Ms. Peacock

How do both of your mantis have a blue hue to them? Is it just me, the pictures or the lights they're under?

Yeah, it's the lighting for the most part. This tank is currently running two ATI Blue +bulbs, an ATI Purple plus and a Geissman midday bulb, so there's a lot of actinic lighting, which really accentuates what blue there is in her coloration. Her color has become more vibrant since I got her. I suspect it has a lot to do with the vitamin additives I use in her food. I've lately been mixing both Selcon and VitaChem. She really loves it.
 
Here's wishing everybody a happy holiday season!

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Cheers!
 
Its good to know that there can be plenty of light in the tank for corals. I read in the past that it wasnt good to have alot of light.

Ill be tossing some corals in the tank in the future once I get a couple new bulbs.
 
Its good to know that there can be plenty of light in the tank for corals. I read in the past that it wasnt good to have alot of light.

Ill be tossing some corals in the tank in the future once I get a couple new bulbs.

Still need caution with lighting. If your quality is spot on perfect like his setup then lighting won't be an issue.. if not.. then lighting may cause problems in O. scyllarus along with a few other species specifically.
 
The camera shutter really didn't like the LED's... Had a hard time getting a full shot of the tank under our, relatively speaking, dim living room lights.

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Being 7:15 at night the lights have already started their ramp-down and aren't at full brightness, so I'll have to get a better full tank shot tomorrow when they're at 100% mid-day. I'm also going to have to re-adjust the white balance on the camera.

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Take it easy on the LEDs though. I changed over from T5s and although the LEDs doesnt look as bright they can put off alot of PAR. I run mine at 70% max atm. I tried 100% at first and fried a couple things.

Also a yellow filter will help taking better pics under the blueness of the LEDs.

Your tank is amazing btw,Im hoping to get "Felix's" tank looking good,,although I put a piece of Xenia in there and he waited for it to attach to a piece of rubble then took it in his burrow. lolz
 
Take it easy on the LEDs though. I changed over from T5s and although the LEDs doesnt look as bright they can put off alot of PAR. I run mine at 70% max atm. I tried 100% at first and fried a couple things.

Also a yellow filter will help taking better pics under the blueness of the LEDs.

Your tank is amazing btw,Im hoping to get "Felix's" tank looking good,,although I put a piece of Xenia in there and he waited for it to attach to a piece of rubble then took it in his burrow. lolz

I've bleached a few ricordeas this way also. I think my new birdnest is begining to bleach too.. but then again there are diatoms growing on it..and my new BTA hid under a cave away from the light and has yet to come out completely.

My LEDs are really really bright.. like you'll got blind if you look at them for too long.
 
Thanks for the tips on the LEDs everyone. I get home tomorrow around 2pm, and I'll figure out the custom programming. I think I'll put it on manual at 70% before I leave for work.
 
Your corals will tell you whether or not it's at the proper setting.

If you see corals begin to bleach or turn a little pale then dim the light. Or raise it above the tank more/lower the coral.

I've heard about Photo acclimating corals but I have no idea how you would even do so.. I personally never looked into it and my LPS are fine!
 
Ok, this morning, I set it to 65% whites and 75% actinic. I'll leave it there for a couple days and then slowly start ramping it up over a couple weeks.
 
I would actually leave it there for a couple weeks and start going up,leaving it where you set it for a couple weeks,and then only ramping them up only about 5% each time.

Your light is really close to the surface of the water,but I see you do have a acrylic lid which diffuses some of the light some but Im sure its still putting out alot of PAR. You might wanna make a screen top for the tank youll get alot more light out of your fixture.

And of course youll still want to keep an eye on your corals for bleaching/browning and take appropriate action if you see either.
 
I would actually leave it there for a couple weeks and start going up,leaving it where you set it for a couple weeks,and then only ramping them up only about 5% each time.

Your light is really close to the surface of the water,but I see you do have a acrylic lid which diffuses some of the light some but Im sure its still putting out alot of PAR. You might wanna make a screen top for the tank youll get alot more light out of your fixture.

And of course youll still want to keep an eye on your corals for bleaching/browning and take appropriate action if you see either.

I'll be watching everything pretty closely. The tank is still very new. I've nailed down the ideal dosing level for ALK and Calc to keep it spot-on.

Maxspect recommended I run the lights at 80% and ramp them up slowly over a couple weeks, but obviously, I'm going more conservative than that.
 
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