanting MH like shimmer then this is not the way. I love this light and dont miss my MH shimmer. In fact I had the lights switched on for both this tank and my nano tank which has MH.

I can say that I 100% prefer the look of T5+LED with slight shimmer, more than MH.

I was out for a few hours and thought I'd test how low the water temp can be pulled down by the Custom Fan Cooling System I built. Well after 4 hours the temp is from 82'F to 71'F. That is a whopping 11'F temp drop using only fans. The room temp during this time was 77'F. So the cooling system is so efficient it can drop the temp upto 6'F below the room temp. I will be running the tanks temp at around 79'Fn in any event. I am sure that with the two small fans and the lighting system I have, the tank will never over heat.

Because my living room is ALWAYS warmer than 75'F, I am NOT using a heater in this tank. My heater was never used on my nano tank and I see no point in having one in this tank.

Really pleased with this build. I just hope I get to buy some really nice SPS corals and they colour up nicely.

I have placed an order for a Fauna Marine Triple Doser. With the doser, temp controller+fans and the Tunze Osmolator the water chemistry should be rock steady; hence I am hoping the SPS colours ought to be very good.

cpllongjk

12/31/2010, 08:39 PM

SunnyX

12/31/2010, 09:59 PM

Looking great! It's nice to see a fellow Muslim reefer. ;)

I'll have to pm you a few questions about the leds. :)

Sonny

sahin

01/01/2011, 05:05 AM

Looking great! It's nice to see a fellow Muslim reefer. ;)

I'll have to pm you a few questions about the leds. :)

Sonny

Alhamdullillah! Man, I would have never guessed you were Muslim too. :lol2:
PM me with any questions you have about the LED's.

Here is a cool photo I just took to show off the T5/LED Hybrid reflection off the water:
http://i685.photobucket.com/albums/vv217/Sahin_UK/DSC_5825.jpg

Man, I wish the parts from China would get here quicker! I can only run the LED's for a couple of minutes at the moment as I havent heatsinked and installed sufficient fans yet.

Once finished, I think my corals ought to love this light. :bounce3:

sahin

01/01/2011, 06:04 AM

is the led ballast in the sunpower housing? is there enough room i mean? if so im thinking of adding a 24 bulb kit to my 36" sunpower. did you put the t5. reflectors back in?

ive even thought of going all led for the customization of intensity but i love my sunpower and the look that t5s give the corals. can you make a video showing the slight shimmer plz? and or take par readings. that would more than likely convince me to mod mine too.

i think you started something here!

No, the LED ballasts are externally mounted. They give off quite bit of heat. Its hard enough removing heat from the LED's inside that limited space of the Sunpower, so you wouldnt want to add more heat in there. Besides, the Meanwell drivers are too big to fit inside the internals of the Sunpower.

I put the reflectors back in for the 5 remaining T5 tubes. If you were to remove the reflectors that would be severely counter productive.

I dont have a camera to take a recording of the shimmer unfortunately. I'll see later, if my iphone 4 will be able to pickup the shimmer etc.

I dont have access to a PAR. Though I have asked a fellow UK reefer to borrow me his PAR meter.

sahin

01/02/2011, 05:07 PM

Quick update:

The tank had a shallow sand bed put in about 5 days ago. I seeded the sand with Zeobac and MB7 as well as placing a few rocks from my nano tank. Today I put in a few hermits and a couple of snails to see how they do. I dont expect this tank to have any Ammonia spike or anything like that at all, because I used live sand in addition to seeding with the Zeobac and MB7 and live rock. All the rocks are coming from my nano tank.

The tank is progressing well. I expect to have all the rocks transfered and aquascaped within two weeks. Still waiting for parts to arrive from China to complete my LED mod to my ATI Sunpower http://www.nano-reef.com/forums/style_emoticons/default/mad.gif

Wish it got here by now...

bermocrf250

01/02/2011, 05:16 PM

cool looking tank mate:)

DML08

01/02/2011, 10:50 PM

Awesome man.. this is gonna be sweet.. I'm upgrading at the moment also and just installed 8T5's today, I was thinking 10 but more more I feel I should try out two LED's Strips in it's place... Still thinking....

sahin

01/03/2011, 05:06 AM

cool looking tank mate:)
Thanks.

Awesome man.. this is gonna be sweet.. I'm upgrading at the moment also and just installed 8T5's today, I was thinking 10 but more more I feel I should try out two LED's Strips in it's place... Still thinking....
Dominic, if you can, add two strips of Cree Royal Blue LED's. Its easy to DIY. You will have two less tubes to replace each year and the Royal Blue LED's flouresce certain corals almost in a metallic looking way - even the ATi Blue+ tubes cannot do this.

Also, when all the T5 tubes are off you will have lots of shimmer. Good luck with your new build.

sahin

01/03/2011, 04:23 PM

Had several PM's asking about the LED mod:

Basically I mounted the LED's onto an Aluminium plate. You cannot mount them directly onto the Sunpowers metal chassis as the heat conductivity through that material is only about 3/20 of Aluminium.

I had to cut a rectangle out from the Sunpower using a Dremmel with slim cutting wheels.

Once this was done, I screwed and thermal glued the Aluminium plate onto the chassis of the Sunpower.

The plate and chassis on their own wont disperse the heat. I tested and within 5 minutes the plate was getting very very warm to the touch.

So I ordered 4 VGA graphics card fans and found a few other bits of low profile heatsinks lying around. All I had to do then was glue them down with thermal paste.

I had to upgrade the AC to DC adaptor that runs the two ATI Sunpower fans as I wanted to run the VGA fans off the same power supply. I could have gone with a seperate powersupply but that meant another couple of wires going into the unit somehow...couldnt be arsed with that.

I then wired everything up and here are a few shots:

1. This shows the LED's mounted onto a secondary surface, ie the Aluminium plate:
http://i685.photobucket.com/albums/vv217/Sahin_UK/DSC_5844.jpg

2. Here I was playing around with the placement of the fans and heatsinks. Not very pretty, but it will do the job.
http://i685.photobucket.com/albums/vv217/Sahin_UK/DSC_5845.jpg

3. Final shot showing all the lights on at the same time:
http://i685.photobucket.com/albums/vv217/Sahin_UK/DSC_5849.jpg

The White balance is screwed up and I didnt bother to take custom white balance readings with my DSLR, but from front the configuration is as follows:

Front:
ATI Blue+
ATI AquaBlue Special
24 LED's (20 Royal Blue + 4 Blue)
KZ Fiji Purple
Arcadia 14K
ATI Blue+

The 4 Moonlights are on as well, but you cant see them properly with the main lights on.

I am running the LED's off 2 x Meanwell LPC-35/700 model LED Drivers. These drivers allow 12 x 3watt LED's to be run at 700mA each. The 24 LED's are running at almost 60watts.

So combined with the T5's + LED's, I have about 180watts. Due to this fixture having: Active Cooling + Individual Mirror reflectors for the T5's and a combo of 40,60,80 degree lens for the LED's, without even having measured the PAR, I am confident that PAR will rival or most likely beat most 250w halide setups. I believe I have very good PAR and with the assortment of T5 tubes and LED; a very good spectrum of light for corals.

DML08

01/03/2011, 11:01 PM

Excellent work my friend and best of luck to you.. :thumbsup:

sahin

01/04/2011, 02:12 AM

Excellent work my friend and best of luck to you.. :thumbsup:

I'm sorry I forgot to reply to your PM. I intended to post all the details here and reply to your PM, but completely forgot to let you know that I had posted all the details here on my thread. But you found the info at least. :)

DML08

01/04/2011, 11:41 AM

HAHA.. I think you got TO MANY Pm's man, LOL I never PM'd ya.. LOL :D Now how about some pics?.. :thumbsup:

sahin

01/04/2011, 12:27 PM

HAHA.. I think you got TO MANY Pm's man, LOL I never PM'd ya.. LOL :D Now how about some pics?.. :thumbsup:

Ah man, sorry. I have my build thread over several reef sites and I am losing track of who's PM'd me where. :spin1: It was Leonardo...better PM him back...

Anyway, I've PM'd back to those who've pm'd me.

I will post some photos in the next couple of days I promise, but it will be just a crappy looking pile of rocks at the moment. I am waiting on reef putty and acrylic rods to start my scaping.

sahin

01/04/2011, 04:49 PM

Another bit of update:

1. Lights: Having tested the ATI Sunpower LED/T5 Hybrid over the course of today, I checked regularly to see how effective the cooling was, and was not happy with the cooling setup of the LED's. From previous experiance with using LED's in extremely small spaces etc, I knew that the airflow into the unit had to be improved.

One thing I tried to do was power the 2 main Ati Sunpower fans and the 4 LED cooling fans from the same power adaptor...well, it just didnt have enough juice to run all 6 fans and run the main fans at a sufficient speed. So I had to supply a seperate power adaptors, one to power the main ATI fans and another to power the 4 LED cooling fans. Once this was done, I checked things and the unit was running as cool as I need it.

I will test thoroughly tomorrow. But I think it will be ok this time.

2. I put sand in about 5 or 6 days ago and the tank is still slightly cloudy. I am running the BM NAC6 skimmer which has just today started to foam properly. There isnt much to skim though as there is no fishes in the tank, and only a couple of kg's of fully cured liverock transfered from my nano tank.

3. I tested water parameters last night and everything is in order.

4. This tank is so stable temperature wise. My living room about 78'F most of the time and the new tank stays at that temp even with the large return pump and large skimmer pump, and the T5 lighting too.

This means I wont have to use evaporative cooling as much as was needed on my nano tank, which even without the lights would rise into the low 80's.

5. Tomorrow I plan to transfer most of my liverock into this tank. But I will be inspecting each rock and removing pesky things such as vermitid worms, bubble algae and I know there is two small Aiptasias. So I will swish and scrub the rocks well before transferring them into the new tank.

