High Nutrient Macro Algae/Sea Grass Reef

[vlangel]

I will keep you posted on Angelica's social manners and how she behaves, especially with the damsels. I have had multiple coral beauty angels but her colors are a bit nicer than some. This pic shows her colors better than any others I took even though I almost missed her, ha ha!

That pirate couple gave out candy to kids at Trunk or treat. We also had a fire for s'mores. It was a fun evening!

 

[vlangel]

I am still struggling to add pics. Sometimes its just dumb luck that I get them imbedded or linked. Hopefully this is a pic of Angelica, even though she was almost missed. It does show how pretty her color is. Nope, I seem to be in an ending circle where its asking me for a URL , which I will confess that I don't even know what that is. When I try to click on my pic from google photos it keeps going to my drive. I am very confused with adding pics. I finally went to the feedback and questions topic and asked for help. I should have done that in the beginning, LOL.

 

[vlangel]

Thanks to JohnL's help, I think I understand what to do to consistently post pics. This is the pic of Angelica that I was trying to post.

 

[vlangel]

I see that I did post that last pic. Sr moment I guess, uhhg!

Anyway, I could use some help with lighting. My Coraline fixture is not working well. I have also been having trouble finding 30" high output lamps as it is not as common as 24" , 36" and 48" lamps.

Does anyone have suggestions for a 30" x 18" x 24" tank? My coral are low light and I have some macro algae. I like a white light look without too much blue.

 

[Michael Hoaster]

Maybe go with a 24" bulb setup so the bulbs are more common.

Oh nice! You got one of the really blue Coral Beauties. She's gorgeous!

 

[vlangel]

Maybe go with a 24" bulb setup so the bulbs are more common.

Oh nice! You got one of the really blue Coral Beauties. She's gorgeous!

Yes, I could go with a 24" fixture but then I would have to hang it as the legs that come with it wont span the tank. Another thing I wondered about is could I go with a cheaper less quality LED because my coral are low light? The biggest concern is probably my rainbow nems. Maybe I could ask about that in the coral topics?

Angelica is really blue! That is probably the reason that I went with her as blue fish always catch my eye. She is indeed a beauty!

 

[Michael Hoaster]

I bet Dave could fashion you some light fixture legs, if you're not too picky. Coathanger and pliers? Or some kind of slick wooden legs maybe. It's a thought. You could get one of those cheap Chinese fixtures on amazon. Those work pretty well for a lot of folks I think. Good LED light, without the fancy adjustability of the big buck fixtures.

One of my LFSs used to get extra blue Coral Beauties, and I always coveted them. Angelica looks to be a best-in-show specimen!

 

[vlangel]

That's a thought about Dave designing me some sort of legs or adaptation of legs for my fixture. Another thought I had was if Dave could move the contact caps that the fluorescent tubes goes into so that it could accommodate 24" bulbs. He had taken the refugium's T5 fixture apart so he could drill holes so that Coralife fixture could be suspended from the ceiling, so he has experience with the guts of a Coralife T5 fixture. They sell kits to retro fit LED lights into T5 quad fixtures to make a hybrid which is another thought. So many ways to go with this. The good news is that I tinkered with my fixture a bit more and have all 4 bulbs working again. I am sure its temporary but it buys me time to think on this.

 

[vlangel]

I have been looking on BRS at lights plus watching some of their video commentaries. Reefbreeder has an LED that seems like it would do more than the job for about $400. That's a lot of money but the Photon 24-V2 plus comes with legs, or hanging kit and controller and its ready to program and use. It might save Dave a lot of headache trying to configure my T5 fixture hood to work with a kit. All the reviews I am reading are positive too, and some of those folks have been using this light for a while. I am seriously thinking of getting it. I am considering the Photon 30" too.

 

[vlangel]

Well a big upgrade is coming to the high nutrient macro algae tank! I pulled the trigger on the ReefBreeder Photon 24 V-2 plus LED fixture. It is suppose to arrive the 10th. I decided that it was worth the money not to put Dave through the anxiety of trying to configure my current fixture hood into a hybrid. Hybrids I think are probably the very best solution but I am not such a coral enthusiast that I really need that.

