Swannyson7's 180g mixed reef

[swannyson7]

Man, I really enjoy seeing mature reefs. You know when corals are touching each other. :)

Can't wait to have a mature clownfish/anemone tank, hopefully in a year or two. :)

Thanks Marvin! Your clown/nem tank already looks pretty mature to me. The last zoomed out pics you posted were incredible!

Perfect. Thank you. Are you happy with the growth and color in the frag tank? What lens and driver did you use?

I'm not sure on the optics, but the driver I'm using is the Meanwell LPC 35-700. In retrospect, I wish I went with the dimmable driver so that I could ramp up the lighting instead of just on/off. The growth is good in the frag tank, but the coloration isn't that great due to my LED combo. I'm running a 1:1 ration of RB:white diodes, so it's about a 10k spectrum. Great for growth, but SPS doesn't really color up. If I could do it all over again, I would use 18-24 diodes instead of 12 and put the whites & blues on seperate dimmable drivers.

 

[revhtree Verified Admin]

Pictures and corals are beautiful!

 

[Stpatrick]

Thanks Marvin! Your clown/nem tank already looks pretty mature to me. The last zoomed out pics you posted were incredible!

I'm not sure on the optics, but the driver I'm using is the Meanwell LPC 35-700. In retrospect, I wish I went with the dimmable driver so that I could ramp up the lighting instead of just on/off. The growth is good in the frag tank, but the coloration isn't that great due to my LED combo. I'm running a 1:1 ration of RB:white diodes, so it's about a 10k spectrum. Great for growth, but SPS doesn't really color up. If I could do it all over again, I would use 18-24 diodes instead of 12 and put the whites & blues on seperate dimmable drivers.

Hmm. Intrusting. Would you go 2:1 blue to white? I was also thinking of using a couple red leds also. What color temp is your DT? Hard to tell from pictures.

 

[swannyson7]

Yeah, I'd shoot for a (2)blue:(1)white ratio so that it would be around 20k. A few red & green diodes would ne a nice addition as well, but on a frag tank that size, I doubt you'd want more than one or two of each with wide optics so that you don't get oddly colored spotlighting. My DT is about a 18-20k color spectrum depending on the point in the light cycle. The "high noon" period that lasts for a couple hours has some 10k bulbs and a couple Purple+ bulbs that make it a bit more white, but for the majority of the day it's around 20k.

 

[Stpatrick]

Yeah, I'd shoot for a (2)blue:(1)white ratio so that it would be around 20k. A few red & green diodes would ne a nice addition as well, but on a frag tank that size, I doubt you'd want more than one or two of each with wide optics so that you don't get oddly colored spotlighting. My DT is about a 18-20k color spectrum depending on the point in the light cycle. The "high noon" period that lasts for a couple hours has some 10k bulbs and a couple Purple+ bulbs that make it a bit more white, but for the majority of the day it's around 20k.

Are you running your t5s for the high noon cycle? With that said, what is your light schedule :)

 

[swannyson7]

four of the T5s (2xATI Purple+ & 2xATI AquaBlue Specials) kick on for a few hours for the "high noon" cycle. The remainder of the T5s are all Blue+ and are on for the duration of the light cycle. Here's my current photoperiod:

6:30 AM: RB LED strip ON (ramp up to 100% over 45 minutes)
6:40 AM: Moonlights OFF
7:00 AM: Actinic T5s ON
8:00 AM: LEDs ON
11:45 AM: Daylight T5s ON
2:15 PM: Daylight T5s OFF
5:00 PM: LEDs OFF
6:50 PM: Moonlights ON
7:00 PM: Actinics OFF
7:30 PM: RB LED Strip off (Begin ramping down @ 6:45 PM)

 

[Stpatrick]

four of the T5s (2xATI Purple+ & 2xATI AquaBlue Specials) kick on for a few hours for the "high noon" cycle. The remainder of the T5s are all Blue+ and are on for the duration of the light cycle. Here's my current photoperiod:

6:30 AM: RB LED strip ON (ramp up to 100% over 45 minutes)
6:40 AM: Moonlights OFF
7:00 AM: Actinic T5s ON
8:00 AM: LEDs ON
11:45 AM: Daylight T5s ON
2:15 PM: Daylight T5s OFF
5:00 PM: LEDs OFF
6:50 PM: Moonlights ON
7:00 PM: Actinics OFF
7:30 PM: RB LED Strip off (Begin ramping down @ 6:45 PM)

Perfect. Thank you. I think I need to back mine down a bit. My high noon if for 6 hours.

 

[bige]

Tell me, is that how you see your tank? Those are amazing photos, but do you see your tank that way? To me it looks perfect but I always have that it's not quite good enough thought (for my tank).

 

[swannyson7]

Tell me, is that how you see your tank? Those are amazing photos, but do you see your tank that way? To me it looks perfect but I always have that it's not quite good enough thought (for my tank).

The beauty of a macro lens...
I zoom in on the areas that look good and avoid the patches of anthelia, GSP, and ugly protopalys that are spread throughout the tank. Many of the shots are taken top down, so the coloration is a bit different than I see through the front glass, but still a decent representation of the tank. I'm never 100% happy with the tank, but I don't think anyone ever is. There's always one coral where the coloration isn't quite right, or isn't growing the way I want it to, but it's slowly getting better...one step at a time.

 

[gillundr]

I think its about time to pay you a visit. we should work something out man.

Sent from my ADR6425LVW using Tapatalk 2

 

[swannyson7]

Always more than welcome Roman. Shoot me a PM if you're ever going to be in the area and we'll work something out.

 

[Mike&Terry]

The beauty of a macro lens...
I zoom in on the areas that look good and avoid the patches of anthelia, GSP, and ugly protopalys that are spread throughout the tank...

LOL! :snicker: Scott, you have a beautiful tank and you take some amazing pics. Thanks for sharing!

M&T

 

[skinz78]

We need some update pics!!!
:smile:

 

[Aquaph8]

LOL! :snicker: Scott, you have a beautiful tank and you take some amazing pics. Thanks for sharing!

M&T

+1, love your tank and pics

 

[swannyson7]

LOL! :snicker: Scott, you have a beautiful tank and you take some amazing pics. Thanks for sharing!

M&T

+1, love your tank and pics

Thanks guys! I'll post some pics of the pest corals in the next couple days to "show off" the downfalls of my tank. :squigglemouth:

We need some update pics!!!
:smile:

There's some recent pics a couple pages back, but I'll try to get some more this weekend.

 

[Fish_head]

Very nice! How many pounds of rock did you put in your tank? I love the slide out parts, great idea!! I built a 55 gallon into my headboard for my guest room and everyone loves it!

 

[swannyson7]

There's about 130 lbs in the Diplay and another 20 lbs in the sump

 

[swannyson7]

Took a break from working around the house and snapped some pics:

 

[swannyson7]

 

[swannyson7]