Other than the cloudyness problem, its all going well.

sahin

01/05/2011, 11:46 AM

Update:

1. Bubble Magus NAC6 Skimmer: WOW!!! The skimmer started to produce foam this morning. It took a week to start foaming and produce froth. The reason I am say wow is that I turned the flow up to produce a wetter skimmate as I wanted the tank to be cleared of the bacterial boom and sand storm cloudyness. Well, after a few hours the skimmer cup was half full. So I thought I would pour it out and check out the consistancy.

I expected a watery liquid to be present inside...but NO. The liquid was THICK and rather like syrup. I am so impressed with this skimmer. I put the cup back and it is already produced more of this skimmate. I have been bacteria dosing and so I am sure the skimmer is taking out bacteria. I have high hopes for this tank. http://www.ultimatereef.net/forums/images/smilies/smile2.gif

2. Rocks. I move all of my liverock into the 47G today. I spent almost 4 hours with the help of my wife removing every single Vermited worm/snails and bubble algae. I also removed a few sponges that looked like they were doing too well and I felt they may pose a problem to my SPS corals later on and didnt want to take a risk.

We also removed 100's more asterina stars as well.

I would have posted a couple of photos, but I cannot get the white balance right and it doesnt help that the tank is still quite cloudy.

sahin

01/05/2011, 03:05 PM

Well I did promise a few photos. Sorry about the quality of the white balance: The white tubes had already gone off and only the Royal Blue LED's and Blue+ T5's were on so the white balance is pretty screwed. But it does look sooo nice in person.

No corals in there at the moment. Just the rocks and two clams that are attached to a single rock. Those clams have been with me over a year and and growing well.

Closeup of the display:
http://i685.photobucket.com/albums/vv217/Sahin_UK/DSC_5902.jpg

Distant shot:
http://i685.photobucket.com/albums/vv217/Sahin_UK/DSC_5895.jpg

The JBJ Nanocube will be dismantled in the next two weeks.

lilopop11

01/05/2011, 05:37 PM

Assalamualaikum sahin...i just wanna say "WOW" after see your tank..love your minimalis scape...i think its gonna be great after some SPS grow in there :)

sahin

01/06/2011, 08:25 AM

Assalamualaikum sahin...i just wanna say "WOW" after see your tank..love your minimalis scape...i think its gonna be great after some SPS grow in there :)

Thanks! :) Where in the world are you living?

The rocks were just thrown in there from my nano tank. I wont be adding any more to the display. But I will scape the rocks better once the acrylic rocks and putty turn up.

I hope my SPS will grow and colour up nicely in this tank. :)

lilopop11

01/06/2011, 08:31 AM

I Agree, no more rock in there..Minimalis look always great :)

I'm from Indonesia...and i'm sorry for my bad english :D

Denadai

01/06/2011, 12:00 PM

wow, very nice setup !

Do you like the leds with the ATI powermodule ?

This tank remember me my old nano

Good luck and keep us update

Best Regards

sahin

01/06/2011, 01:55 PM

I Agree, no more rock in there..Minimalis look always great :)

I'm from Indonesia...and i'm sorry for my bad english :D

Dont worry about your English - I can understand you perfectly. Do you have a tank thread? I have seen some very nice reef tanks from Indonesia over years.

wow, very nice setup !
Do you like the leds with the ATI powermodule ?
This tank remember me my old nano
Good luck and keep us update
Best Regards

Thanks man. I did model this tank slightly from your old tank.

The light unit is the ATI Sunpower. I do like the LED's+T5. I feel that the Royal Blue LED's will provide my corals with that extra bit of light that will make the differance between good and not so good colour.

...At least I hope so...:hmm2:

sahin

01/08/2011, 08:20 AM

Skimmer: I came across a post about setting up a skimmer correctly, and after reviewing the info and playing around with the BM NAC6 all I can say is another big WOW! http://www.ultimatereef.net/forums/images/smilies/applause.gifBubble Magus have done really well in producing this most excellent value for money skimmer. It is now producing an extremely dry foam, and it is still very thick. Happy with its performance. Here is a link to that thread I was referring to above:http://www.reefcentral.com/forums/showpost.php?p=7303604&postcount=30

You may find it quite useful.

ATI Sunpower T5/LED Hybrid: I am VERY happy with this modification. As I said in an earlier post, I transferred my two Maxima clams into this tank already; well, they are doing very well. In my old tank under a 150w halide, even though they were about 10 inches below the centre of the light, they were still stretching the mantle just a little extra to capture a bit more light. I must stress that they were growing fine as well; producing new shell growth. They may have darkened a little in the year I have had them,by making up for a lack of light by extending the mantle and producing more zooanthellae. What I noticed in the new tank under the ATI LED/T5's is that they are extending thier mantles much less. Both clams have expelled some zooanthellae over the past few days.

I know it is not a reaction to stress; but rather, due to a lot more available light. I saw a similar reaction by previous clams I kept when I went from a 150w halide to a 250w halide.

So all in all, by observing the reaction of my clams; critters who need the most light, I know my light is upto the level of the requirements of the corals I am going to place in my tank.

Noise wise, it is noisy; because I have to run the fans a high speed, but it is located in our living room and I am happy with it.

Fauna Marin Triple Doser: In order to provide chemical stability to my reef aquarium, I bought this doser to dose Calcium and Alkalinity. Whether I use a commercial two part or go balling lite or even a home made two part is still undecided, but here are a few photos I took of the unit:

http://i685.photobucket.com/albums/vv217/Sahin_UK/DSC_5928.jpg

A closeup shot of the LED lit display. Looks pretty cool.
http://i685.photobucket.com/albums/vv217/Sahin_UK/DSC_5932.jpg

Final shot:
http://i685.photobucket.com/albums/vv217/Sahin_UK/DSC_5927.jpg
Well, it looks very much like the GHL units. With a 24 month warranty on it, I am pretty happy with this purchase. Will post a review in a few months time once its been up and running for a while.

I went with this brand because it was sold to me with 1/3 of the price knocked off by my LFS (it is brand new...I am a good custmer :beer:) and it has a 24 month warranty. :lol2:

sahin

01/16/2011, 07:39 AM

Small Update:

The tank is progressing well. I have bought a few SPS corals, and they are doing fine. I now have two Vortech MP10's plus the return for water flow. I think the water flow is quite sufficient for now. If there is lot of growth and flow restriction in the future, I can buy a third internal pump.

The tank is going through the usual cycles of algae etc. Diatoms have appeared all over the sand as expected. None on the rocks though because the rocks are fully cured and were a transfer from my nano tank.

I am still waiting on reef putty so that I can do the rock scaping. Once the rockscape is done, I will post photos and a short video clip.

sahin

02/01/2011, 11:56 AM

Update:

The tank is getting along nicely. I'll do a series of commentary on anything I feel is significant:

Lights: I'm going to rate it as excellent! Why? Because when I put in my Seriatopora hystrix frags from my last tank, I didnt think much of what would happen to the colour of this coral. In my last tank under a 150w halide, the colour was a light brown, perhaps a tinge of pink in the appearance. With the lights off, the coral always appeared brown.

Within days of being placed in this tank, the 3 seperate frags started to colour up. Two are placed permanantly onto the rockwork and these two have coloured up BRIGHT pink. With the lights turned off, the coral is STILL PINK! The remaining frag, is on the sand bed at the extreme edge of the tank, but even this, to my surprise, has coloured up. Remember that my lights are 24inch long and the tank is 30inch long. So this demonstrates just how powerful this T5/LED Hybrid light is.

I have two other corals; a bright green milli and an uknown blue acro with which I gauged the effectiveness of the lights; the milli darkened after going in my tank, and lost a lot of the green. But in the past week it has coloured up sooo nicely and has numerous growth tips. The blue acro also lost colour, but has since coloured up. I am certain that those corals placed in my other tank with the 150w halide would hae lost most of thier colour and not gotten it back.

My tank is still new...although the rocks and most of the water came from an established tank, the sand is new, so consequently, the tank is still going through a smaller scale algae cycle. At the moment, there is some diatoms remaining, as well as dinoflagellates. Both are starting to reduce greatly now, but do remain on the sand. The rocks are completely clean - since they came from my last tank and have no phosphates leaching etc.

Skimmer: is still going strong. It is using about 50watts as measured by a watt meter and I was rather annoyed at this. Other than that, it is performing fine. I only have 6 small chromis, 2 tiny perc clowns and 1 small bangai cardinal, so in terms of bioload, there isnt that much. A single yellow tank that is about 6 inches will produce a lot more poop than all of these together.

Photos: sorry about this, but until my laptop is fixed, I cannot get photos off my Nikon DSLR. I have been taking weekly photos though. But I will say that it will be worth waiting for the photos...the SPS are loving my tank, and are colouring up nicely. http://www.nano-reef.com/forums/style_emoticons/default/tongue.gif

Water flow: So...I now have 2 MP10's on this tank woohooooo! Yes, for anyone thats noticed, MP10's are working fine in my tank with 12mm thick glass. I first tested with my old gen MP10, and after a month of it working fine, I decided to buy another MP10 as the MP20 is no longer available and I didnt want to fork out for an MP40 due to its price and larger size. With two MP10's and the return provide enough flow. I dont even run them at 100% anyway.

Backup Battery: I managed to buy a used Vortech Babckup Battery for almost half price and have it hooked up for emegencies. I tested the battery for over 14 hours and then decided that it would most likely go the full distance, and at the price paid, even 14 hours is good enough. In Central London, electricity cuts are only for a few hours at a time and are rare, so 14 hours or more is plenty. I just felt that with all the money that goes into the livestock a backup battery is worth the investment - more so when it is almost half price! http://www.nano-reef.com/forums/style_emoticons/default/smile.gif

Ca+Alk: At the moment I am dosing C-balance at 5ml of each part and about 1 litre of kalkwasseur a day. I will up the kalk to about 1.5litres a day at the end of the week.

