180g build
- Thread starter jfuka78
- Start date
unicospollos
New member
man that tank looks real good :thumbsup:
jfuka78
New member
jfuka78
New member
Thank you Fiji blue for letting me use the par meter and the prism thing that I am still not sure how to read.
First thing I noticed is lumenarc's, well hate to say, but they SUCK. (based on initial par readings
So first thing i did was change out the lumenarc and put my other lumenbright in.
Originally the lights were around 16" up and noticed my par was not the best so I lowered the lights so the glass was about 3" off of the water
All measurements are as close to center of tank as i can get on front to back.
Because I do have an acrylic tank with euro bracing there is a loss in certain areas that wouldn't be with a standard glass tank this being said here are my numbers
all numbers are from water level down roughly ( I did not break out a ruler)
Left Light
1'' 1100 par
8'' 830 par
12'' 550 par
Top of sand bed 250
to the left by my meteor shower 200 par
to the right center by my blue/green ( Bad *** acro) 360 par
Right light
1'' 1000 par
8'' 830 par
15'' 530
Top of sand bed 300 par
to the right but center 200 par
to the left but center 400 par
When lights were at 14'' height
1'' under 760 par
12'' under 370 par
sand bed 200 par
the prism meter he gave me
showed all the colors from red to purple 650-420
When i used the same instrument to look at the radiums they only went to the blue band around 500.
One thing I can say is my corals in just the couple days have really colored up compared to before. One frag that well pretty much turned brown in my tank but in store was awesome red and orange acro, I noticed is getting its orange back. my red planet is getting its green back also.
This is still a wait and see how they will last long term, but for now they are great and finally a bulb for us 250 De reefers.
If anyone would like to see these lights you can email me at jfuka78@gmail.com
First thing I noticed is lumenarc's, well hate to say, but they SUCK. (based on initial par readings
So first thing i did was change out the lumenarc and put my other lumenbright in.
Originally the lights were around 16" up and noticed my par was not the best so I lowered the lights so the glass was about 3" off of the water
All measurements are as close to center of tank as i can get on front to back.
Because I do have an acrylic tank with euro bracing there is a loss in certain areas that wouldn't be with a standard glass tank this being said here are my numbers
all numbers are from water level down roughly ( I did not break out a ruler)
Left Light
1'' 1100 par
8'' 830 par
12'' 550 par
Top of sand bed 250
to the left by my meteor shower 200 par
to the right center by my blue/green ( Bad *** acro) 360 par
Right light
1'' 1000 par
8'' 830 par
15'' 530
Top of sand bed 300 par
to the right but center 200 par
to the left but center 400 par
When lights were at 14'' height
1'' under 760 par
12'' under 370 par
sand bed 200 par
the prism meter he gave me
showed all the colors from red to purple 650-420
When i used the same instrument to look at the radiums they only went to the blue band around 500.
One thing I can say is my corals in just the couple days have really colored up compared to before. One frag that well pretty much turned brown in my tank but in store was awesome red and orange acro, I noticed is getting its orange back. my red planet is getting its green back also.
This is still a wait and see how they will last long term, but for now they are great and finally a bulb for us 250 De reefers.
If anyone would like to see these lights you can email me at jfuka78@gmail.com
Helter Skilter
OT Community Organizer
Did you get your reactor on-line yet? Let me know if you need a hand.
jfuka78
New member
Somebody asked so here is how my lights are mounted. I used alm extruded square channel with notches. Thu way my lights can slide out if the way for maintenance and or if some other corals need more light. I manage a recycling company so I get lots a stuff to play with. All the alm, stainless I could need.
I once thought how well an old bleacher would work for a led heat sink?
Helter Skilter
OT Community Organizer
I change out about a half pound of GFO a month on a 420 gallon system. I just ordered a Hanna Checker to be a bit more scientific about it. You don't have to change it until phosphates start to rise. Hopefully I haven't been changing my GFO out unnecessarily.
Yes, you can use too much GFO, but it's pretty forgiving. I don't measure mine out or anything. I fill my reactor by eyeing it. I've never seen any ill affects with a 10%-20% variation.
Here's a good article on GFO by Randy Holmes-Farley for your reading pleasure.
http://www.reefkeeping.com/issues/2004-11/rhf/index.php
Yes, you can use too much GFO, but it's pretty forgiving. I don't measure mine out or anything. I fill my reactor by eyeing it. I've never seen any ill affects with a 10%-20% variation.
Here's a good article on GFO by Randy Holmes-Farley for your reading pleasure.
http://www.reefkeeping.com/issues/2004-11/rhf/index.php
jfuka78
New member
one month in with the nueco bulbs and everything looks great. Reactor has been dialed in for over a week now. Since everything has been pretty steady I an starting to see some nice growth. I changed up the aquascaping a bit to get better light and flow in the tank but also to have more spots to keep acro. Enjoy the pics.
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jfuka78
New member
Some new used items this weekend.
Added the asm g4+, and some Alm reflectors came into work. Thought these would be good on top of the tank so I was not wasting light on over spread front and back. They worked perfect and help light some areas that were pretty dull. The front one is strapped to a piece of conduit so I can slide it back for access to the tank.
Added the asm g4+, and some Alm reflectors came into work. Thought these would be good on top of the tank so I was not wasting light on over spread front and back. They worked perfect and help light some areas that were pretty dull. The front one is strapped to a piece of conduit so I can slide it back for access to the tank.
