Congrats SunnyX!!
- Thread starter Jeffie
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LBCBJ
New member
How about flabergasting. Don't think anyone's used that one. SunnyX, I must say that it was of the most beautiful tanks I've ever seen. The clarity of the water is amazing, as is the coral coloring. I have few questions I was hoping you could comment on and I'll probably have a few more in the future 
What salt do you use?
Other than calc/alk you say you add Lugol's. Why do you add Iodine when you have mostly SPS and do you add any other elements, like mag or a trace element?
How often do you feed your fish? Do you feed you SPS anything, like phytoplankton, etc.?
You say you change your sandbed 2 times a year. Can you elaborate on why you do this and how you do it (doesnt it cloud your tank badly). How deep is your sandbed?
What brand of MH bulbs do you use?
How do you achieve such low nitrates with a shallow sandbed and a relativley large bioload? I do weekly 15% w/c but cannot seem to achieve this.
Finally, what type of camera did you use to take those pics?
Thanks for any input you can offer.
What salt do you use?
Other than calc/alk you say you add Lugol's. Why do you add Iodine when you have mostly SPS and do you add any other elements, like mag or a trace element?
How often do you feed your fish? Do you feed you SPS anything, like phytoplankton, etc.?
You say you change your sandbed 2 times a year. Can you elaborate on why you do this and how you do it (doesnt it cloud your tank badly). How deep is your sandbed?
What brand of MH bulbs do you use?
How do you achieve such low nitrates with a shallow sandbed and a relativley large bioload? I do weekly 15% w/c but cannot seem to achieve this.
Finally, what type of camera did you use to take those pics?
Thanks for any input you can offer.
Last edited:
SunnyX
New member
<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=7690895#post7690895 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by LBCBJ
How about flabergasting. Don't think anyone's used that one. SunnyX, I must say that it was of the most beautiful tanks I've ever seen. The clarity of the water is amazing, as is the coral coloring. I have few questions I was hoping you could comment on and I'll probably have a few more in the future
What salt do you use?
Other than calc/alk you say you add Lugol's. Why do you add Iodine when you have mostly SPS and do you add any other elements, like mag or a trace element?
How often do you feed your fish? Do you feed you SPS anything, like phytoplankton, etc.?
You say you change your sandbed 2 times a year. Can you elaborate on why you do this and how you do it (doesnt it cloud your tank badly). How deep is your sandbed?
What brand of MH bulbs do you use?
How do you achieve such low nitrates with a shallow sandbed and a relativley large bioload? I do weekly 15% w/c but cannot seem to achieve this.
Finally, what type of camera did you use to take those pics?
Thanks for any input you can offer.
Flabergasting....I like it!!!:lol: :lol:
Salt: Seachem Reef Salt
Suppements: Only Lugols, Ca Reactor, Kalk Stirrer and W/C's. I started using Lugol as soon as the tank was started. I don't really know why I started it, but everything is doing great so I am afraid to change it. I like to tell myself that it increases coloration.
I like to keep it as simple as possible.
The more variables you have the greater the variety of problematic occurrences. Feeding: I feed once a day. Fish are fed Spectrum pellets along with Formula One Flakes. Corals are fed nothing other than what they get from the fish food along with the fish waste.
Sand Change: All pumps are turned off. The sand is then siphoned out and replaced. Pumps are turned on again one hour later. Filter socks and skimmer pick up any excess sand.
Metal Halide Bulbs:400W XM20k. I was running 250W XM10K up until a month ago, Pheonix 14K 250W DE before that too.
Nitrate Reduction: The Deltec Skimmer pulls out a massive amount of waste every three days. I credit the success of the tank mainly to Skimmer and refugium. I also employ carbon and recently added ROWAphos. I run filter socks that trap any large debris. For the most part the sand is just there for looks.
Camera: All pics are taken with a new Nikon D50 DSLR with 18-55 mm Lens. Older pics were taken with a Nikon Coolpik 4300.
wentreefgirl
New member
Your tank is hot, or cool, depending on if you have a chiller.lol. Whats your most recent coral purchase. And how do you quarentine. THere, some new questions.
