d2mini's "Essential Focus" Mixed Reef Build

d2mini said:
Haven't posted an FTS in awhile...

i-77GsPGw.jpg
Click to expand...

Is that a bounce mushroom in the back right? Aren't those crazy expensive, like $1,000+?

Also, what a beautiful tank! Thanks for sharing.
 
brett559 said:
Is that a bounce mushroom in the back right? Aren't those crazy expensive, like $1,000+?

Also, what a beautiful tank! Thanks for sharing.
Click to expand...

Yes, it's my WWC Bounce. :)
I traded some of those red and orange jawbreaker mushrooms for it, but yes... they are pricey suckers. lol

i-dR8tbRv-XL.jpg
 
Dennis,
I was in search of some Radion Lighting information, and I was directed to this thread, which after many unproductive days at work, I read end to end! Fantastic read, great attention to detail.

What brought me here is I recently upgraded my 80 to a 120. The 80 ran "Old School", (2) 250wDE MH 14K Phoenix, 2 54w T5's, CaRx, Kalk Reactor, UV, Ozone, bare bottom, no refugium. I had great success. The 120 would be the same, only this time I would "Fix" what I didn't like about the set-up. After much research, and going back and forth, I decided to ditch the MH/T-5 in favor of the new Radion XR30-G4 Pro. So I picked up (3). I'm running them end to end over a 48x24x24 tank with a center brace. These are controlled by APEX, running the AB+ program. I started at 40% for (2) hrs/day then slowly worked my way up to 75% and (6) hrs/day. Corals were looking good. I saw the video about the diffusers, so I pick them up. No changes were made to the lighting schedule to compensate for the reduced output that was claimed to be 15-20%. In the weeks following installation, I noticed the corals not looking so good. Water parameters same as prior to the diffusers. I few corals STN'ed, (2) Favias lost color, a Bird's Nest was turning brown. I read that shortly after you added the diffusers you had some issues also. So this past week, I have removed the diffusers, lowered the intensity to 50% to see if that helps. I did pick up an Apogee SQ-520 to get some idea what the PAR is. It's on this weekends To Do List.

So this brings me to my post, I have a couple of questions.

d2mini said:
After speaking with Ecotech and discussing their new DLI findings along with my light schedule and intensity and low nutrient system, I decided to lower the light intensity a little bit. But that was after these pics were taken. I also need to start feeding more. I haven't been feeding the tank anything specifically for the coral and other than the tang, most of my fish are small. Will see if the colors intensify at all.

Thanks!
Click to expand...

Is this something other than what's in the Coral Lab Paper they did in conjunction with WWC? Since the data was based on them using G3 Pro's I would love to see Ecotech update the paper with the new G4 Pro's both without/with the diffusers.

d2mini said:
Finally got the Radion Diffusers installed! :)

Honestly, it's not that much different than before. Still plenty of shimmer. And not much loss in light. I have a hand held photography light meter than can measure LUX and I'm recording only a 3-5% loss. The tank looks very evenly lit with very little shadowing. I'd say it's a very subtle but nice upgrade.

Also, I kind of like not seeing those individual led domes on the pucks.
Looks more finished IMO.
Click to expand...

With no change to before and after settings, have you had a chance to get new PAR readings?

Also in one of your posts, you had a Youtube link on how to photograph a reef tank. I can't seem to locate it. Can you please share that again, thanks.
 
Member No. 1 said:
Dennis,
I was in search of some Radion Lighting information, and I was directed to this thread, which after many unproductive days at work, I read end to end! Fantastic read, great attention to detail.