Hopefully next time I will have photos to show off my modest SPS tank. http://www.nano-reef.com/forums/style_emoticons/default/smile.gif

Rodrigo_BG

02/01/2011, 12:23 PM

Amazing display + stand. Really enjoy the final look.

Manwolf

02/01/2011, 12:41 PM

wow that tank looks amazing!!!!

scalowagreef

02/07/2011, 07:48 PM

I'm definitely looking forward to seeing this tank mature.

sahin

02/19/2011, 05:59 PM

I'm definitely looking forward to seeing this tank mature.

wow that tank looks amazing!!!!

Thanks guys. Will post photos for you guys as soon as I can! :)

Update:

Tank is progressing well. Still have some diatoms, hair algae and a bit of dinoflagellates hanging around. I know there is phosphates coming out the new sand bed because the rocks and water are from my old tank and I didnt have any nutrient problems in the old tank. I should have the phosphates under control within a few months.

Coral Colours: One thing I felt that always lacked in my previous tanks was coral colours. Well not anymore! http://www.ultimatereef.net/forums/images/smilies/grin.gif

My coral colours are excellent! Even with the excess phosphates in the system colours are FAR better than I've ever had in a reef tank. I attribute this mainly to the LED/T5 Hybrid Lights.

Green: All green coloured corals are super green in the tank. I have 4 differant types of green coloured acros and all have very good colour.

Pink: I have a pink milli and a pink hysterix and both are doing well. The pink cultured milli initialy lose all its pink colour but has since started to colour up and is almost as pink as when I first got it. I think in 6 months time this pink milli will be one of my best coloured corals.

Blue: I have a few blue colured corals and they are holding their colour ok. Need to improve, but I'm sure once the phosphates reduce to near naturual levels, the blues will get better.

Purple: I have a purple acro frag and since it went into my tank from the LFS, the colour has improved a lot.

My computer is still not fixed and so I cannot post any photos yet, but I promise I will post something worth waiting for http://www.ultimatereef.net/forums/images/smilies/grin.gif I am taking photos at the moment, but cannot load them onto my computer.

I have added a Sander Ozoniser (model C25) to keep the water clarity in top condition. I run the ozoniser every few days for a few hours and the water turns cystal clear. I decided to use one entirely for this purpose and not for bacteria/pest control purposes. I believe having ultra clear water will provide the corals with as much light light as possible. No yellow water. In my last tank I use to notice the water yellowing if I missed a few water changes in a row.

I have noticed a few bubble algae appear and so bought an Emerald Crab today. As soon as he went into the tank he started to pick at the rocks...but he hasnt had the chance to go on the rocks with the bubble algae yet. So I will see how he does.

I managed to pick up an Acropora Gomezi frag which I'm pretty happy about. The LFS guy wasnt sure what it was and it wasnt in the best of colour or condition - sold it to me for cheap! http://www.ultimatereef.net/forums/images/smilies/grin.gif This is a lovely blue acro that looks very similar to the blue Tort. It has improved its colour since it went into my tank and the blue polpys have started to come out.

Overall, I cant wait for the tank to reach 6 months. I know that by then the tank will be mature enough to bring out the full coral colours

DML08

02/20/2011, 01:59 AM

Nice sahin, can't wait for pics...

sahin

03/07/2011, 04:56 PM

OK, I did promise some photos so here they are. Colours have been adjusted to reflect what can be seen in the tank. I do have a lot of "colour pop" due to the combo of 2xBlue+, 2xWhite, 1x Fiji Pink and the Blue LED's. However, even with the LED's off, the corals exhibit very good colour.

Here are the photos.

http://i685.photobucket.com/albums/vv217/Sahin_UK/Tank%20Photos%20March%202011/DSC_7287.jpg

http://i685.photobucket.com/albums/vv217/Sahin_UK/Tank%20Photos%20March%202011/DSC_7179.jpg

http://i685.photobucket.com/albums/vv217/Sahin_UK/Tank%20Photos%20March%202011/DSC_7207.jpg

http://i685.photobucket.com/albums/vv217/Sahin_UK/Tank%20Photos%20March%202011/DSC_7219.jpg

http://i685.photobucket.com/albums/vv217/Sahin_UK/Tank%20Photos%20March%202011/DSC_7239.jpg

http://i685.photobucket.com/albums/vv217/Sahin_UK/Tank%20Photos%20March%202011/DSC_7329.jpg

http://i685.photobucket.com/albums/vv217/Sahin_UK/Tank%20Photos%20March%202011/DSC_7333.jpg

http://i685.photobucket.com/albums/vv217/Sahin_UK/Tank%20Photos%20March%202011/DSC_7341.jpg

http://i685.photobucket.com/albums/vv217/Sahin_UK/Tank%20Photos%20March%202011/DSC_7342.jpg

http://i685.photobucket.com/albums/vv217/Sahin_UK/Tank%20Photos%20March%202011/DSC_7345.jpg

sahin

03/07/2011, 04:57 PM

http://i685.photobucket.com/albums/vv217/Sahin_UK/Tank%20Photos%20March%202011/DSC_7348.jpg

http://i685.photobucket.com/albums/vv217/Sahin_UK/Tank%20Photos%20March%202011/DSC_7356.jpg

http://i685.photobucket.com/albums/vv217/Sahin_UK/Tank%20Photos%20March%202011/DSC_7360.jpg

http://i685.photobucket.com/albums/vv217/Sahin_UK/Tank%20Photos%20March%202011/DSC_7365.jpg

http://i685.photobucket.com/albums/vv217/Sahin_UK/Tank%20Photos%20March%202011/DSC_7370.jpg

http://i685.photobucket.com/albums/vv217/Sahin_UK/Tank%20Photos%20March%202011/DSC_7371.jpg

http://i685.photobucket.com/albums/vv217/Sahin_UK/Tank%20Photos%20March%202011/DSC_7373.jpg

http://i685.photobucket.com/albums/vv217/Sahin_UK/Tank%20Photos%20March%202011/DSC_7374.jpg

http://i685.photobucket.com/albums/vv217/Sahin_UK/Tank%20Photos%20March%202011/DSC_7698.jpg

http://i685.photobucket.com/albums/vv217/Sahin_UK/Tank%20Photos%20March%202011/DSC_7705.jpg

sahin

03/07/2011, 04:57 PM

http://i685.photobucket.com/albums/vv217/Sahin_UK/Tank%20Photos%20March%202011/DSC_7717.jpg

http://i685.photobucket.com/albums/vv217/Sahin_UK/Tank%20Photos%20March%202011/DSC_7785.jpg

http://i685.photobucket.com/albums/vv217/Sahin_UK/Tank%20Photos%20March%202011/DSC_7283.jpg __________________

snaza

03/07/2011, 05:04 PM

Very Nice photos. Those colours are amazing

javajaws

03/07/2011, 05:26 PM

Now you're just showing off! Very nice. I like the minimalist amount of rock very much.

Did you say somewhere what the dimensions of your tank were?

How low do you have the waterline? I'm guessing about 2"...

What dosing method did you decide on?

And last question....is that Caribsea Seaflor?

Rodrigo_BG

03/07/2011, 05:52 PM

very good Sahin!

Denadai

03/07/2011, 06:12 PM

Very Nice !!!

The brown algae will vanish in a couple of weeks

Love the frags and the clams

Best Regards

DML08

03/07/2011, 10:42 PM

Wow.. Very well dont Sahin....

urbaneks

03/08/2011, 12:04 AM

Sahin, This looks outstanding! The colors you are getting are awesome. This is going to grow out into a amazing tank. I also thought this was an Elos as did one other person. I'm sure you get that quite a bit.

sahin

03/09/2011, 03:04 AM

Very Nice photos. Those colours are amazing
Thanks! I put a lot of thought into the equipment; particularly the lighting and it looks like its all paying off! :celeb2:

Now you're just showing off! Very nice. I like the minimalist amount of rock very much.

1. Did you say somewhere what the dimensions of your tank were?
2. How low do you have the waterline? I'm guessing about 2"...
3. What dosing method did you decide on?
4. And last question....is that Caribsea Seaflor?

Thanks for the compliment!

1. Dimensions: 30 Long x 20 Wide x 18 High
2. Waterline is just a little under 2"
3. I am dosing kalk and C-Balance two part for the moment
4. Yes, as far as I recall it is. There are small grains but a few larger grains too.

very good Sahin!
Thanks man, coming from you that means a lot.

Very Nice !!!
The brown algae will vanish in a couple of weeks
Love the frags and the clams
Best Regards
Same here, you guys are high calibre reefkeepers so if you say my tank looks nice, then it sure makes my day! :celeb2:

Wow.. Very well dont Sahin....
Thanks, now I just wish Sunny was still here to say he likes my tank! :spin3:

Sahin, This looks outstanding! The colors you are getting are awesome. This is going to grow out into a amazing tank. I also thought this was an Elos as did one other person. I'm sure you get that quite a bit.
Thanks man, yeah, a few people did think its an Elos.

iap

03/09/2011, 06:25 PM

Man those are awesome colors and love the scape of your rock work. Just all around a very clean build.

Bax

03/09/2011, 09:42 PM

Very nice tank! Your hybrid LED light is super!!!!

westreef

03/09/2011, 10:14 PM

Very beautiful tank with colorful SPS!
I also have a hybrid setup with 3 T5HO 54w overdriven by ICE Cap ballast. The bulbs are 2 blue plus and 1 purple plus. Then, close to the center, I have 2 rows of 12 Cree leds (12 cool white and 12 royal blue, separately). My SPS are about 12" away from the lights. I find this setup is very powerful, maybe too strong. I wish I had a par meter to measure it. Some of my SPS color up a bit, however, 2 of them begin to turn pale. The intensity is not maximum yet, 640mA for cool white and 700mA for royal blue.
My photo period is 12 hours for T5 and 7 hours with everything on.
I have to do something to save the two pale corals.
What is your photo period?

