Fishnugget's Elos 160XL

Fishnugget · Jun 4, 2017

5 Month Update

Algae is 90% gone from rocks. The Chaeto Macro Algae helped a lot and stabilized my tank. Snails are also good at that as well. I did start to grow some cyano recently but that was probably because of my negligence in performing a water change for 2 months. I wanted to see how long I could go before things turned ugly.

I added a bunch of frags and still have plenty of room for more. Here are a few I can list off the top of my head....

JKR Joe Rainbow
PC Rainbow
Red Dragon
Shades of Fall
Yellow Carolina
Oregon Blue Tort
Vivids Rainbow Delight
Vivids Confetti
ORA Red Planet
ORA Pearlberry
Yellow/Green Humilis
ASD Strawberry Wine Acro
TGC Tropic Thunder Monti
Blue Bonsai
Strawberry Shortcake
$500 efflorescence
Vivids Tequila Sunrise
Green Anarcopora
Reef Raft The Vinh
ASD Sweet Tort
Reeftech Monti
Sunset Milli
Blue Tenius
Reef Raft Biohazard

Here is my attempt at taking photos with the Sony a7 + 50mm Lens. I need to buy a macro lens and figure out how to set the white balance. If anyone has any suggestions I am all ears. I had to fix the colors on most of my pics because they came out too blue straight from the camera. Also, will start to shoot in RAW.

Please excuse the wire mess, I have not cleaned them up. Its impossible with my baby.

On to the pics.....I have some small dinky frags that hopefully turn to colonies one day.

I added this Chaeto about one month ago and its has tripled in size.

Still running the UV but I have my doubts about it.

Vivids Tequila Sunrise has pink tips an orange bright body and green base. Its very hard to capture the colors but its one of the brightest sps in the tank. It has a lot of potential and I can't wait for it to grow.
This is back in May

June 2017

ASD Sweet Tort

Red Dragon

Pearlberry, I sometimes think I don't have the pearlberry because mine looks different than others. Also, its a fast grower, this colony started as a small frag and exploded in the ELOS tank.

Here is a pic in May 2017

June 2017

Red Planet

Humilis, Pearlberry in background, TGC Tropic Thunder Monti and ASD Strawberry Wine

Vivids Confetti Acro, this has lots of potential and it is rainbow colored. The frag lost some of its color in this pic but it has about five different colors when I saw the colony pic. The were different colors starting from the base. I got a little carried away with the glue but thats because my turbo snails knock everything over. It is a ridiculous piece! I am glad to be the owner of it. Vivid has a huge colony of it in their 1000 gallon display tank. Its pretty sweet when the blue lights turn on.
May

June Pics, changed color and it turned more pink

Yellow Carolina and PC Rainbow

Reeftech Monti Cap and Red Flame Hawk. This dood is a cleaner shrimp destroyer and killed my 7+ year old Onyx Clownfish breeding pair. He stressed them the hell out by swimming in their area that they eventually developed brook, I believe. I lost a 2oo dollars worth of clownfish because I added a 30 dollar fish :mad:

Oregon Blue Tort. My lame attempt at top down. Really need a camera box and macro lens.

ASD Strawberry Wine

Yellow Carolina and PC Rainbow

ORA Red Planet side view

I plan to add more frags, install an Automatic Water Changer via Liter Meter 3 and fish a line through the walls so I can use my 50 gallon DI reservoir for auto top off. I have a 7 gallon water container I fill for the ATO right now and its a pain in the butt.

Let me know what you think, all feedback is welcome.

pghreefer · Jun 4, 2017

Hi can you tell me where you got your Ace Roto Mold 55 gallon storage tanks and what model number they are?

Fishnugget · Jun 4, 2017

pghreefer said:
Hi can you tell me where you got your Ace Roto Mold 55 gallon storage tanks and what model number they are?

I got them from Ruralking.com. I bought two of them.

Here are the details.....

Item Details Ship Via Qty Price
Ace Roto Mold Rectangle Utility Tank SP0055-MM - 17210640 UPS Ground 2 $241.94
Subtotal: $241.94
Tax: $0.00
Discount: $0.00
Shipping: $27.22
Order Total: $269.16

Mattres · Jun 5, 2017

Looks great! And some beautiful frags in there, exciting times ahead!
I'm in the same boat with the camera, been meaning for ages to get a macro lense and a top down box.

Fishnugget · Jun 5, 2017

Mattres said:
Looks great! And some beautiful frags in there, exciting times ahead!
I'm in the same boat with the camera, been meaning for ages to get a macro lense and a top down box.

Thanks Mattres, yup, I had a Nikon D70 I bought years ago and a 105mm macro lens. The camera died on me and I sold my macro lens because I decided to invest in Sony Mirrorless Cameras. Now I have to buy the 90mm macro lens for my a7 camera.

Mattres · Jun 5, 2017

Fishnugget said:
Thanks Mattres, yup, I had a Nikon D70 I bought years ago and a 105mm macro lens. The camera died on me and I sold my macro lens because I decided to invest in Sony Mirrorless Cameras. Now I have to buy the 90mm macro lens for my a7 camera.

