A pic of my 75 g today 1 year details.

[tonym10]

Thanks everyone
Flipturn I love your SH tank too, very nice.
Nirol, my lights go, actnic,actnic white,actnic,actnic white.
Thanks RJ, I actually have third green monti in the back there , you cant see it yet, it should fill in the back right corner.
I have looked at you tank RJ , it looks great, it made me want more zoos, so I ordered some and am looking for more.
The Royal Grammas get along fine , they are almost always near each other.

 

[tonym10]

Here is two links from pics from today
http://www.pbase.com/image/40711459/original
http://www.pbase.com/image/40711398/original

 

[tonym10]

my lawnmower, clam

 

[tonym10]

My Naso

 

[rjwilson37]

Naso Tangs are sweet, especially Blonde Naso tangs. Here is my Brazilian Royal Gramma swimming by the Clams. I wish I had a camera that could take some nice macro's like yours.

 

[JVHam]

rj - how long have you had the maximas?

 

[rjwilson37]

rj - how long have you had the maximas?

I have had the Purple/Blue one for over a year and the gold one for about 8 months.

 

[tonym10]

Thats a nice pic Rj of the royal with the 3 clams in the background.
I have given up on trying to get a good one of my royals, there is something funny about their skin, the way it reflects light/color back to the camera.

 

[tonym10]

I just came back from a LFS , that is only 15 mins from me , I ddint even know they were there. Not much fish, but a huge selection of corals , inverts, and LR and LS, I wish I knew about them before , I would have saved thousands in shipping costs. Its called Something Fishy. All saltwater , nothing else and high end drygood products.
I restocked my clean up crew (banana wrasse has decimated it) while I was there.
Got my first Porcelain crab too.

 

[NexDog]

saved thousands....

Finding a new LFS and saving money rarely come hand in hand.

 

[tonym10]

After alot of thought I may upgrade my lighting to MH.
Not because things do not grow well under the VHO, but because I really like the shimmer effect of MH, and it can only help the rest of the corals. I have been wanting a new canopy with doors that open from the front as well as a lid that opens. The doors in the front being easier to open to feed. So I found an unfinished canopy 15" high, with 12" of space from lights to water. So now I will remove 2 of my VHO tubes and replace them with two 175w MH and keep my 2 VHO actnics. With the lights being up this high I will also be able to remove my plexi that I have accross my tank to protect my VHO that are only about 2" above the water. It will be nice to open a small door in the front of the canopy to feed the tank, rather then needing to hold the canopy open to feed.
I have the canopy on order , then I will need to stain it to match my stand, then I will order the 2 MH lights for it.

 

[JVHam]

Just my 2 cents but have you considered 150 or 250 DE lamps. I believe that Icecap has done some research saying that a 150DE 10k lamp will not only use less electricity but put more lumens in your tank than a 175SE 10k lamp. Personally I have not needed to go to MH for 2 reaons. First I run ozone which allows the light to penetrate much more effectivly and second I really love my T5's. I have Acro's, Maximas, all high light keeping their color wonderfully and that is with only four lamps. I will be adding 2 more in a month or so. Anyways just my .02.

 

[tonym10]

JV
I like the color of my VHO and the color and growth of all my corals. But the shimmer of the MH is totally differant to me, the shimmer from the water movement. I will be using the same reflector that my VHO are on, so it would be easier to add SE MH rather then DE MH, but at this point any MH is open for discussion from 150-175-250. I prefer to stay at 150-175 for electricity and heat reasons. But I will ulitmately go with Coral Reef Eco-Systems advice on what I should use.

 

[Dan Thrash]

man, tony, you have one of the nicest tanks i've ever seen. i love the setup and the colors and everything! i have a pic of it on my desktop!

 

[tonym10]

Thanks Dan

 

[Nirol]

OK...I just got my VHOs setup like yours....and now you're going to go and change it! Ha! Oh well...I like the shimmers as well...I get those from the moonlight LED's...Where did you find the canopy?

 

[rjwilson37]

150w are typically the DE MH, where the 175w are your typical SE MH. I would do the 2x175w 14k Hamilton's, they are the sweetest... so I have heard.

 

[rjwilson37]

14k hamilton's for the bulbs, but the 2x175w retro with ballast you can find everywhere on E-Bay for cheap.

 

[tonym10]

I will look at that RJ , I do not think i will go with 14k because I will be using the VHO actinics to supplement the MH , and I do not think the 14k needs any actnic supplementing.
Nirol , i got the canopy on ebay , from someone that makes them.

 

[rjwilson37]

I personally think the 10k with VHO Actinic Suplements is still to white for my blood, so IMO, I would do 12k or 14k. They may be a little blue for the first 10 days or so until they burn in, but I have heard after they burn in, they give the corals and tank a great look.