Eurobeaner

03/10/2011, 12:00 AM

http://i685.photobucket.com/albums/vv217/Sahin_UK/Tank%20Photos%20March%202011/DSC_7207.jpg

do you happen to know the name of this one? or if it even has one. i have one exactly like it but never got the name. thanks!

reef67

03/10/2011, 12:21 AM

It looks like purple bonsai acropora.

westreef

03/10/2011, 01:01 AM

It is GARF bonsai.

SPSEMPIRE

03/10/2011, 03:17 AM

very nice looking acros!

sahin

03/10/2011, 11:08 AM

Man those are awesome colors and love the scape of your rock work. Just all around a very clean build.
Thank you!

Very nice tank! Your hybrid LED light is super!!!
Thanks, I am pretty impressed with it too. :bounce1:

Very beautiful tank with colorful SPS!

I also have a hybrid setup with 3 T5HO 54w overdriven by ICE Cap ballast.

The bulbs are 2 blue plus and 1 purple plus. Then, close to the center, I have 2 rows of 12 Cree leds (12 cool white and 12 royal blue, separately).

My SPS are about 12" away from the lights. I find this setup is very powerful, maybe too strong. I wish I had a par meter to measure it.

Some of my SPS color up a bit, however, 2 of them begin to turn pale. The intensity is not maximum yet, 640mA for cool white and 700mA for royal blue.

My photo period is 12 hours for T5 and 7 hours with everything on.
I have to do something to save the two pale corals. What is your photo period?

Hi there, thank you for compliment. My light hangs about 6inches above the waterline. I asked Grimreefer for guidance on how high to hang the light (he is the resident T5 expert...and now pretty much dabbles with LED's too).

I modified my T5 tube wiring, so tubes 1,4 & 6 light up together, and 2 & 5 light up on a seperate connection.

1,4,6 tubes are Blue+, FijiPink, Blue+ and light up 9 hours.

2 & 5 are ATI AquablueSpecial and Arcadia 14K and light up 6.5 hours

LED's 20 Cree Royal Blue and 4 Blue @ 700mA run 7 hours.

Some of my corals initially bleached, but with the reduced hours they are fine.

The coral that bleached the most is still alive, but is bone white still with a slight shade of green. It continues to grow so I've left it where it is.

I too wish I had a PAR meter. I know for certain that the light unit I had is the most powerful light I've ever had on a reef tank. Even on the sand bed, this thing partially bleached my orange monti cap. A browned up ex-pink Seriatopra Hysterix sitting in the far edge of the tank on the sandbed got enough light to turn pink from brown. Under my previous 150w halide, the coral had to be right under the halide to get any shade of pink!

So, all in all, I'd say reduce your light hours and see how things go.

do you happen to know the name of this one? or if it even has one. i have one exactly like it but never got the name. thanks!
It looks like purple bonsai acropora.
It is GARF bonsai.
I dont think it is a GARF Bonsai. The GARF Bonsai has a very deep purple colour. I had the GARF Bonsai before (but lost it due to bloomin AEFW's).
This coral is a pale purple with a light tan/very light purple body. Whatever it is, I really like it.

very nice looking acros!
Thanks. :bounce1:

kangym

03/10/2011, 07:34 PM

Nice job!:thumbsup:

reefsurfing

03/10/2011, 10:36 PM

It is GARF bonsai.

Sahin ,FWIW, That is what my garf looks like when its getting to much light.

My friend; you have no shortage of lighting in your tank:inlove:

westreef

03/10/2011, 11:17 PM

Sahin ,FWIW, That is what my garf looks like when its getting to much light.

My friend; you have no shortage of lighting in your tank:inlove:

Thanks for confirming that my light is also too strong because my Garf is just like that.
I will try to reduce my photo period -- thanks Sahin for the suggestion. Maybe I can also replace a Blue Plus with Pure Actinic.:beer:

smtank

03/11/2011, 12:08 AM

It is just beautiful!!!!!

sahin

03/11/2011, 02:28 AM

Nice job!:thumbsup:
Thank you! :)
Sahin ,FWIW, That is what my garf looks like when its getting to much light.
My friend; you have no shortage of lighting in your tank:inlove:
Thanks...wow...I didnt think my lights were that powerful! I will raie my lights another couple of inches and see what happens.

Thanks for confirming that my light is also too strong because my Garf is just like that. I will try to reduce my photo period -- thanks Sahin for the suggestion.Maybe I can also replace a Blue Plus with Pure Actinic.:beer:
I have a Pure Actinic tube laying around...I tried it before, but once all the lights come on its effect is nil is terms of looks, but it does have some PAR I suppose.

It is just beautiful!!!!!
Many thanks.

Wow, all these nice comments just makes me want to take even better care of this tank...not that I am doing my best already haha.

Well people, I ordered a Tamron 90mm Macro lens...Watch this space...there is going to be some good macro shots coming soon.:inlove:

Johnny C

03/11/2011, 03:16 AM

Wow... Awesome build, that LED+T5 Combo = :inlove: Keep us updated!

westreef

03/11/2011, 09:25 AM

You already have excellent macro shots. What is this 90mm lens for?
Yes, the actinic bulb is just to reduce the par and might give better look for sunrise/sunset.:wave:

sahin

03/11/2011, 10:55 AM

Wow... Awesome build, that LED+T5 Combo = :inlove: Keep us updated!
I will definately keep this thread updated. This is my best setup in all my reefkeeping years and I want to see this tank mature for a good number of years.

You already have excellent macro shots. What is this 90mm lens for? Yes, the actinic bulb is just to reduce the par and might give better look for sunrise/sunset.:wave:
I just put in an Actinic tube is myself by taking out a Blue+. Appearance hasnt really changed at all.

Regarding the Tamron 90mm Macro: The photos I posted so far have been what is called "closeup" shots. They are nowhere near 1:1 representation. To get 1:1 ie for the subject to fill the full frame of the photo you need a true macro lens. With 1:1 magnification you dont need to crop etc to make the object in the photo appear larger.

Anyway, you'll see in a few weeks what I mean.

Meanwhile...I am going to post the tank video in a few moments. :fun2:

sahin

03/11/2011, 10:58 AM

Bello

03/11/2011, 11:33 AM

Your colors look awesome!!

sahin

03/11/2011, 11:37 AM

steevareno2002

03/11/2011, 12:50 PM

I love your tank! I had the same idea with a combo of T5 and LED so I came up with this: Aquatinics TX5 with 2 blue+ and a fiji purple; Reefbrite(Cree) Leds's one strip of white and one royal blue. I love the overall look and have a small amount of shimmer too. I'll def be following your thread...:wave:

westreef

03/11/2011, 03:10 PM

Sahin, I just love your tank video. I notice you have a frag glued sideway/upside down. Very interesting.

steevareno2002, I had the same T5 + Led combo as yours. Today I have replaced one of the Blue plus with pure actinic to reduce the intensity a bit. I have 2 frags got bleached. Others are doing good, even with some coloring up. I also reduced my photo period by one hour as of today. All my sps are about 12" from the light. This set up is very bright. Just wish I had a par meter.
Are your sps doing good? :wave:

sahin

03/11/2011, 03:38 PM

Westreef: Can you post a photo of your LED/T5 hybrid lights? I really like the T5/LED hybrid setup. I'd like to see how you've fitted it all together.

With T5 only, for me there is something missing. The light is too static...whereas halide has this metallic look to it. With T5 and LED I get awesome colours and that metallic look as well.

Thanks.

steevareno2002

03/11/2011, 05:09 PM

my SPS were doing great until i had a major outbreak of hair algae that choked everything out, so i'm restarting again...ughhh :( Wish i had a PAR meter too!

westreef

03/11/2011, 05:15 PM

This is my setup in pictures:
Two c-channels of 12 leds each. Left channel is cool white. Right channel is royal blue.
http://i1126.photobucket.com/albums/l610/westreef/wholeset.jpg
The gut of the control box -- 2 dimmable drivers and 10V supply.
http://i1126.photobucket.com/albums/l610/westreef/opencontrolbox.jpg
Mounted on canopy with T5
Front:
Blue Plus
Cool White
Purple Plus
Royal blue
Pure Actinic
http://i1126.photobucket.com/albums/l610/westreef/lightoff.jpg
Light on
http://i1126.photobucket.com/albums/l610/westreef/lighton.jpg
Control box in the cabinet
http://i1126.photobucket.com/albums/l610/westreef/controlbox.jpg
FTS, not very good in color representation -- not very good in photo taking skill!
http://i1126.photobucket.com/albums/l610/westreef/fts1.jpg

westreef

03/11/2011, 05:38 PM

my SPS were doing great until i had a major outbreak of hair algae that choked everything out, so i'm restarting again...ughhh :( Wish i had a PAR meter too!

Don't feel bad. I had my share last April when I removed my very old and dirty sandbed and thus caused algae and cyano outbreak. Now everything is under control, at least for now.:p

steevareno2002

03/11/2011, 05:50 PM

sahin

03/11/2011, 06:09 PM

Many thanks Westreef. I really like your build. Very clean DIY build. Excellent work!

Wow, I am running loads of watts over my 47G...now wonder some of my colours are surpreme whilst with other corals they are probably near bleaching!

Over your 75 you have 3xT5 + 24 LED's.

Over my 47 I have 5xT5 + 24 LED's tighly packed into clusters of 5 LED's as oppopsed to spread out like yours. I think my corals are being toasted. I really underestimated the output of this light. I wish I had a PAR meter to test the PAR out of my unit.