This fixture seems to give a lot of bang for the buck. BRS has a video to help with programming it, (which is something that intimidates me), plus what I already saw on BRS, I can hang it 18" above my tank. That will be awesome for feeding and working in the tank to have the light out of the way. Also I am assuming that it will only have one power cord instead of 3 (like I have now) which will also be amazing! And since it is programmable I do not think I will need timers either.

So although to me the controller is intimidating, in many ways this fixture will simplify my lighting. I think I am going to love it once its set up and programmed.

 

[Michael Hoaster]

Woooo, that's exciting! 21st century lighting technology! That sounds fantastic. It seems like most programmable lights have basic programs you can use, if you don't want to program them yourself. Anyway, I sure you'll get it dialed in, with a little time and patience.

 

[Vinny Kreyling]

You will like the Reefbreeder's light fixture.
Programming is easy with some suggestions. There are 6 channels to work with, make a simple time chart starting with the time the light turns on until it turns off in a column, with the 6 colors listed across the top. Do each color until all the times & intensity are logged. The times the light is off need to be inputted also. You will get the hang of it. If you need anything else let me know.
Vinny

 

[JohnL]

Well a big upgrade is coming to the high nutrient macro algae tank! I pulled the trigger on the ReefBreeder Photon 24 V-2 plus LED fixture.

Congratulations ?

 

[vlangel]

Woooo, that's exciting! 21st century lighting technology! That sounds fantastic. It seems like most programmable lights have basic programs you can use, if you don't want to program them yourself. Anyway, I sure you'll get it dialed in, with a little time and patience.

Yep, me who prides myself as being old school buying state of the art tech! Who woulda thunk it?

From what I read about it and the BRS video, it seems like I can choose a pre-fab program and pretty much go with that. Dave will help me figure it out and between the two of us I think we will get it.

 

[vlangel]

You will like the Reefbreeder's light fixture.
Programming is easy with some suggestions. There are 6 channels to work with, make a simple time chart starting with the time the light turns on until it turns off in a column, with the 6 colors listed across the top. Do each color until all the times & intensity are logged. The times the light is off need to be inputted also. You will get the hang of it. If you need anything else let me know.
Vinny

Thanks Vinny, I definitely may take you up on the offer to help. Thanks for the tips! We will see how it goes.

 

[vlangel]

Congratulations ?

Thanks John, I am pretty excited about this. I was dreading changing anything with the lighting but now that the decision is made I can't wait to get started.

 

[vlangel]

I have been pretty quiet about Guardian because he did not adjust as easily to the display as I thought he would. He was hiding in the catacombs that Rice Krispies made under the rock work. Tommy often went in the area where Guardian hung out and I think Guardian was intimidated. I would see him out before the lights came on but I had never seen him eat.

This morning I decided to fill in Rice Krispies catacombs with sand; enough sand that Tommy could not hang out there but Guardian still could. Early afternoon everyone who frequented the catacombs was accounted for except Guardian. I was sick at heart thinking maybe I had buried him alive.

Well thank goodness he made an appearance at a catacomb entrance in the middle of the tank. And even better, I saw him eat frozen brine shrimp! I feel like dancing. Filling in the catacombs was the right call as now there are multiple small rooms under the rock work instead of one cavernous room. That should give Guardian the security he needs.

 

[Michael Hoaster]

A great story. Edge-of-your-seat stuff! I'm glad to hear it's working out. Whew!

 

[vlangel]

It's a great story now because it ends happy but I was sweating it out!

 

[Michael Hoaster]

Sure, but it was the telling that was so compelling! I know that sweating it out feeling well, with my recent adventure with Miracle Max and Where's Waldo. It's a deep down, 'oh no' feeling of dread. Not fun. Makes the highs of the hobby a little bit higher.