# 40B Tank "Dutch-ish"



## Chris_Produces (Feb 19, 2014)

*UPDATED PICS ARE USUALLY ON THE LAST PAGE*

Lights: 2 Radion XR15 Freshwater

Filtration: Hagen AquaClear 70

CO2: Pressurized. 24oz Paintball, GLA Atomic Paintball V2 Regulator, Standard glass/ceramic diffuser, stainless check valve, and standard glass drop checker with premixed solution. 

Circulation: Hydor Koralia Nano 240

Heater: Hydor Inline (holding tank at 76/77 degrees).

Fish: 3 Celestial Pearl Danios, 8 Neon Tetras, 1 Zebra Loach, 1 SAE, 5 Otocinclus, Red Cherry Shrimp (population unknown), 9 Harlequin Rasboras. 

Substrate: CaribSea Flora Max Planted (Midnight)

Plants: Always changing


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## Chris_Produces (Feb 19, 2014)

*More HC*

Getting ready to split this up and plant. More pics after I get it in the substrate.




:fish:


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## Charlest (May 24, 2011)

Score! Nice

Sent from my LG-D500 using Tapatalk


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## Chris_Produces (Feb 19, 2014)

Charlest said:


> Score! Nice
> 
> Sent from my LG-D500 using Tapatalk


Haha yeah I'm a little impatient on waiting for the carpet to form, so I figured I'd help out ol' mother nature :icon_mrgr


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## Charlest (May 24, 2011)

Wish I could find that many pots. Good luck. If you need any help from my progress let me know.

Sent from my LG-D500 using Tapatalk


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## Chris_Produces (Feb 19, 2014)

Charlest said:


> Wish I could find that many pots. Good luck. If you need any help from my progress let me know.
> 
> Sent from my LG-D500 using Tapatalk


Yeah they were trying to get rid of them for a new shipment coming in so I got a deal on them. I'm sure I'll need something somewhere down the line :thumbsup:


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## Agent69 (Oct 9, 2013)

That hc and dwarf hairgrass will fill in nicely. It took almost a moth for my hairgrass to spread I was so impatient I would wake up everyday and get so excited over a couple new blades Hahaha. I use to run a filstar xp3 on my 40 breeder, it was the best canister filter I've ever had almost up to par with eheims but not as expensive. Although I recently started using fluval canisters I don't like them they are way too fragile avoid them.


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## Chris_Produces (Feb 19, 2014)

Agent69 said:


> That hc and dwarf hairgrass will fill in nicely. It took almost a moth for my hairgrass to spread I was so impatient I would wake up everyday and get so excited over a couple new blades Hahaha. I use to run a filstar xp3 on my 40 breeder, it was the best canister filter I've ever had almost up to par with eheims but not as expensive. Although I recently started using fluval canisters I don't like them they are way too fragile avoid them.


I'm the same way lol. I actually just purchased an API Filstar-M. Says it's good for 75 gallons so I'm finally set there. Now for some sweet looking lily pipes :bounce:. I'm glad to hear that you like the filstar line. So far I'm really digging mine and the extra flow. I'll def have to add pics of it soon for the journal.


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## Chris_Produces (Feb 19, 2014)

*HC Planting*

Getting trimmed up and separated.



After the planting. Above tank.



After the planting. Front view.


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## ~rush~ (Mar 15, 2014)

That looks like a massive PITA... but looks sooo good once its planted! Will be following this.


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## Chris_Produces (Feb 19, 2014)

~rush~ said:


> That looks like a massive PITA... but looks sooo good once its planted! Will be following this.


Haha thanks. It wasn't too bad. About a half hours worth of work. The floramax did much better than my old regular gravel when I was planting them all. I also ended up keeping a little bit of the wool on roots to help anchor some of them down as well.


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## Chris_Produces (Feb 19, 2014)

*ADF Feeding Video*






Figure I'd add this since I'm waiting for more growth to happen in the tank. Enjoy.


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## Chris_Produces (Feb 19, 2014)

*Adf*

Feeling photogenic today.


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## Chris_Produces (Feb 19, 2014)

Just ordered my Atomic Paintball Co2 Regulator V2 from GLA. Going to hook that up and post a little review. Maybe some people are wondering what happened with the Milwaukee regulator...I had it "float" and end up gasing my fish..was lucky it wasn't worse than it was. I always run an air pump as a safety. I lost my hillstream loach, and two neon tetras over the event... It happened over the weekend while I was out of town. Everything is ran on a timer, just FYI.

Putting the Milwaukee on a 120 gallon and using a 2lb paintball setup with the new GLA Regulator for my 40B. It sucks because of what happened with the fish but I look forward to what lies ahead.


