ReefTECK's 75 Gallon Reef Thread

[Doahh]

That last pic looks like your clam is eating your clown LOL!

[ReefTECK]

That last pic looks like your clam is eating your clown LOL!

The clownfish is retarded, he's hosted to the clam. I really wanted him to host to my toadstool, but the blenny beat him to it. The blenny sleeps in there at night so he kind of defends it. I can't blame him, looks like a comfortable bed. I just hope the clam doesn't freak out for no reason, spontaneously close up real hard and catch the clown in the process. The clownfish sometimes gets a little rough looking on his sides sometimes and I've often wondered if thats what had happened. But the clam didn't manage to close real hard.

[ReefTECK]

maybe this will work, gotta video up...

[ReefTECK]

bump....I guess nobody likes it...*tear* lol j/k

[ReefTECK]

We got this symphyllia in at the LFS that I work in, tissue is pretty damaged on the back half of it, skeleton is showing, but otherwise beautiful colors, I'm thinking this piece is really gonna be nice, heal and thrive in my tank.

Every couple of hundred shots I take I find one or two with awesome resolution, and great color contrast that really turn out well. This is almost one of those pictures.

I found some Tonga branches, filled out, and rounded off the left end of my rock scape. I still am tinkering with the top middle and right hand side. But I also took this opportunity to gently remove the Croecea off of the rock he was on and place him higher so that he's right underneath the light.

[macreefster]

nice tank andy. looks like the perfect tank to sit in front of with a few beers and chill out.

[RocketSeason]

This looks really great! How do you like the tank itself? I am trying to decide between this and a 75 gallon Corner-flo model.

[Electrobes]

Originally posted by ReefTECK
We got this symphyllia in at the LFS that I work in, tissue is pretty damaged on the back half of it, skeleton is showing, but otherwise beautiful colors, I'm thinking this piece is really gonna be nice, heal and thrive in my tank.

Every couple of hundred shots I take I find one or two with awesome resolution, and great color contrast that really turn out well. This is almost one of those pictures.

I found some Tonga branches, filled out, and rounded off the left end of my rock scape. I still am tinkering with the top middle and right hand side. But I also took this opportunity to gently remove the Croecea off of the rock he was on and place him higher so that he's right underneath the light.

Is that cyano covering your sand bed...? How's the tank look now.. we's people needs us an update

[ReefTECK]

Is that cyano covering your sand bed...? How's the tank look now.. we's people needs us an update

Yeah, I don't know what the deal with this stuff is, it drives me nuts, I turn the sand over a couple of times a week to clean it up a bit, but it just keeps coming back. I thought I had positively IDed it as a dinoflangellate, and Julian Sprung recommended going super alkaline (8.4-8.5) for a few days to kill it off, and that seemed to help for a while.

But this stuff that is back in full force now is characteristically the same as the dinoflangellate I thought I had before, but....it lacks the oxygen bubbles within its body that was, decidedly, my confirming characteristic.

I have lots of flow and run ROWA in a phos reactor, I do 20% water change every other week, I've gotta kick *** skimmer, and a refugium AND a UV sterlizer, but I still haven't managed to kill this thing off.

I have a hunch, that I may be magnesium deffeciant, I just ordered Tech M and a mag test kit, so maybe that will help. IDK

Doesn't seem to really hurt anything, but it does **** me off. Always something to work on with a reef tank though I suppose....

This looks really great! How do you like the tank itself? I am trying to decide between this and a 75 gallon Corner-flo model.

I love the tank, it's short enough that I can reach in and touch the bottom, and I have tons of space to work with, it's very accesable, I made the overflow the way it is here work for me, but if I really had a choice, I would have gone with a corner flo, they occupy much less space it seems. Thanks!

nice tank andy. looks like the perfect tank to sit in front of with a few beers and chill out.

I work in a fish store with a bunch of rad guys, some of who have a great understanding of reef aquaria, and others which are really starting to nerd out on it and like to get lectures from me, so we're over here, or at Jeff's place in front of a tank talking fish almost all the time. We drink the Rolling Rock!

It's nice to have such a big group of guys that I hang out with so much that just want to sit around and talk reef/fish!

Thank you everybody for the comments! I'll get some new pics up tonight as I spent Friday night "reefarranging" To make space for a new monti I got, and adjust the big porties colony I have, he just needed more light than where he was at.

