crvz's hole in the wall

drummereef said:
Beautiful fish Chris. Glad to hear the display is doing good! :)
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Thanks, Brett. I've got a bunch of pukani rock that I'm QTing (12 weeks, mostly to ensure any ich won't transfer) to add to the display. I feel it's got way too much open space in it. Hopefully that rock can fill it some (probably have about 70 pounds or more).
 
HELLO, BELLISIMO, especially the beautiful pyroferus large algae eater, if you still have it you can put a picture of your today ..
thanks
HELLO
max

how do I put a picture of my pyrofirus??
 
crvz said:
Thanks, Brett. I've got a bunch of pukani rock that I'm QTing (12 weeks, mostly to ensure any ich won't transfer) to add to the display. I feel it's got way too much open space in it. Hopefully that rock can fill it some (probably have about 70 pounds or more).
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Awesome, can't wait to see an updated pic with the new rock. I like your aquascape btw. I think the openness has a natural look to it where the fish can swim in and out of the aquascape. The way I scaped mine, the fish can only really swim around the rocks, not through them for the most part. Albeit your tank is has more front to back depth so that probably helps with creating a more 3 dimensional aspect.
 
I installed a new RO/DI unit yesterday. My old one was over 10 years old, I needed a new membrane, i wanted to get a bit more capacity over the 50gpd I've been utilizing, and primarily, the auto shut off had failed (though it took me a while to realize it). So figuring all the costs associated with the old one (including wasted water), it was easier to just buy a new unit. I went with a bulk reef supply value 75gpd 4 stage RO/DI unit. It went in seamlessly where my old one was, which was nice.
 
I need to replace my metal halides. I'm running radium 20kKs right now. They're 2+ years old (tell no one!). What would be recommended for replacement? Same thing, or is there something more in fashion these days?
 
If yo are happy with the Radiums, I wouldn't change. Other than the luxcore's which I have not seen in person, I don't think anything has really changed.
 
your coral and fish are looking great - I 'm loving those tangs, the powder blue has always been one of my top favorite fish and that's probably one of the best looking Naso's I've ever seen.
 
Got it. Thanks for the responses. I ordered a trio of new radium bulbs. I had been lazily watching my sps lighten up a little, and seen some green algae growing in weird places (which I'm not stating is definitively related to weakening bulbs, but you often read that as a symptom of bad bulbs), and when I put my par meter over the tank I was surprised how low it read. Probably around 400 right under the water surface directly under a bulb, where it had been twice that or more upon first establishing the tank. I dropped the light fixture a bit for now, but I'll definitely be raising it high when the new bulbs are in so as not to shock the photosynthetic creatures. I have about 4 feet of travel above my tank for the lights.
 
Pretty impressive that you have gotten 2 years out of your MH's! I have been considering switching back to MH's with LED supplementation. I am not happy with the results I am seeing with LED only!
 
08TRDOFFROAD said:
Pretty impressive that you have gotten 2 years out of your MH's! I have been considering switching back to MH's with LED supplementation. I am not happy with the results I am seeing with LED only!
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Care to elaborate OFFROAD ^^^? Just wondering what you've specifically experienced running and LED only system.
 
I DIY'ed a fixture with parts from Rapid LED. I haven't see as much growth as I did with my 14k halides. I do have great coloring with the LED's only, but I feel like I am sacrificing growth.

I have also considered a T5/LED combo as well.
 
08TRDOFFROAD said:
I DIY'ed a fixture with parts from Rapid LED. I haven't see as much growth as I did with my 14k halides. I do have great coloring with the LED's only, but I feel like I am sacrificing growth.

I have also considered a T5/LED combo as well.
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Very interesting. I've seen hit or miss results with all LEDs in some friend's tanks. I run MH/LED combo and am having pretty decent growth lately. Need to get my nutrients under control but colors have been steady as well. (sorry for the derail Chris :))
 
08TRDOFFROAD said:
I DIY'ed a fixture with parts from Rapid LED. I haven't see as much growth as I did with my 14k halides. I do have great coloring with the LED's only, but I feel like I am sacrificing growth.

I have also considered a T5/LED combo as well.
Click to expand...

I wouldnt say I "got" 2 years out of them, just that I went 2 years. ;) Performance degradation probably should have been monitored more closely, and I probably should have changed them middle of last year. But we had a new kiddo, and it was quite a surprise looking back how much harder it is to find time with 2 kids instead of just 1. Let's just say the tank has become less of a priority.

I've ran T5s for about 6 years, but ultimately decided they were not cost effective for this tank (36x72 foot print). That would have been 20 or more 3' bulbs, and the replacement costs made more sense with just 3 metal halides in good pendants (which is a bit aggressive, but I just place corals strategically to avoid the lower light spots). I do have some LEDs on this tank, and I built a fixture from RapidLED over my stock tank which I intend to compare growth with the main display in the future.
 
Been doing a bit of clean up this week, ordered the 3 bulbs, an overflow box for the 40 gallon breeder (going to plumb it into the main display), and then placed an order at liveaquaria for a handful of smaller fish (another 5 anthias, and then 6 wrasses). I did a water change on the quarantine system, cleared the remaining fish out of it (clown and chromis in to the display, angel into the 40 breeder) with the exception of the male lyretail anthias (which changed when I bought the last trio, so I didnt put that in the display which already has a display). I've got a water change on the display planned for tomorrow, I went and got new CO2 for the reactor and added a bunch of media, and I cleaned up the wet room. Overall, maintenance is mostly caught up.
 
Hey Chris, did you ever get around to putting in the new rock you had mentioned a while ago in the display? I'd love to see some pics if so.
 
Nope. The rock I got came from someone who was tearing down their system, so I was quarantining it for 12 weeks. Got two more to go. It's certainly up near the top of the to-do list now, though.
 
crvz said:
Nope. The rock I got came from someone who was tearing down their system, so I was quarantining it for 12 weeks. Got two more to go. It's certainly up near the top of the to-do list now, though.
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Cool. Can't wait to see what you do with the aquascape when it's ready. Have you found any undesirables on the rock since QT'ing it?
 
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