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## Chris_Produces (Feb 19, 2014)

Atomic Paintball Regulator V2 to be installed today. Pics coming soon. Current Co2 setup to go on 120 gallon tank.


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## Agent69 (Oct 9, 2013)

Chris_Produces said:


> Atomic Paintball Regulator V2 to be installed today. Pics coming soon. Current Co2 setup to go on 120 gallon tank.


The atomic v2 is awesome I love that thing also picked up the atomic diffuser w/ check valve and the bubble counter. 

Sent from my SM-G900T using Tapatalk


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## Chris_Produces (Feb 19, 2014)

Agent69 said:


> The atomic v2 is awesome I love that thing also picked up the atomic diffuser w/ check valve and the bubble counter.
> 
> Sent from my SM-G900T using Tapatalk


Yeah my next thing is going to be getting the inline atomic diffuser and a hydor inline heater all for my canister filter setup. Trying to make the inside of the tank look a lot cleaner as far as aesthetics go.


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## ~rush~ (Mar 15, 2014)

Sorry to hear about the fish/loach. I almost went with a milwaukee reg, but I'm thinking about the GLA V3 system now...

Tank is still looking great!


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## Chris_Produces (Feb 19, 2014)

~rush~ said:


> Sorry to hear about the fish/loach. I almost went with a milwaukee reg, but I'm thinking about the GLA V3 system now...
> 
> Tank is still looking great!


Thanks! Yeah def go with the GLA V3. I switched the Milwaukee to my 125g so when accidents happen, I have a far bigger margin in that error. The 24oz paintball system with the Atomic V2 is amazing!!! I haven't had to tinker with the needle valve since I got it set right for the tank. Recently ran out of nitrogen and nearly phosphates. Def showed up in the new growth I was getting. Dosing today and hope to see a quick turn around.


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## Chris_Produces (Feb 19, 2014)

Had a BBA outbreak but it's getting under control since I've been EI dosing dry ferts


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## Chris_Produces (Feb 19, 2014)

Went away for a while and you can see the lack of phosphates and that imbalance have seemed to cause some GSA that you can see on the back. I tested the water to confirm my suspicion I had based on research done here. With my tanks I know for sure when this shows up, my phosphates have been zero each time.

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## umarnasir335 (Mar 2, 2014)

Totally understand how the GSA is such a pain when it attaches to the back of the tank...so hard to completely clean -__-


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## Chris_Produces (Feb 19, 2014)

umarnasir335 said:


> Totally understand how the GSA is such a pain when it attaches to the back of the tank...so hard to completely clean -__-


Yeah I'm doing a trim today so I'll be able to get in there with a razor blade and scrape it all off. Trying to find more plants I want to add. Right now I only have about 7 different ones.


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## greenteam (Feb 8, 2012)

tank looks nice. Have you thought about adding a dark backgrown cover on the glass to hide wires/gadgets and place focus on the greens in the tank?


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## Chris_Produces (Feb 19, 2014)

greenteam said:


> tank looks nice. Have you thought about adding a dark backgrown cover on the glass to hide wires/gadgets and place focus on the greens in the tank?


Thanks! Yeah, I've just never done it before. I'm actually thinking about hanging one of my black acoustic panel behind the tank to make the background dark. I have quite a few of them since this is in my office at the recording studio.


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## Aqua Jon (May 28, 2013)

Keep throwing updates! i love this tank. I recently (-.-) heard that is the best way to plant the HC and similar types with the wool still there. Ugh... if only i knew.


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## Chris_Produces (Feb 19, 2014)

Aqua Jon said:


> Keep throwing updates! i love this tank. I recently (-.-) heard that is the best way to plant the HC and similar types with the wool still there. Ugh... if only i knew.


Thanks! More pics coming.


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## Chris_Produces (Feb 19, 2014)




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## Aqua Jon (May 28, 2013)

that growth is really starting to come in. looks great. any chance for a front view?


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## Chris_Produces (Feb 19, 2014)

Yeah I'll take one soon. Still cleaning up the BBA I got recently. 

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## Chris_Produces (Feb 19, 2014)

*Changes*

Still getting rid of BBA but it's coming along. I tore up the HC and decided I want to do nothing but dense planting with bigger plants (no carpet plant really). That being said, I still keep finding HC shooting up every once in a while. I put a stem of Ammannia Pedicellata "Golden" over on the right front to see how it would do should I get a bunch or two of this. Just watching it now and seeing what happens. Also, Rotala Rotundifolia needs a trim. I'll do that sometime soon. Waiting for more plants now, but figured I show the recent changes and progress.


