DivingTheWorld's Custom Leemar 80g Rimless Reef
- Thread starter DivingTheWorld
- Start date
danreefman
New member
Yes. Replace both metal halide and t5s every six months.
DivingTheWorld
Active member
I was running 9 hours per day on 6 bulbs, 11 hours per day on 2 bulbs. I may dial it back an hour on both. I'm still adding back in hours since my bulb replacement. I halved it, then adding back one hour/week.
DivingTheWorld
Active member
DivingTheWorld
Active member
It's possible that it was something else (Alk?), but I test Alk daily and that was rock solid prior to my vacation. My Dad was testing every 3 days while on vacation and it didn't change much at all. I didn't notice a slow down in death or improvement in my acros until I replaced the bulbs.
D-Nak
Active member
To be honest it better not be the bulbs that caused the crash -- otherwise there'd be tanks going down all the time. :facepalm:
I hope it is not older T5 killing SPS. But everything is looking much better after swtiching to MH a month ago.
Not sure if it is older T5 bulbs, or some of new T5 I replaced at the time. It was my first time using Korallen-zucht and Giesemann bulbs with different spectrums. Maybe one of them is not good for SPS.
Not sure if it is older T5 bulbs, or some of new T5 I replaced at the time. It was my first time using Korallen-zucht and Giesemann bulbs with different spectrums. Maybe one of them is not good for SPS.
danreefman
New member
I think that sometimes there is different stuff they're putting in the water that are Ro/di's aren't getting.
Or Red Sea salt
Or Red Sea salt
danreefman
New member
We as reefers are relying on a lot of things that are out of our control
danreefman
New member
I agree with others. Lights are easy to blame. But I've seen a lot of high light sps looking beautiful in the sand. Some people roll there lights 3-4' off the tank.
A lot of sps keepers get rtn trying to keep there tanks to clean. SPS love food and clean water. I never read this when people have RTN but when I have rtn or stn, if everything test pretty good. I get my Reef nutritions and squirt the corals. Along with a 25 % WC. And than keep feeding everyday. Noticeable difference everyday.
SPS need food!!!
A lot of sps keepers get rtn trying to keep there tanks to clean. SPS love food and clean water. I never read this when people have RTN but when I have rtn or stn, if everything test pretty good. I get my Reef nutritions and squirt the corals. Along with a 25 % WC. And than keep feeding everyday. Noticeable difference everyday.
SPS need food!!!
DivingTheWorld
Active member
The tank continues to do better and better. Colors are coming back and several colonies have reversed their slow death. Some never skipped a beat and have continued to grow. The frags I added at Christmas are all doing excellent and I just picked up a couple new packs on Saturday. The rebuilding has begun!
DivingTheWorld
Active member
So it's been a LONG time since I posted an update on my tank. A year ago Nov I had a big coral crash. I don't call it a tank crash because my fish never skipped a beat and were always fat and healthy. I blame the crash on a combination of lighting and nutrient issues, basically the tank getting out of balance. In the end, my fault. I reversed the lighting issue and added more corals last Dec but then started experimenting with the nutrients and ended up killing off most of what I missed in the first coral crash along with the new frags I had purchased around Christmas. :headwally:
Since then I've been on stabilization mode. I've been keeping the bulbs swapped out on time, balancing the nutrients and being patient. You know, what we're supposed to be doing.
I haven't seen Bryopsis in my tank since my second round of Fluconzole so I'm declaring that a victory. I also ran Vibrant for a few months and eradicated my Bubble Algae. I still can't believe that worked!
So here I am, a few of my colonies are still nice and healthy and growing big, Tyree Pink Lemonade, RR "The Vinh", RR Pink Floyd, DTW Gecko and of course lots of Montis and Zoas. Those are unkillable! I recently picked up a big frag pack from Battlecorals, so my tank is officially on it's way back.
Since then I've been on stabilization mode. I've been keeping the bulbs swapped out on time, balancing the nutrients and being patient. You know, what we're supposed to be doing.
I haven't seen Bryopsis in my tank since my second round of Fluconzole so I'm declaring that a victory. I also ran Vibrant for a few months and eradicated my Bubble Algae. I still can't believe that worked!
So here I am, a few of my colonies are still nice and healthy and growing big, Tyree Pink Lemonade, RR "The Vinh", RR Pink Floyd, DTW Gecko and of course lots of Montis and Zoas. Those are unkillable! I recently picked up a big frag pack from Battlecorals, so my tank is officially on it's way back.
DivingTheWorld
Active member
Thanks!
I've had no abnormal issues with cyano. My tank has always had a little here and there, mostly in the sump. No change with Vibrant. I started with 9ml (1ml per 10g) once per week. After a couple weeks I upped it to twice per week. Then after a couple weeks I upped it to every 3 days. My Nitrates have stayed the same (run around 6), but Phosphate has gone up a little (from 0.03 to around 0.07). I left my GFO running as normal. Corals haven't skipped a beat. The bubble algae didn't start going away until I hit every 3 days.
Also of note, I'm using the Saltwater version. I just didn't realize there was a Reef version until I was already dosing every 3 days. Since the corals were looking good, I saw no reason to change.
DivingTheWorld
Active member
Here's the BC pack I got about 2 weeks ago. They arrived with beautiful colors, chunky frags looking great. They required almost no light acclimation and I've already mounted them to my rock scape. Dealing with Battlecorals and Adam was an A+ experience. Really can't recommend him more! :thumbsup:
DivingTheWorld
Active member
Tank update time: The tanks been on pretty much auto pilot the past few months. Corals continue to grow, no sign of any bubble algae returning and I've been acquiring some new frags. I am seeing a bit of resurgence of Bryopsis in some of my cracks and crevices. I might do another round of Fluconazole.
I've been experimenting with my new BF toy, an Apogee MQ-510. I did a couple PAR maps which I'll list below. It will give you an idea of the PAR drop of T5 bulbs.
So that's about it. Here's an updated pic of my tank:
And here's a couple PAR map pics. This first one is after running my bulbs for approx. 6.5 months:
And here's the next day after I replaced all 8 bulbs:
I've been experimenting with my new BF toy, an Apogee MQ-510. I did a couple PAR maps which I'll list below. It will give you an idea of the PAR drop of T5 bulbs.
So that's about it. Here's an updated pic of my tank:
And here's a couple PAR map pics. This first one is after running my bulbs for approx. 6.5 months:
And here's the next day after I replaced all 8 bulbs:
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