you got those things blazing at 100% in those there pics there Girly?

Yup they were. Turned everything down to 30%, didn't think it mattered with nothing but rock in the tank..lol

Fixed up all the cords today, noticed a funny worm on the glass. Ammonia is almost a 0.0 well test for nitrites/nitrates today, but it's only been a little over a week that it's been running.

my wife is urging me to not do a rock wall on my build she likes the black background. im just tired of scraping the back glass but maybe ill have to do a mix of the two. i know some ppl let the back wall go with coraline algea but my wife dislikes that as well lol i cant win.

Women....it's weird bec I don't have any coraline algae on the glass of the 55 gl at all but my lr is covered and very purple/red! The snails seem to keep things very clean and as much as the Mexican turbos are like bull dozers knocking things around, they do a great job. I really like the black background but also don't mind tanks I've seen with the back glass covered.

Are you working on the tank now?

tank is still in garage pending finding a place to cut the glass i need no one seems thrilled about making the eurobracing. it really is killing me and causing me to over think issues lol.

its all good tho i still have the 90 running and i can live through your build thread for the time being lol which is looking great..btw

That sucks about the eurobracing, try Dave at concept and see if he can help out, although I'm sure you are looking for someone local.

Thanks for the compliment! I'm happy with how things are going. Not happy with my skimmer ATM, not sure if it should be skimming or not, it's not. What are you planning on using?

i did talk with dave they didnt seem interested in shipping too badly. most likely due to the fragile nature of the glass. just suggested that i drive to calgary to get it.. kinda hard with 7 month old twins:( but ill figure it out even if i have to get a wider piece and cut it myself with a tile saw.

for now im going to keep using my vertex in-180 thats currently running on my 90. it was overkill for the tank but it will be barely good enough for the 180.. will upgrade down the road. there is no reall bioload in your tank at this time you just have water and dry rock once you add liverock it will start skimming more.

Hope the eurobracing works out, you seem pretty handy, probably easier to do it yourself :lol:

All my rock is lr, the base rock was live, plus I just added more lr to my sump this week, only one batch of rocks was dry but was in someone elses sump, which is why I figured the skimmer should be doing something...probably need to pull it apart to make sure everything is connected and didn't pull loose when we set it up.

hand her the scraper:razz::mrgreen:

lol that wont happen..

looking great
 

The tank is looking great Sheena. I really like the Radions and the rockwork. Great job.

Thanks Brian, haven't added your rock yet, its in the sump for now.

Got home tonight and checked the tank, noticed my sand is turning brownish! I have diatoms!! :lol: just tested and nitrites, nitrates and ammonia all at 0.0. Seems a bit soon.

Love the radions! Think it's on sunset atm lights are dim, blue and red! Can't wait to see what it looks like with corals!

I almost added a cleanup crew yesterday and happy I didn't. Checked ammonia and it's back up to .5 this morning. I'm doing a large water change on the 55 today And use this water for a water change on this tank, will vacuum out all the goop in the sump. Fiddled around with the skimmer again and it's done. Wish I didn't have this dumb cold...not making things easy....:sad:

The transfer is complete!! I am so happy with how things look, the fish are exploring (except the clowns, they are hiding behind some rocks). My disappearing wrasse settled in quite well.

I still have loads to do still. I need to build a little stand for my skimmer (which is oversized for the tank but I'm dealing with this). I also need to put some eggcrate on the overflows, water level is high, expecting to have fish take a dive! Also have to get the ATO running, but have been waiting to get everything set up in the basement. Definitely need another powerhead, so will be picking up an MP40.

I'm waiting for pics to load to photobucket....will post as soon as they are ready.

pics - these arent the greatest photos as I have to head out, but wanted to get them up.

http://i1199.photobucket.com/albums/...3/DSC_0899.jpg

http://i1199.photobucket.com/albums/...3/DSC_0896.jpg

http://i1199.photobucket.com/albums/...3/DSC_0892.jpg

http://i1199.photobucket.com/albums/...3/DSC_0893.jpg

http://i1199.photobucket.com/albums/...3/DSC_0894.jpg

http://i1199.photobucket.com/albums/...3/DSC_0895.jpg

That looks great!!

How far off the water do you have your radions? Are you happy with the spread?

The radions are 11" off the top of the water. The sides of the tank are def darker so I tried to put everything to match lighting requirements. Everything opened up and nothing is looking upset. All the colors are popping on the corals and the fish are checking out all the space!

Looks great Sheena, nicely done.:thumb:

Those 3 Radions look awesome and more than enough for a 180g! No "dark/black" corners,very minimal spotlighting and very nice colouring with no t5 supplements needed to achieve it!

The radions are great and I am AMAZED at how different the corals look under these lights, was running 2x54w t5ho's and LED's and the colors just pop now! I'm not at all a "techie" person so programming the lights has been a bit frustrating, but the more I play, the more I figure out.

