andy

Good sleuthing, John I subscribed as well, looking forward to watching the SW version take shape. Cool stuff.

Welcome, sounds like a fun project. VLog? Gotta link?

Well that sucks, hope everything ends up okay. The hobby will still be here when things settle down for you, so don't be a stranger.

Thanks for the kind words. Regarding the ATO, I agree in principal -- the Hydor does allow what seems to be a lot of evaporation before topping off. However, in practice I've measured the salinity at the high and low mark, and the variance is smaller than my Milwaukee tester can detect so I'm not worrying about it. I built a float-switch based ATO for my previous tank, and got burned by the mechanical float switch a couple of times so I'm definitely out of the float-switch club :-) As far as the disco effect on the Kessil goes, I can see slight color banding on the edge of the light's "pool" on the wall beside and behind the tank but I can't see any in the tank... even with aggressive surface agitation. I'm really impressed with the Kessil. Yup, that's a blasto -- got it from Ocean in a Box. It was cheap, and kind'a pretty so a perfect trial balloon for the tank. Happy reefing!

The blasted Hydor Smart Level controller doesn't seem to be working. I ordered it from Amazon, and it sure looked like I wasn't the first person to open the box (cables weren't properly twist-tied together). I guess someone else bought & returned it, and the upstanding Amazon-backed retailer just shipped it out to the next sucker in line... me. I'm going to call Hydor customer support and see what they say. Feh.

What kind of glue?

One big downside to LEDs... they're absolute murder to photograph under. Something about the spectrum just freaks out the sensor in my camera; I'll have to try a few shots with my daughter's camera, it has a much better sensor. Either way MH is far superior for photography, which is disappointing as photographing my tank is a really big part of the hobby for me. My best shots of the evening are really disappointing

Think the delivery person likes me... keeps bringing me presents..

10 gallon, new tank. 1 Blasto, 1 Zoa colony Kessil A160, you can look it up Color turned to max white, Intensity to ~60% 12" 12" 12 hours, no ramp. Will ramp when I get the controller.

Get some epoxy putty. Mix up a bit and make a few small balls of the stuff and use them as gaskets when piling rocks. The putty will set in about 5 minutes, and the rocks will stay together pretty-much forever. This stuff is good, and available from PetCo/Smart. Other brands from Hose Depot/Lowes should also be good but make sure they're just plain epoxy putty. If in doubt, get the Instant Ocean stuff.

Well, ain't that a kick in the pants. I went with dry base rock to avoid pests. Guess what? Hydroids. In a couple of places, on multiple pieces of rock. I can figure a few ways they could have got in there: Came in frozen food Came in the seawater I buy They came in on the dry rock They were in the tank, which had been dry for ~4 years Came in fish gut as planaria The only thing I'm sure if is they didn't come in on a frag -- got my first ones yesterday. Either way, it's a heck of a thing. Kind'a frustrating, but kind'a amazing too. Life finds a way.

Have you contacted your credit card company? They can help, maybe reverse the charge.

A few early thoughts on the Kessil A160 Tuna Blue Tuna Blue? Dumb name, but a nice light Very bright. I was expecting roughly 175W MH equivalence, but at 100% it feels brighter than that. No disco effect. This was probably the primary reason I ordered this light instead of the new AI Prime. I hate, hate, hate the disco effect. Amazing ripple. The tiny die is point-sourcier than MH, giving really beautiful ripple, which I love. Shadows. Because of the point-source, the light also casts shadows in the rockwork. The effect isn't a dramatic as some have written elsewhere but it is there. People who like the "t5 look" may not like this.. Controllable, but not controllable enough. There are two knobs on the light, one for color the other for intensity. They're very useful, but I'm going to get the Kessil-brand controller... I want programmable intensity and spectrum throughout the day. On the downside, it can't go as dim as I'd like. I hoped to be able to use it as a moonlight, but even at its dimmest it's still way too bright for that Price. Also on the downside. With the AI Prime (wireless controllability at $199) leading the charge, I think we're about to see a price drop across the board. A year from now, I suspect the $250 I paid for the Kessil will feel a bit steep -- particularly when you add in the +$100 for the controller.

Looking good.

~10 gallon tanks are the bestest. No skimmer to worry about, 50% water change once a week takes all of 10 minutes. No sump. No overflow noise. No bulkheads to leak. One light, so it can be a really nice one and still be affordable. Circulation is cheap and easy. DO IT.

LOL, thanks for not tempting me Seriously though, I'll never own another acrylic tank. They scratch way too easily for a klutz like me.

Ok, I think I've got an acceptable rig for the Kessil. Here's what I did: I took a 4' length of square aluminum tubing, and drilled a hole at one end. In the hole went a 12" length of threaded rod held in place with a locking nut on the "outside" edge, some washers then a normal nut on the inside. On the other end of the threaded rod is another locking nut, and a couple of normal ones. On the workbench, you can see a 90-degree bent strip of aluminum -- that's my first, failed idea. It was too bouncy, thus the square tubing which is MUCH more rigid. The other end got a series of mounting holes 2" apart that I used when I bolted the rack to the Ikea stand the aquarium is on. By drilling more than just two holes, I gave myself a bit of latitude for vertical positioning. Then, a couple of holes in the back of the stand and put in 3" bolts to hold it all together. And that's the finished product. The Kessil is held in place with an eye-bolt. Not bad. If I decide to stay with it, I'll take it down and hit it with a couple of coats of black Krylon. I'm not loving the eye-bolt part though. Since the bracket is off center on the top of the Kessil, it lets the Kessil hang slightly tilted. I also worry about it "hopping" off if bumped, or we get a quake (which happens!) I'll probably replace it with a loop of picture-hanging braided wire that I can wrap around once and secure with the nuts. Still, not bad for about twenty bucks in parts and half an hour in the garage.

Don't tempt me. Please. Ever. Pretty please.

Really, wow -- my Blood Shrimp is the most active member of the tank, and I'm glad. The thing I like the least about the nano is that it's hard to find pelagic fish that won't outgrow it in a hot minute... most nano-friendly fish are benthic, and as a result a bit boring so there's very little activity overall. The busy invert helps keeps the tank interesting.

Thanks! I think build threads are half the fun of starting a new tank.

Now, to figure out the best way to suspend it...

Blood Shrimp are jerks. It left its molt out where I could see it... so when I turned on the lights I'd think it bought the farm over night. Jerk.

I let things settle in for a couple extra weeks. The tank is much happier now, home to two Yellow Clown Gobies, a Blood Shrimp, and an Antenna Goby -- who is new and hiding, so not in the video. I ordered my lighting at OiaB today, a Kessil A160 Tuna Blue which should be here on Thursday. Then, CORAL!

Congrats on the first brood, I know the next one will be even better.

For lighting, I'd start very low and gradually increase. Corals aren't gonna feel too bad about lower light than they want (stormy days on the reef drop light all the time), but they sure will get stressed by too much. If you have deep pockets, a PAR meter can provide numbers...