Swannyson7's 180g mixed reef

[swannyson7]

Great DIY skills. I was admiring your pics^^^^^, outstanding colors and really nice mix of corals.

Thanks!

I finished up the canopy today, with the exception of attaching a handle to the false door on front. I ran out of that style handle, so I'll have to make a HD run tomorrow. After a bit more sanding I'll be ready for paint! Here's some pics:

The side is held in place with magnets for easy access:

 

[lps1212]

Nice craftsmanship

 

[johnanddawn]

very nice work!

 

[swannyson7]

Thanks! With each stand I build, they look a little better and fit together better. I found out that my radial arm saw's back fence was kinked by a fraction of an inch after my last build and it was screwing up a lot of my rips. What a difference it makes to have true cuts! I'll post some pics tomorrow after a fresh coat of paint.

 

[fsu1dolfan]

Wow swanny - Been a while since i have seen your thread and very nice looking DIY stuff going on. That stand looks great!!

 

[swannyson7]

With a coat of primer and first coat of paint....

 

[lps1212]

nice work ill be by to pick up the setup this weekend :D

 

[swannyson7]

nice work ill be by to pick up the setup this weekend :D

Bring a handtruck... It's heavy

 

[Reeferon]

How do you think growth compares with your new LED lights to your old MH/t5 combo? Particularly your SPS

 

[swannyson7]

How do you think growth compares with your new LED lights to your old MH/t5 combo? Particularly your SPS

My SPS growth has been great under the LED/T5 combo, but I can't attricute it to just the LEDs. When I set up the new tank, there were a whole bunch of changes to my system including an upgraded pump on my skimmer, dosing pumps for more stable Ca & Alk levels, started running EcoBak, larger water volume, etc. If you're interested in some progressions pics to see growth over time, I have a thread here:
https://www.reef2reef.com/forums/re...h-progression-under-reef-filtration-leds.html

 

[Damzl]

Great stand & canopy built. I like your first idea of pulling out tray.

 

[swannyson7]

Had a little topdown photoshoot today. Here's some pics

 

[swannyson7]

 

[swannyson7]

 

[lps1212]

Wow nice shots bro great size colony zoas and your sps looks fantastic

 

[fsu1dolfan]

Swanny - Beautiful new pics!! Your camera and photo skillz rock!! Thanks for sharing...looks like things are doing great.

 

[Lynnmw1208]

All I can say about this build is WOW! I love all the time and contemplation that was put into it! I love the webcam idea and my husband and I have been throwing that idea around for awhile. Do you know if they have similar software for the iphone to view a webcam? we both have the iphone and weren't really into the droid phones.

Also do you have a picture of the placement of your birdsnest corals? particularly the green polyp birdsnest. Mine had nice green polyps when I got it but it seems that it lost its color probably due to light. You seem like you have tons of light too so I'm curious as to how you get that color!! Again, love everything about this build!!

 

[swannyson7]

Thanks for the compliments everyone! Everything is filling in nicely and its just a matter of letting the tank grow out until I can convince my wife that I need a bigger tank. Unfortunately, that probably won't happen until we buy a new house with a basement (currently have a crawl space), but I can always dream! To answer your question Lynnmw, the software is available for the iPhone as well. Here's a website with more info about the software I used:
EyeSpyFX: Home
It says that it's 15 Euro for the software, but it was avalable in the droid market for under $5. My guess is that you'd find the same thing with the iPhone version in the Apple store.
And to answer your question on the placement of the birdsnest, the neon green is one of the highest placed corals in my tank, while the pink was down towards the bottom of the tank and the Bids of Paradise is about halfway down. IME, birdsnest can adapt to a wide range of lighting without much change in coloration, but it is very unforgiving when it comes to chemical warfare. My pink birdsnest colony was wiped out by euphyllia and that's the second colony I've lost due to LPS stings.

 

[Lynnmw1208]

Very cool thanks for the link! As for the birdsnest, I don't know why mine lost it's green color. It's pretty high up and growing like mad but just isn't green anymore. Any idea why?

 

[swannyson7]

Are you having trouble with any other SPS? It may be flow related if all of your parameters are in check and other SPS is doing well. I doubt that lighting is the source of your problem, but what are you running for lights?