I love the mangroves: Any plans to rearrange them as they grow? Seems as though they are already strating to grow into the other bays. What was the reasoning for going to several straight bays instead of a large collection? Was it primarily due to space constraints or another reason?
Coral Tank from Canada (1350gal Display Tank) - split
- Thread starter nineball
- Start date
Mangroves
Mangroves
I love the mangroves: Any plans to rearrange them as they grow? Seems as though they are already strating to grow into the other bays. What was the reasoning for going to several straight bays instead of a large collection? Was it primarily due to space constraints or another reason?
Mangroves
I love the mangroves: Any plans to rearrange them as they grow? Seems as though they are already strating to grow into the other bays. What was the reasoning for going to several straight bays instead of a large collection? Was it primarily due to space constraints or another reason?
swissgaurd
New member
peter, shawn and team
this tank is surely looking like the real thing
congrats.
shawn i think if peter is going to get into frag farming,a visit to portugal may be in order.
vic
this tank is surely looking like the real thing
congrats.
shawn i think if peter is going to get into frag farming,a visit to portugal may be in order.
vic
spsreeflover
New member
Hi Shawn and Peter WOW 3 X, Growth is AMAZING but i saw the color not so bright like using MH and T5 but i am not sure, maybe some macros shot wil tell
Anton
Anton
mr.wilson
.Registered Member
We are using Miracle Mud for the mangroves. There was a bioassay done on Miracle Mud and it proved to be just silica sand with a bit of iron and calcium. You could do the same thing with silica sand, aragonite and laterite mixed.
The mangroves are growing well, so they are removing something. We had a lot of mysid shrimp growing in the mangrove system, but I killed them off dosing carbonates to raise system alkalinity and kill red candy floss algae. The plasma light really encourage nuisance algae, particularly red varieties that we don't get under the Orphek LEDs.
Having the vertical growing space is a good use of dead space, and it puts some life into the fish room. Once the pods and mysids return we will be back in business.
mr.wilson
.Registered Member
I tried lifting a few of them out of the sand to encourage the roots to harden and send down new runners, but they are so tall they were hard to keep from falling over. I ended up drying out some roots.
Yes, we are completely out of room. Somehow a 10,000 square foot home is too small for two people and a fish tank
A single mangrove tank with a bigger footprint would leave more room for fish, but a raceway system is more efficient for lighting and flow.
mr.wilson
.Registered Member
The pictures don't do the tank justice. The colour is much better in person. Maybe you can link a picture of the kind of colour you are talking about as I haven't seen anything more colourful in my experience.
We still have 1/3 of the tank lit by metal halide and T5, and up until a week ago another 1/3 was lit by metal halide and T5 as well. The part with exclusive LED has been more colourful for the past 6 months. Coral growth rate is about the same.
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nineball
Active member
My response probably lacks the specificity that Mr. Wilson has just provided but I believe the raceway configuration is far superior to a single large bay for the benefits to accrue.
First if I followed the dialog correctly when this issue was discussed on Chingchai's thread one of the important elemental benefits of using the Miracle Mud substrate is the passage of the water over the mud. That means the benefit is enhanced with the distance the water travels. With this design, the water actually has 28 feet of travel as opposed to say 6 feet in the average mangrove setting with a hobbyist tank. The dwell time is also a factor which is much more controllable with this design. The hydroponic raceway is more efficient in the use of space and in fact is largely a better growing environment as there is lots of air around each tree. We are about to experiment with training the trees to grow laterally to see if we can spread the growth around the entire fish room. The aesthetic is terrific and the natural source of fresh air for the tanks in the fish room can't hurt either. I believe that Mr. Wilson has developed a system that is capable of offering many of the benefits of a standard refugium in a space saving and effective architecture. It is a huge benefit over the undersized refugium I have on my system and almost extends the filtration system to a size that is better suited to my display tank than the original plan. Again I believe that this water feature in the fish room is a best practice and ought to be encouraged where feasible.
Peter
d3hree
New member
The tank is looking great guys.
Did you get any further in your automated frozen food dispenser? I have recently turned my attention to this and I wonder how far you got? The last I saw was the realisation that there wasnt anything suitable on a commercial level and so a DIY unit was the only option. Is this still the case?
