STL's 180G Build - Going Large with WWC!

[STL]

I wish! The snipers were too fast for me! ;)

 

[Acronuts]

I wish! The snipers were too fast for me! ;)

I know! I would be one of those snipers but both of our tanks aren't ready for those gorgeous goodies. But have no fear we will come back with vegeance!

 

[STL]

Quick update - the tank's coming along well. I've been slowly moving corals in (and my green chromis) and watching for any trace of ammonia. So far, so good! Here's a shot of the tank tonight - this is with the Radions in evening mode, pure royal blues:


IMG_4086.jpg by STL01, on Flickr

(Click to see the bigger versions on Flickr)

Corals visible from left to right: zoanthid, blasto, favite, favite, duncan, favite, ric, favite, frogspawn, favite, torch, acan, zoanthid, torch, hammer

 

[STL]

Some more tank photos:


IMG_4105.jpg by STL01, on Flickr


IMG_4100.jpg by STL01, on Flickr


IMG_4099.jpg by STL01, on Flickr


IMG_4096.jpg by STL01, on Flickr


IMG_4095.jpg by STL01, on Flickr


IMG_4094.jpg by STL01, on Flickr


IMG_4093.jpg by STL01, on Flickr


IMG_4091.jpg by STL01, on Flickr

Click through to Flickr to see the native res shots. Hopefully this weekend I'll have time to do some day-time shots with the Radions spooled up to full power!

 

[Acronuts]

STL loving the pics and the royal blue LED's! Hav you gotten brown diatom algae yet?

 

[STL]

STL loving the pics and the royal blue LED's! Hav you gotten brown diatom algae yet?

Yep, diatoms hit about a week and a half ago! The tank is swarming with pods @ night - they cleaned 'em up pretty fast. I've got some brown algae now, so I moved some crabs and snails in from the old tanks and they're feasting (along with some hitch-hiker stomatella varios).

BTW, I used Dr Tim's One and Only for Reefs to speed the cycle up - I added that and my ginormous 5+ year old Green Chromis once the dust in the tank settled down and the skimmer started making skimmate. I also transplanted a cup of sand from one of my old tanks. I never did see an ammonia spike or really any measurable quantity of ammonia or nitrite, so I'm thinking Dr Tim's really does work.

 

[STL]

A Radion software update came out yesterday! Lots of new features/improvements... this led to my first mod.

To program the Radions you plug the master light into your computer with a USB cable. The cable plug is on the side of the light, not down on the power supply. They have a fiddly little rubber cover for the port that's just begging to go for a swim every time I pull it out or push it in. The USB connection on the light is a micro usb, which are notoriously hard to connect, especially in a dark canopy.

So, since my lights are tucked away inside a canopy, I decided to semi-permanently install the USB cable. Here's the cable plugged into the light - it's sealed with silicone to keep salt out:


IMG_4120.jpg by STL01, on Flickr


To keep the cable from falling into the tank, I routed it up through the canopy vent with the Radion power cables, and then secured it with a cord bungie. The bungies are pretty cool (I found these at Lowes), the post attaches with a strong adhesive and the button with the bungie pops on/off the post.


IMG_4123.jpg by STL01, on Flickr

Now to program (or, ahem, play with) the Radions, I put my laptop on top of the canopy, pop the USB cord off the post and plug it in.

 

[STL]

Also, full tank shot - getting some coral moved in... and the green chromis is clearly pleased


IMG_4125.jpg by STL01, on Flickr

 

[Acronuts]

Stl I like the tone of your last pic. Man I thought I had green chromic that lived forever! Yours topped mine! Mine two years old. 6 of them.

 

[STL]

I think I had the Radions set to 14k for that photo. It's quite a bit brighter at 12k, but I like the bluer hue.

That chromis is tough, grumpy old fart, lol

 

[Acronuts]

Hey STL did you get Dr. Timm's product at WWC? Is it better than brightwells microbacter?

 

[Mike&Terry]

Also, full tank shot - getting some coral moved in... and the green chromis is clearly pleased


IMG_4125.jpg by STL01, on Flickr

Love your aquascaping!

 

[STL]

Hey STL did you get Dr. Timm's product at WWC? Is it better than brightwells microbacter?

Amazon, actually, I had some credit card reward points to use :)

I haven't used Brightwells, so I can't compare it.

After the tank had been up for a few days and the dust had settled out, I went about catching my green chromis in the 55G. I put him in and two full 4 oz bottles of One and Only and turned off the skimmer for 48 hours. I was monitoring ammonia the whole time and did not see a spike, on the 3rd day the diatoms bloomed. That was several weeks ago now, and still no ammonia spikes, so I think it worked!

I can't claim this to be a completely scientific trial of Dr Tim's, though, as the rock was live, and I did transplant a cup of sand from the 55G.

 

[STL]

Love your aquascaping!

Thanks! Aces from WWC knocked it out of the park!

 

[STL]

First new fish today! Lou showed me this guy at WWC on Friday and I obsessed about it all weekend... anyway, here he is, a blue throat trigger:


IMG_4212.jpg by STL01, on Flickr

He and our green chromis have been posturing a bit, but so far no scrapping...

 

[Reefnjunkie]

only on page 3 but liking this one already-Sweet looking build-

Can WWC stop by my place too, I'm just down the road

97233-

 

[naldopr]

We are too Naldo! How is Puerto Rico? We miss you around here at the shop.

hey guys I think he is another arnaldo from pr lol :bigsmile:. I miss you guys to merry Christmas hope to see you guys soon

 

[STL]

Here's a late morning photo of the trigger:


IMG_4223.jpg by STL01, on Flickr

The lighting transitions from 20k in the the morning to 14k in the afternoon, so this is whiter and brighter lighting than last night's photo which was taken in darkening 20k as the lights transitioned to evening mode (actinic blue).

I'll try another photo this afternoon when they hit peak brightness, maybe I can shoot that one at ISO 200 (vs 400 for this, and 1600 for last night)

 

[STL]

200 ISO


IMG_4231.jpg by STL01, on Flickr

Still posturing with the chromis - no combat... hopefully it stays that way

 

[Acronuts]

Here's a late morning photo of the trigger:


IMG_4223.jpg by STL01, on Flickr

The lighting transitions from 20k in the the morning to 14k in the afternoon, so this is whiter and brighter lighting than last night's photo which was taken in darkening 20k as the lights transitioned to evening mode (actinic blue).

I'll try another photo this afternoon when they hit peak brightness, maybe I can shoot that one at ISO 200 (vs 400 for this, and 1600 for last night)

STL I like this shot and the coloring looks great on the trigger.