Matt LeBaron

I couldn't be happier with my Rapid LED kits. I haven't tried the pucks but they're just combinations of the normal LED's they sell so they should still be good also.

Welcome to WAMAS! Glad to see more people in MD.

howaboutme basically summed up my thoughts on the ReefAngel. I've had mine for over a year now and could not be happier. If you like tinkering it is hands down the way to go. They have more add on options than any other controller and with custom code you can automate all kinds of stuff.

That is crazy funny! Thanks for posting this, made me laugh this morning. My pistol shrimp just kills the occasional hermit that gets to close to one of his burrows.

My two cents: If controllability is important to you AND you already have a controller then go with the DIY. I already had a reef angel and went with a RapidLED kit. I considered an evergrow fixture but I wanted the controllability and since I already had the controller the RapidLED kit was the way to go price wise. My setup for my 90 gallon came in at under the cost of one Radion.

Fantastic tank. I love the before and afters.

This is really an awesome achievement and an example that everyone should strive towards. Thanks for posting this!

Watched an episode of this yesterday with my almost 2 year old. My wife found it and suggested it. She enjoyed it but we'll see if it becomes the favorite that Yo Gabba Gabba and Mickey Mouse Club House are.

That is so cool. I have a shrimp with a pair of mated gobies, I never thought about a pair of mated pistol shrimp. My guy digs my tank up a lot too but that's the main reason I got him. I have a deep sandbed and needed him to keep it mixed up, which he does a very good job of. I have all of my rock sitting on PVC framework so he can't topple any of it.

Very cute pipefish! Thanks for the video.

Very dependent on the species, as said above some fish live a long time others not so much and for many we don't really know for sure. I have a firefish that is coming on up 6 years old this summer and according to everything I can find online they should on live 3-4.

I've had bad experiences with Jagers, out of the three I've owned two have malfunctioned. One died outright and cost me a couple months or coral growth before I caught it (this prompted my purchase of a Reef Angel Unit) and another stopped reading temperature correctly. I kept using the second one for a while because I was controlling them with the Reef Angel by then but without that it would have tried to slowly cook my tank. Third one that I use in my mixing container and it is still working fine but I don't care so much what that one does. Having said that though the only type of heater that I have had over the years that didn't fail, malfunction, or start tossing current into the tank after a year or two were the Rena Stealth heaters. I used some of those for YEARS without any problems and I still have one that I use with my QT tank that is easily 5 years old at this point as it first saw duty in my freshwater tanks back then. Now granted it hasn't seen constant use over that time but it did get 2 years of solid use and then another 3 of occasional use in my QT. Unfortunately they stopped making those heaters. At this point I just replace my heaters every year. I use two for my setup so it costs me about $100 or so each year but with the number of SPS I have and the growth of all of them at this point it's a no brainer for me. So long story short, I'd recommend a controller and save yourself the heart ache.

Thanks for the post. I might check this out when I have a bit of extra cash. I'm traveling a bit now and being able to take a look at the tank when I'm away from home could be useful.

How do you dose the LaCl basser9? Just like a dosing pump? If a good system for this could be developed it seems to me that a commercial product would sell well. I wonder if anyone is working on that?

Keri O'Neil talked about using a lanthanum chloride reactor for her work during her presentation yesterday. She used a .5 micron filter to remove the white powder that is left after it reacts with the phosphate. Has anyone built a DIY reactor using a similar method? And what is the potential damage should the stuff escape into the tank? Seems like you could use a dual stage reactor, slowly pump in the LaCl3 at the pump, the first chamber is the mixing area and then have the .5 micron filter in the second chamber. Ms. O'Neil commented that the filter filled up quick but that was on her very large setup. I wonder how often those of us with much smaller tanks would have to change it? This just seems like a potentially much better solution to phosphate control than GFO. Curious if anyone has tried it?

Apparently Calypso (the sea turtle) really like to hang out on the bottom of the new Blacktip reef under a over hang and nap. You can usually find her in the underwater viewing area for the new exhibit on the left most window napping.

It is a bit of a drive but if you can make the drive it is entirely worth it. Pacific East Aquaculture is like Santa's workshop for anyone interested in corals.

Can't wait for this to be available!

Put me down for 2 boxes of RC please.

Glad to hear it is mostly working out for you. Thanks for the information.

I'll have to check them out, didn't even know they were there. Are they a new store? What do they stock as far as saltwater goes? Just fish or corals too?

What spectrum's are you looking to include?

I posted a build thread for a Rapidled Kit here if you're interested. I've been very happy with it.

Congratulations. I've bought many of my corals from here over the years and never been disappointed, they're a great vendor and the store is simply awesome!

Looking good so far and you're working quick. Makes me seem lazy for taking a couple of days to take down and redo my 20G frag tank when you build that stand out in a day.