72L Sumpless Tank

[Franske]

hello
may you please answer me?(excuse me If I am weak in english language)
I want to know IF its necessary turn on lights of aquarium little by little(step by step)
some where I have read that I have for example turn on 10 LEDs 1st, after 1 houre other 10 LEDs. and also for turn off I have to do same.1st turn off 10 LEDs and after 1 houre other LEDs have to be turned off
I see that you have an excelent aquarium with many types of creatures... so I want to know your idea about the way of turning off and on lights, what you do for this cute tank?
thank you for answering me soon

Hi, my LED goes full on and full off I do not have a controller on it. Some people have controllers on and I can imagine corals would like it. My lights are on an automatic timer to go on and off. I set the timer that the lights come on after sunrise and goes off before sunset then the light difference is not that big when they switch on and off. My lights are only on for 5 hours per day now but I will increase it at a later stage when my system has adapted since I recently added the LED light.

 

[dallasg]

what an awesome tank! cant believe i missed this!!
keep it up!

 

[Franske]

Thanks man, we are moving soon so going to use the time to build in a black perspex section on the end of the tank to use as filter area. I plan to only have the one chamber so literally just a divider in the tank. I am going to make it 15cm wide so that my skimmer can also fit in. Will make the tank look neater and also serve as an area for pods to accumulate since I want to keep a Mandarin and also to put some filter media in as needed. I also find the lack of filter skimming irritating so this will also help with that. I am going to put a return pump in and drill holes in the perspex for overflow. I will also drill three small holes in the bottom of the divider to keep the chambers level from dropping and heaters being exposed in case my ATU fails on me.

Also thinking of going bare bottom

 

[RiaanP]

I want to know IF its necessary turn on lights of aquarium little by little(step by step)

This simulate sunrise and sunset. Also the fish do not get that sudden bright light on them, scaring them. Same with lights out. They get a freight when its suddenly dark. They do get used to it later on, but its better to stagger the lights.

 

[Franske]

Since my last post this little tank has moved homes two times. Nonetheless its running well and corals are growing nicely. Where it is placed at the moment it gets natural sunlight most part of the day and I am only switching on the LED light at night time. SPS also seem to grow nicely. Added my first two Acros this week so will see how they do. At the moment I am not dosing anything and still only rely on waterchanges. Last two pictures are with the natural sunlight.

 

[tekkengal]

Very nice, love those zoas!

 

[r0ckf1re]

Wow well done. How do you manage to keep it so clean. Don't see any algae.

 

[Franske]

Water changes about 10-20% per week, glass cleaner, and one snail, want to add another snail now. When I do water changes I siphon the base.

 

[r0ckf1re]

Thanks

 

[Franske]

A few picture updates. Added 2 Green Chromis and also giving my first 2 acros a try. They got lots of new white tips so seems like they are doing well. At the moment everything seems stable without any dosing, water changes still seem to make up for all nutrients used.

 

[Junior]

looking good, are you still using the first led unit you made or have you upgraded it? tank is looking good well done

 

[tekkengal]

Nice! How are you keeping the bottom of the the tank clean?

 

[Franske]

I siphon it with my weekly 10L water change. Yes it is still the DIY LED unit. I am thinking about selling this unit and then building a new one with more actinic lights. Visited Dory Pets in centurion over the weekend and see most of their tanks has more blue light and it really does make the corals pop. When I close the white LED's on my unit with my hands the corals really do look amazing. Or will think about using a dimmable driver on the whites on the new unit and maybe add a few UV's as well.

 

[superfrog]

Awesome setup you have going. Love the DIY. Keep up the good work!

 

[Franske]

Time for a little update. Not much changed on the livestock side except for 2 Torpedo snails. No new corals as well but made a little upgrade to my lighting and added a Orphek PR156wxp. Must say I am very happy with the light and corals also seem happy. Will still see if the SPS growth is any better. Also love the moonlights only. SPS has been growing well in general and my Ricordias and mushrooms are spawning madly. I did however have a whole bung of green and orange Zoas that all strangely died off whilst other corals hard and soft are growing well.

 

[tekkengal]

You have good coral growth! How many fish do you have (I count two, chromis and clown)?

 

[Franske]

Yes only one chromis and one true percula now. Had another chromis and six line wrasse but they both jumped. I think the reason for them jumping was the lights, when the power goes off and we are not at home my timer loses its original time then the lights would sometimes go on when the house is dark and then they jump because of the sudden light scare. Luckily that shouldnt be a problem anymore because the Orphek timers are battery powered so want to add 1-2 new fish.

 

[Franske]

Some pictures taken with an attachable cellphone camera lens bought from Typo. Must say I am very impressed.

 

[hotdog83]

Awesome. What lens is that from typo? I got fisheye lens from there, quite a cool gadget.

 

[Hammerhead]

I got this clip on lense on a recent trip overseas nice to know its also available locally. Still need to fiddle around with it. Tested the macro on some tiny stuff at work as the tank is not wet yet and it looks like its going to do the job.