I wish I could get decent pics as these ones are really washed out. I killed the battery on my camera yesterday, so will try again tonight.

I bet your coral all look a lot smaller in the 180 compared to the old tank.

Much smaller in the bigger tank! I felt like I had no more room for anything in the 55, now the 180 looks empty. I'm thinking of changing some of the rocks around a bit on the right side, and moving my bubble and button corals, they are getting blasted. This tank needs more fish!!!

How are you liking the flow excelleraters?

In all honesty, ive never had this type of set up before, so I have nothing to compare to. I have restricted the return pump so I don't know how much I'm actually pushing into the tank. I increased it on the weekend for more surface movement, think I need to fiddle some more.

Yes thats one thing I noticed too is the Radions really make a persons corals "pop" out. Yes the programming takes a while to figure out and to get the right colours and intensities set up but well worth it!

I'm hoping the Mac and wireless features come out soon, will make things easier. I have to use the bf's laptop and he's impatient when I have it.

Back from holidays, time to start your build!

Yes I can't wait for the mac compatibility as thats all I own now. I have to borrow a laptop to change settings if I need to but no need to change anything right now. I haven't gone on holidays yet but it won't be long now. My Reeflakes came the other day and was offered a 90g to use for the transfer so I will be ready to continue the build in a few weeks when I'm back!

Nothing overly exciting to update... I added another mp40 as I had my one set on full, but noticed the other side of the tank had very little flow. I've got algae on the sand, not seeing much on the lr though. Think this is mostly due to new tank syndrome. I also added a blue hippo tang last night. She's still sleeping in the rocks so hopefully once the lights come on, she'll come out. Today I'm going to build a frag rack and stand for my skimmer with egg crate. I added some birds nest frags and they are bleaching, so need to get them lower for a bit. I'm also going to start gluing other frags as they seem happy with their placement. I finally get the wet armpits...lol

Wow you must be quite excited now that you can get that full wave action going. Sync it with your lights and this is one sweet tank.

I might just try that :lol: I didn't have the ph synced previously but had them on the same setting. If the bf can give up the laptop, will see what I can come up with...

Well, time for a photo update. Tank is ugly with cyano at the moment....but all fish and corals have adapted well to the larger system. I finally have my ATO hooked up, I LOVE this piece of equipment. Haven't added much livestock since the transfer, but couldn't resist a new orange/red/green/yellow brain and a neon torch. Also had to add a hippo tang.

All photos taken without a flash, still trying to figure out camera, but its getting better :biggrin:

Right Side
http://i1199.photobucket.com/albums/...3/DSC_0106.jpg

Left side
http://i1199.photobucket.com/albums/...3/DSC_0092.jpg


http://i1199.photobucket.com/albums/...3/DSC_0087.jpg

http://i1199.photobucket.com/albums/...3/DSC_0075.jpg

http://i1199.photobucket.com/albums/...3/DSC_0065.jpg

Button - thought this was a cool shot as the flow caught and gently lifted the side
http://i1199.photobucket.com/albums/...3/DSC_0063.jpg


Orange Hammer - this guy has grown quite a bit in the last couple of weeks! Thanks Snappy!!
http://i1199.photobucket.com/albums/...3/DSC_0056.jpg

One of my new faves!
http://i1199.photobucket.com/albums/...3/DSC_0051.jpg

Neon Torch - don't think its happy in this spot..
http://i1199.photobucket.com/albums/...3/DSC_0038.jpg


http://i1199.photobucket.com/albums/...3/DSC_0113.jpg

http://i1199.photobucket.com/albums/...3/DSC_0024.jpg

wow looks great!!! :razz:

Thanks Kenny!

Thought I'd add another pic I found of the button from last August, I thought I'd post just to compare to the one above. Crazy growth! It barely touched the sand here and I would see the base at night. I haven't seen the base in months now, even when I moved it the fleshy bits hung over the sides.
http://i1199.photobucket.com/albums/...3/DSC_1700.jpg

looks good. but why did you face your radions like that? it looks like you're shinning light onto the wall in the back.

wouldnt it be better if they were parallel to the front glass?

I believe she has them setup in the recommended way. At least I hope she does as mine are facing the exact same way.

does the light shine beyond your tank tho? like onto the floor or the wall behind?

Yes they do. At the recommended height of around 8" above the surface you do get some light on the wall, but that is expected as they have no optics to focus them down like the AI's.

but if you turned them parallel you'd get more light in the tank..... isnt that the goal?

Hmm you may be right. I have seen them hung both ways. I don't know if it really matters considering the amount of light that they put out already. Most people have them turned down to 50% so losing a little off the wall shouldn't be a big deal. I may have to do some reaserch on this one. Can anyone else chime in?

Techincally it's 24" X 24" coverage so it shouldn't matter as the light spread is the same either way.

it obviously does matter. look at the fixture logically. its rectangular shaped. theres no way the coverage area is a square