Starting 90g Reef Tank Build... Finally!!!

[Aquarist007]

Originally posted by Tswifty8
Thank you.

Yes I am happy with the 6 bulbs, and probably could add one more if I wanted to. However, would I take 8 bulbs...? For sure

My canopy will only fit 7 of the icecap retros underneath it due to the reflector and standoff widths. However, I could probably fit an 8 bulb all in one unit like a Tek fixture underneath it if I wanted to.

Ultimately your lighting requirements will be dependent upon the type of corals you wish to keep. I have been successful keeping a little of everything thus far, and plan on adding some clams and an anemone when I get a chance.

Thanks for posting... and good luck

what would be the advantage of going from 6 to 8 bulbs

[Aquarist007]

Originally posted by D to the P
Yeah reef central needs a 12 step program.

LOL this is the cheapest addiction I have had. It costs nothing to spend 8 hours on here a day.
I don't even visit the LFS anymore with the price of gas--can't even afford that.

Once upon a time you dress so fine
Give the bums and dime then you
People call say beware doll your bound to fall
But you thought they were all a kidding you
You used to laugh about
Everybody that was hanging out
Now you don't talk so loud
Now you don't seem so proud
You find having to scrounge your next meal---------

(Like a rolling stone--Bob Dylan)

-----------well not that bad--I am interested in this hobby and enjoying it even more every day

[Tswifty]

Originally posted by capn_hylinur
what would be the advantage of going from 6 to 8 bulbs

I shot Grim a PM about it, but my initial thoughts are... higher output, greater PAR, and increased growth rate in the corals which have higher light demands.

But how much more of each you would get vs the 6 bulb unit... I am unsure of.

[Tswifty]

Updated water params...

No Mag because I knocked the d___ container over 3 times before I chucked it off the wall. So once I buy a new test kit I'll update that parameter. Although I'm pretty confident it's 1350 judging from all my past readings.



j/k... although I did knock the stupid thing over 3 times. I just didn't feel like going through it again.

[Al Bendiksen]

Tswifty -

I was looking at your spreadsheet, so do you do only one water change a week?

How is it working out for you? B/c i do not want to be doing it biweekly or weekly

[Tswifty]

I try and do them every 2 weeks actually... I waited around a month with this last one, because I wanted to make sure I had my RO/DI unit working properly before I did a large change.

I haven't noticed any problems with it.

[kudora]

Originally posted by Tswifty8


That's a nice start to a long weeked... although I'll be interested to see if you return with "only" cheato.

Whenever I head up to Salty Critter (about 90min) I always end up dropping way more than I planned on. Then justify it by telling myself... well I'm not up here a lot so I need to make the most of it.

back, was well worth the 100 miles imo, i got the 2 things i wanted for my tank my lfs couldnt, some cheato and some super tongan naus snails, i was checking out the cheato and it came with a small starfish, hope its going to be happy in the fuge(rofl i am not acclimating a bag of cheato because of the starfish)

also had a couple of nice frag tanks but i resisted(barely) since i want to get my new lights here soon.

[Aquarist007]

Originally posted by kudora
back, was well worth the 100 miles imo, i got the 2 things i wanted for my tank my lfs couldnt, some cheato and some super tongan naus snails, i was checking out the cheato and it came with a small starfish, hope its going to be happy in the fuge(rofl i am not acclimating a bag of cheato because of the starfish)

also had a couple of nice frag tanks but i resisted(barely) since i want to get my new lights here soon.

and what was the real cost of that trip considering meals for you wife and her shopping spree

[kudora]

i spent $21 at the fish store

but i prob spent 15x that on the whole trip with gas and stuff added in.

[Aquarist007]

Originally posted by kudora
i spent $21 at the fish store

but i prob spent 15x that on the whole trip with gas and stuff added in.

on line shopping is becoming more and more feasible

[The Grim Reefer]

Or is less more? More or less

I just kill me


If you have your lamps mounted so the reflectors are edge to edge Depending on the particular brand of reflectors you are using, type and position of lamps and the depth of the tank you will have near peak PAR under the second lamp in from the front and back of the array.

So if you have an open sandbed with no clams what is the point of cramming in an extra lamp at the front jusr cause it will fit? Will it does allow you to have an additional lamp in your mix which is nice. If you have a tank full of Acros and want to run an actinic you can place it at the front (with the reflector SLIGHTLY angled to direct the light back into the tank) and have actinic light without sacrificing any real PAR in the area your corals are growing

Realistically you don't need the front edge of the front reflector any closer than a couple inches from the front glass unless you have corals growing on the floor in front of the tank. Even assuming you have clams on the sandbed you aren't going to have them right against the glass.