I have the lights 7" above the water line.

westreef

03/11/2011, 06:14 PM

Looks good! Do you get shimmer at all? I'm using the Reefbrite LEd's and they are only driven to 1.2 watts each so I don't think i get as much shimmer as i would if they were at the full 3watts, but who knows. How much did it cost you to do that mod? The reefbrites set me back $400! :eek1:

Yes I get shimmer, good enough for me to really love it. So far the intensity is not maximum yet. I am still working on the ramping up of the LEDs. I have to be very careful not to fry my coral. My LEDs are from Cree. All are 3 watts. I don't remember exactly how much I paid for the DIY LED set up. I got a LED kit costed me $235, $10 for c-channel from Lowes and some electronic component from Fry's. So I guess maybe around $270.:spin2:

sahin

03/11/2011, 06:27 PM

westreef

03/11/2011, 06:45 PM

I only get slight shimmer. I know if my lights were mounted up a little higher I would get better shimmer.

I am running my LED's at 700mA full blast...I estimate that based on the Vf at 700mA each LED is running around 2.45watts.

My lights are mounted 7" above water -- just like yours. I do have shimmer, but may not be as much as that of MH. However, I just love this level of shimmer, though.

I have 500mA through cool white and 700mA through royal blue. The maximum I plan to have are 1A and 750mA for cw and rb respectively.

I have this combo running for about a month. The T5 are overdriven by ICE Cap ballast and this combo is very bright. I still have to see if the coral are happy with it or not. As you know, I have 2 bleached coral. I am watching closely to see if my reduced photo period and replacement with actinic bulb would help or not.:bounce3:

ukrimless

03/12/2011, 05:50 PM

saltygeek

03/12/2011, 07:52 PM

Really nice:thumbsup: I'll be watching this one to see it grow out. Colors are great. I like the low profile of the rocks and it still has a nice arch/cave. Great job!

Rodrigo_BG

03/12/2011, 09:52 PM

Amazing video sahin, nice frags!!

Tony B (UK)

03/13/2011, 05:12 AM

Hi Sahin,

Lovely looking set up, great attention to detail.

You have very good colours on your sps, those hybrid lights look great. :)

Regards,

Tony

sahin

03/13/2011, 11:49 AM

Sahin
Love the pictures mate, I spot a few of the frags you had from me, colours are better than you described:eek2:, the pink hyacinthis is stunning, if you want to trade it for some smaller colonies, you can take your pick from my collection, blue tort has your name on it, and the setosa is starting to send off shoots for fragging. Very keen to join the led bregade, I would be more than happy to have you build me a nice single strip unit.
Catch up soon, I will be watching out for updates.
Well done mate you are a credit to the UK reefkeeping clan :dance:
Thanks mate, that is a very nice compliment. :beer: I've PM'd you via UR.

Really nice:thumbsup: I'll be watching this one to see it grow out. Colors are great. I like the low profile of the rocks and it still has a nice arch/cave. Great job!
Thank you. :beer:
Amazing video sahin, nice frags!!
Glad you liked the video. Going to work hard on making this tank something special.

Hi Sahin,
Lovely looking set up, great attention to detail.
You have very good colours on your sps, those hybrid lights look great. :)
Regards, Tony
Thank you Tony. You have a beautiful tank yourself with many beautiful and colourful corals.

Its nice to get compliments from all of you top reefkeepers. :celeb1:

rburns24

03/20/2011, 01:52 AM

kaserpick

03/20/2011, 04:06 PM

Gorgeous setup, Sahin! You've put some serious thought into this design. :) It's already stunning; the execution is top-notch. I can't imagine what it'll look like in 6 months...Aaaamazing! :thumbsup:

Please, continue to keep us updated. :D

clowndude

03/21/2011, 10:40 PM

Stunning looking tank. Wish I could see this one in person. Because I bet it's something. You have all the right equipment to be successful. Tell me your secret to getting those awesome looking colors? Keep up the nice work.

sahin

03/22/2011, 04:33 AM

sahin, you have a wonderful tank. Also, the picture that you put up of your lights reflecting over the water taught me alot about t5s, without any effort on my part. Once again, very nice tank. All the best.
Thank you for the compliment.

Gorgeous setup, Sahin! You've put some serious thought into this design. :) It's already stunning; the execution is top-notch. I can't imagine what it'll look like in 6 months...Aaaamazing! :thumbsup:
Please, continue to keep us updated. :D
Hi there man, thanks for the really nice compliment. I can't wait for this tank to mature.

Stunning looking tank. Wish I could see this one in person. Because I bet it's something. You have all the right equipment to be successful. Tell me your secret to getting those awesome looking colors? Keep up the nice work.
Thanks.

I attribute the good colour due to the following:

1. T5/LED lighting. We know by now that T5 lighting provide awesome coral colour. With LED I am able to add more PAR to the over effect and enhance the colour and fluorescence even more.

2. Strong skimmer.

3. Good water flow.

4. Crystal clear water. I use carbon and Ozone to maintain clear water clarity.

5. STABLE water parameter: mainly Ca and Alk.

6. Low nutrients.

westreef

03/22/2011, 12:27 PM

I totally agree.
I would like to add that it is a lot easier to change T5 bulbs to the color you like. There are numerous different tubes you could choose from. Of course the drawbacks are slightly higher temperature, higher wattage and needed to replace the tubes about every 8 months.
I just went to lfs and compared the shimmer of their MH tank. I found without the T5 on, I had more shimmer than that of their MH. I think the lenses might have something to do with it. However, when the T5s turned on the shimmer is reduced. I wonder if you have the same experience. I still love this level of shimmer -- just right.
I also have just installed RKL controller with ALC module which control all my lights with dimming capability for my DIY LEDs. I just love it. :fish1:

sahin

03/26/2011, 12:54 PM

Bad news. I lent my TDS meter to someone and so I wasn't able to periodically measure the TDS of my RO/DI to check when to replace various bits.... I noticed a sudden explosion of hair algae and other macro algae too. Thinking this was just a normal part of the process I didn't check the water. I then had a big invasion of Cyannobacteria take over the sand bed. The cyanno then started to encroach onto some corals and even coral tips.

It was only then that I realised I hadnt checked the RO/DI water. Once measured I found I had a TDS reading of over 50!!!

I started to carry out lots of water changes once I had sorted the RO unit out. But I couldn't get rid of the cyanno. I searched and cautiously decided to use Boyd's CHEMICLEAN. The stuff worked perfectly and I didn't had any problems.

I am now doing 20% water changes twice a week to bring the water quality back up. Most of the SPS corals have browned out! :(

DML08

03/26/2011, 01:11 PM

Sorry to hear this Sahin..

westreef

03/26/2011, 03:56 PM

Very sorry to hear that Sahin. I just got rid of most of the cyano recently without the use of chemical. Lucky me. I still see very tiny bit here and there. But it doesn't bother me and the corals.

Denadai

03/27/2011, 09:58 AM

Sahin,

Every new tank has algae, it´s normal

We have to have patience , and normally after a couple of weeks or maybe a month, the algae will vanish

I don´t like to add medicine in the tank

Good luck

Best Regards

sahin

03/27/2011, 11:39 AM

Sahin, Every new tank has algae, it´s normal
We have to have patience , and normally after a couple of weeks or maybe a month, the algae will vanish. I don´t like to add medicine in the tank
Good luck. Best Regards

Denadai, Ive never used chemicals in a reef tank before and this is my 4th reef setup. I had to use it because the Cyanno was affecting my SPS corals and I didn't want to lose any corals.

westreef

05/07/2011, 12:42 PM

Sahin,
Any update? How do you like the hybrid light system so far?

sahin

05/07/2011, 02:27 PM

Hi there.

Lights: I am very happy with the lights. No negatives with regards the lights whatsoever. The hybrid light is VERY POWERFUL and I get very good colours on the corals. At the moment I am experimenting with various tubes...I am aiming to get a sort of Radium 20K + VHO Actinic look - any ideas?

However, I am battling excess nutrients in the tank. And I know what is causing it. I used Livesand (the stuff in the wet bags that claim live bacteria are present in the bag/sand). I dont remember why I used it but it is causing lots of algae problems. My rocks are fine and there is no algae growing on the rocks, this makes sense because the rocks were from my old tank that had reached low nutrient levels. So the only thing to contribute to the algae issue is the sand. I've been running GFO in a reactor for the past few weeks but so far there hasnt been any improvement.

Also, the because of the algae growing on the surface of the sand, it is causing the sand to compact which isnt good at all.

I am thinking of getting all the sand out slowly and then introducing a larger grain sized sand. But I will wash the new sand thoroughly and test for phosphates before introducing into the tank.

westreef

05/07/2011, 04:12 PM

I don't have any idea how to get to 20K kind of look. I have 12 cw and 12 rb led together with 1 purple plus, 2 blue plus over driven tubes. It is not bad, but I wish it could be a little bluer. Maybe next project is to add more rb to the system. Corals are doing fine though.
I had DSB before and had a crash a year ago because I stirred up all the junks from cleaning the sand bed. Now I have a very shallow, less than 1/2 inch thick of Caribsea Seaflor grade reef sand which is large enough not to be kicked up by the circulating pumps. This thin layer of sand is just for the look.
My rocks are more than 10 years old. And previously, the nutrient in the tank was high because I was keeping softies and large stoney corals. Only recently, less than a year, I started paying more attention to the nutrient level because I wanted to keep SPS. My nitrate is 0.2ppm and PO4 is 0.03ppm. I think the GFO and GAC are doing a good job. Even the SPS is doing fine, I believe the rocks are still leaching the junk out of them because the rocks are covered by very fine green algae and my two big tangs are keeping the algae in check.:fish1:

coralreefdoc

05/08/2011, 12:09 PM

Sahin

A combination I came across of 4 Blue + and a Fiji Purple that was centered in the mix produced a 20k look, IMO

sahin

05/08/2011, 12:16 PM

Sahin

A combination I came across of 4 Blue + and a Fiji Purple that was centered in the mix produced a 20k look, IMO

Thank you for the suggestion. Appreciate it. ;)

coralreefdoc

05/08/2011, 03:23 PM

No worries. Keep me updated on how it works out for you

chrischin29g

05/09/2011, 01:16 PM

Man millis looks EXTRA nice awesome colors and PE!

