Kman Reef Progression Build.

Kman · Mar 3, 2016

A few months after this picture I started running into issues of the leather crashing into the SPS that were around him killing a few. They were originally placed out of reach but because of such explosive growth soon became into range. He had to come out. In doing this i had to re design my left 2 foot section of the tank as he had attached to the foundation stones supporting the reef structure. So when I took him out it started a cave in of that side. I had help at the time so my spotter quickly grabbed the falling rocks to stabilize things. I ending up putting him in my 120 in my fish room that i use mostly for out of hand corals and frags. As they are all plumed into my sump I was happy with my decision.

Something to think about when moving corals around or out of your tank. A soft coral of that size helps clean your water because of uptake of nutrients like dissolved organics and all the particulate matter they feed on and has a big impact on your tank overall health. So removing large corals can have a negative impact on your water quality so think it through and plan accordingly. The stress of the move can cause some corals especially leather corals to release toxins into the water. So to mitigate this I did small frequent water changes for the first two weeks and ran lots of carbon. I have had him for so long and since he has such a large impact on my water quality i wanted to keep him.

Kman · Mar 3, 2016

This is a recent pictures of him and he has only gotten bigger. To really appreciate the size of him you have to see it in person as he is massive. He takes up half my 120. (2X2 foot section)

Kman · Mar 3, 2016

I had no idea he would grow that fast and big. So the next time you see that cute leather think about this. lol

sunnykita · Mar 3, 2016

Simply mind blowing ! Such growth ! I will have to do some research on your lights, I'd like to upgrade eventually from the black box leds.

Kman · Mar 3, 2016

You will love them defiantly worth saving up for. I also have cheaper EverGrow D2120 LED on my frag tank and they work very well for most corals for me. But not compared to the Hydra 52 growth rates and color especially on LPS and SPS. The EverGrow D2120 do work but just slower and the color range is not as good. But they do work for cheaper lights. I just can't expect the same growth rates and the color pallet as the Hydra is all.

Cliff · Mar 3, 2016

Kman said:
You will love them defiantly worth saving up for. I also have cheaper EverGrow D2120 LED on my frag tank and they work very well for most corals for me. But not compared to the Hydra 52 growth rates and color especially on LPS and SPS. The EverGrow D2120 do work but just slower and the color range is not as good. But they do work for cheaper lights. I just can't expect the same growth rates and the color pallet as the Hydra is all.

I have tried to explain this to many people who are fans of Chinese black boxes; They work; but they are not equivalent to ai or radion

Kman · Mar 3, 2016

Oh I agree you do get what you pay for. I noticed this because my 180 and 120 are attached to the same sump and that means environmental wise they get the same requirements. The only difference is a little less flow and lighting on the EverGrow D2120 120 tank. So if they were equal is quality I would not see suck a pronounced difference in growth. Not trying to throw shade on the Chinese black boxes for those that love them I am just stating what I observed.

sunnykita · Mar 4, 2016

I am impressed with what I see in growth in your tank, it's amazing ! it may be a while before I could afford these lights, but I'll keep my eyes open for a good price on them.

Kman · Mar 4, 2016

Thanks.

I will be posting more pictures of SPS progression too I just have a lot of pic to sort through and figure out what the time line was for them.

I actually took well over a year to save up for my lights as they are not the cheapest and I have other things that were more important. I didn't mind taking my time and just before I got them I researched lights again to see if they were still the lights I wanted. No need to rush with big purchase like that.

Deptron · Mar 6, 2016

The lights you had before were the maxspect razor's? Are you seeing a large improvement with the AI's over the maxspect's?

Kman · Mar 7, 2016

Yes they were the Maxspect razors. I see a big difference between the two and I prefer the AI as for me it grows my corals the best. I get good growth and color with Maxspect on my 46 gallon bow but on the larger 180 my results are not as good. They worked on the 180 but were just never enough for me and lacked in growth and color assortment. If I ran supplemental blue LED like Eric does I am sure they would have worked better on the 180. But still nothing like the AI for me.

Some people have good experience using the Maxspect but I am not one of them. I originally bought three of them and in less then a year I had issues with two out of three not working. Within a year and a half all three have had issues twice each and as of right now only one is working.The rest are now for parts as I refuse to spend more money on these lights. Even on warranty Maxspect would not stand behind their products and attempted to make me pay for the replacement hardware. The last time the Pods burnt out the store owner felt bad for me and kindly paid for them himself because he knew they should have replaced them. Within two years they burnt out 4 Blue LED pods, 2 fans and one white LED pod total so far. Because I refuse to spend any more money on a product that even the manufacture will not stand behind on warranty, once I have gone through all the parts I have for the one remaining LED. I will go buy another AI for that tank and give my money to their competition. I have never been treated by a company with so much disrespect the entire time that I have been in this hobby by anyone besides Maxspect.

My remaining Maxspect does grow corals good (when it is working), but I will never buy another Maxspect product again after the horrible way I was treated by them.

sunnykita · Mar 7, 2016

sad that customer service is so lacking !

Kman · Mar 7, 2016

I agree. I understand stuff goes wrong but come on treat your customers with respect and work with them to resolve a situation.

Kman · Mar 7, 2016

Here is a recent picture of my reef at two years three months. As you can see I have transitioned over to a SPS dominant tank. A few months ago I added supplemental T5 (4X80 watt) as I feel mixed lighting offers the best wide range of spectrum for color and growth then any stand alone lighting solution. I only use the T5 for my peak period of a 3 hrs to add some extra punch in intensity for the peak times and a change in spectrum during those times. This is best for growth and color.

Sorry about the picture quality as they were taken on my phone.