When we got the 90g tank, it came with a Lifereef LF1-125 Berlin system. This was a great deal for us because we had heard of Lifereef and heard it was good, and it saved us from having to go find a pump, sump, and refugium.
Being relatively new to the hobby, I didn’t really know how to hook up all of that stuff, so I took a chance and sent an email to Lifereef. I got a response from them requesting a model number and telling me where to look to find it. Within a few hours, I had the instructions faxed to me and I was up and running that night. That was my first interaction with them.
Later on, I had some more questions about how I should design my new system that i’m building… I fired off an email to Lifereef to see what they offer. Once again, I received a thorough response showing me their offerings and some realistic suggestions. It’s nice to work with a vendor that’s not all about pumping their products.
So anyway, more Lifereef equipment is on it’s way to my house and I just can’t wait.
Hats off to Lifereef Filter Systems. Check them out their web site and shop with confidence. Lifereef Filter Systems is a high quality vendor with a great product and the willingness to back it up!
The quest for moonlight in the fish tank rages on. A reef is great and all… when you can see it! Not having moonlights in there is doing yourself an injustice. I was against it at first because it seemed rather silly, now I can’t live without it.
When I first got the Current USA fixture, the moonlights feature just didn’t matter to me… until the first night. My aquarium came alive with lots of little nocturnal things. Some of them are out during the day, but definitely not all of them. And the glitter lines of LED moonlights are neat for those of us without point source lighting like Metal Halide.
On to the review… the new 90g tank now has it’s new lighting system, but it needed some moonlights. I did some shopping through the various LFSs and came up dry. A little reading and searching and I came across the R2 Extreme LED Moonlight. It looked good on the web site and seemed to get good reviews… so I ordered one and installed it.
First impressions : You’re kidding… right? I got the unit with 2 LED cylinders and the single power brick. It comes with a cheesy Y-cable that looks like it just rolled out of the bargain bin at Radio Shack! Same thing for the power brick and power switch. Not that I really care that much, but in the aquarium world… exposed metal is a BAD then when it comes to power. A little plastic shielding goes a long way guys. For $40+, a little engineering on the power cord side would be great.
Mounting Setup : Adequate. Nothing fancy, but very usable. It comes with double stick tape and screws so it should suit just about everyone’s mounting needs. I highly recommend powering it up and moving things around a few times to get the lighting position right. For me, right was under the front lip of the canopy mounted horizontally with the LEDs angled slightly towards the center of the tank. Another gripe here is the relatively short length of the crappy Y-cable. It limits how far apart you can place the LEDs. I may have to hunt down another power brick and ditch the Y-cable.
Power On : WOW! Now this is what i’m talking about! Damn… these things are bright and the color is amazing. The glitter lines are really good as well. Very nice and it gets great coverage in the 90g. I tested out the other set on my 46bf tank with similar amazing results. Can’t wait to get them on that tank as well… the old Current moonlights just don’t seem the same anymore. My 46bf looks horrible in comparison to the 90g now.
Overall Recommendation : Buy with Caution. It’s a good product but it definitely has a little bit of growing to do in order to become a great product. If you know your way around AC power, you could easily make up some custom cables to solve the problems that the included ones have. I’m definitely considering a run to Radio Shack or Frys tomorrow for some ends and cable to make my own.
I finally got around to making some videos of the new tank. While I was at it, I made some videos of my favorite fish and such. I tried to catch them all doing neat stuff, but some of them just stared at me like I was a dumbass holding a video camera trying to record fish tricks… oh wait, I was. Here’s the videos…
90g FOWLR system
Livestock is currently 5 fish, a cleaner shrimp, and the Rose and Condy Anemones from the 46BF tank.
Earl! The Royal Gramma
All hail Earl, survivor of the 46g marine aquarium. This guy was added almost immediately after the coral beauty and has been through hell and back. He’s fallen out of the tank twice due to rock moves and careless parentry on my part. He’s been chased by pretty much everything in the tank. He had an Ich problem, etc. Give it up for a real trooper.
I actually managed to catch the Coral Beauty (Piggy) going after him, so it made for a funny clip if you’re familiar with the behavioral patterns of these fish.
Pooty and Piggy - The Tomini Tang and Royal Gramma
Here is a quick video of my latest fish in my reef tank… Pooty Tang! He’s a Tomini Tang and was chosen because of his small size. I’ll probably have to remove him later (or get a bigger reef tank!) because he’ll outgrow this tank, but he’s okay for now. He’s under 3 inches but will get to at least 6… way too big for a 46BF. (For those of you who don’t know, Tangs need a lot of swim room. 36″ wide tanks just aren’t enough.)
I also shot some video of the Coral Beauty (Piggy) bullying that Tang around. It didn’t take long to figure out who the dominant fish was in this tank. That may change as the tang gets bigger, but for now, Piggy rules.
Rose Anemone and the Onxy Clowns in their new home
Here is a shot of the Rose Anemone and the two Onyx Clowns that host it. They’re now living happily in the 90g tank. Thanks to a pump mishap during vacation, the Rose had moved in the 46g tank and was extremely unhappy. It was move him or lose him, so now he’s in the 90 and bigger than ever!
Cleaner Shrimp
In addition to the fish in the 90g tank, a cleaner shrimp was added. Hopefully he’ll keep the diseases and parasites under control.
Mr Pink - The Lyretail Anthias
The first member of the new 90g tank was a Lyretail Anthias. He was first in after the cycle was complete and is doing quite well now. Very nice fish, although a bit tough to get eating and likes to be fed 3-4 times per day. Good thing for the autofeeder.
Very neat fish though, also very calm and cool with other tank mates. Highly recommended for a community tank if you have an autofeeder.
Tangs and the Angel - Close ups
Here are some better shots of the new Tangs and the Angel.
The purple tang was straight out of the ocean so his behavior is still a bit odd. He’s eating though, so that’s a good sign.
The blue tang and bicolor angel had been at the fish store for a while and took to the tank right away.
In a previous posting, I listed the final head count of my 46g marine aquarium… Boy was I wrong. Vacation came, all hell broke loose, we lost the clam, the anemones hit the panic button, the new tank came out of cycle, etc, etc, etc… needless to say, the final tally isn’t final anymore. For those who care, here’s the most recent tally for the two tanks. I’ll get some videos of the new tank up soon. Until then, here are a few pictures of the bicolor angel and the lyretail anthias.
Yup. That’s right. A used 90g Clarity Plus Acrylic and a complete Lifereef Filtration System will soon make it’s way to the house. The Lifereef stuff is here, just have to get the tank, stand, and hood now. Then it’s on to water, live rock, lighting, then live stock! Here is what I have to far.
