Kessil

Leemar Starphire 290

Me too!!! Loved it, but couldn’t handle seeing stuff die off in the shadows. Also my own fault for not trimming the coral back, and for adding mushrooms in the first place. They all came from my previous tanks, and were filler for when the sticks were small. Once they started growing I couldn’t get the shrooms back out. This time I’m gonna try to give almost everything it’s own rock. Hoping to make it easier to move things around as needed. We’ll see.
I feel very fortunate to have seen your tank in person at the Pacifica BAR meeting before your remodel; it was amazing. I’m sure your re-do will be also.

I wouldn’t worry about having things dying in the shadows and some chaos you can’t control. That’s how the most beautiful coral reefs were formed. All the atolls of the world are made of the skeletons of corals that died because they got shaded under the growing corals above.
 
I feel very fortunate to have seen your tank in person at the Pacifica BAR meeting before your remodel; it was amazing. I’m sure your re-do will be also.

I wouldn’t worry about having things dying in the shadows and some chaos you can’t control. That’s how the most beautiful coral reefs were formed. All the atolls of the world are made of the skeletons of corals that died because they got shaded under the growing corals above.


Thank you very much. I agree, a REAL reef has a lot of new coral, growing on dead coral and it is still very beautiful. Just can’t deal with it in my tank. LOL! ISSUES!! ;)


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Thank you very much. I agree, a REAL reef has a lot of new coral, growing on dead coral and it is still very beautiful. Just can’t deal with it in my tank. LOL! ISSUES!! ;)


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As a fellow diver, I agree you see that everywhere. But, to have that in our oceans in a box, is yucky! [emoji6]
 
Well, things are progressing with the new tank concept. Got the Orphek Atlantik V4’s and got them up on the tank today. Wasn’t as smooth as I had hoped, but all was eventually worked out. One of the lights wouldn’t turn on, but it turned out to be a loose wire that was easily fixed. Also had some trouble getting it to pair with the “Gateway” base station, that controls them all. Ended up upgrading the software (firmware??) on the gateway, and all has been fine since. Lights are very responsive through the iPad app, and I have already enjoyed watching the sun set on my tank without a jarring / sudden shut down of all the lights.

First impressions..............Very nice looking, and feeling light. Feels high quality and well thought out. It really makes the tank BRIGHT!! The kessils always felt a little dim, compared to other lights......not in a bad way at all, just not as glaringly bright. However, as the day went on, I started enjoying the look more and more. Just need to get used to it.

Definitely has a disco effect.......more so than I had read about. So far, it’s not bothering me.......a couple spots were kinda cool....almost looked like the reflection from a prism on the rocks. Neat, but not very natural. As I played with the lights, I found several very nice combo’s that give a crisp / high def look. Corals look very good and happy under them. I will be watching coloration very closely to see if they fade, or maintain good color. I would have to say on first impression that I prefer the look of the Kessil light output. It’s just a bit sharper.....maybe it’s the disco effect? Not sure, but these are certainly not bad at all. Just different. Shadowing is MUCH less and the fish look better in this light, as they get shadows over their eyes and when they are high up in the tank from the single point light source. This brighter look really shows them off.

The mount is obviously temporary, but will do fine until I can build another custom canopy. Hoping to do one in some sort of metal this time. We’ll see. I’m going to add one kessil on either side of the overflow, as it doesn’t cover the back wall of the tank. This will allow me to spotlight some stags and hopefully get them huge!! Not sure if I’m gonna use the narrows, or the wides. I’ll try both and see how / if they blend with the Orphek. Might actually make it better.

Anyway, here are some shots from today. I’ll let you know how the corals respond, and any issues that might arise. Happy New Year to everyone. Happy Reefing!! ;)
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Are you going to do a full canopy like before or leave them open and visible? If you’re doing metal maybe I can weld you up something really quick and have it powder coated.
 
Kmooresf,

At post #1, you wrote “an additional drain for easy water change”. Can you explain how that works?

Thanks!
Juliua

Hi Juliua,

When I had the tank designed, they put an extra hole in the bottom of the tank. Normally you have a few holes in your overflow (although nowadays overflows are external), however this one is placed inside the tank. I have it plumbed from below my tank, through the wall and have about an 8’ hose with a ball valve on the end. I made a U shaped nozzle that I can just set onto the edge of a garbage can, open the ball valve and the water from the tank fills the cans. Then I just pump the new water back in. Pretty simple, but needs to be done before the tank is set up......or I suppose you could take it down to do it, but that’s not ideal. This was NOT my idea. Robert at Neptune convinced me it was a good call, and I have no complaints at all. ;) Cheers,

Kris.


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Are you going to do a full canopy like before or leave them open and visible? If you’re doing metal maybe I can weld you up something really quick and have it powder coated.

Plan is to do a full canopy. Simple design though. Just a frame with some crossbars to hold the lights. However I thought I could fancy it up with a wrap of perforated metal.....much like the sides of the orphek itself.......possibly even put in some LED accent lighting to make it all fancy and modern / fun / different / crazy / just cause??????

I had planned to ask a buddy at work, who does metal art. If you are a metal worker, we should certainly talk. I don’t want to bother my work buddy, but I plan to see if it’s something that he would think is cool / fun. I do some woodworking stuff, and personally find it kind of fun to have projects. I have a lot of kinda cool ideas, but not being a metal worker, I don’t know if they are difficult or not. I would do the same pulley system to raise and lower it as well. Thank you very much for the offer.


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So I am a very happy guy today. Two days ago, while sitting on the couch, I heard a thump on the wall, near the aquarium. I jumped up and grabbed a flashlight to make sure a fish hadn’t jumped (My temporary light holder doesn’t allow for the screen to fit) and sure enough, my Flame Wrasse had jumped and was lying behind my tank. I had to reach it with a long handled scraper, while laying across my sump. It was not pretty. I was SO bummed out, cause this is the most beautiful fish. I was able to grab him after a few minutes and he was covered in dog hair and dust. I put him in the tank and he was completely lifeless. I gently shook off the dust and hair and I could see his eyes start to move. After a minute or so, he righted himself, and swam to the bottom of the tank. Nowhere to be seen, until about an hour ago. There he was, just like normal, looking at me from the center of the tank. Looks a little beat up, but readily took mysis and is being fairly normal at the moment. Some scales are damaged. I will be feeding heavily for the next few days to get the immune system boosted. Hoping for a full recovery. Yay!! Took this pic just now.
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