My T5 55g tank....and coral lightening
- Thread starter dvanacker
- Start date
Serioussnaps
New member
What is this guy doing to get his corals that colorful?----------------------------its rare, it can happen, its probably a 5 year old tank and its also called PHOTOSHOP
Serioussnaps
New member
Im speaking of that "photobucket" link. I dont doubt he has beautiful color but i think those photos are touched up with a software program.
Horace
New member
You have a lot of balls coming on here accusing somone of photoshoppping thier corals. That coral is very possible to get that color and I have personally seen more than one that looks that good. Just because your corals lack that kind of color doesnt mean others dont......Sorry man but you need to really know what your talking about before you come on here and accuse people of something like that.
You want to see colors...check out this link.. This guy lives just up the road from me. These pictures ARE NOT PHOTOSHOPPED. If anything they look better in person than they do in this picture.
http://photobucket.com/albums/v467/gqjeff/jeffs reef/
dvanacker
DID I SOUNDS SMRT??
Hey....my pictures were the photobucket pics......not IWAN.
If you really meant my picture then I'll take it as a complement. I find it strange though as Im trying to find out why I was getting some coral lightening.
And no they were'nt photoshoped. That is what it looks like. Or looked like..haha (small accident.)
Anyway....things are starting to look good. Im feeding the fish more and feeding the corals oyster eggs. I've also reduced photoperiod and have more blue spectrum. I think the fact that my tank is still young has something to do with it too.
I got a few new colonies....we will have to see if they get lighter. Like I said before though my pinks and blues are good....my greens anything brown seems to go light.
CeeGee
New member
what bulbs are you running again dvanacker?
I just took out one of my blue+ bulbs and replaced it with a UV Lighting SA and I am not sure what I think about the UV lighting bulb. It looked different on the second day than it did the first but overall I don't see what all the hype about these bulbs is about.
I am extremely disappointed to say the least as I have heard so many times how great the SA VHO's are.
I just took out one of my blue+ bulbs and replaced it with a UV Lighting SA and I am not sure what I think about the UV lighting bulb. It looked different on the second day than it did the first but overall I don't see what all the hype about these bulbs is about.
I am extremely disappointed to say the least as I have heard so many times how great the SA VHO's are.
dvanacker
DID I SOUNDS SMRT??
Well....right now Im running 2 blue+ on standard ballasts and SLR's for 10hrs and 1 blue+ and 1 aquablue on a IC660 with SLRS for 5hrs.
When the 660 comes on it really overdrives the bulbs making the blue+ not quite as blue and the aquablue really bright so when everything is on it looks like a 14k to me or 10k with good actinics.
I havent tried the UV bulb but I really like the look of the blue+ bulb...you get actinic and blue which is nice....also most true actinic bulbs really dont have much par but the blue+ doesnt fall that far behind the aquablue.
When the 660 comes on it really overdrives the bulbs making the blue+ not quite as blue and the aquablue really bright so when everything is on it looks like a 14k to me or 10k with good actinics.
I havent tried the UV bulb but I really like the look of the blue+ bulb...you get actinic and blue which is nice....also most true actinic bulbs really dont have much par but the blue+ doesnt fall that far behind the aquablue.
CeeGee
New member
I just got back from a LFS that has halides on a few tanks. I can't believe how much brighter my tank is than theirs. Now I am not sure what wattage halides they are running but whatever they are my tank is AT LEAST 2X as bright.
as of right now my photoperiod is
1 blue+ and 1 UV Super Actinic come on at 11 a.m. and go off at 11 p.m.
2aquablue+ come on at 2 p.m. and go off at 10 p.m.
bioload is moderate I would say.
1 solar wrasse (medium size)
1 McCosker Flasher wrasse (small)
1 Royal Gramma (small, in the sump for right now)
I feed pretty well the fish have only been in the tank for a few weeks and I am trying to make sure that they are healthy. They went through a 6+ week quarantine but I am still trying to make sure that they are going to do well so I am feeding them fairly well.
Mixed reef
Softies
couple of toadstools (1 that has had 3 babies)some ricordia and 1 blue mushroom. It is funny everyone talks about how mushrooms multiply like crazy yet I still have the same amount of ricordia and a single blue mushroom that I started with.
LPS (candy cane, frogspawns, brains, blastos)
SPS (birdsnests, acros, montis)
My G3 doesn't pull as much as I thought it would. I probably need to clean the pump. How often do you clean yours and how do you go about cleaning it? I clean the cup every few days.
as of right now my photoperiod is
1 blue+ and 1 UV Super Actinic come on at 11 a.m. and go off at 11 p.m.
2aquablue+ come on at 2 p.m. and go off at 10 p.m.
bioload is moderate I would say.
1 solar wrasse (medium size)
1 McCosker Flasher wrasse (small)
1 Royal Gramma (small, in the sump for right now)
I feed pretty well the fish have only been in the tank for a few weeks and I am trying to make sure that they are healthy. They went through a 6+ week quarantine but I am still trying to make sure that they are going to do well so I am feeding them fairly well.