[Electrobes]

Hmm.. I can't imagine magnesium defficiency being the cause of that break out.

As controversial as this question sometimes is how old is the sand bed and if it was recently put in a new system, was it washed out prior to being put in? Also what type of substrate is that?

I can't really tell from the pictures but it seems like it is more rampant on the right side than it is on the left. How old are the bulbs?

[ReefTECK]

As controversial as this question sometimes is how old is the sand bed and if it was recently put in a new system, was it washed out prior to being put in? Also what type of substrate is that?

lol, yeah it's a big can of worms, controversial, maybe. Umm, yes it is a new sand bed, three months it has been in there, It is a mix of 40# of live course grade reef sand, and 20# aruba shell both by CaribSea. The Aruba shell is pretty dirty stuff to begin with. I probably rinsed it for 2 hours in hot water, returning every 20 min to kick up gunk and get circulation through the bottom of the bucket I was rinsing it in.

Any ideas?

[ReefTECK]

Alright as promised a couple of updated tank shots!


And a little closer:


Just another good shot of the clown in the clam:


The Pavona cactus is really growing well in high light:


A much better color balanced photo of the birds nest:


And finally a new montipora frag that I got recently:

This montipora's body is really really thick, is this not M. capricornis?

ltz,
Andy

[Electrobes]

Looks like the cyano is clearing a little, are you adding any additives?

Beautiful corals and clam, I love clams

I have seen Capricornis act like that under VHO only lighting..

[ReefTECK]

Originally posted by Electrobes
Looks like the cyano is clearing a little, are you adding any additives?

I am now, I was relying on my bi weekly water changes for support of trace elements, but I started dosing about a month ago and it has seemed to help. I dose once a week and add 50 gal worth of treatment of "Kent Strontium & Molybdenum," "Kent Iodine," & "Kent Essential Elements," each. The Essential element additive has additional Iodine and Strontium, so I figured I should only dose them all together in smaller amounts.

I also stirred the sand the night before last

Check ya ltz,
Andy

[ReefTECK]

I've been thinking;


All of these fish are such model citizens with one another;


Admittedly one of the great inspirations for this aquarium, was a tank-of-the-month by Daniel Gan. I though some improvements could be made, if I had his tank I would get some more Anthia's and Chromis going on!

One of the first things I noticed then, and just came back to again now, was that, he was using T-5's entirely. They seem to do a great job lighting up all of the edges and corners of the tank.

Now I love my metal halides wayyy to much to be trading those in, but I think I could tear out these 2 old PC actinics (pirated from a corallife fixture) and fit 4x54watt T-5's in.

You can see one PC here, the other is on the back part of the canopy that does not lift up;

I think the retrofit kits I can buy at work are pretty cheap too! If not I may engineer a DIY project.

Questions:

-Do you guys think this is going to be a dramatic improvement? Does it have the potential to be?

-What lighting scheme will produce the best results? I already have one 14k MH, the other one will be soon, should I go 2xactinic 2x18k or 2xactinic, 2x6700k?

-Anybody have any suggestions for a more effective MH reflector? I only have 3.5-4" to work with.

[Electrobes]

I would say first get a matching 14K MH bulb on the other end and see what the tank looks like in a month.

As for the T5's that would be a monster light addition... I would actually think the corals would go into shock with that much. That's also a lot more energy going into your tank, I would worry about other organisms taking advantage of this (i.e. cyano, etc). IMO I would find the source of your cyano issues first, fix it, then think about getting additional lights. In the time you fix that prob, you would have the results of having 2 X 250W 14k's on your corals.

[ReefTECK]

I don't think the PC's are causing cyano, that would be a silly assumption, but, I know that one of the ballasts is really beat up and the bulb is probably past due for replacement.

I was thinking instead of replacing that bulb, I would buy the T-5's, I can probably get them for 25-30 per reto kit and 5 dollars per bulb.

The PC's are 96watts each, the T's would only be 54watts each, which is only 16watts more than the PC's are pushing now. Will the intensity difference really be that much?

What do you think?

[Electrobes]

It's not the PC's causing cyano.. I meant energy in general. Past due bulb would definitely help cyano, but it wouldn't be the only factor IMO.

About the excess energy... you said you wouldn't trade out the halides, but wanted to add the 4X54watt T5's. I think that would be a bit extreme on your tank IMO.