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## Chris_Produces (Feb 19, 2014)

Sorry about the picture quality. I'm no photographer.


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## Aqua Jon (May 28, 2013)

It looks incredible! I love that intense red on the left.


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## Chris_Produces (Feb 19, 2014)

Aqua Jon said:


> It looks incredible! I love that intense red on the left.


Thanks! Still collecting my plants that I end up keeping and actually enjoy having. Slowly but surely I guess.


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## Aqua Jon (May 28, 2013)

How often are you trimming that L. perennis to keep it a low shrub like that?


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## Chris_Produces (Feb 19, 2014)

Are you talking about the L.Repens on the left front?


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## Chris_Produces (Feb 19, 2014)

Just wanted to share an experience with 2 Sat+ fixtures over my 40B. I took the spectrum to full white and red LED's only for about a week. Kept up with my dosing and even took reading every other day for nitrate and phosphates. All my plants faired pretty well and kept growing well with one exception. Rotala Rotundifolia stunted like nothing I'd seen before. Bottoms starting rotting out and new growth up top was small leaves and raggedy. I switched back to full spectrum today. I will report back with changes that occur.


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## Aqua Jon (May 28, 2013)

yes i was mistaken, the repens. I imagined it was something else as my repens is not faring so well!

I have heard a lot of praise from those using the Sat+ and am considering it.


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## Chris_Produces (Feb 19, 2014)

Aqua Jon said:


> yes i was mistaken, the repens. I imagined it was something else as my repens is not faring so well!
> 
> I have heard a lot of praise from those using the Sat+ and am considering it.


The repens has to be trimmed to stay like that about once/twice a week. You should check out the new ecoxotic light they have, if the PAR isn't too much for your uses.


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## Aqua Jon (May 28, 2013)

I will try and trim it more often and keep the stem height to 2 inches or so. I dont know that my PAR will cut it though. My repens only gets that bright with large leaves at the surface :\ Looks beautify as a marginal plant though! LOL


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## Chris_Produces (Feb 19, 2014)

The last picture I took was before trimming. After a trim, all the stragglers you see growing up and out get chopped and replanted.


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## Chris_Produces (Feb 19, 2014)

It's out of control, I know...


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## brooksie321 (Jul 19, 2014)

Awesome tank man!!! We should be friends.. I've got the same setup.. only a few weeks old and I literally just opened the amazon co2 package..


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## Aqua Jon (May 28, 2013)

You're getting great growth! hehehe The power of trimming! I wish takashi amano would post pictures of his tanks overgrown lol we would all feel a bit better about it i think


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## philipraposo1982 (Mar 6, 2014)

brooksie321 said:


> Awesome tank man!!! We should be friends.. I've got the same setup.. only a few weeks old and I literally just opened the amazon co2 package..
> View attachment 348329
> View attachment 348337


Knew you would pop up here sooner or later


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## Chris_Produces (Feb 19, 2014)

brooksie321 said:


> Awesome tank man!!! We should be friends.. I've got the same setup.. only a few weeks old and I literally just opened the amazon co2 package..


Nice you should set that co2 asap before algae shows it's evil head lol. Have you checked out going canister for filtration? I see what looks like aquaclear's. I'm just trying to get everything out of the tank. I'm going to be getting the inline co2 diffuser soon from GLA I think. I'm tired of seeing the ugly white disk of my diffuser obstructing the view.

Bump:


Aqua Jon said:


> You're getting great growth! hehehe The power of trimming! I wish takashi amano would post pictures of his tanks overgrown lol we would all feel a bit better about it i think


Yeah it kind of stinks right now, you can't even see the H. pinnatifida growing in the back.


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## brooksie321 (Jul 19, 2014)

philipraposo1982 said:


> Knew you would pop up here sooner or later


Couldn't stay away..


Chris_Produces said:


> Nice you should set that co2 asap before algae shows it's evil head lol. Have you checked out going canister for filtration? I see what looks like aquaclear's. I'm just trying to get everything out of the tank. I'm going to be getting the inline co2 diffuser soon from GLA I think. I'm tired of seeing the ugly white disk of my diffuser obstructing the view.
> 
> Bump:
> 
> Yeah it kind of stinks right now, you can't even see the H. pinnatifida growing in the back.


Algae sucks and I hate it..that being said.. off to the store to fill up the tank! Yes, there's surely an ehiem in the forsee able future, i do like the ac 70 though..


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## Chris_Produces (Feb 19, 2014)

I have a GBR tank that's a 40B that I really like my AC70 on but it's a low light/tech planted tank.