So you get better color with t5 then mh?

jbanks

05/22/2011, 06:14 PM

Fantastic job Sahin! Simply beautiful!

sahin

06/02/2011, 03:42 PM

No worries. Keep me updated on how it works out for you
See my post after this one.

Man millis looks EXTRA nice awesome colors and PE!
So you get better color with t5 then mh?
I hope so. :)

Fantastic job Sahin! Simply beautiful!
Thanks man, means a lot coming from reefkeepers of your calibre.

sahin

06/02/2011, 03:44 PM

OK, here are the PAR measurements of my ATI Sunpower HYBRID 5x24watt T5 and 24 Cree LED's @ 700mA (approx 60watts). 20 of the LED's have 80degree lens, the remaining 4 have 60degree lens.

The tank is 18" tall, 30" long and 20" front to back. The water height is 16" from top of sand to water surface.

Excuse the bad quality of the photo. For some silly reason I took the photo at an angle, but here goes:
http://i685.photobucket.com/albums/vv217/Sahin_UK/DSC_9719.jpg

Some notes about the various numbers:

1. PAR measurements were made using the Apogee MQ-200 PAR Quantum meter. This meter underreads the PAR from narrow spectrum LED's (mainly in the blue section) by around 10-20%, so my PAR levels are probably a fair bit higher.

2. The T5 tubes, bar the actinic tube, are about 5 months old. When I put in new tubes I expect the PAR levels to increase slightly.

3. The light unit is suspended 7.5" above the waters surface. If I mount it lower, PAR levels get too high causing bleaching due to photoinhibition.

4. Numbers in RED are PAR readings on the SAND. The 175, 265,175 are right against the FRONT glass. 175's are in the extreme corners. The 390-A is the PAR in the centre of the tank on the sand bed.

5. PAR levels 1" below the unit are in excess of 2500!!!

6. PAR numbers just below the surface of the water is around 1100!

I am extremely impressed with this light modification. Since the purchase of the PAR meter, I have been looking at various PAR measurements carried out by other hobbyists and it appears that the PAR levels are in similar range to 400watt halide systems. All in all, I am very happy with the PAR levels and the possibility of supplying very good spectral quality via the use of various T5 tube combinations.

The unit has the following T5 Tubes/LED front to back:

Front:
ATI Blue+
ATI AquaBlue Special
Cree XR-E LED's: 20 x Royal Blue + 4 x Blue
KZ FijiPink
Arcadia 420nm 03 Actinic
ATI Blue+

The actual look of the tank is not as blue as the photo. It is a very nice 20K look.

Not content with modding my ATI Sunpower with high power LED's I decided to add LED "moonlights" as well:
http://i685.photobucket.com/albums/vv217/Sahin_UK/DSC_5806.jpg

A shot showing the "moonlights" in use:
http://i685.photobucket.com/albums/vv217/Sahin_UK/DSC_5811.jpg

westreef

06/02/2011, 09:18 PM

Very nice Sahin. The par numbers are very impressive. I just wish I had a par meter to check mine. Thanks for sharing. :wave:

Dynamic_Reef

06/02/2011, 10:52 PM

awsome setup sashin! I have always been a skeptic on LED tanks however your combo of t-5 and LED is starting to make me see the Light! :D please keep us posted will be tagging along cant wait to see this tank in 6 months! Great job!

sahin

06/03/2011, 02:09 AM

Very nice Sahin. The par numbers are very impressive. I just wish I had a par meter to check mine. Thanks for sharing. :wave:

Thanks. You know, if you are in the hobby for the long term, I believe a PAR meter is just as useful to have as many of the other items in the hobby.

As soon as I finished this mod, I knew my PAR numbers would be as high as if not better than 250w halide systems. But, without the PAR meter it was an estimate. My younger bro saw the light and thought it looked less powerful than the light output from my JBJ 28G 150watt halide setup! :wildone:

I told him that our eyes are deceiving and yellow/white light looks brighter to us than bluer light.

I'm so happy with this mod. I have PAR thats in the range of 400w 20K halide systems with less than 180watts in this unit. The light spread is excellent too. I got 175 PAR in the bottom corners of my tank!

awsome setup sashin! I have always been a skeptic on LED tanks however your combo of t-5 and LED is starting to make me see the Light! :D please keep us posted will be tagging along cant wait to see this tank in 6 months! Great job!

I am so looking forward to seeing this tank progress another 6 months.
Thanks! :D

Denadai

06/03/2011, 07:16 PM

Very nice Sahin

Did you change the aquascape ?

Best Regards

sahin

06/04/2011, 08:10 AM

Very nice Sahin

Did you change the aquascape ?

Best Regards

Thank you my friend for the compliment.

Yes, I changed the rockwork, infact added more rocks due to two reasons:

1. More rockwork = more places for fishy homes.

2. More area to add the SPS gems :spin1:

This rockwork is final though.

kaserpick

06/04/2011, 08:27 PM

Looking great, Sahin! It looks like the algae problems are in the past. :thumbsup:

The new 'scape looks nice; this thing is going to be an absolute rocker!

sahin

06/05/2011, 04:33 AM

Looking great, Sahin! It looks like the algae problems are in the past. :thumbsup:

The new 'scape looks nice; this thing is going to be an absolute rocker!

Thanks for the compliment Kasey. The algae problems on the sand bed was causing me so much headache :headwallblue: I just couldnt work out why it was so persistent etc. I never used bagged LiveSand before. And so I just took it all out and used plain Caribsea sand which I was thoroughly in RO water. Its been a few weeks and I dont have the algae issues on the sandbed.

I'll never use packaged LiveSand again.

kaserpick

06/05/2011, 01:26 PM

sahin

06/05/2011, 03:44 PM

I'm glad you're posting your experience with the bagged LS; I have an unopened bag that I bought recently for my tank. But, after reading this, I'm wondering if it would be better for me to take it back to my LFS and opt for the dry stuff.

Again, looking great and please continue keeping us up to date! :D

If you read the Zeo forum, you'll find that they advise not to get bagged Livesand; they even go as far as to state that you will get algae problems.

It makes sense to me because you have no idea where the sand was collected and what debris/seaweed/tiny bits of abraded driftwood etc etc and other coastal material. I bet they dont rinse the sand out until its free of those things. They then probably add some form of bacterial culture and a source of food for the bacteria to keep the bacteria alive.

I used to retain stock bacterial cultures in small vials for my university biolab. Every 6 weeks we had to refresh the vials.

Imagine in a airtight bag, sand, water (and stuff I mentioned above), how long can the stuff really stay alive?

Also, temperature at the LFS probably kills off the bacteria in a matter of weeks...

I honestly should have known better. But, having said that I did make this thread and ask about how to get the cleanest sand:
http://www.reefcentral.com/forums/showthread.php?t=1923300

If I were you, I'd do the following in ALL future tank setups:

1. SAND: Use dry sand. Wash the heck out of it with plenty of RO water. Once you are sure it is washed quite well, put all of it in a vat of RO/DI water. Test for phosphates. If its leaching anything higher than 0.03ppm just do a quick rinse and replace all the RO/DI water again. This will ensure the sand is more or less free of crap that can later cause problems.

2. ROCKS: Regardless of where the rocks come from ie completely fresh Liverock or cured Liverock etc, I'd store the rocks in a vat for two weeks. During those two weeks every 3 days I'd setup at least 3 buckets of saltwater. Scrub and inspect the rocks for pest. Then dunk/swish the rock in 1st bucket them 2nd and 3rd etc. You will be amazed at the amount of detritus that comes out.

3. TANK CYCLE: Once the rocks and sand have been cleaned as above, place both in tank as required. Test the water for nitrates and ESPECIALLY phosphates. Use aggressive Carbon dosing (ie Vodka etc) to drop Nitrate to less than 5ppm and Phosphate to less than 0.03ppm. If the vodka dosing system become nitrates limited and you cant get phosphates lower then use GFO aggressively.

With no corals in the tank, aggressive vodka/GFO dosing isnt going to cause RTN etc.

Once those parameters are good, then carry out a few large water changes, test alk, ca etc etc and add a fish or two and a few hardy SPS frags.

In any future tank setups I will follow something similar to above. Currently I am on my 4th reef setup and I wish I'd done this for this tank. But certainly I will never setup a future tank without doing the above.

kaserpick

06/05/2011, 06:42 PM

dvanacker

06/05/2011, 07:07 PM

Just read the whole thread....can't believe I missed this one. Top notch job Sahin!

sahin

06/06/2011, 10:25 AM

Sounds like a good plan. Thanks for the advice, Sahin! :)

Here's my current plan:

-I'm using DIY rock from portland cement. It's cured for over 5 weeks now and will continue to cure for at least another week.

-I'm going to exchange my bag of 'LS' for dry sand that will be thoroughly rinsed, and allowed to cure for a week with a few RODI WC's.

-Lastly, once salt, rock and sand are in the system, I'll end up letting the system set for the greater part of the summer (around 6-8 weeks). During this time, I'll be dosing bacteria and carbon. After the initial 6-8 weeks, I'll add fish and start running my light for 4 hours and ramp up to 7 over a couple of weeks.