At the back people tend to have the glass painted or have a background so a lot of light will be reflectted back into the tank. But most people tend to have rock at the back so again do you want the rear edge of the back reflector right against the back of the tank? Usually not. If you have a miminalist reef (not a lot of rock) then yes, take the reflector to the back edge (again SLIGHTY turn the reflector so the light is directed forward into the tank).

[Aquarist007]

Originally posted by The Grim Reefer
Or is less more? More or less

I just kill me


If you have your lamps mounted so the reflectors are edge to edge Depending on the particular brand of reflectors you are using, type and position of lamps and the depth of the tank you will have near peak PAR under the second lamp in from the front and back of the array.

So if you have an open sandbed with no clams what is the point of cramming in an extra lamp at the front jusr cause it will fit? Will it does allow you to have an additional lamp in your mix which is nice. If you have a tank full of Acros and want to run an actinic you can place it at the front (with the reflector SLIGHTLY angled to direct the light back into the tank) and have actinic light without sacrificing any real PAR in the area your corals are growing

Realistically you don't need the front edge of the front reflector any closer than a couple inches from the front glass unless you have corals growing on the floor in front of the tank. Even assuming you have clams on the sandbed you aren't going to have them right against the glass.

At the back people tend to have the glass painted or have a background so a lot of light will be reflectted back into the tank. But most people tend to have rock at the back so again do you want the rear edge of the back reflector right against the back of the tank? Usually not. If you have a miminalist reef (not a lot of rock) then yes, take the reflector to the back edge (again SLIGHTY turn the reflector so the light is directed forward into the tank).

excellent info --thanks for posting here

you quoted max par--and we have been discussing that alos.
At what depth would max par be with T.J's system of six bulbs

[Aquarist007]

I just spent the morning looking all over for a mimic tang in our area--found one 45 miles away. Then I read that they are very agressive towards other tangs from this link

http://www.liveaquaria.com/product/p...58&pcatid=1758

I have a yellow regal and sailfin now--perhaps this is not the right choice
maybe a power blue like yours TJ?

[Aquarist007]

nobody home in the club house

most unusual

[kudora]

just got back in left the house at 8 this morning.

thx for answering the question grim, i was wondering the same thing, i will be putting only 4 lamps in my system since its 18 high and i have 3 to 4 inch sandbed. i only have 4.5 inches between the tank and the top of the canopy, might have to raise it an inch if i can.


capn check out the fish forum, i thought i saw a mimic tang thread somewere there a bit back.

[Aquarist007]

Originally posted by kudora
just got back in left the house at 8 this morning.

thx for answering the question grim, i was wondering the same thing, i will be putting only 4 lamps in my system since its 18 high and i have 3 to 4 inch sandbed. i only have 4.5 inches between the tank and the top of the canopy, might have to raise it an inch if i can.


capn check out the fish forum, i thought i saw a mimic tang thread somewere there a bit back.

aah--thank you--never thought of that--I've been on here since 8 this morning

[Tswifty]

Got the first set of PAR readings done... I just need to put them into the computer then I will post them.

[Tswifty]

Light system is:
IceCap 6 x 54 watt T5 VHO Retrofit kit from ReefGeek.com with SLR reflectors & IceCap 430 & IceCap 660 Ballast

The bulb layout is as follows:

- - - - FRONT - - - -
Geisemann Actinic Plus
UV Lighting 75/25
UV Lighting Aquasun
Geisemann Actinic Plus
Geisemann Aquablue Plus
UV Lighting Super Actinic
- - - - BACK - - - -

There is not a bulb currently above the oveflow.



Bulbs are 8" off of the water's surface.

No maintenance was performed on the tank, so the glass, bulbs, and reflectors were not cleaned prior to testing. Also, the return pump and powerheads were left on.

I tried to take readings at the water's surface, even with the bottom of the overflow, middle of the tank, and on the substrate.

Here are the readings:

UNDERNEATH CALFO OVERFLOW:



BACK OF THE TANK (RIGHT IN FRONT OF THE CALFO OVERFLOW):



MIDDLE OF THE TANK:



FRONT OF THE TANK:



Here's what I used to help take the readings:
Thanks for the idea Marc
I didn't have any acrylic, so I made it out of eggcrate

[Tswifty]

Originally posted by capn_hylinur
I just spent the morning looking all over for a mimic tang in our area--found one 45 miles away. Then I read that they are very agressive towards other tangs from this link

http://www.liveaquaria.com/product/p...58&pcatid=1758

I have a yellow regal and sailfin now--perhaps this is not the right choice
maybe a power blue like yours TJ?

I read a good majority of LiveAquaria's descriptions for their tangs, and they seem to write that on most of their tangs. In fact the Powder Blue has the exact same description. However, I do not know how aggressive he will be since it would be the last fish added to the group, and he would not have territory established yet.

I would try and ask RC member Goodwin (the guy with about 900 tangs ) how his tangs are with aggression, and how he goes about making new additions to a community of tangs, for some better advice than I can give.

