Mr. Bill's Budget 29H Reef Tank- New Pics on Page 18

After some prodding from a few close friends here on 3Reef, I decided it was time to get my daughter to take a few new pics so I can start my own tank thread (I'm not a photographer. lol). Thank you, Nikki!

Personally, I prefer the KISS method. I started in SW when the UGF and HOB were all we had, and they worked quite well with proper maintenance. Over the past few years, I've tried the SSB and DSB, live and lifeless, with and without sand-sifters, with and without sump, etc, etc, etc, and the endless debate over whether or not to stir or vacuum the sand and the persistent nuisance algae blooms that didn't even correlate with anything was extremely daunting and made reefkeeping more of a chore than it was worth. This time, I wanted to focus on the well-being of my tank's inhabitants and relax and enjoy them, so for filtration, I went back to what has always worked best for me.

For lighting, I'm running a Nova Extreme 2 x 24 T5HO fixture.

The first few pics were taken after adding my CuC. At that time, I had 1 12000K Power White and 1 460nm Actinic Blue. Here they are:









These were taken today after replacing both bulbs with ATI Coral Plus. Quite frankly, I like the color and brightness. They're perfect. (Thank you, John! )



















Thanks for viewing.

 

Finally, about time you made a build thread!!! Looks great!!!

 

In pic #3, am I seeing things or is your emerald crab hitching a ride on an astrea snail to get to the top part of the glass?

 

Thank you, Grim.

 

Yes, that's exactly what he's doing. lol. He hung on for the better part of an hour, clinging by his hind legs and scraping algae like crazy.

 

Very nice Mr.Bill you have some great platforms for placement of corals.

 

HAHA, I was thinking the same thing......Mr. Bill, you've got some cleaver crabs sir.....

 

Thank you. I only rearranged it like 5 times while it was cycling. lol

 

Thank you. Yeah, I've seen Emeralds do some strange things before, but that was definitely a first.

 

Finally!!!!LOL Tank looks great. I too like the look of your new bulbs.;D8)