Todd's 60 gallon reef

[fishykisses]

I may spend too much time on Facebook...i was fiercely looking for the "Like" button.
Awesome pic! Too cute!

[axe_man16]

Thanks for the comments, just about time for an update I think!

[FishyFishy!]

I like your aquascape, looks very natural! Looks like things are coming along nicely.

[Nano]

Originally Posted by fishykisses

I may spend too much time on Facebook...i was fiercely looking for the "Like" button.
Awesome pic! Too cute!

LOL me too
*LIKE*

[axe_man16]

It has been a while since my last update so well here it goes;

Back in December my poor Blenny went missing, and well I am sure that the shrimp made a lunch out of him. Went on a weekend ski trip and came back to everything status quo minus the blenny.

Since then I have added a few corals and chromis to add a little color to the tank.



I also have had a cyano/flat worm fight on my hand.

I have done regular water changes and the cyano is decreasing little by little.

The flat worms are a bit more concerning. I bought flat worm exit to try and rid the problem. I syphoned as many of the little buggars as i could. Then started adding the fwe. it started to work after about 10minutes. I then did a small water change to try and get rid of all of the dead flat worms. My wrasse was looking not so good after the treatment, to the point I thought I would have to pull him out. I did another water change and the wrasse started to move around and act more like himself.




A week after the treatment there still is a large number of flat worms (a fraction of what there was though). I will try another dose this weekend.

Here are a few more tank pics

top down pic of an sps


another top down (colors a bit off after the treatment)

[axe_man16]

Update time!

Over the last month or so my T5 fixture has decided to slowly die. It was a 6 bulb fixture but I had two ballasts die on me. So instead of trying to fix the problem I decided to make my own LED setup.

I wanted a canopy as I have had three fish jump out and land on the carpet. i also wanted to be able to move the fixture easily so that I could reach in to clean and move stuff around.

My solution for this was to place the fixture on drawer rails, therefore allowing me to slide the light back and forth when ever I need.

Thanks to Modular LED here is the build.



unpacking the box!


First of many different layout ideas


after wiring and placing the lenses on


the canopy


The light pushed back for tank access


Light pushed forward


Light turned on for the first test Everything works!!



light in canopy



just the Blues



top down all on


The corals had lost their colour because of the dying T5 fixture, but are slowly coming back.

I am very impressed with the LED's. I love that shimmer!

[chris88]

Tank looks great. However, I don’t think you have enough light over that tank to keep your sps happy. I did a quick count but I think I seen around 40 leds at probably 3 watts each. Over a tank that size I would have double that amount or added a couple of t5's with it in your canopy. Just a suggestion.

[axe_man16]

With the drivers I picked I do have the ability to add a bunch more, but with my tank being so narrow (13") i might not need much more.

I have the whites at 28% and the blues at 40% right now and will be going up a little bit as the corals adjust. With the whites even at 50% it seems very bright. So i doubt I will ever need to go above that.

Thanks for the input, i had the same concern when i started. Hopefully I wont need any more.

[chris88]

i have a 93 gallon cube thats only 30x30 so a small footprint. I have an ecotech radion which is 120w as well but with 5w crees and i have 4 t5's. in theory i have almost double the light over a simlar sized area. I have the radion going at full and i still want to add more light.

If you are getting good growth and color then i wouldnt worry about it. If you notice slow or no growth, or bad color i would add more leds or t5's. you basically only have 30watts over each foot of the tank.