In Montgomery - re-starting after move from NY. Anyone use LED main lights? And...

[Sanlynn]

Hi, I have a 150-g aquarium in my garage still in packing box for 3 years since my move from NY. Now thinking of re-starting. We're not much of a DIY-ers, and will engage someone to re-plumb and help me start it up again. From what I can remember of my last experience, here's what I want to research to start over.

I would work toward building a reef tank with fish, lps and sps and clams.

Lighting...is cost the ONLY downside of LEDs such as Pacific Sun 160W (I would need master and 2 slave units to cover the 72" l, 18"w tank and about 32" deep.) I was reading a v. long thread on the color spectrum of a DIY LED project, but I am not sure the same complaints apply to the commercially-made units. I am attracted to the lower electric bills; no need to frequently replace expensive bulbs; the lack of heat generated; and no need for a chiller.
(I have an Orbit PC fixture packed away.)

While in the hobby in NY I was just starting to look at retrofitting somehow for a refugium. I was and remain (as if you can't tell) a newbie exploring this; anyone running a tank with this for filtration? I have limited space to the side and back of the tank so am wondering if it can be efficiently kept in the base of the stand.

Never had a calcium reactor and am wondering if that's a necessary addition for what I eventually want to house in the aquarium.

Other things I have packed away include: deluxe Reef Devil skimmer; Little Giant motor; 300 watt heater, 150# of dead live rock (yes, we actually moved this!); 4-watt UV sterilizer; bags of bio balls.

Hoping for advice on re-starting and to join the Alabama hobby community in continuing to learn about best practices.

Sanlynn

[Tomoko Schum]

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[Tomoko Schum]

Coral Reef Aquatics up here in north Alabama (between Athens and Madison) is converting many of their light fixtures to LED's. They are using Reef Bright's LED fixtures exclusively. They told me that their electric bill for the last month was significantly lower despite the hot weather we have had this summer.

As for the appearance of LED light fixtures, I must say that Reef Bright's 50/50 appears dim and the some colors appear drab. Pinkish colors appear brown. On the other hand, greens pop! I don't know if increasing the number of fixture would fix this color issue.

I have seen a frag tank illuminated with AquaIlluminations fixtures before. The coral frags looked absolutely gorgeous under them. The fixture was mounted rather high but the corals looked great. I read that high end LED fixtures can put out a lot of PAR and make tanks appear bright as well. The data in this article looked very promising. I am hoping that in time these fixtures will become more affordable.

[Sanlynn]

Thank you for the reference to the article. I find the technical information a bit hard to decipher, but I think I get the gist. My concerns after reading what I could understand (and other sources) are: 1) whether my tank, which is about 32" deep, would be problematic for LEDs or if they are better performers for more shallow tanks and 2) if the market development of LED is such that waiting six - nine months would pay off in more affordable and better LED technology.

[wpecoul]

I'm very interested in LED's, but I am with you in wondering if it makes more sense to let the technology (and pricing) mature a bit. I run 2x250W MH over my tank now, but will probably not buy another set of MH bulbs and will switch to T5 or LED about a year from now.

As far as a refugium goes, I think there are many more people running them in the stand under the display tank than the "preferred" method of having them above the tank with a gravity outlet straight to the display. It's pretty simple to set up a sump under the tank to house the skimmer, return pump and refugium, though the height of the Reef Devil might be a bit of a problem. Is your 150G tank drilled or not?

A Calcium reactor may not be a necessity, but once you have one, you'll wonder how you did without it. Definitely beats adding two-part daily, which is something you'd otherwise have to do given what you stated for your desired inhabitants.

By the way, welcome back to reefkeeping! If you're interested, we have a pretty active local club and we'd love to have you come to a meeting. The August meeting will actually be at the end of this month at my house. We'll be talking about the upcoming swap, plus I will likely have a ton of freebies/cheapies as I will either just have moved and re-scaped my main tank or will be about to do so. We've also got a ton of really experienced folks who can help you with your lighting and plumbing questions.

[Tomoko Schum]

This article compares a number of available LED fixtures. Sanjay talks about Aquailluminations in this article:

"the Aquaillumination 12" module, had the highest PPFD values at 24" and 30" (364.9 and 225 respectively). While this module achieves the highest values of any of the LED systems tested so far, it also has a tighter spread created by the optics used. The light output is certainly more than high enough for even the most light loving corals. The impact of the high intensity can be reduced by dimming or by mounting the light higher to gain a larger spread. My experience and data collected from various successful tanks shows that if light levels of approx 100 micromoles/m2/sec can be obtained at the bottom of the tank, then there will be enough light in the top 3/4th of the tank to grow most light loving SPS corals, while providing enough light at the bottom for other lower light corals."

Here's another one on Aquailluminations by Dana Riddle.