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## Chris_Produces (Feb 19, 2014)

*New Photos and Some Re-arranging*


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## brooksie321 (Jul 19, 2014)

Sweet downoi, like side show bob! AR looks healthy too! It all looks great!!


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## erimar (Oct 19, 2013)

Can't wait to see the new grow!


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## Chris_Produces (Feb 19, 2014)

So I had my local co2 refill places run out of it for nearly a week. I didn't run lights for fear of algae outbreak. Lost a lot of good plants. All my downoi is gone….anyways I got the itch to redo everything and I'm currently in the process. Update with pictures coming soon.


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## Chris_Produces (Feb 19, 2014)

Here's the picture with my cell phone just after redoing the whole tank. Going to try and go with a carpet of S. Repens. I have way too much AR, but it's going to have to do as is until my LFS gets the next shipment of plants in. Had to use some slate rock to hold down the drift wood until it becomes water logged. Rock will be removed once that happens.


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## Chris_Produces (Feb 19, 2014)

Found some Blyxa Japonica and Blyxa aubertii that will be in next thursday I believe. Going to use it to transfer the carpet of S. Repens I'm shooting for as well as fill in one of back corners. Also, should have more S. Repens in tomorrow that I'm going to fill in the rest of the front of the tank with all the way across.


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## Chris_Produces (Feb 19, 2014)

Here's the newly planted Downoi, S. Repens, Java Fern, Hygrophila pinnatifida, and Anubias nana var. 'Petite'. Put some Java Moss on the stone that's on the drift wood on the right side but it will be a while before that can be seen very well, as I only had about a nickel size amount of it. The white balance in the photo is terrible but you can get the idea.


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## Chris_Produces (Feb 19, 2014)

New shots that I've been fiddling around with the ISO setting and white balance on my Galaxy S5 phone. On the rock that's on the right side top of drift wood, you can see the little piece of Java Moss I'm trying to get going.


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## Chris_Produces (Feb 19, 2014)

S. Repens thickening up


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## Blackheart (Jul 5, 2011)

Tank looks pretty sweet. Makes me miss my 40 breeder.


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## Chris_Produces (Feb 19, 2014)

Blackheart said:


> Tank looks pretty sweet. Makes me miss my 40 breeder.


Thanks! I'm still waiting on the wood to become waterlogged so I can remove all the slate stones that are in there. Really need the blyxa to take off as well and become a big bush but that may be a while.


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## Chris_Produces (Feb 19, 2014)

New pics


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## Chris_Produces (Feb 19, 2014)

*NEW PICS 2/1/2015*


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## Hyzer (Mar 9, 2010)

I also like looking down at my plants from above the tank. Those AR pictures look nice.

That Stauro looks super healthy and ready to spread even more.


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## Chris_Produces (Feb 19, 2014)

Hyzer said:


> I also like looking down at my plants from above the tank. Those AR pictures look nice.
> 
> That Stauro looks super healthy and ready to spread even more.


Yeah it's definitely progressed a lot from the first days of planting. Wish I had an actual camera instead of just my phone. I think I could get some really cool shots now.

Bump: Here's a little something of the fish in the tank


Bump: Recent trim and WC. Sorry about the white balance and brightness. It's my phone and I forgot to turn off the auto mode on the white balance and ISO settings, so in real life it's not near as washed out looking.


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## Chris_Produces (Feb 19, 2014)

*New Lights EcoTech Radion XR15 Freshwater & RMS*

Just pick up one of these lights and here's what it looks like coming through UPS from an online retailer. 


…and then everything pulled out. 


Got a second coming in soon…To be continued...


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## brooksie321 (Jul 19, 2014)

Ooooo, following!!


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## Chris_Produces (Feb 19, 2014)

brooksie321 said:


> Ooooo, following!!


Want my 2 Sat + Fixtures?


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## brooksie321 (Jul 19, 2014)

Chris_Produces said:


> Want my 2 Sat + Fixtures?


Haha... sold one, moved one... now I have a bml!!


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## Chris_Produces (Feb 19, 2014)

brooksie321 said:


> Haha... sold one, moved one... now I have a bml!!


Nice!


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## brooksie321 (Jul 19, 2014)

Yah it is! I've been interested to see these radions in action, post a pic with just the one??


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## Chris_Produces (Feb 19, 2014)

brooksie321 said:


> Yah it is! I've been interested to see these radions in action, post a pic with just the one??


Yeah I can do that


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## brooksie321 (Jul 19, 2014)

Do it!!! Do it nowww (Arnold voice)


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## Chris_Produces (Feb 19, 2014)

Pulled the S. repens and trying micro sword along withe 3 other stem plants. Once I figure out which ones grow well then I'm going to pull the drift wood out and fill it out with stems across the back.