Supercalifragillsticexpialidocious!!!!!! Has then been used yet? :eek1:
Great job Sunny!
I have a question about lighting if you don't mind. I am currently using 250w Iwasaki 6500k bulbs right now. They are too yellow for me. I am currently using two cheap coil type ballast to run them so I am also going to change my ballasts. I am thinking IceCap right now unless something changes my mind.
I am only interested in the single end bulbs. I was thinking about moving to the XM10k bulbs. The 14k Hamilton are too blue for me and the par is a significant drop. Ushio didn't have quite the PAR either and the look is not quite as nice as the XM's as the CCT is almost 2000 less then the XM's.
I have looked at Sanjay's site and also Cnidarian Reef lamp test site but neither say anything about the Phoenix 14k bulbs. I would love something with just slightly less par (Around 100 PPFD) then the Iwasaki and XM but with a little more blue to it (Around 12000-13000 CCT). Are the Phoenix 14k bulbs an option? You have said before that they are great bulbs. I would like your opinion. Do they even come as a single end bulb? If they do not, are there any other options you personally like for what I am looking for?
I will also be running 4 x 110w blue actinic bulbs with whatever MH bulbs I do end up using.
Thanks for any advice Sunny. Fabulous tank! I strive to get mine looking like yours every day!
Great job Sunny!
I have a question about lighting if you don't mind. I am currently using 250w Iwasaki 6500k bulbs right now. They are too yellow for me. I am currently using two cheap coil type ballast to run them so I am also going to change my ballasts. I am thinking IceCap right now unless something changes my mind.
I am only interested in the single end bulbs. I was thinking about moving to the XM10k bulbs. The 14k Hamilton are too blue for me and the par is a significant drop. Ushio didn't have quite the PAR either and the look is not quite as nice as the XM's as the CCT is almost 2000 less then the XM's.
I have looked at Sanjay's site and also Cnidarian Reef lamp test site but neither say anything about the Phoenix 14k bulbs. I would love something with just slightly less par (Around 100 PPFD) then the Iwasaki and XM but with a little more blue to it (Around 12000-13000 CCT). Are the Phoenix 14k bulbs an option? You have said before that they are great bulbs. I would like your opinion. Do they even come as a single end bulb? If they do not, are there any other options you personally like for what I am looking for?
I will also be running 4 x 110w blue actinic bulbs with whatever MH bulbs I do end up using.
Thanks for any advice Sunny. Fabulous tank! I strive to get mine looking like yours every day!
SunnyX
New member
Supercalifragillsticexpialidocious!!!!!! :lol: :lol: :lol: :lol: :lol:
Something comparble to the Pheonix 14K in SE is the Aquaconnect 14K. These bulbs are expensive and hard to come by. The PAR is close to 85 on them.
With 4x110W Super Actinc you should really go with the 10K XM's. That combo would be great for color and growth.
Cool! I have been leaning towards those XM10k's for awhile now. I think I will go with them. The PAR according to Sanjay's site on a Icecap is identical to the Iwasaki 6500k but with much more CCT which sounds about perfect for what I want.
Do you like your XM20k's over your previous bulbs? It just seems too blue and the lack of par concerns me for coral growth. To each their own, for one day I may end up with the same bulbs. Sort of use high PAR for growth and after a couple years, much like you, move to the XM20k's for color.
Thanks again!
Do you like your XM20k's over your previous bulbs? It just seems too blue and the lack of par concerns me for coral growth. To each their own, for one day I may end up with the same bulbs. Sort of use high PAR for growth and after a couple years, much like you, move to the XM20k's for color.
Thanks again!
SunnyX
New member
I usually take the sand out when I am doing a large water change. The whole tank has about 30lbs of CaribSea Seaflor Special Grade Reef Sand 40 lb . I extract the sand simply with a 1/2" hose and pump.
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