60 Cube build

Time for some updated pics. One of the first things you'll notice is how yellow everything works. I'm back on a Plusrite 14k bulb and I HATE it because it's 12k at best, and a lot of the time everything looks more like a 10k bulb. The colors in the corals just aren't even close to as nice. This makes an upgrade of at least the bulb in the next year, and possibly a total re-think of the ballast/bulb combo a likely scenario. I'd love to try a radium, so we'll see. Anyway...on to the pictures.

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Its a two part reef safe epoxy. Seahorse and Elmers sell it for like $12.99 and it will last quite a while. I personally prefer it since it is easier to get off the rock for any reason...whereas superglue you're very stuck.
 
Looking good Nate. :thumbsup:

I might try out the XM 20K bulb next time I replace my bulbs. Always have been curious to see just how much more blue I would get vs my Pheonix 14k's which are pretty blue themselves.

I really like your little acan area. Once they start to fill in it'll look awesome. I'll have to see if I can dig up a "before" pic of those recovering acans you picked up. They used to be some VERY nice rainbows before I torched them. :lol:
 
They started to get some green to them, but just recently about 80% of the colony went into the tank for some reason. I fragged off the healthy polyps, and they seem to be doing well now.

I've thought a lot about adding two DE halides like you have on your tank as well to help eliminate some shading issues I'm having, but not sure if I like the idea of doubling my power consumption. I'm really strongly considering going to a single Radium and seeing what kind of results I get with that. Everyone I've talked to and read about that uses a Radium loves the bulb...maybe not the price and frequency you have to replace them with, but nobody complains about the color or lighting punch you get with them.
 
cloakerpoked said:
I've thought a lot about adding two DE halides like you have on your tank as well to help eliminate some shading issues I'm having, but not sure if I like the idea of doubling my power consumption. I'm really strongly considering going to a single Radium and seeing what kind of results I get with that. Everyone I've talked to and read about that uses a Radium loves the bulb...maybe not the price and frequency you have to replace them with, but nobody complains about the color or lighting punch you get with them.
Click to expand...
I had a nice response typed out, but my computer timed out and I lost it. :rolleye1:

Anyway, it was something along the lines of a new reflector would more than likely get the job done. I know my Lumen Max Elites spread the light far better than the PFO Mini Pendants I was previously using did. I also saw a nice little boost in PAR. In fact I was almost able to get away with using only 1 pendant, but the pendant was unable to cover the 30" length with sufficient PAR values for keeping SPS on the outside (left and right) edges of my tank. It covers front to back more than sufficiently though. If your tank is packed with SPS end to end, I'd say the Lumen Max Elites are probably good for a 2' x 2' spread. However, if I wasn't an SPS addict, 1 Lumen Max Elite would have worked just fine.

As far as Radiums go... like you mentioned... I've never heard many complaints about their results. I just can't utilize them because I have DE reflectors.
 
Tswifty said:
I had a nice response typed out, but my computer timed out and I lost it. :rolleye1:

Anyway, it was something along the lines of a new reflector would more than likely get the job done. I know my Lumen Max Elites spread the light far better than the PFO Mini Pendants I was previously using did. I also saw a nice little boost in PAR. In fact I was almost able to get away with using only 1 pendant, but the pendant was unable to cover the 30" length with sufficient PAR values for keeping SPS on the outside (left and right) edges of my tank. It covers front to back more than sufficiently though. If your tank is packed with SPS end to end, I'd say the Lumen Max Elites are probably good for a 2' x 2' spread. However, if I wasn't an SPS addict, 1 Lumen Max Elite would have worked just fine.

As far as Radiums go... like you mentioned... I've never heard many complaints about their results. I just can't utilize them because I have DE reflectors.
Click to expand...

