Sniperhank's UPGRADED 55 gal Build

[Sniperhank]

The old one is going strong and continues to grow. Its in the shot for comparison to the new one, which is acclimating and will open eventually.

[Bearchumjs]

Originally Posted by Sniperhank

The old one is going strong and continues to grow. Its in the shot for comparison to the new one, which is acclimating and will open eventually.

So the big one is the old one and the small non-tentacled one is the closed up new one?

[Sniperhank]

Yes. The old one is almost at 20 heads now. Just a giant bush.

[Bearchumjs]

Originally Posted by Sniperhank

Yes. The old one is almost at 20 heads now. Just a giant bush.

Well I was completely backwards when I looked at the picture. The old one looks fantastic and I hope the new one opens up soon!

[needmorecowbell]

I'm getting extremely jealous of your tank. I need to start buying more corals lol.

[Sniperhank]

I just had to look at my tank again before bed...I found something I didn't think was still alive...here is a bad phone pic. See if you know what it is before I post the good pics tomorrow.

[Crystal A]

Octopus or star fish.........

[jjamontan]

Just to butt in here but I know how you feel about your Duncan. Mine has grown so fast it is unbelievable. I have had mine for I think 4 months and it started out with six heads and is now at 19. My only problem with it is that it will take up new coral space.

[Mrc8858]

Originally Posted by Crystal A

Octopus or star fish.........

Holy crap it really does look like an octopus lmao.

[Sniperhank]

In terms of the duncan, I love mine. Thats why I got a second one.
Updated pics, the forest milli didn't make it. Lost too much water as it punctured its own bag.

The duncan has opened up nicely. It is just the variety I wanted.

Starburst acro is brown, but should adjust and color back up.

The Satosa Monti continues to wow me with its color.

Some update shots


And can you tell who showed up in my tank last night now?

[Bearchumjs]

What a darling little Pom Pom crab!!

[Crystal A]

Ha that's to funny. Octopus what was I thinking.

[kdpuffer]

Hey I thought it look like an octopus too, my Pom Pom hides all the time.

[Sniperhank]

I just remember reading a post many months ago about a guy saying his favorite thing was discovering something in his tank that he had forgotten about. I thought that guy was dead, all of my other crabs besides the arrow crab have died. It is really easy for something that small to vanish in a fully stocked 55 reef...I mean man, just crazy. I snapped as many pics as I could before he was gone and still hasn't been seen since.

BTW, anyone have any tips for acros? I just don't want this large one to go south. Stable parameters and sitting on top under my 65% radions should be good. I just won't be back home until Sunday so I'm paranoid about this beautiful acro.

[Sniperhank]

I just changed my GFO and emptied the skimmer's cup. After some reading, read that pale colors out of sps can come from lack of food...interesting. So, I target fed my sps as well. Last time I did this I had an algae bloom...but also had no where near the filtration currently on the tank. So here's hoping.

[needmorecowbell]

Just make sure u acclimate it properly, you don't want It to go in shock from the light

[Sniperhank]

Yeah...that might have already happened. Just hoping it liked my slow ramp up of the Radions the first time they came on since I was at work. My other SPS never really seemed to care. I just want this new guy to do well, especially since the milli didn't make it. It was out of water too long since it poked a hole in its own bag.

I also read more into having colorful corals. 14k for growth and 20k for color is basically what I got out of it. On sunday I'll check out the spectrum set on my radions. I'd be willing to bet I have it on for 14k the whole time rather than 20...but would that really matter much for LEDs? I'd assume that it would just be more of the look/color of the lights, but worth a shot I guess.

[needmorecowbell]

It matters a lot. In the Lower end of the spectrum, corals will grow faster, but have a more brownish color. With the higher end, you'll see more color but growth is cut down. I never noticed any change in growth, but I guess that's because it matters on more than just light. If you shocked the corals, then you won't see much growth or color for a couple months, they are going through photo inhibition, which basically means the phosphors (I don't think that's what theyre called, I forget) arent used to the new light and it's spectrum.

[Sniperhank]

Yeah, I know the basic stuff on it I just seem to keep doing it! Lol... We'll see how things go. I just don't want to lose both of my big coral so I'm paranoid even though I'm fully capable of managing it. Either way, more Radion config coming it seems.

[needmorecowbell]

Are there any reviews where people tell you there presets? Maybe ask someone who has a tank that you envy.