My 50

[mfinn]

nice tank. I really like the size of this tank.

you started with ati T5 a few years ago on this tank. You then made a switch to Radion LED.
and when you started all over again on the second time, you went with ATI T5 again (just like the one you had previously).
please tell us why you went to Radion LEd and then T5 again on the second time. much appreciated.

So, my first use of T5's was the ATI 6 x 24 watt fixture.
Used that for maybe a year?
Then the leds were becoming very popular and I was looking at them for a while. Seeing a lot of positive reviews.
I decided to give them a try.
My first led fixture was a popular brands value fixture. Picked it up for relatively cheap from the vendor.
Before I bought it, I exchanged a bunch of pm's with the vendor which he answered every question with detailed answers. Great person to deal with.
Put it over the tank, and at first I thought it was cool. But one thing bothered me. Every time I looked at the tank the leds would blind me. Was like looking into the sun.
So over the course of the next week, my corals started looking like crap ( acclimation issues) and I would be blind for a few minutes after wards.

So I ended up selling the fixture locally and put the T5's back on.
About 2 weeks later at a local fish store's anniversary sale and raffle I won a new XR 30 gen 1 Radion. ( $50 in raffle tickets)
It took a few weeks before I decided to give the Radion a try.

But I'm glad I did. Right away I could see a big difference in color and led light spread.
Plus when I looked in the direction of the tank, I didn't get the same blinding looking into the sun effect I got with the other fixture.
Then I learned how to use the software. It was all good after that.
I even sold the T5 fixture. I was sold.

Over the course of a couple years, I upgraded the gen 1 to gen 3. More great color.
One of the other things I did with the tank that was different was I got away from zoanthids and went into branching lps and some encrusting sps types.
Growth was great and I loved it, but I was always into zoanthids and I missed them. So I would add some around the bottom of the tank, but they just didn't seem to do well. No matter how much I shaded and tried to protect them from the 65% led intensity, they didn't grow well for me at all.

So at a point when the tank was doing really well, I took it down and started over and I knew exactly what lighting I was going to get.
A new ATI 6 x 24 watt fixture.

The switch was a little painful, going from a tank filled wall to wall with corals to a bare tank, with bare rock.
But I'm glad I did. Zoanthids are doing great. I mixed in some chalices, a couple favias and still kept a few branching lps.

 

[mfinn]

When I realized I really liked the Radions, I switched out my 240 to all Radions from mh and vho.
Really glad I did that. The drop in power usage was huge, plus not having to replace bulbs every year.

 

[mfinn]

Haven't done a update in a while.
Not alot has changed inside the tank.
Lost a few zoanthids that broke my heart, picked up a couple other.

But I did change my lighting, again.
Been thinking about the gen 3 Radion I had sitting on a shelf.
So I decided to swap out the lights but made a new bracket that attaches to the fixture.
I modeled it after the plastic EcoTech mounting bracket, but made mine from a piece of aluminum plate.
I also made a new upright piece out of 2" x 3/8" aluminum flat bar. I kind of like the design I came up with a few years ago.

So this is the start.
I tried to find someone local that had access to a machine shop and computer controlled milling machine ( or water water jet or what ever), but it just wasn't in the budget. Most places wanted a setup fee of $80-$100, then the work after was more.

So with a sharpie, a hand held jig saw, my belt sanded, and a palm sander this is what I came up with.


1/4" aluminum plate





First cut.





Sanded and a little polish on the Radion







The 2 new pieces together after painting.






Side view.
I first mounted the light with the front tipped down a little on purpose to keep the light glare down when I look at the tank.
But experimented with it a little and it's now level with the tank.





Top view.

 

[Salty1962]

Nice!

 

[jsker]

Very nice light bracket.

 

[Sahin]

Nice work on the radion mount. Tank looks great.

 

[mfinn]

Nice!

Very nice light bracket.

Nice work on the radion mount. Tank looks great.

Thanks

 

[mfinn]

I guess I have been really slacking on doing tank maintenance lately.
Yesterday there was a noise coming from my usually very quiet tank and after looking in the sump, I realized my Sicce return pump was just barely pumping and was making a racket.
So I pulled it and cleaned it out, put it back in and it started right up was pumping normally.
That's when I looked at my skimmer and thought oh crude, that's nasty.
I guess it's been a long while since I cleaned it so, a few hours of straight vinegar and clean as new. ( almost)


Before







After

 

[Mpierce]

How is the radion treating your zoas?

 

[Maddlesrain]

That pipefish is stunning!! What do you feed him?

 

[mfinn]

Well, I went back to my ATI T5 fixture.
My zoanthids just didn't seem to like the Radion much. Probably had the intensity set too high.

Not much new.
Still have my Desjardini Tang.
I'll have to move it out to my 233 pretty soon.
Some corals have passed on, some are growing.
Been fighting hair algae for a few months.
Probably caused by over feeding. It's tough to just add just enough food for 1 fish.
I tried AlgaeFX. It's always been a go to product in the past, but this time didn't seem to have any effect.
So I gave Vibrant a shot.
While it hasn't cleared all of it up, it definitely slowed the growth down by a large amount.

 

[Bob Escher]

As far as I'm concerned it looks great

 

[mfinn]

As far as I'm concerned it looks great

Thank-you

 

[Bob Escher]

Love the 233 as well great job

 

[mfinn]

Love the 233 as well great job

Thanks. I need to get some current pictures on that one too.

 

[Bob Escher]

I'm not as far as your 50
But here's mine

 

[Lilmatty5dimes]

Both of your 50's look good. Very nice job.
Bob what light are you running.

 

[mfinn]

I was trying to get a picture of my sailfin tang.
He just didn't like to pose.

 

[mfinn]

I've been asked by just about everybody who visits and see's the chalice in this picture, what is it called? Most corals these days have a name attached.
I don't have a clue other than nice chalice.
I know it likes the T5's over the leds.

 

[mfinn]

I was lucky to score these 2 zoanthid frags today.
I took these pictures with my phone.



The color wasn't perfect of these Mandarin Oranges, but close enough.






The color is near perfect on these My Clementines.