[Tswifty]

Originally posted by The Grim Reefer
Or is less more? More or less

I just kill me


If you have your lamps mounted so the reflectors are edge to edge Depending on the particular brand of reflectors you are using, type and position of lamps and the depth of the tank you will have near peak PAR under the second lamp in from the front and back of the array.

So if you have an open sandbed with no clams what is the point of cramming in an extra lamp at the front jusr cause it will fit? Will it does allow you to have an additional lamp in your mix which is nice. If you have a tank full of Acros and want to run an actinic you can place it at the front (with the reflector SLIGHTLY angled to direct the light back into the tank) and have actinic light without sacrificing any real PAR in the area your corals are growing

Realistically you don't need the front edge of the front reflector any closer than a couple inches from the front glass unless you have corals growing on the floor in front of the tank. Even assuming you have clams on the sandbed you aren't going to have them right against the glass.

At the back people tend to have the glass painted or have a background so a lot of light will be reflectted back into the tank. But most people tend to have rock at the back so again do you want the rear edge of the back reflector right against the back of the tank? Usually not. If you have a miminalist reef (not a lot of rock) then yes, take the reflector to the back edge (again SLIGHTY turn the reflector so the light is directed forward into the tank).

Thanks for the response Grim. I am not really considering an additional T5 because it would end up crammed directly above my internal overflow box, which means the majority of the light would be blocked by the box never making it into the tank.

However, a few members who are considering T5 purchases in the near future were curious as to the added benefit of an 8 bulb setup vs a 6 bulb configuration.

It seems according to your response, that a 6 bulb configuration would perform adequately for a reefer who decides to mix in some SPS and Clams as long as they are situated under the 2nd to 4th bulb in the array.

Thanks again for taking the time to respond, your input is always appreciated and welcomed.

[Tswifty]

.

[Aquarist007]

Originally posted by Tswifty8
.

absolutely great stuff here T.J

so we can get a handle on the graphs. What is the max lumens that the T5 system being tested is rated at and what are the tank levels at each measurement
Perhaps you can scale one of the graphs of the tanks for visual reference

[The Grim Reefer]

Originally posted by capn_hylinur
excellent info --thanks for posting here

you quoted max par--and we have been discussing that alos.
At what depth would max par be with T.J's system of six bulbs

Unless the lamps are sitting right at the water line the highest point in the tank will have the most PAR. If you have like a dozen lamps mounted right at the water line you would probably have a little more PAR a few inches down that you would just nelow the surface because the light from the other lamps will not spead very far that close to the reflector.

[The Grim Reefer]

Originally posted by Tswifty8
Light system is:
IceCap 6 x 54 watt T5 VHO Retrofit kit from ReefGeek.com with SLR reflectors & IceCap 430 & IceCap 660 Ballast

The bulb layout is as follows:

- - - - FRONT - - - -
Geisemann Actinic Plus
UV Lighting 75/25
UV Lighting Aquasun
Geisemann Actinic Plus
Geisemann Aquablue Plus
UV Lighting Super Actinic
- - - - BACK - - - -

There is not a bulb currently above the oveflow.



Bulbs are 8" off of the water's surface.

No maintenance was performed on the tank, so the glass, bulbs, and reflectors were not cleaned prior to testing. Also, the return pump and powerheads were left on.

I tried to take readings at the water's surface, even with the bottom of the overflow, middle of the tank, and on the substrate.

Here are the readings:

UNDERNEATH CALFO OVERFLOW:



BACK OF THE TANK (RIGHT IN FRONT OF THE CALFO OVERFLOW):



MIDDLE OF THE TANK:



FRONT OF THE TANK:



Here's what I used to help take the readings:
Thanks for the idea Marc
I didn't have any acrylic, so I made it out of eggcrate

Those are good numbers considering the mix of lamps and the hight above the water.

Eggcrate handle, I like it A guy here made on out of one of those Kent long handled algae scrapers.

[Tswifty]

Originally posted by capn_hylinur
absolutely great stuff here T.J

so we can get a handle on the graphs. What is the max lumens that the T5 system being tested is rated at and what are the tank levels at each measurement
Perhaps you can scale one of the graphs of the tanks for visual reference

I'll see what I can do about a scale... The tank is 24" high x 48" long, but it would be hard to measure anything closely. Simply because of the trim pieces and the canopy. I actually have trouble estimating the sand bed... it could be anywhere from 3" to almost 6" in some areas.

As far as the lumens go, I will have to check the bulb manufacturers website for that information.

I'll try and get a scale on the next pictures, when I test with everything cleaned. I'm just not 100% sure when I will have time to run the second test, as I sold my 55g setup the other day and am meeting the member tomorrow for the exchange, then heading to a doubleheader.

Hopefully I will have a second set of results no later than Monday night