How do you like the Sony a7?
I've had a Sony Nex 5R for a few years and it's been good but it lacks a good native macro.

Fishnugget · Jun 5, 2017

I like it better than my Nikon because its smaller and has newer technology. Also, I own the Sony 50mm Zeiss lens and it takes some razor sharp images with nice bokeh! I think I like the lenses more than the camera I plan to to buy the Sony 35mm Zeiss lens as well and the Sony 90mm macro. Just those two lenses come out to 2500 bucks ;Greedy

Mattres · Jun 5, 2017

Fishnugget said:
I like it better than my Nikon because its smaller and has newer technology. Also, I own the Sony 50mm Zeiss lens and it takes some razor sharp images with nice bokeh! I think I like the lenses more than the camera I plan to to buy the Sony 35mm Zeiss lens as well and the Sony 90mm macro. Just those two lenses come out to 2500 bucks ;Greedy

Yea nice! There are some great FE lenses out now. Makes me wanna ditch the aps-c mirrorless and go the full frame. I've been looking at the Ziess touit macro but at 75mm equivalent I've been a bit hesitant, also the price.. haha

Mebeknob · Jun 6, 2017

Fishnugget said:
I like it better than my Nikon because its smaller and has newer technology. Also, I own the Sony 50mm Zeiss lens and it takes some razor sharp images with nice bokeh! I think I like the lenses more than the camera I plan to to buy the Sony 35mm Zeiss lens as well and the Sony 90mm macro. Just those two lenses come out to 2500 bucks ;Greedy

Why not a 100mm macro instead?
Your build is awesome. I was actually close to buying this tank because I live in AZ... but couldn't pull the trigger! I'll live through you then!

Have you thought about putting the auto feeder in your sump? I've seen some videos of people setting it up just above their return pump.

Fishnugget · Jun 6, 2017

Mattres said:
Yea nice! There are some great FE lenses out now. Makes me wanna ditch the aps-c mirrorless and go the full frame. I've been looking at the Ziess touit macro but at 75mm equivalent I've been a bit hesitant, also the price.. haha

Do it, you won't regret it. Yes, this camera stuff is expensive. I really want the 35mm more than the macro. Maybe I will try and get better with the 50mm right now.

Mebeknob said:
Why not a 100mm macro instead?
Your build is awesome. I was actually close to buying this tank because I live in AZ... but couldn't pull the trigger! I'll live through you then!

Have you thought about putting the auto feeder in your sump? I've seen some videos of people setting it up just above their return pump.

Haha, yeah, I'll keep updating. I drove from Indio Ca to Arizona to pick up. Drive wasn't too bad. I had been looking for a used ELOS 160XL for about 3-4 years. I didn't want to pull the trigger this early either but it was too good to pass up. Everyone always beat me to the catch or the Elos tank was in another State. Finally, I got the opportunity when Mwells put it for sale.

The auto feeder in sump is a good idea because it makes the tank look cleaner on the outside. However, my auto feeder fell into the tank while I was changing bulbs on the powermodule. I need to buy another. The problem I see is my return splits about 30% to the refugium and 70% to main tank. I guess the benefit to this is it can feed the fuge too.

Cherub · Jun 6, 2017

did your CBB make it?

Fishnugget · Jun 6, 2017

Denvercherub said:
did your CBB make it?

No he is goner. I had a bad velvet outbreak when I started adding fish. I think one of the fish may have had it. So I lost about 5 fish and have withheld from buying any since. To scared to add fish but the tank and fish do appear healthy. I will wait a little longer to add more fish.

Reef man 89 · Jun 6, 2017

Holy smokes this tank is absolutely beautiful!! Love the sump design with the fuge on the other side of the wall. So now you have no light spill over to grow algea is the areas you don't want it. And boy those acros are stunning can't wait to see when they are fully grown out!!! Following for sure.

Fishnugget · Jun 6, 2017

Thanks for the compliments. That was the idea with the fuge, I wanted no light spill because I wanted the Ca reactor inside the stand. It sits in our living area so it has to look nice.

Cherub · Jun 7, 2017

Fishnugget said:
No he is goner. I had a bad velvet outbreak when I started adding fish. I think one of the fish may have had it. So I lost about 5 fish and have withheld from buying any since. To scared to add fish but the tank and fish do appear healthy. I will wait a little longer to add more fish.

wow sorry to hear, gorgeous tank though.

oneilwiz · Jun 7, 2017

Sweet setup drooling over this tank.What are you using for Dosing ? equipment was and what fluid?

Fishnugget · Jun 7, 2017

Denvercherub said:
wow sorry to hear, gorgeous tank though.

Thanks Denvercherub

oneilwiz said:
Sweet setup drooling over this tank.What are you using for Dosing ? equipment was and what fluid?

I am not dosing anything. Just have the Ca Reactor for Ca and Alkalinity and I feed 2 cubes a day with spectrum pellets sometimes. I don't plan on adding anything either. Just want to get a LM3 for automatic water changes.