Melev's new 280g Starfire tank thread

Status
Not open for further replies.
Nice job on the lighting! It looks very organized. I can't wait to get my tank running to see what it's like to have real reflectors. What did you think of the Reeflux 12K's? I'm not panning on running any actinic and have the 10K's right now, but if I need more blue I was going to look into them.
 
I'm not a fan of 12,000K lighting. It is too blue for my tastes. I know several people that love that look, and don't supplement. I prefer to have 10,000K lighting plus some blue.

I'm curious to see what my tank looks like today with those VHOs so high up.
 
Looking good Marc. Especially with a hurting head :(. New pictures with all the lights on are going to be spectacular I'm betting.

Your 400 watt ballast is pretty ugly in that neat and organized room ;), so when is the new one coming?
 
Wow Marc, great job. Looking forward to more pics with lights on.
 
In about 40 minutes, all the lights will be on and I'll take a full tank shot. Tank temperature today rose from 79.5 to 79.7 during the past few hours. The A/C is running, as are the fans (on a timer), and we are supposed to have thunderstorms today, so humidity is up.
 
Marc, if I recall correctly, you had your fans on 24/7, and now have them on a timer. If this is correct have you noticed a significant change in evaporation loss?

and, are they on one of the light timers or independent?

I'm still running 24/7, but want to cut them back. I'm thinking about working them in with my atinics just so they run for a while after the MH's cut off.

added:
I just remembered you said you manually turned them on/off. But if you ever ran them 24/7 the question is still the same
 
awesome job on the hanger while HD was closed :). so you have roughly 10" or so between MH and top of display, and you can removed them when working on the tank. great idea
 
Marc

How high off the water do you have the reflectors?

Do you feel you lose any light with using the glass shields on the reflectors?
 
<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=12220195#post12220195 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by psteeleb
Marc, if I recall correctly, you had your fans on 24/7, and now have them on a timer. If this is correct have you noticed a significant change in evaporation loss?

and, are they on one of the light timers or independent?

I'm still running 24/7, but want to cut them back. I'm thinking about working them in with my atinics just so they run for a while after the MH's cut off.

added:
I just remembered you said you manually turned them on/off. But if you ever ran them 24/7 the question is still the same
Click to expand...

Usually, my routine during the day is to check on the tank temperature and if it gets near 80F, I flip on the fans. However, due to traveling lately, I decided I really had to do something a little more automated. I got a mechanical timer that turns them on around 2pm and off again around 10:30pm, but I may increase that slightly.

The fans are IceCap variable speed fans. They use 12v power supplies, and for whatever reason I can't get them to work with x-10 modules so the AC II can run them as needed.
 
<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=12220236#post12220236 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by cbui2
awesome job on the hanger while HD was closed :). so you have roughly 10" or so between MH and top of display, and you can removed them when working on the tank. great idea
Click to expand...

The reflectors are about 14" off the water, so the bulbs are 18" off the water. I just took a few quick PAR readings to see what I'm getting, and it is approximately 600 at the surface under all three lamps. The Toadstool is getting over 300 PAR where before it was about 165.

The top of the tank to the underside of the sheetrock wall is 12".

I'm not in love with the color of my tank at the moment, but one of those bulbs is throwing out all kinds of yellow. During the install, I think it got mixed up and ended up on the left side of my tank this time.

I turned off the VHOs to see what the tank would look like, so as to compare vs having some actinic lighting. Those bulbs even so high up make a huge visual difference. But it doesn't quite have the blue hue I'm used to. I'll just have to get used to everything and make small adjustments over time.
 
<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=12220320#post12220320 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by wfgworks
Marc

How high off the water do you have the reflectors?

Do you feel you lose any light with using the glass shields on the reflectors?
Click to expand...

That is one of the things I wanted to know specifically. However, I can't test that as planned since these reflectors have the glass built in and it is a pain to take them apart. Regardless, with the far better reflector, the little bit the glass filters doesn't warrant any reason for me not to use them. Last year when I was discussing this topic with some friends after a meeting, I explained how if the Luminarc (or LuminBrite) reflector provides 300% better light than a spider reflector, then any loss (due to a glass shield) would still be way more light than what I had before.

Here are three quick pictures I took. The FTS really looks ugly to me, but I knew the light on the right was about to shut off (4.5 hours per day currently).

all_lights_on_front.jpg


The fish room is significantly brighter. I may have to wear sunscreen. :lol:

all_lights_on_rear.jpg


all_lights_on_eot.jpg
 
I might have missed it, but what meter are you using to get your par readings? Would you have a link where to get one?

Bart

Got my sticker today.
 
Status
Not open for further replies.

Similar threads

B
Need help find home for my 320 G reef tank
Replies
2
Views
266
T Diddy
T Diddy
griss
What's Your History in the Hobby?
2 3
Replies
48
Views
1K
T Diddy
T Diddy
R
Reseeding beneficial bacteria to sterilized tank - best approach?
Replies
6
Views
176
rallibon
R
griss
  • Sticky
If You’re New Here
2 3 4
Replies
75
Views
6K
Misled
Misled
raidendex
135g Reef Cube Planning / Build
2 3
Replies
46
Views
919
T Diddy
T Diddy
Back
Top