In the end, I expect a stable tank, free from pests and very little algae. Sorry to de-rail the thread. :p Thanks again for the advice. :thumbsup:

Thats an awesome plan, and its more or less what I have in mind for any furture tanks; you got the right idea - LOL dont great minds think alike? :thumbsup:

When you dose the bacteria and carbon you can go super strength whilst there is no livestock. This will cause a massive milky bacterial bloom. Just ensure you have your skimmer ready and keep an eye on it several times a day. In six weeks if you follow your plan out fully I cannot see why you wont achieve a low nutrient level in that time frame.

PS you dont need to applogise about derailing my thread. I quite like build threads and enjoy participating.

Lastly, before you introduce stock just remember to do a few large water changes as the aggressive carbon dosing will have pulled out a lot of trace elements and other things from the water. Essentially get the water parameters to NSW values etc etc.

kaserpick

06/06/2011, 03:19 PM

Lastly, before you introduce stock just remember to do a few large water changes as the aggressive carbon dosing will have pulled out a lot of trace elements and other things from the water. Essentially get the water parameters to NSW values etc etc.

That's a great point; thanks for the advice! :)

tahiriqbal

06/06/2011, 04:42 PM

Masha-Allah very nice setup. All the best and tagging along.

Tahir

allsps40

06/06/2011, 07:02 PM

Very nice. Came along quickly. Cool light setup. Not many would want to cut up a new ATI fixture.

agcneves

06/07/2011, 05:28 PM

Hello Sahin!
I very liked the new position the rocks.
The lights are so Cool.
One I hug and congratulations!
:thumbsup::thumbsup::thumbsup:

sahin

06/08/2011, 11:13 AM

Just read the whole thread....can't believe I missed this one. Top notch job Sahin!
Wow, thats real nice coming from a top reefkeeper like you! Thanks :thumbsup:

Masha-Allah very nice setup. All the best and tagging along. Tahir
Thank you. I hope this tank will look something special in a years time.

Very nice. Came along quickly. Cool light setup. Not many would want to cut up a new ATI fixture.
Haha, yeah, it wasnt exactly new...was a faulty unit at less than half price...a repair job took less than 20 mins and I thought hmmm...now a LED's and T5 combined should go really nicely :crazy1:

Hello Sahin! I very liked the new position the rocks. The lights are so Cool. One I hug and congratulations!
:thumbsup::thumbsup::thumbsup:

Thank you! Its nice to get all these compliments lol :dance:

Small update:

Tested parameters today, Phosphate is around 0.012ppm, Nitrate undetectable, Calcium 420, Alk 6 (!!!) and Mg 1230. Must sort those two out. At the moment I am still dosing C-Balance, but I think I will order Fauna Marin Balling lite by the end of the month. I still have one pack of C-Balance to go through.

Coral colours are returning slowly. Some corals have already coloured up, but a few still need some time. The maricultured Hyacinthus is a browny pink and is having a hard time colouring up. Greens and the blues are doing really well. I guess I just have to give the tank time to mature.

ccalabro

06/08/2011, 11:48 AM

your tank is lovely.

R33f3r

06/08/2011, 12:11 PM

Sahin, great looking sps! How often do you change your T5's?

sahin

06/08/2011, 03:34 PM

your tank is lovely.

Sahin, great looking sps! How often do you change your T5's?

Thank you both for the compliments.

THe tank is just under 6 months old and the T5 tubes are about 5 months old, so I am not looking to change them out until after the tubes are at least 10 months old. I will measure the PAR and see how much loss there is, and decide on that.

Acrotrdco

06/09/2011, 01:46 AM

Any updates Sahin?

Interested to see how your frags' been doing :)

Western_reefer

06/30/2011, 06:16 PM

Subscribed! :)

Mike de Leon

06/30/2011, 06:50 PM

+++

rkaires

06/30/2011, 07:09 PM

Excellent build sahin. Your corals look awesome.

sahin

07/01/2011, 12:32 PM

Any updates Sahin?
Interested to see how your frags' been doing :)
I will do full update in about 2 months time. I just need the corals to grow out a bit more and colour up a little more too.

Subscribed! :)
+++
LOL Thanks.

Excellent build sahin. Your corals look awesome.
Thank you. :)

Reef_Noob

07/04/2011, 04:07 PM

Hi Sahin,

Congrats on your excellent build...and your husbandry skills speak for themselves....

I am in process of a new build and your build thead has given me lots of insight and pointers which i am gonna keep in mind as my build progresses...

Hmmmm regarding the sand being used, seems there are two schools of thought here ....

This is a good topic for further discussion and maybe someone should do a study to find out if:
- live sand adds phosphates to the tank?
- whether bagged sand has a definite advantage over live sand?
- will rinsing bagged sand several times necessarily voids it of any phosphates or not?

Many have overlooked the possibility of phosphates being added to the tank via the sand being used....but guess we are not 100% sure if it is true,,,,

Good luck to ya and great reefing times....:thumbsup:

P.S. Please do take a look at my build, and welcoming suggestions from you please do rate....

:wavehand:

westreef

07/17/2011, 09:34 AM

Hi Sahin,
I finally got a par meter ,MQ200, and did some measurement.
There are 3 48" T5 overdriven by ICE CAP.
Light array:
Front
Blue Plus -- new
Mixed cw, rb and nw (12 3W leds)
Purple Plus -- new
Rb (12 3W leds)
Blue Plus -- 4 months old

I have modified the cw strip so that now I have 6 royal blues, 3 neutral whites and 3 cool whites.
All leds have optics of 60 degrees.
The lights are 8" above water surface in a canopy.
The par values are not as good as yours but maybe good enough for my mix reef.
The par for 5" below lamps, above water is around 980 in the center.
2" below water surface is about 580.

http://i1126.photobucket.com/albums/l610/westreef/PAR71611.jpg

westreef

07/17/2011, 10:47 PM

Sorry, I did not realize that the numbers were so small. So I have edited it for easier viewing.

http://i1126.photobucket.com/albums/l610/westreef/par71611-1.jpg

sahin

07/18/2011, 04:47 AM

Thanks for posting. Your tank is beautiful. Your PAR numbers are very very good. Excellent work on your build.

- from iPhone.

mjoyce

07/18/2011, 10:04 AM

Love the tank, reminds me of Isla Escondido's old tank (only smaller). I look forward to seeing the progress!

westreef

07/18/2011, 11:33 AM

Sahin,
Thanks for the encouragement! Wish my corals are as good looking as yours.

Bernie

clowndude

08/15/2011, 12:36 AM

Hi Sahin,

Any updates on the tank? Would love to see some more pictures :-)

sahin

08/15/2011, 11:07 AM

Hi Sahin,

Any updates on the tank? Would love to see some more pictures :-)

Hi there Nick, in answer to the above and your PM, here is the latest on my tank:

Dinoflagellates:

Thats right. Its made my tank very unisghtly. Looks ugly, and one or two corals are affected. The sand bed is completely ruined and its taking over the rocks too. The past few months or so I have been at battle with this and I am so frustrated.

I have over 10 years reefkeeping experiance. This is my 4th reef tank. I thought I could deal with anything reef related and always be the victor...

But no...:sad1:

I have tried the following:

1. Lights out for 7 days. It looked liked it all died...but it began to come back from death after a few days. My SPS turned pale, but none died.

2. Dosed Hydrogen Peroxide. I dosed much higher than others, but it wouldnt die. Caused some SPS to turn brown. :headwallblue:

3. I tried lights out again for 5 days. Didnt work.

4. I tried raising the pH to 8.4 like it says in Randys article. Didnt work.

5. I have zero nitrates and phosphates range around 0.019ppm (as measured by Hanna ULR meter).

6. I am running 500ml of Phosphate remover in a reactor.

7. I tried to run Chaeto in the sump...Dinos started to grow on the Chaeto. :headwalls:

I tried essentially all the usual things as well as reading Randys article and doing what I can from that. Nothing worked. I then doubted and thought maybe I have Cyanno and dosed Chemiclean (which I know from previous experiance that it does work very well with Cyanno).

Obviously the chemiclean didnt have any effect. So I then bought Fauna Marin Ultra Algae X, and dosed my first dose last night after getting proper instructions from Claude Schumacher (spelling?), the owner of Fauna Marin.

I have just got home from work and it looks like it might be working, but its too early to tell with any great confidence.

All of this has had a big impact on my SPS. Many are browned out. Others are just pale.

FWIW, even with over 10 years reefkeeping experiance, having dealt with AEFW's twice, regular flatworms, Cyanno, hair algae, etc etc etc, I have so far failed to put any significant longer term dent in the Dinoflagellates.

If the Ultra Algae X doesnt work, then I have to concede defeat, frag all my SPS above the base and restart the tank completely with new rocks and sand.

IF all goes well, and I can get the tank in good shape without having to restart the tank, I will post updated photos in 3 months time.

westreef

08/15/2011, 11:22 AM

Hi Sahin,
So sorry to hear your problem with your tank. Don't give up. The reef tank is very resilient. With your experience, you will make it.
I can never get rid of my cyano either, which cover a little bit of my sand and a little area of my rock. But it is tolerable especially, if I skim very wet and feed less (like if I have 4-day short vacation away from home), the cyano reduce significantly. I know yours is not cyano but you shall overcome!

Cheer,
Bernie:wavehand:

kaserpick

08/15/2011, 11:41 AM

Sorry to hear about that, Sahin. Like mentioned already, with your experience and patience, you'll beat it! Just keep at it, and try to keep things stable for the sake of your corals.

sahin

08/20/2011, 05:25 AM

I am pleased to report that the Ultra Algae X has worked. This morning I cannot find traces of the Dinos even the dead bits that were stuck on one corals tips are gone. Tank looks wonderfully clean and the remaining sand looks very white.

