Duckhams' 75G Reef Build - Eurobraced/BeanAnimal

Duckhams · #1 11-25-2015, 07:47 PM

Breaking the down this week and selling all the corals and live rock. Lots of frags for sale, rhodactis and some other rare mushrooms. Lots has been sold already so things are starting to clear out. I'll put the remaining livestock in the holding/frag tank while I redo the system with new rock and equipment. I hate this part, I try to get through it slowly and carefully so as not to lose anything but I just want to throw it all in the frag tank and setup the new system up asap.

Im hoping to get a deal on a Canon 100mm f/2.8 Macro USM on black friday for future pics. The standard kit lens just isn't cutting it.

Duckhams · #2 11-27-2015, 07:56 PM

Finally got the hardware in! Im hoping to get the lights installed this weekend while I transfer most of the frags to the frag/holding system and then start work on emptying the tank and swapping out the plumbing. The rock is cured and ready to go and phosphates are finally 0.04 ppm without raising after a few days, hopefully it stays that way. Im keeping an eye on it with the lanthanum chloride ready.

EcoTech Radion XR15wPRO's:
Im seriously impressed with the Radions. Their much heavier than I expected too, which I like. You instantly feel the quality of the equipment as you pick it up and unbox them. The colour control and functionality is impressive, with moonlight and storm modes (not that storm mode is important, but it was more fun than I expected! Plus if you initiate storm mode from the app, your phone plays thunderstorm/rain sounds! LOL! Which was cooler than I thought it'd be). The app is great fun when it comes to changing colour modes and intensity, I played with that for a good hour before I settled on a few presets to save that I really liked for the frag system. The colour options are endless! Which is a huge feature for me, because I find my tastes in lighting/colour change constantly.
Im going to install the 3 x Radion XR15wPRO's on a custom low profile t-track mount inside the canopy so that I can move them length ways across the tank as need with the rockscape/corals/light spread. Im dying to get them all hooked up and get the moon phase settings on. The Radion's are a serious piece of hardware, incredible quality and real PAR monsters! Im really excited to get them running on the display tank.

ReefLink
The ReefLink is very compact, only 5" or so across. I have it sat on desk under my screen so I can keep an eye on the indicator ring (which glows blue when all is good). EcoSmart Live is very much like APEX Fusion but for EcoTech Marine products and provides a lot of controllability for the Vortech's and Radion's, it works just as well as Fusion in my opinion, but the app was the kicker for me! I love controlling everything from the EcoSmart app! It's so easy to change settings, save your own presets, it's a lot of fun and really easy to use.
I've hooked up the reeflink already and put one of the XR15wPro's on the frag/holding system and im super impressed with how easily it all connected, though I did have to hit the refresh button to get the settings to save/load, the page just kind of froze on 'updating settings' and never completed.

Vectra M1 Return Pump
I haven't hooked up the Vectra yet. It's not as heavy as I expected, but man is it sold. Watt for watt it's the same size as my Eheim 1262, so hopefully heat won't be an issue. I won't be running it at full power, so im expecting it to be very quiet and have no effect on tank temp. The quality of the pump is impressive, the Eheim feels a little like a toy, but the Vectra feels like a serious workhorse. It will be interesting to see how hot the controller gets with the built in heat-sink and how the beananimal overflow reacts to the feed/surge modes etc. Not having the return pump shut off for feedings, gurgle the house down and then gurgle the siphon back up will be amazing! Im so sick of hearing that twice a day.

AdamsB · #3 11-27-2015, 09:35 PM

Why the switch from Kessil to Radions?

Duckhams · #4 11-27-2015, 10:01 PM

A few reasons really. I wanted something more low profile that fit in my canopy better, I wanted to raise the Kessil's for better spread but didn't have room. I probably should have had 3 instead of 2. I never really got the colouration I wanted out of my SPS with the Kessil's (got close though) and the Radions give me a lot more control over colour, intensity and spectrum (including UV). The Kessil's also shut off below 14% but the Radions give me control down to 1% for moonlighting and adjustable colour in every direction (not just blue or white with the Kessil's). Don't get me wrong, I loved the Kessils, but found matching a decent combo of T5's to a colour setting I really liked kind of hard with just the blue and white. Plus the Radion's are PAR monsters! I also saw the XR15wPro's on a demo tank at MACNA and after seeing the Kessil's and Radion's side by side, it was a no brainer (given my goals with my new setup). The Kessil's are amazing LED's for LPS/frag tanks and really offer a set it 'n' forget it setup, I need more control and more SPS.

Duckhams · #5 11-29-2015, 09:25 PM

I picked up a Canon 100mm f2.8 USM Macro lens today (non-L version) in the black friday sales and took a few shots with it, all with a tripod. Im pretty pleased with how they turned out. It does take a little practice to get used to, but I like it a lot. These are pics of a few frags im keeping to put in the new setup, lights installation is almost complete. More pics coming soon.

kobelka · #6 11-30-2015, 04:28 PM

Hi there. Beauty setup. I just was wondering the back of your tank is black. Is that black acrylic or paint? I like the removable overflow shade. If it's acrylic is it inside the tank or outside?
Keep the pics coming.
Dave

Duckhams · #7 11-30-2015, 04:58 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by kobelka

Hi there. Beauty setup. I just was wondering the back of your tank is black. Is that black acrylic or paint? I like the removable overflow shade. If it's acrylic is it inside the tank or outside?
Keep the pics coming.
Dave

Thanks Dave! The back of the tank is covered in a cut sheet of black vinyl, that just peels off as needed. It's easier to apply than paint IMO. And the overflow grate is made from acrylic and inside the overflow box.