Jake Adams on the other hand writes about his nano reef tank which is illuminated by LED lighting here .

As for refugium, I have both an above-the-tank and a below-the-tank refugiums for my reef tanks. Both types work equally well. The notion of an overhead refugium being better may be just a myth. As a matter of fact, I see more pods in my tank with a fuge in the sump than my tank with an overhead fuge.

You can automate the 2 part addtion using peristatic pumps. The initial setup cost of a peristatic pump system (like a litermeter) may not be all that different from the cost of setting up a calcium reactor (reactor, regulator and CO2 cylinder.)

[jasontammy]

At the last swap we used two 50/50 3' and 2 actic blue leds for lighting our show tanks.The corals looked great and the par reading at the bottom of the tank with the light fixtures 2' above the tanks was at 300.These are also reef bright fixtures as they are who we use for all our lighting.Just my .02
Jason

[Sanlynn]

Thanks for the additional information and food for thought. I read up a bit on the dosing system and am intrigued with that as a solution (vs CaRx).

I'll wade through the articles on LEDs before coming to any conclusions. My thinking right now is to use the PC lights I have now (if they still work) and upgrade over the next year. It will be quite a while before my tank is ready for any demanding inhabitants in any case. I did see that Pacific Sun is having a reefcentral community sale through mid August, but as tempting as this is, I guess I need to move slower.

I'd love to attend a reef club meeting, thanks very much for the invite!! Do you know yet when/if the August meeting will be? I'm on a road trip with one of my daughters going to University of Michigan at the end of August, but am hoping there's no conflict in dates.

Again, thanks so much for taking the time to respond to my questions.
Sanlynn

[wpecoul]

Originally Posted by Sanlynn

I'd love to attend a reef club meeting, thanks very much for the invite!! Do you know yet when/if the August meeting will be? I'm on a road trip with one of my daughters going to University of Michigan at the end of August, but am hoping there's no conflict in dates.

The August meeting will be on the 28th at 2PM - more details to follow. Hope it doesn't conflict with your plans!

Will

[Sanlynn]

I'm so disappointed that I'll be out of town for the meeting on the 28th (I'm not getting back until the 29th). If it is possible to get an invite for the next meeting, I would love to meet the group.
Sanlynn

[wpecoul]

No worries. We'll post on here when and where the September meeting will be. If you need anything before then, you can post on here or send me a PM.

Will

[scapes]

Originally Posted by wpecoul

The August meeting will be on the 28th at 2PM - more details to follow. Hope it doesn't conflict with your plans!

Will

i think it is on the 29th, which is Sunday. If you are coming home on the 29th, may be you can make it??

[wpecoul]

Originally Posted by scapes

i think it is on the 29th, which is Sunday. If you are coming home on the 29th, may be you can make it??

Whoops! Yep, it's the 29th. Thanks, Julie.

[gflat65]

Can't help on the LED's. I know some nice stores run only LED's (or did for a while) and had great results.

I've got a nightmare of plumbing in my system, so I'd be glad to help out there. If you've got a drilled tank, there's nothing to it. A sump below the tank (or in another room, as may be the case) is a common and preferred method for me.

I agree with Will on the Ca rx. You don't need one (especially in the beginning), but once you have an increasing demand, it can be a lot easier than dosing (esp. if lazy like me).

[Sanlynn]

Thanks for your replies. I will be getting to the Montgomery airport (all things running on time, of course) about 3:30 on the 29th. I don't know how long your meetings run (is it still starting at 2 p.m. but on Sunday?) so that may be a bit late.

And yes, my tank is drilled, but I would have NO way of knowing how (or the confidence) to even begin a DIYer. I did speak to Gordon at Wet Pets who suggested I call a fellow named Tony later this week (for some reason he suggested I wait until Thursday) and ask him to come over and see what has to be done.

As I was reviewing my notes from my last aquarium I realized other questions I have for which I'll start a new thread.

Again, thanks, and I can't wait to meet you all and get back into this!
Sanlynn

[wpecoul]

Tony is a solid guy. He'll steer you in the right direction.

[gflat65]

Yup, Tony's a really good guy. He'll appreciate the fact that you actually care and want to know more, too.

Feel free to come by sometime and see my setup. I've got a plumbing nightmare (125, 120, 130 in two rooms plumbed into a third room with 150, 100, and 50 gallon livestock tubs). Some hydraulic issues, but it's working. I'm usually home after 5 and weekends. I've got fantasy football draft this Sat, but it should be done by noon.

I think the Sept meeting is at my house (?). If I've got Sept, it'll be Sept 18th or 19th (25th is Memphis frag swap). I should have eveything ready to look at by then... Been lazy and have some algae to take care of in the frag tank (and my 'wife's tank', for that matter).