Mixed reef
Softies
couple of toadstools (1 that has had 3 babies)some ricordia and 1 blue mushroom. It is funny everyone talks about how mushrooms multiply like crazy yet I still have the same amount of ricordia and a single blue mushroom that I started with.
LPS (candy cane, frogspawns, brains, blastos)
SPS (birdsnests, acros, montis)
My G3 doesn't pull as much as I thought it would. I probably need to clean the pump. How often do you clean yours and how do you go about cleaning it? I clean the cup every few days.
dvanacker
DID I SOUNDS SMRT??
I clean mine twice a year. I clean the cup once every week...sometimes longer.
If you are noticing some coral lightening you might wanna try shortening your aquablue (daylight) period. That what I'm trying and I think I'm starting to see a difference but really its too early to tell.
If you are noticing some coral lightening you might wanna try shortening your aquablue (daylight) period. That what I'm trying and I think I'm starting to see a difference but really its too early to tell.
CeeGee
New member
I am actually trying to get my corals to color up. I had to move my tank a few months ago to have new carpet put down and my tank had to stay in that temporary location longer than I had hoped as I had no one to help me move it back. The corals (sps) really suffered during this period. The other corals seemed to enjoy the PC lighting that was over them during this time.
These T5's are bright and I don't think I have a single coral that is enjoying them. I even did the screen light acclimation and they still seem to be having a rough time with the output of these things.
These T5's are bright and I don't think I have a single coral that is enjoying them. I even did the screen light acclimation and they still seem to be having a rough time with the output of these things.
hskim
New member
I've talk to Eric Borneman at Marine Depot's Forum and he is sure that my corals are bleaching. I showed him pictures I post on this thread and couple more and he thinks that rather than the T5 lights it is my over kill Deltec MCE600 skimmer on my 29gallon tank that is over skimming and the zoox in corals are not getting enough of nitrogen in them. He suggests that I actually have to over feed my tank to create some nitrates and have the skimmer on only few hours a day. At the same time I'm replacing my AquaBlue bulbs with D&D 6000k sun bulbs one at a time to see if that helps.
May be it is combination of T5 lights and extremely clean water that is lightening up the colors in our corals IMO.
May be it is combination of T5 lights and extremely clean water that is lightening up the colors in our corals IMO.
Horace
New member
Its possible he is right....but I dont think I have SUPER SUPER low nutrients, even though I run Zeovit. I dont run BB and my skimmer isnt an uber powerful one either. Its a DIY with a GenX 2400 on my 75g. While my water quality is high, I still think it has more to do with the lights, be it spectrum or intenisty. For that reason the T5s are going bye bye for now....I will just use them as supplements to my new Phoenix bulbs on electronics. With some T5 actinic supplements, the tank should look pretty nice I think.
DitchPlains2
In Memoriam
hey guys
hey guys
I'm over skimming by a long shot, much more then your Deltec. I am running a TUNZE9015 rated for 350g on my 55g. I am posting a few pics, I think like Kurt you or someone else had said earlier regarding IWAN'S tank, there just appears more pastel colors with T5 lighting, but I love it. My corals to me look great, but I'm not photog, so my pics are terrible. As soon as I can afford a good DSLR or SLR I will take much better pics, my camera although has high megapixels its CCD lens blows, cannot compensate when ISO is low, and shutter speed is high, or FS is under 30, so no good macro or moving shots for me. I think there are so many factors in keeping sps, I think it's going to take me years to learn all of the ins and outs, but I am very happy to learn. If you spoke to Borneman on Marine Depot's forum, has he rebuilt since his famous tank demise, or tank sabotage? Just curious, I am reading his Corals book as we speak, more then 3/4 done.
here's one
cheers
David
hey guys
I'm over skimming by a long shot, much more then your Deltec. I am running a TUNZE9015 rated for 350g on my 55g. I am posting a few pics, I think like Kurt you or someone else had said earlier regarding IWAN'S tank, there just appears more pastel colors with T5 lighting, but I love it. My corals to me look great, but I'm not photog, so my pics are terrible. As soon as I can afford a good DSLR or SLR I will take much better pics, my camera although has high megapixels its CCD lens blows, cannot compensate when ISO is low, and shutter speed is high, or FS is under 30, so no good macro or moving shots for me. I think there are so many factors in keeping sps, I think it's going to take me years to learn all of the ins and outs, but I am very happy to learn. If you spoke to Borneman on Marine Depot's forum, has he rebuilt since his famous tank demise, or tank sabotage? Just curious, I am reading his Corals book as we speak, more then 3/4 done.
here's one
cheers
David
dvanacker
DID I SOUNDS SMRT??
hskim.....I dont think going to 6000k bulbs is going to help. My problems got worse when I switched to high par bulbs.
If you are trying to get deeper color ...two things to normally try is more feeding and less light. If you are trying to get the brown out and bring in some color ....its the opposite...less nutrients and more light.
This is my take on it anyway.....but what do I know.
If you are trying to get deeper color ...two things to normally try is more feeding and less light. If you are trying to get the brown out and bring in some color ....its the opposite...less nutrients and more light.
This is my take on it anyway.....but what do I know.
