A few growth pics

[itZme]

I got a really awesome Zoa rock at the CORA frag swap on Sept. 30 2006. I took a pic a couple days after adding it to my tank.

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6-8 weeks later I took this shot:


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yesterday I took a new one and was surprised when I compared them all. I am really glad I took pics because you forget what they used to look like and it makes you feel like all the work really does pay off.


Well here is the latest pic.




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-- Kevin

 

[serpentman]

Nice growth. I am kicking myself I didn't split that with you!

 

[scottfarcuz]

Nice shots!


Says a lot about what you can get out of the t5's. 2-48" overdriven t5's over a 75g and corals growing on the sandbed like that. Now I see why you put off adding the other 2 bulbs Kevin...

Post up some sps pics

 

[cowcio]

Those are great growth pics. You should post it in the Zoanthids Forum... I'm sure a lot of them would appreciate it

Some zoanthids seem to grow a lot quicker than other. I'd love to see how some of the "expensive", "slow growing" zoanthids would do for you.

 

[itZme]

Thanks guys. I have a few SPS but they aren't as bright as I think they could be. I just added the other 2 bulbs per tank so they should be happy once they get acclimated to double the wattage.

I have a couple of clams that are doing well and 5 BTAs that like the t5 lighting too.



















Some of you guys might notice your frags in there. Thanks Mike, Michael, Josh, Andy, Tim and whoever else I got frags from. I am very pleased with my tank for being so low tech and all this with only 2 t5's

 

[wsnyder6]

Just curious? - What wattage and types of T5 bulbs do you run?

 

[Fletch386]

Hey Kevin,

Everything looks great. Do you have pics of your whole tank?

 

[itZme]

They are 54w 48" t5 bulbs but 4 of them are being powered by an IceCap 660 ballast which overdrives them to around 85 watts. I put a Kill-A-Watt meter on the ballast and it was drawing 365 watts so I would say they really are being pushed close to 85w.

Even being overdriven, I don't think the average reefer would say there is any way you could grow SPS and clams under 170w of fluorescent light in a 75g tank. The sand bed is roughly 24" away from the bulbs.

Just yesterday I finished adding another 2 bulbs to each tank running on a second IceCap 660 ballast that I will run for a few hours a day to help encourage more growth.

The current bulbs are a 10,000K and a Pure actinic D-D bulb. The new ones that I just added are a GE Daylight 6500K bulb and a UVL Super actinic. the color is a bit yellow IMO so I am going to change out the D-D pure act for another Super act.

 

[itZme]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=9131666#post9131666 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by Fletch386
Hey Kevin,

Everything looks great. Do you have pics of your whole tank?

Thanks!

I posted some a while ago in this thread. http://reefcentral.com/forums/showthread.php?s=&threadid=961925

I have some with and without the new lights on my camera but need to pull them off and upload. Maybe later today I will get them on.

The total system volume is roughly 400 gallons with 2x 75 gal displays a 140g fuge and 110g sump. Soon I will be adding a 92g corner display and a 100g frag tank.

 

[MJAnderson]

Looks great.

That last one you have the pic of you gave me a frag from. It has doubled in size in 2 months. It's on steroids or something!

 

[itZme]

Yeah Michael that is one of Mike660r's corals. Everything from his tank is still growing great. The only thing that is weird about them is the little tiny testicles they have for being such big strong corals :lol:

I think Erik was right when he said Mike doses roids to his SPS.

You notice the 2 fuzzy sticks you gave me are a lot larger?

Here is a good pair of pics to compare.

 

[serpentman]

I really like your coloration. I have to say I am giving T5's a second thought. For not being, what did you call it, a "stick" tank, the growth is impressive.

I can testify to Mike's SPS roids. Not to hijack your thread Kev but here are 2 corals I picked up from Mike back in August.

 

[itZme]

Nice pics Jeff! Mine did the same thing as yours (bending in the current) I am guessing you had the Vortec on the right for a while before you got the other one? LOL

The green coral is nice and straight in the old pics then curved over to the left in the later pic.

That red cap looks great... maybe I can get that kind of growth on caps now that I have more light available.

I will be adding some cooling fans to the lights to help increase them even more. There are lots of threads in the lighting section talking about how cooling them increases the light output by huge amounts like 30%. Talk about cheap gains.

 

[MJAnderson]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=9132203#post9132203 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by itZme
Yeah Michael that is one of Mike660r's corals. Everything from his tank is still growing great. The only thing that is weird about them is the little tiny testicles they have for being such big strong corals :lol:

Funny that I read that through the first time and thought "what tiny tentacles?"

 

[serpentman]

Ironically that coral has never been moved since it was put into the tank. Its kinda off-center from the vortec. Its actually growing towards the pump which is offscreen to the left.

 

[serpentman]

The weird thing about those pumps is they end up greating massive undertow toward the pump which I think is causing the growth.

" I will be adding some cooling fans to the lights to help increase them even more. There are lots of threads in the lighting section talking about how cooling them increases the light output by huge amounts like 30%. Talk about cheap gains."

Absolutely. I think heat matters a lot more with any type of fluorescent bulb, especially when overdriven.

 

[Briney Dave]

Kevin, I was able to see your picks at home. (school filters them out) Your critters are looking even better than the last time I was over there. WoW!
Thanks again for the link to the lights for sale, I just wish I knew one way or the other about the grants I have pending. I want to either move on or get started collecting parts and detailing the plans

 

[GSMguy]

i got that same green sps from mike and mine is growing straight towards the light really fast i have a nanostream pretty close to it
kevin i think people undestimate t5, i see from the fact that your clam survived months under 2x85w of t5 that they are great
are you using the icecap reflectors?
your tanks look like they are really growing in nicely

 

[itZme]

Yep IceCap SLR reflectors. I do not regret selling off the MH lights that I never even used on these tanks. I was going to run the T5 as just supplementation but after seeing how bright they were without the MH I decided to just add 2 more t5 and sell the 4 MH ballasts and sockets/ reflectors. Then reinvested the money into T5 reflectors/bulbs and will save about 500watts of energy usage while avoiding that MH heat.

 

[serpentman]

I am considering a long narrow frag tank in the future. Based on what I have seen, I think I may go with T5's rather than 2 x 175W MH. Probably a wash as far as power consumption is concerned but think the T5's will provide an more even light.