Did you get any further in your automated frozen food dispenser? I have recently turned my attention to this and I wonder how far you got? The last I saw was the realisation that there wasnt anything suitable on a commercial level and so a DIY unit was the only option. Is this still the case?
nineball
Active member
Anton, the colour is actually richer in a sense that the MH tends to wash out some of the colour because of the saturation levels of the white light. Our MH/T5's run about 13.5 K and there is still a hint of yellow in the water compared to the LED's. We have had a number of professionals fly in to see the tank and without exception they have been overwhelmed with the health and growth rate of the SPS in our tank for one year from the start.
I'm not in the business Anton so I have only the hobbyist perspective here but for me, LED's are a best practice for the health, growth and colour of our reef inhabitants. There are too many advantages in my opinion to rule out MH/T5's on a new build. This is a case where the costs are going down and the quality is going up. That's a technology pattern that spells success for the consumer in my books especially when the practice and experience produces the results that we appear to be getting in this tank.
Recently, after we put the latest version of the newest LED's over the tank Mr. Wilson and I sat in front of the display tank mesmerized by the aesthetic that we were seeing. For me it was a WOW, for Mr. Wilson it was a long silence.....something that is not usual for him!!!!!
Peter
nineball
Active member
We are no further ahead on this subject but I can tell you that it is a significant issue for this build. It is probably going to take a while to find the right solution but the principles are emerging that will be critical to the success of any proposed solution.
Any system must be capable of providing a steady but prudent amount of nutrition to both fish and coral reliably with no degradation of quality in the switch from manual to an automated system.
That first principle is proving extremely challenging to find in any commercial product and I'm afraid that most DIY arrangements are far too risky and fragile to try on this tank.
I have NOT given up on my quest but I will not lower my standards or compromise the first principle in finding a workable solution.
Peter
nineball
Active member
nuccadoc
New member
Peter, the tank looks fantastic!
A question about your led's....I am in the process of setting up another tank and I am torn on whether to use tried and true T5's or take the leap into led's. Your tank is one of the few that seems to have been successful with led's. I have read many posts/threads where people switched over and it turned into disaster. Could you or Shawn please comment on why you have had success and maybe why others haven't?
Thanks
A question about your led's....I am in the process of setting up another tank and I am torn on whether to use tried and true T5's or take the leap into led's. Your tank is one of the few that seems to have been successful with led's. I have read many posts/threads where people switched over and it turned into disaster. Could you or Shawn please comment on why you have had success and maybe why others haven't?
Thanks
nineball
Active member
Scott, As you know more than most, success in this hobby is always a result of a lot of things going right at the same time. However, I can honestly say that all things being equal with more than $100+K in hardware research that I am convinced that LED's are not just equal but a better option than MH/T5's. I have to admit that we did try a number of manufacturers of LEDs and the brand I am now using appears to be the best of the ones we tested. As you know from your long term membership in this community the standing culture in this thread is not to offer negative feedback but to comment on favourable results. I am not a shill for the LED manufacturer but I am a fan of the results that speak for themselves. I have gone on record saying that if your tank is 30" or less then these LED's represent a best practice. I suspect that you might be able to go deeper than 30" but I don't have the experience or proof of that. I was NOT looking to save money as a high priority but the health and welfare of the marine fish and corals was number one. The fact that the more efficient, cooler, better programability and longevity are there as well is a bonus.
more later....my wife is calling for dinner!!!!
Peter
spsreeflover
New member
Hi Peter and Shawn, you'r right LED is Best for growth rate, Low energy consumption, color ( is must be good because PAR value higher than MH and T5 ) probably i am wrong making justice to your tank, must see it in person is the best . thanks
nineball
Active member
Scott, yes but the lights and the controller is different than anything that is on the market yet, I believe. I will ask Mr. Wilson to elaborate on the specs as we have both lenses. Remember, at the moment we have three rows of lights. The two outside rows have 90 degree and the centre row has 120's(I think..).
Peter
ps Mr. Wilson can you describe my current lighting configuration please..................
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