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## Jalopy (Aug 11, 2013)

Did you get 2 XR15 or are you going to light the entire tank with just 1 fixture?


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## Chris_Produces (Feb 19, 2014)

Here's a pic of just one over the center of the tank. 


Bump:


Jalopy said:


> Did you get 2 XR15 or are you going to light the entire tank with just 1 fixture?


I'm getting a 2nd one for coverage along with the a ReefLink.

Bump: ….Another thing, my CPD are hanging out a lot more in the open with this fixture. They are typically timid and shy and would only come out to feed. Also the gradual sunrise/set doesn't shock my fish like it used to when the light would go from off to straight on and vice versa.


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## Jalopy (Aug 11, 2013)

The coverage looks pretty good with just one. The thing that gets me is that you have to buy the light AND the software.


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## Chris_Produces (Feb 19, 2014)

Jalopy said:


> The coverage looks pretty good with just one. The thing that gets me is that you have to buy the light AND the software.


Software is free. Don't know who told you that :confused1:


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## Jalopy (Aug 11, 2013)

That's a much better deal then. I was under the impression that you had to buy Reeflink or you only get the preset sunrise/set, etc.


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## Chris_Produces (Feb 19, 2014)

Jalopy said:


> That's a much better deal then. I was under the impression that you had to buy Reeflink or you only get the preset sunrise/set, etc.


ReefLink is only if you want to be able to control your light via WiFi. Otherwise you just plug in the supplied USB cable to the unit, run the software and do what ever your hearts desire can come up with. What's cool about ReefLink is that if you go out of town for a while and don't have a way to keep up a fert dosing routine and say you didn't think of that until you had already left town, you could simply open the app, drop the intensity of the lights to what you want and it will save that schedule and run it until you make changes again.


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## Jalopy (Aug 11, 2013)

That's pretty neat! Did you consider Aquatic Illumination Prime when you got this? Apparently Ecotech bought them and now AI is coming out with a $199 Wi-Fi enabled pendant light. Sounds like the XR15 but cheaper.


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## MEandYouPhoto (Jul 1, 2014)

Chris_Produces said:


> Want my 2 Sat + Fixtures?



I might be interested in them if the price is right. I am starting a 40b myself. Shoot me a PM


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## Chris_Produces (Feb 19, 2014)

Jalopy said:


> That's pretty neat! Did you consider Aquatic Illumination Prime when you got this? Apparently Ecotech bought them and now AI is coming out with a $199 Wi-Fi enabled pendant light. Sounds like the XR15 but cheaper.


Yeah they bought out Ecotech. A few guys I know have the AI stuff on their reef tanks and they all say they wish they had gone with Ecotech so that's what I went with.


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## Chris_Produces (Feb 19, 2014)

*2nd Radion XR15 Freshwater and New Plants*

Just picked up some plants to try with the new light setup and see how it goes. Some of these new plants had grown before with the old setup but never got to the point that I wanted them to.








To me, the AR in the corner already looks deeper red than it ever did with my last light setup.


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## Jalopy (Aug 11, 2013)

Can you post a front shoot of the tank please?


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## Chris_Produces (Feb 19, 2014)

Jalopy said:


> Can you post a front shoot of the tank please?




This is about 5500K and 90% overall brightness setting on the unit.


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## Jalopy (Aug 11, 2013)

The tank looks great! Thanks for sharing.


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## Chris_Produces (Feb 19, 2014)

Jalopy said:


> The tank looks great! Thanks for sharing.


Thanks! White balance is all messed up. I need a photographer to get the lighting right like it looks in real life. Looks dull here and it's nothing like that.


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## natebuchholz (Sep 28, 2013)

Even so, nice tank.


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## Chris_Produces (Feb 19, 2014)

natebuchholz said:


> Even so, nice tank.


Thanks! Just planted a lot of those plants so I'll try putting up more pics when they acclimate and start to really grow out.


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## Chris_Produces (Feb 19, 2014)

*Lots of change*

New photo before I trim and do a water change.


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## Chris_Produces (Feb 19, 2014)

Updated Pic


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## brooksie321 (Jul 19, 2014)

Looks great man! Those panels are doing work!


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## Chris_Produces (Feb 19, 2014)

brooksie321 said:


> Looks great man! Those panels are doing work!


Thanks! Yeah it's pretty nuts…Once my lights come one, the plants are pearling within 30-40 minutes. Sad but I have to sell all my stuff due to moving soon.


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