The T5's difference is indeed very different intensity than PC's. I would never say they could match the halides, but easily would spank the PC's. So the difference can't be made in watts, it's like comparing more apple juice to orange juice.

That's what I meant above. I would add maybe 2X54 T5's as actinics in addition to the halides, with the PC's taken out. I do suggest making both halide bulbs the same.. get a little less PAR. But this would be after I got rid of the cyano and it's source (Again just stating what I would do).

[sk8rreefgeek]

Cool tank, I want a beer lol. I was just curious if you had any glass between the halides and the water?

[ReefTECK]

Originally posted by sk8rreefgeek
Cool tank, I want a beer lol. I was just curious if you had any glass between the halides and the water?

LOL I saw you mention that beer in that "Had it with my LFS" thread, haha! It's five o'clock somewhere! Nope no glass, just an egg crate top, it does cause considerable diffusion of my lights.

(Again just stating what I would do).

That's totally okay, that's why it's up for discussion, I appreciate the input! I wish more people would start talkin' up my thread! Lets get to page 40 and get a split going already! lol.

I think I am going to do what you suggested, do 2x54watt T-5 actinics, that is, if you think I will not be disappointed. I can always add more if I deem it necessary, but at least we're all unanimous in the assumption that T-5's are better than PC's. That's really what I was fishing for.

Did anybody have any suggestions for a good MH reflector that I could fit between my canopy and the water 3.5-4" clearance.

[sk8rreefgeek]

I thought it was harmful to use halide lighting with no glass to filter the UV's out. I'm no expert, but I did a lot of research when I was trying to figure out the best "top" for my tank.

Just like the UV sterilizer, the UV's from the halide can kill bacteria and such, but some of which is beneficial...

or something like that...haha

and yea, I've been thirsty since you mentioned the rolling rock. I almost picked up a beer on my lunch break...

[Amoore311]

4x54 watt t5's are going to be a ton of additional light man.

There's a few people in my club that light entire 75 gallon tanks with 6 bulb T5 fixtures and grow everything under the sun.

They are definitely better than PC's, you could get away with 2 of them for actinic supplementation and have no problems.

I light a 90 Gallon Tank w/ a Tek Light 6 Bulb fixture as well. I'm not really into SPS Corals though, LPS and Softies will be what I keep in there.

[Amoore311]

I thought it was harmful to use halide lighting with no glass to filter the UV's out.

Almost positive you only have the UV problem w/ the Double Ended HQI Bulbs.

[Electrobes]

Originally posted by sk8rreefgeek
I thought it was harmful to use halide lighting with no glass to filter the UV's out. I'm no expert, but I did a lot of research when I was trying to figure out the best "top" for my tank.

Just like the UV sterilizer, the UV's from the halide can kill bacteria and such, but some of which is beneficial...

or something like that...haha

and yea, I've been thirsty since you mentioned the rolling rock. I almost picked up a beer on my lunch break...

When speaking of Single ended halides this isn't true as the bulb itself is the protected covering. Look inside and you'll see the actual apparatus light up, but the glass surrounding it IS the protective UV filter. Now it filters out so much... as the bulb ages past it's use UV seepage will happen.

Double ended halides DO need protective UV filtering glass as the apparatus is not being protected by anything.

[ReefTECK]

As Electrobes already mentioned, "mogul" or single ended MH's have that glass bulb around the actual light emitting filament within them that is your UV filter. And it is actually almost too efficient at filter UV light, you get much better UV transmission with a DE bulb and flat glass filter.

Low levels of UV stimulate electrically florescent complimentary colors that make sps colors really really pop! Just like higher color temp bulbs ie: 14k~(480-550nm) make colors pop, UV light is wavelegnth >400nm.
(I would need to look at a spectra chart to quote specifically where these wavelegnths occur...I'm not a total nerd)

I went into work to check my price for a 2x54watt retrofit kit...it's awesome working for the LFS....I can get it for 35 dollars and bulbs for $5.70ea. Making it roughly $3 more to buy a whole T5 kit rather than replacing just one PC!!! *menacing grin*

Originally posted by Amoore311
4x54 watt t5's are going to be a ton of additional light man.

They are definitely better than PC's, you could get away with 2 of them for actinic supplementation and have no problems.

That's what we want to hear! Dude I totally love your avitar! I'm a proponent of absolute freedom myself!