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Jesse

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Posts posted by Jesse

  1. 1 hour ago, Muttley000 said:

    Yea I’m going to be down for a while. Planning on leaving the sump and cryptic fuge running for a new system.  I need to have some things settle at work (lots of change there) get a handle on where I’m going with my woodshop business, and have a large home improvement project that will have the area my tanks are in exposed to the outside weather for 3 months. The only reason the addition isn’t started is the cost of lumber right now, not sure if I’m going to lose the whole year or not yet on that front. I’ll be back bigger after the house project is done. 

    Cost of lumber is a serious joke. 

  2. Pizza Anemones are Poised for their Aquarium Moment

    pizza-anemone-rainbow.jpg

    Large showy anemones were once among the most revered of all reef aquarium animals with species like Ritteris and Carpet anemones often being a poignant accent and conversation starter in nice large reef displays. Besides bubble anemones and the smaller flower and mini-max anemones, reefers have not yet clamored for other species of anemones to spice up their reef tanks but it appears that we are on the cusp of a new surge of one of the weirder species, the pizza anemone. 

    Also known as Cryptodendron adhaesivum, the pizza anemone first started showing a little leg in the broader hobby several years ago when a very limited number of specimens started showing up with unbelievable colors. We shared some photos of really incredible specimensway back in 2017 and thought that these would be the first of more to come but pizza anemones in general have remained very scarce, and little known, in the intervening years. 

    pizza-anemone-rainbow-2.jpg

    We’re not sure what has prevented the wider popularity of pizza anemones but we’ve seen a much greater number of Cryptodendron in the aquarium hobby over the last couple of months and acquired the specimen pictured in the header photo from Lucky Corals, and we are aware that at least one well known coral vendor has been working hard to source some unforgettable specimens from Indonesia. Two Guys Corals has made a reputation for providing some pretty colorific polyps and corallites and lately they’ve been attracting the attention of anemone collectors with a new crop of sensational pizza anemones. 

    Pizza Nems are not your typical carpet or ritteri and seem to experience some stress due to collection and transport, so the images below are just a taste of what their coloration and patterning will look like once they have a chance to settle into ideal aquarium conditions. The base coloration of 2GC’s current crop of pizza anemones is mostly a minty green but many of these are ringed with a brightly colored outer edge, distinctively colored mouths, with a whole rainbow of yellow, orange, purple and lavender colors that are just begging to be brought out with a good diet of nutrients and optimized lighting. 

    https://reefbuilders.com/2021/05/27/pizza-anemones-are-poised-for-their-aquarium-moment/

     

  3. reefi-uno-led-light.jpeg

    Reefi is a unique reef aquarium lighting startup that may be a smaller company compared to the hobby’s biggest players but you really wouldn’t know it from the way they build and price their lights. The Reefi LED Uno is a perfect example of what a lean and nimble manufacturer can achieve with their newest model being a fully fledged 180 watt light fixture with nine color channels for only $350. 

    Even as we type out these key specifications of the Reefi LED Uno, the combination of power, features and value doesn’t even sound right for a wholesale price, let alone retail and you would think that some kind of compromises had to be made to make this powerful light fixture. The Reefi Uno has the same number of LEDs as the Reefi Duo that we wrote about almost two years ago but they are creatively packaged into the same size LED cluster as before. 

    reefi-uno-led.jpeg

    If you’re paying attention you’ll no doubt notice that there are actually only 36 individual reflectors so the extra diode count is made possible by 12 x 4-in-1 quadruple die packages to enable quite a punch in the deep blue end of the lighting spectrum. The huge number of ultraviolet, 420nm ‘indigo’ and 430nm ‘violet’ totaling 48 diodes is massively more than any other fixture, but that still leaves 24 discrete LEDs for the blue, royal blue, white, warm white, and accessory amber and lime colors. 

    While some manufacturers have cut cost and functionality by grouping some of these colors and limiting control channels to only five or a paltry four channels, Reefi spared no features to provide every color with its own control channel. Only the flagship lights Ecotech Marine’s fifth generation have more control with 10 individual color channels but most others have far less, so this is one aspect of the Reefi LED Uno that we really appreciate, even the amber and lime LEDs are controlled separately. 

    reefi-uno-led-heatsink-heatpipe.jpeg

    Reefi has been able to pack this much power under the hood of the Uno LED by using a very innovative cooling system using vapor filled copper pipes to quickly direct excess heat to the tightly packed cooling fins. This heatsink design is so much more than a basic slab of aluminum and the only other lights we’ve seen using this technology are the Pax Bellum’s ARID reactor and certain models of Kessil LED spotlights. 

    Another aspect where the Reefi carves its own path is through the use of specially designed reflector with a chrome coating to help direct light downwards as well as diffuse the light rays in order to help with color mixing. Astute observers of LED lighting technology will notice that the maximum power output of 180 watts equals 2.5 watts per diode, which is not as efficient as other light fixture that max out at 2 watts per LED but since the Reefi LED Uno is only $350, the extra headroom of power allows users to run the diodes at a lower power while still getting a great value from this fixture. 

    https://reefbuilders.com/2021/05/27/reefi-led-uno-is-a-fountain-of-light-intensity-for-only-350/

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