Mhucasey's SPS obsession

[mhucasey]

Yes I think so. ZnCl2

I'm sure it will be fine. I had just gone to the sigma Aldrich page for it and under solubility it listed Ethanol and Acetone. Wikipedia seems to indicate its highly soluble in water.

 

[mhucasey]

Matt, your tank is looking awesome even if you think it needs tweaking. Interesting observations regarding the Manganese.

I have issues Mindy:uhoh3: I'd see a therapist but that would take money better spent on corals!:lolspin:

 

[mhucasey]

Hi Matt,

Nice tank, incredible corals, astonishing colors and amazing thread. What do you think about the E5 led tubes? Will you move to E5 or stay with T5?

Thanks in advance

Sergi

Thanks very much, I appreciate it, and welcome!

As for the E5 tubes, the Blue Pop tubes are good to add some royal blue but they aren't bright enough on their own since there is no green spike. They do bring out fluorescence nicely, but I won't use more than two in a fixture. The white tubes I tried were horrible. The form factor and ability to swap them in to a fixture is solid though, so I hope they keep improving the whites.

 

[mhucasey]

I'm glad I asked then haha. I had a feeling that was happening when you described the tip colour. IMO that increase will be ok. Keep an eye on snail and shrimp for warning signs of overdose. Though if you had your acros would be peeling today.

I'm usually one of the first to suggest testing Potassium but I got a little lazy since it had been stuck above 430 or so for years. The zeolites brought the value down as expected, I should be testing more often:headwally: Thanks for the heads-up. Where do you usually keep your Potassium level at?

I'm glad the AF Kallium has some actual Potassium in it unlike the K-ballance from the blue bottle company...

 

[Acronic]

I'm usually one of the first to suggest testing Potassium but I got a little lazy since it had been stuck above 430 or so for years. The zeolites brought the value down as expected, I should be testing more often:headwally: Thanks for the heads-up. Where do you usually keep your Potassium level at?

I'm glad the AF Kallium has some actual Potassium in it unlike the K-ballance from the blue bottle company...

I'm happy at 400ppm. A noticeable improvement over 390ppm IME. Kinda wierd like that

 

[JB NY]

What do you think is too high for Potassium? I have talked to a few people who run coral farms and even with K levels into the 500 they didn't see any issues, so I've never really worried about it, just kept it over 400.

 

[mhucasey]

I'm happy at 400ppm. A noticeable improvement over 390ppm IME. Kinda wierd like that

What do you think is too high for Potassium? I have talked to a few people who run coral farms and even with K levels into the 500 they didn't see any issues, so I've never really worried about it, just kept it over 400.

I ran at as high as 460 without any issues, but I agree with Kevin, weird stuff started happening as i dropped below 390. I tried keeping the number at 390 at one point but stopped because of what happened when it fluctuated below 390(Random STN mostly)

 

[rs1831]

I know you do not do that many water changes but did you switch to aqua forest salt? If so, did you go with the reef salt or the probiotic salt?

Thanks!


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[Pife]

The popular suggestion for 4 bulbs seems to be 2B+, 2C+. It's a little on the blue side but the corals will like it. If it's too blue, swap one of the coral pluses out for a Fiji Purple, Super Purple, or Purple plus

Thank you.

 

[Myka]

I have issues Mindy:uhoh3: I'd see a therapist but that would take money better spent on corals!:lolspin:

Ha! Yeah, don't waste money on anything tha can't contribute to the well-being of the TANK. Who cares about the brain. :hmm5:

 

[Acronic]

What do you think is too high for Potassium? I have talked to a few people who run coral farms and even with K levels into the 500 they didn't see any issues, so I've never really worried about it, just kept it over 400.

As a constant value I would not exceed >600ppm. That said I would never suggest deviating from ~>400<500ppm.

Corals seem to tolerate elevated levels better than shrimp and snails. There have also been reports of total fish loss at 700ppm

 

[MrineLfRlz]

Thanks alot for all your help with my t5 fixture purchase i finally got my ati sunpower hung today i wont do any par readings until the bulbs start kicking in though. I cant wait to see the difference these will make compared to my old Chinese leds.

 

[mhucasey]

I know you do not do that many water changes but did you switch to aqua forest salt? If so, did you go with the reef salt or the probiotic salt?

Thanks!