What brought me here is I recently upgraded my 80 to a 120. The 80 ran "Old School", (2) 250wDE MH 14K Phoenix, 2 54w T5's, CaRx, Kalk Reactor, UV, Ozone, bare bottom, no refugium. I had great success. The 120 would be the same, only this time I would "Fix" what I didn't like about the set-up. After much research, and going back and forth, I decided to ditch the MH/T-5 in favor of the new Radion XR30-G4 Pro. So I picked up (3). I'm running them end to end over a 48x24x24 tank with a center brace. These are controlled by APEX, running the AB+ program. I started at 40% for (2) hrs/day then slowly worked my way up to 75% and (6) hrs/day. Corals were looking good. I saw the video about the diffusers, so I pick them up. No changes were made to the lighting schedule to compensate for the reduced output that was claimed to be 15-20%. In the weeks following installation, I noticed the corals not looking so good. Water parameters same as prior to the diffusers. I few corals STN'ed, (2) Favias lost color, a Bird's Nest was turning brown. I read that shortly after you added the diffusers you had some issues also. So this past week, I have removed the diffusers, lowered the intensity to 50% to see if that helps. I did pick up an Apogee SQ-520 to get some idea what the PAR is. It's on this weekends To Do List.

So this brings me to my post, I have a couple of questions.



Is this something other than what's in the Coral Lab Paper they did in conjunction with WWC? Since the data was based on them using G3 Pro's I would love to see Ecotech update the paper with the new G4 Pro's both without/with the diffusers.



With no change to before and after settings, have you had a chance to get new PAR readings?

Also in one of your posts, you had a Youtube link on how to photograph a reef tank. I can't seem to locate it. Can you please share that again, thanks.
Click to expand...

Thanks! :)

The coral lab paper was done years ago. Their new findings on DLI have been talked about here and there in youtube vids. I don't know of any updates to the original paper.

The issue I had with some of my coral ended up being a salinity issue. Probe was off calibration and my salt levels went through the roof. Once I got that under control everything bounced back. Tank is looking good, diffusers are still installed. It's hard for me to get my hands on a par meter so no, I haven't updated. I just increased my intensity a bit after adding the diffusers. The diffusers are just blending the color channels better and creating a more even spread of light. Other than intensity, there should be no effect on your coral.

The youtube vid I put together was for processing your pics in lightroom.
Here it is...
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GH6ngLb4XL4


Speaking of vids... here is a new vid of tumbling Dragon's Breath macro in my fuge. :D

https://youtu.be/DfUD5a8LObI
 
d2mini said:
Thanks! :)

The coral lab paper was done years ago. Their new findings on DLI have been talked about here and there in youtube vids. I don't know of any updates to the original paper.

The issue I had with some of my coral ended up being a salinity issue. Probe was off calibration and my salt levels went through the roof. Once I got that under control everything bounced back. Tank is looking good, diffusers are still installed. It's hard for me to get my hands on a par meter so no, I haven't updated. I just increased my intensity a bit after adding the diffusers. The diffusers are just blending the color channels better and creating a more even spread of light. Other than intensity, there should be no effect on your coral.

The youtube vid I put together was for processing your pics in lightroom.
Here it is...
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GH6ngLb4XL4


Speaking of vids... here is a new vid of tumbling Dragon's Breath macro in my fuge. :D

https://youtu.be/DfUD5a8LObI
Click to expand...

Thanks for the info.

I didn't want to think it was related to the diffusers as I also liked the increased spread, plus taking the glare out of the light. But everything started looking bad after I put them on. Then you had a unrelated similar issue.
I will have to look for the newer DLI findings. Were they produced by ETM?
I hope to get some PAR readings this weekend w/o the diffusers. I plan on running that way for a bit.
Since you did a great job with your other PAR value report, I'd be interested to see what you get now, all things being equal.
With that said, I would be willing to loan you my SQ-520. It doesn't have a meter, it connects to your MAC (or PC :hmm2:)
via USB. You download Apogee's free data recording software.

Thanks for the processing link. I'll take a look later. I need to brush up on my skills.
LR keeps locking up my Mac Pro. I can use it on my 27" iMac, but it's a dog!

That tumbling vid is crazy! Mesmerizing!