I want a better reflector, but it will have to fit in the canopy, or at the very least allow me to replace the canopy with a rough approximation of what I already have. I like the floating appearance and the pyramid effect that it provides...it was something I set out to achieve from the beginning of the tank, and feel it was accomplished very well. As you'll notice, I'm keeping most of my SPS in the center of the tank, and this isn't just as a by-product of my lighting, but has largely to do with my inclusion of large hammers and frogspawns which for obvious reasons need to be kept separate from the SPS. That being said...I have 13"x17" to work with to fit a reflector into the canopy as it's built now. I don't want to go bigger, as the canopy is more fixed, and this footprint gives me ample room to access the tank without bumping into canopy.
 
Date...............Sal......pH ....Ammo.Nitri.Nitrate.Mag..Alk....Calcium
18-Nov...........1.028-------- 0.25.. 0...... 0...... 1470..13.1..520
12/7/2009.......1.028... 8.00 ----------------- 1380..7.5... 480
12/25/2009.....1.028... 8.05 -----------------------7.4... 440
12/31/2009.....1.028... 8.06 -----------------------6.7....410
1/17/2010.......1.030... 8.00 0...... 0...... 5.......1470..7.8...530
1/23/2010.......1.029... 7.99 -----------------------6.7....525
2/1/2010.........1.028... 8.16 -----------------------7.2....475
2/14/2010.......1.029... 8.11 ----------------- 1290..7.9... 460
2/27/2010.......1.028... 8.27 ------------10....1350..8.8....400
3/12/2010.......1.028... 8.22 ----------------- 1250..7.4....400
3/18/2010.........-....... 8.16 ---------------------- 7.2... 425
3/26/2010.......1.026... 8.17 -------------5.... 1350..9.1....480
4/10/2010.......1.026... 8.11 ---------------------.. 5.4....425
4/19/2010.......1.026... 8.00 ----------------- 1260..8.8....425
5/15/2010.......1.026....8.15 --------------0 1350..6.4....490

So much for the pretty graphs....at least this will be a little easier to read. My alk normally runs quite a bit higher (in the 8-9 range) but usually by the time I get around to testing, I've been lazy for too long, and let it slip, as evidenced by most of my readings. I have a feeling that my allowing it to slowly decline into the 6's is the biggest inhibitor in the reef right now. Anyone have any thoughts? Agree/disagree?
 
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I normally run my alk in the 9-10 range and when it slips to below 8 my tank starts showing signs of stress. My birdsnest are the first thing and then slowly other coral will just start to look a little "off". I am usually good at testing alk (at least once per week),but just recently my Ca reactor was plugged up and I didn't realize it and hadn't tested for 2 weeks. My alk dropped to 7. The thing that made me check my parameters was the way my birdsnest were looking. I thought it was clogged in side the reactor piping since there was no effluent coming out at all. I took it all apart and cleaned it only to find out the the hose from the feed pump was clogged.
 
My birdsnests are all totally fine. What seem off to me are the stags and Validas. I'm also starting to wonder if the PAR of my bulb is just way off, and that's why I'm getting a bunch of algae growth with very little coral growth. Not all of the coral is behaving that way...it's just kinda weird. All my parameters are in check except for the alk being a little low, and not knowing what my PAR value is. It could be phosphates, but I'm running GFO, so I kinda doubt that's a problem.
 
Yep - I have found my corals are more sensitive to Alk than anything else. Run mine 9-10 level- topping off with Kalk helps keep this level, then occasionally add a Baking power supplement also - be careful as this makes the PH rise very quickly. .
 
I use two part solution, so the only factor for me is laziness. I even know my depletion rate, but when I work shifts, sometimes I miss a day or two. Over the course of a 3 week period, I miss enough days that it falls about 3 dKh, which I'm sure isn't good. My tank typically pulls out about .3 dKh a day. What I need to do is get a dosing pump so that this can't happen...but those are $$$$ for anything reliable enough to take a chance on. Not relative to what other things cost in this hobby, but relative to my budget it is :)
 
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