I realise that the Dinos may reappear slightly but at least I know I can dose a bit more of the Ultra Algae X to deal with it.

FWIW I have realised that I am not even cleaning my glass in well over a week at a time, so the nutrient level in my tank must be very low. My Phosphate level hovers around 0.02ppm or lower.

Even though the inorganic phosphate test showed 0.02ppm for the past few months, I am certain that phosphorus was still present in high levels in the form bound organically.

Hopefully in the coming months the SPS will recover thier colours and I can be happy enough to post some photos. ;)

Western_reefer

08/20/2011, 11:44 AM

Any update pictures/FTS?:)

Rodrigo_BG

08/20/2011, 01:58 PM

D'espresso

08/24/2011, 06:59 PM

new FTS? i love this setup!

DML08

08/24/2011, 07:38 PM

Hi Sahin, good news that to you are winning the battle. Just to let you know that I vanished all my dino's with silicate removal resins (use rowa), double dosage and clean up crew. Fill your tank with clean up crew, stop WC, check your RO/DI unit with silicate and phosphate test kits (or a good tds) and change rowa every two weeks. Dinoflagellates basically needs silicate in order to survive. A good skimmer is also important with these kind of algaes. Make sure your skimmer is sufficient and is working properly.

before you aks, pics will come as soon as I have a new camera! lol

best wishes
Hi Sahin.. I'm gonna have to agree with Rodrigo, I had the same algae issue on my 115, and tried everything to get rid of it.. nothing worked.. turns out my RODI unit was shot.. I got me a new one about a week ago and just after 3 days of using its water the algae is dyeing off.. Good luck man, and keep us posted..

purplereef

10/04/2011, 09:00 AM

Updates? Full tank shot please.

stpatrick

10/05/2011, 12:42 AM

Great build

sahin

10/05/2011, 12:15 PM

I am on the verge of resetting my tank. Due to Dinos and Vermetid Snails/Worms all over the rocks etc, I think getting new rocks and restarting the tank is the best option for me.

My wife is currently in the USA and will bring back 35lbs of Marco Rocks for me.

It may be months, but I will update with some photos at a suitable point.

kaserpick

10/08/2011, 11:52 PM

I feel your pain, Sahin. I'm currently resetting my tank due to Dino's as well. :rolleyes: I tried Algea X; unfortunately, it didn't work for me.

BUT, this is a chance to improve, a way to make the system even better, right? :) I'm currently building a larger/better sump with reactors and ATO. It's something that I wanted to do, but I always had an excuse not to do it. Now, there's no excuse.

Be encouraged by a fresh outlook! :thumbsup:

austin93

10/22/2011, 08:22 PM

sahin

10/23/2011, 06:24 AM

So what happened with the algae x? I had hopes for you and all those other people out there with dinos that this would be a possible cure. Please elaborate as I have recently restarted my tank, only to find that these things have returned. I am now thinking bleach would be a great way to fix these rocks. Same with the sand. Has this dino crap been a reefing problem for years or is it a new issue? I see it as a very common problem these days.

The AlageX works. But whether it works to eliminate Dinos permanantely I dont know.

I have two Maxima clams. They were both fine. I've had them for over two years and they are still in excellent health.

I stopped the Algae X when the Dinos vanished. But after a while they returned. Once again, they are on the sandbed. Previously Dinos started growing on the rocks ONLY when thier growth got REALLY bad.

I dont know why they prefer the sand bed. The sand is from the same bag I used with my nano tank which never got Dinos.

In any event, I made the decision to go with a bare bottom tank with new rocks. The decision to reset was made not only due to the Dinos, but also due to:

1. Vermated snails/worms. I have thousands of these in my tank. Again, in my nano tank with the same rocks, thier growth was mnimal, in this tank, their populations exploded. I just dont know why. But they look ugly to me and my rocks look all prickly with spines.

2. Aiptasia. I dont have too many; thier population is only 6 or so and they havent really increased thier numbers. But again sometimes something triggers these things off and they increase numbers.

So, I am getting Key Largo Marco Rocks from the USA to the UK. My wife is in NY as I write, and Marco has sent a box of Key Largo Rocks to NY, my wife will bring this back with her hopefully on Tuesday.

I am going to strip down the whole tank, frag my corals, dip the frags in Revive and then place in my brothers tank for a few months.

I plan to run the tank without light, for 2 months and let the biological system develope. After that I will introduce actinic light whilst keeping a close eye on nitrates and phosphates. Only the parameters are stable, I will reintroduce my SPS corals.

Before I even place the rocks into the tank, I am going to scrub and wash everything in diluted bleach and then vinegar to kill all the vermated snails/worms and also kill off all the traces of Dinos.

IF the Dinos come back with fresh rocks, no sand and months of hard work then I have no choice but to leave the hobby.

This tank is the best I have had so far in terms of equipment and automation of parameters, and has had the most amount of money put in to make sure the SPs corals get the best of thier requirements, so it really is a downer when Dinos come along and ruin everything.

I will also completely renew the parts of my RO/DI unit as well just to eliminate all possible issues. In any event I get 0 TDS values out of my RODI unit.

austin93

10/23/2011, 12:07 PM

Did u make any changes after finishing algae x? If not for the other issues would you consider another round of it?

kaserpick

10/23/2011, 03:36 PM

Sahin, did you ever try using anything like ROWA phos? I've heard from a few threads that it's thought to be fueled from Silica, and I know ROWA phos is suppose to reduce silica in the aquarium. I just wanted to know what your thoughts were on that topic.

I'm getting ready to start my system again; I still have acans that have made it with minimal lighting, but they need more light soon. I'm wondering if running the ROWAphos (for silica reduction) and kalkwasser (for higher and stable pH) will help prevent future returns. The extended lights out that I did worked for killing them, but they killed my SPS before they went.

Anyway, I'm sorry for the ramble. I hope everything works out well for you. :thumbsup: I would hate to see you leave the hobby. Like I mentioned before, your system design is top-notch.

westreef

10/23/2011, 05:18 PM

Hi Sahin,
Sorry to hear the problem. Hope your new rocks work for you. I heard it would kill all organism if you baked the rocks at high temperature before putting them in. Please don't give up this hobby you love! You will be doing fine.

Cheer!

pulit

10/24/2011, 01:16 PM

nice tank , very clean . great job

hddtran

11/03/2011, 07:14 AM

really nice tank you have there.
I like the size of that tank.

chrishayes

11/03/2011, 10:16 AM

Any updates? Is your wife back with your rocks? I bet she had some weird looks at check in!

adamd80

11/05/2011, 03:17 PM

Hi sahin. You tank looks great. I see in one of your pictures you had some algea/cyno on your sandbed. How did you get rid of it? I've been trying to get rid of some algea for a bit now and its not going away.

sahin

11/05/2011, 04:30 PM

Did u make any changes after finishing algae x? If not for the other issues would you consider another round of it?
I didnt make any changes, other than to start increasing the light hours. If it werent for the other issues, yes, I would have given the AlgaeX another go. Claude mentioned that the Dinos may come back slightly, but that you ought to resume dosing again. But I thought what the heck, I might as well reset the whole system.

Sahin, did you ever try using anything like ROWA phos? I've heard from a few threads that it's thought to be fueled from Silica, and I know ROWA phos is suppose to reduce silica in the aquarium. I just wanted to know what your thoughts were on that topic.

I'm getting ready to start my system again; I still have acans that have made it with minimal lighting, but they need more light soon. I'm wondering if running the ROWAphos (for silica reduction) and kalkwasser (for higher and stable pH) will help prevent future returns. The extended lights out that I did worked for killing them, but they killed my SPS before they went.

Anyway, I'm sorry for the ramble. I hope everything works out well for you. :thumbsup: I would hate to see you leave the hobby. Like I mentioned before, your system design is top-notch.

Kasey,

I have always used Rowa, but started to use another product a year or so back. To the best of my knowledge most iron based phosphate removers work similar?

Having said that, some of my previous tanks didnt even run any phosphate remover and were fine! :headwalls:

Hi Sahin,
Sorry to hear the problem. Hope your new rocks work for you. I heard it would kill all organism if you baked the rocks at high temperature before putting them in. Please don't give up this hobby you love! You will be doing fine.
Cheer!
I got my Marco key Largo rocks and I am going to bleach the rocks and then acid clean them just to be sure to remove as much phosphate and crap as possible! Hope it works!

nice tank , very clean . great job
Thank you.

really nice tank you have there.
I like the size of that tank.
Thank you. I hope the tank goes well after the reset.

Any updates? Is your wife back with your rocks? I bet she had some weird looks at check in!
Yeah, she came back ok. I was worried though; on arrival at JFK my silly mother in law got a $300 fine for attempting to take fresh vegtables from the UK! :headwally: We told her not to do that...but these older generation people...they just dont listen...anyway, I told my wife to walk seperately from her mother as she goes through customs etc...in case they find the rocks and see the fine my mother in law got and think the rocks are something illegal or like that!

Hi sahin. You tank looks great. I see in one of your pictures you had some algea/cyno on your sandbed. How did you get rid of it? I've been trying to get rid of some algea for a bit now and its not going away.
The Cyanno was easy to get rid of: though I did cheat by using Chemiclean.

I am sorry to reply rather late to some of the posts. Life is rather busy at the moment and with the tank at its worst, I dont like visiting my own thread anymore.

Anyway, I have 35lbs of Key Largo Marco rocks. This is the perfect amount to have enough rocks for scaping for what I want to do.

I have also replaced all the consumables in my RODI unit and washed and cleaned the whole unit. Even though I had 0TDS, I decided to replace all the consumables just to eliminate an issue here.

The Key Largo Rocks will have a bleach bath tonight and sometime next week will undergo an acid bath. I am doing this to ensure that I remove as much phosphate and organics as possible.