On another note... LR SVS3-24 on order.
 
Member No. 1 said:
Thanks for the info.

I didn't want to think it was related to the diffusers as I also liked the increased spread, plus taking the glare out of the light. But everything started looking bad after I put them on. Then you had a unrelated similar issue.
I will have to look for the newer DLI findings. Were they produced by ETM?
I hope to get some PAR readings this weekend w/o the diffusers. I plan on running that way for a bit.
Since you did a great job with your other PAR value report, I'd be interested to see what you get now, all things being equal.
With that said, I would be willing to loan you my SQ-520. It doesn't have a meter, it connects to your MAC (or PC :hmm2:)
via USB. You download Apogee's free data recording software.

Thanks for the processing link. I'll take a look later. I need to brush up on my skills.
LR keeps locking up my Mac Pro. I can use it on my 27" iMac, but it's a dog!

That tumbling vid is crazy! Mesmerizing!

On another note... LR SVS3-24 on order.
Click to expand...
I just need to borrow the meter from my local club at some point. Its just not at the top of my list. lol

Congrats on the skimmer. Mine's humming along. :)

Misled said:
Very cool. We need to discuss this at some point. :)
Click to expand...
I'll pencil you in for sometime in 2022. You should be ready by then. :D
 
Set the time machine for post 538 I think it was......

How did you mount the interface and run the USB cable for the touch screen?
Is the touch module inside your stand, or did you run the PAB cable outside the stand to the touch module remotely, and then. Run the USB to the touch screen?
 
2_zoa said:
Set the time machine for post 538 I think it was......

How did you mount the interface and run the USB cable for the touch screen?
Is the touch module inside your stand, or did you run the PAB cable outside the stand to the touch module remotely, and then. Run the USB to the touch screen?
Click to expand...

The module is inside the stand, just the USB cable is running through the wall and out through a small hole behind the display.
In my previous build, i inset the display into the wall so it was flush mounted and just ran some simple trim around it to hide the rough edge of sheetrock.
I didn't want to bother with that this time especially with the display mounted around the corner from my tank rather than right next to it on the same wall.

i-33fKc2C.jpg


i-TRtkTFk.jpg
 
d2mini said:
The module is inside the stand, just the USB cable is running through the wall and out through a small hole behind the display.
In my previous build, i inset the display into the wall so it was flush mounted and just ran some simple trim around it to hide the rough edge of sheetrock.
I didn't want to bother with that this time especially with the display mounted around the corner from my tank rather than right next to it on the same wall.

i-33fKc2C.jpg


i-TRtkTFk.jpg
Click to expand...


Lucky. Your close enough to have just the USB cable to run it sounds like.

I'm about to move my electronics cabinet into the closet on the other side of the wall that my tank is on. I want the extra cabinet beside my tank stand gone from sight. My run is just a touch long for the USB so I'm going to have to run a PAB cable out of the cabinet and mount the module to the wall. In the end not a big deal. But the OCD of what I was hoping to accomplish in an area 95% of people will never see. Has got my left eye twitching. Vinny has told me not to make the USB cable any longer.
 
2_zoa said:
Lucky. Your close enough to have just the USB cable to run it sounds like.

I'm about to move my electronics cabinet into the closet on the other side of the wall that my tank is on. I want the extra cabinet beside my tank stand gone from sight. My run is just a touch long for the USB so I'm going to have to run a PAB cable out of the cabinet and mount the module to the wall. In the end not a big deal. But the OCD of what I was hoping to accomplish in an area 95% of people will never see. Has got my left eye twitching. Vinny has told me not to make the USB cable any longer.
Click to expand...
That previous build I posted pics of above, I used a USB extension cable. No issues.
 
2_zoa said:
Really?
I know your last build. Like many others...

How far did you extend the USB? That part I don't know.
Click to expand...

I don't recall the length of the extension cable... several feet.
I think it was an Apple keyboard extension cable I had laying around.
 
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