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Yep, when I switched over mid-December, I used the AF Probiotic Salt and did 5 ~25gallon water changes over 3 days to set the system baseline. Since then I only add back a couple of gallons here and there to replace salt lost from the skimmer or spills.

 

[mhucasey]

Ha! Yeah, don't waste money on anything tha can't contribute to the well-being of the TANK. Who cares about the brain. :hmm5:

The Tank makes my brain happy and keeps it busy:idea: Its a win win!:dance:

 

[mhucasey]

Thanks alot for all your help with my t5 fixture purchase i finally got my ati sunpower hung today i wont do any par readings until the bulbs start kicking in though. I cant wait to see the difference these will make compared to my old Chinese leds.

What bulbs are you starting with? What do you think of the overall light presentation compared to the LED disco boxes?

 

[MrineLfRlz]

What bulbs are you starting with? What do you think of the overall light presentation compared to the LED disco boxes?

The light is very nice and there is full light penetration all through the tank the only thing i will miss is shimmer but if these help with my cyano problem im all for it!
So far the upgrade in my frag tank is showing good results much less slime algae and cyano so im pretty positive this light will work wonders in my DT.
BACK to FRONT (all ATI except the figi purp.)
B+
FIGI PURP.
ACTINIC
C+
B+
ACTINIC
C+
B+
I still havent been able to order the blue pop t5 led though but i will and will replace one of the actinics for that
So far i like the color:thumbsup:

 

[dkeller_nc]

Matt - I'd be really cautious with the zinc. Some is required as a cofactor for some enzymes, but it's quite toxic to marine life in higher concentrations. There's good reason it's used in many marine coatings as an anti-biofouling agent.

On another note, time to pitch the LEDs. Just pulled the trigger 30 minutes ago on an 8-bulb T5HO dimmable sunpower. I liked the Radion's controllability, but in the end it's about growing coral, and acros just did not do well at all under them. Your tank was justification enough.

Maybe one day sufficient advancement in materials science will allow for a true full-spectrum LED fixture, but until then, it's back to good 'ole mercury vapor.

 

[mhucasey]

The light is very nice and there is full light penetration all through the tank the only thing i will miss is shimmer but if these help with my cyano problem im all for it!
So far the upgrade in my frag tank is showing good results much less slime algae and cyano so im pretty positive this light will work wonders in my DT.
BACK to FRONT (all ATI except the figi purp.)
B+
FIGI PURP.
ACTINIC
C+
B+
ACTINIC
C+
B+
I still havent been able to order the blue pop t5 led though but i will and will replace one of the actinics for that
So far i like the color:thumbsup:

Awesome! I'm glad you like it. Whenever you think about missing the shimmer remember that too much shimmer is evidence that the corals are missing out on light. Also you might like that you can clearly see everything, even in the shaded areas. The shimmer plays havok with my eyes, I have a hard time focusing on stuff.:eek2:

 

[mhucasey]

Matt - I'd be really cautious with the zinc. Some is required as a cofactor for some enzymes, but it's quite toxic to marine life in higher concentrations. There's good reason it's used in many marine coatings as an anti-biofouling agent.

On another note, time to pitch the LEDs. Just pulled the trigger 30 minutes ago on an 8-bulb T5HO dimmable sunpower. I liked the Radion's controllability, but in the end it's about growing coral, and acros just did not do well at all under them. Your tank was justification enough.

Maybe one day sufficient advancement in materials science will allow for a true full-spectrum LED fixture, but until then, it's back to good 'ole mercury vapor.

A the target levels that I'm trying to achieve are pretty low. Apparently many salt mixes have levels much higher levels than the levels of seawater. Corals have been tested with higher levels without ill effects.

Congrats on the T5 purchase! I'm very interested to hear how you like them and more importantly, how your corals do with them. The reactions people have been having to seeing what old fashioned light technology can do make me happy If you follow the very basic guidelines for T5s you can eliminate worry about lighting and start to enjoy your corals!

Basic guidelines:
1) Buy T5s
2) Hang the fixture 10-12" above your aquarium
3) Turn them on

:lolspin::lolspin::lolspin::lolspin::lolspin:

 

[mhucasey]

Woot! New 10" top down viewer came today, now all pics will be done with my iPhone6 with a gel filter. Un-retouched photobombing will be even easier!

http://i1294.photobucket.com/albums/b612/mhucasey/IMG_2795_zpsbf8v2c6y.jpg