Orion

I really like the aquascape. Fantastic job so far!

I still have a couple green slimer frags left. Can't get any easier than that. I could also cut from anything in the tank.

Thank you!

There are still a few more available on the website. As well as these gorgeous rics too!

Fill her up!

I have a feeling this is why you have such a gorgeous tank, and are having a lot of success. Everything is colored up nicely. Really hope you keep it.

Looking forward to it!

What he said.

I just usually get a standard probe from Neptune, calibrate it once, and replace it once a year. I don't chase pH, but rather look at the trends on the graph for possible issues with something else. (Alk overdose, etc) They do need to be replaced over time, but shouldn't go bad after 3 months. Also, these probes are not meant to be fully submerged, just the tips of the probe in the water - is yours?

Any GFO or Carbon use, Isaac?

Hello WAMAS! Looking to upgrade your lights? How about an Ecotech or Jebao pump? Our Dry Goods section on our website continues to grow as we add new product every day. Want to have an item brought to the meeting? Just choose local pickup with your order, and specify in the notes section that you want your item brought to the meeting. Don't see an item on our website that you are looking for? Just let us know. Odds are we have it, and it's just not on the website yet. Please note in order for us to have your item(s) in time for the meeting you must place your order with us by this Sunday at 8pm. See you there! Richard, Marco, and Ryan

Wow. Time sure does fly by. I think its time to update this build thread with a year in review. This system has been up and running for about 13 months now. I'll list below the things I have learned over the past year! Bubble Algae sucks, but it can be controlled/mostly eliminated - with help. A few months ago my tank started to get overrun with bubble algae. It got really bad. I tried emerald crabs, they nibbled a little, but didn't really help. It wasn't until I actually started removing it by hand, AND adding a Foxface that the bubbles seemed to start disappearing. This particular fish wouldn't eat the big bubbles but he does eat the tiny ones when they start to form up! So after a few months this pesky algae is almost gone out of my system! Corals look pale? Maybe your tank is *too* clean! Yep, that's correct. Your tank might be too clean - nitrates and phosphates in particular. Contrary to recent popular belief corals actually need some of these to color up! (light helps too ). I ran into this issue 6 months ago. SPS looked pale, LPS were slowly dying - chaos! Nitrate was undetectable, and Phosphate was way on the low side. I was running GFO, and had very few fish. What did I do? I stopped using GFO, and added more fish to the tank. What happened? LPS stopped dying, and SPS started coloring up in a couple months! Now my corals look better than ever. Lighting - Less is More I am really enjoying the look of T5s over LEDs on my tank. LEDs are great, and the high end fixtures (some of the low end too) can produce any color and intensity you could imagine. This can be a bad thing. Sometimes having too much control can tempt you into constantly changing things. I have found that the less you "mess" with your tank the better off it will be. With T5s there really isn't much to control except the bulb combinations, but that costs money just to buy more bulbs to play around with so I'm less tempted to do so. Quarantine! Early on I had an outbreak of ich in this system. I just remember a few fish being covered in white spots breathing heavily on the sand, and feeling like a total piece of crap for letting it happen. I knew better. I knew that quarantining fish was highly recommended in this hobby, but I didn't listen. Well I learned my lesson the hard way. I caught all the fish with the help of Flieger, put them into a 20g for treatment, and my tank was fishless for almost 10 weeks. I just set this tank up a couple months prior and it was empty again. Ouch! Well enough rambling. Pictures!!

There are plenty of T5 fixtures over tanks that are a foot longer. Won't be an issue with coverage.

If you want to go T5s a 24" fixture would be fine on a 36" tank. T5s provide plenty of coverage beyond the length of the fixture! I vote 24" ATI Sunpower, but I'm biased. 2 coral plus 2 blue plus

Great job so far! Get any odd looks from your neighbors while you were in full protective gear with the rock outside?

+1! Great job!

Great shot!

Try the 35mm and see how it goes for portraits. Then go from there. Personally, I would stick with one lens for awhile just to get the hang of it. I believe Ken recommends P* mode over M, A, etc with ISO-Auto ON, and I shoot the same way now. There really is no reason to try and mess with ISO settings. The camera is smart enough to figure it out for you. I also use JPEG BASIC. RAW just takes up way too much space on my drive, and it is time consuming trying to organize pictures that are shot in RAW and then converted to JPEG. The only filters I use are UV filters to protect the lens. Start posting some shots!

In my opinion I think the stock lens is really really good. Although I have found using a fixed focal length lens (the 35mm) forces you to really think about what/how you are photographing since its up to you to move your feet for zoom. For photographing your kids in a low light room with no flash nothing else beats that 35mm for $200. Be sure to read Ken Rockwell's guide on the D3300. He has a bunch of setting recommendations for it, and they work really really well!

Hi Ryan, Excellent choice! I got the same camera recently as well, and like it a lot. Definitely a nice upgrade coming from an old D60. As others have stated I would recommend Adobe Lightroom 5. Easy to use, and will help organize your photos. Visit www.kenrockwell.com for great tips on using your 3300. He has a really good guide on there! A couple photos of fish from my tank with the new toy - Both taken with the D3300 and a Nikon 35mm f/1.8 lens.

I knew you could figure it out without my help Just a word of caution. Don't underestimate the intensity of the T5s as well as the Reefbrite. You may have to raise the fixture higher, and/or use a layer of window screen for a few weeks to get your corals acclimated.

Looks really good

Gorgeous tank.

If you want to try using some window screen to decrease the intensity let me know. I was able to use all my bulbs, and the light schedule I wanted with it over the tank. I started with two layers, and removed one every 2 weeks. One layer decreased PAR by 40%.

Nikon d3300 (upgrade from the 3200) nikon factory refurbished w/kit lens for $435. http://www.buydig.com/mobile/product.aspx?sku=NKD33001855KRB Includes Nikon 90-day warranty.