New Hood/Canopy build
- Thread starter Grant W
- Start date
jedheuer
Member
I can definitely bring it to the meeting. Thanks shane.
http://www.fishbowl-innovations.com/ they said it will be two more months until they have the moon lights ready for sale. You can order them through Steve and they are a bit cheaper. But again we haev to wait. Another system that is close to this one is the R2
http://www.marinedepot.com/R2_Moonl...xtures-R2_Solutions-RM1131-FILTFIMLAC-vi.html
http://www.marinedepot.com/R2_Moonl...xtures-R2_Solutions-RM1131-FILTFIMLAC-vi.html
Grant W
New member
OK guys and gals I've been spending money like a drunken sailor. So far I've purchased 2 lumenarc minis, 2 lumenmax 250 watt MH dimmable ballasts ,wired the ballast cords into the lumenarcs so I could use the quick disconnect from the ballasts, 2 Ushio 14k mogul bulbs, 2 icecap 660s for the T5s, the icecap 4 light retrofit kit, 4 tek 2 reflectors(separate but they will lap onto each other taking up less space and no gaps), and 2 geissman actinic + bulbs and 2 blue+ all that is left to buy are the moon lights and the cooling fans. Grant
Grant W
New member
assembled, wired and fired up the canopy today it looks amazing now I'm concerned about frying my corals and blinding my fish any input on photoperiod and the length of time for adjustment for my salty zoo? Also the lighting looks great but I was surprise the geissman actinic + is as white as it is thought it would be more purple???? still have a bit of work to do on it as my fans are coming in a couple of days and still have to get the moonlights there's the update hope you all had a great weekend Grant
Grant W
New member
Canopy is done . Installed the 4 fans, thermostatic controller and the moonlights with their controller also today.Removed the old hood and installed my beast, all I can say is wow is this thing bright . Any suggestions on my breakin photoperiod would be appreciated.I'm going from a crappy coralife pro hood with dual hqi 150's ,2 96 watt pc's and moonlights to 2-250 watt mogul type, with lumenarc reflectors and lumenmax ballasts, 4 54 watt t-5s driven by icecap 660s and in tech 2 reflectors and r2 moonlights.photoperiod before was pcs on at 6am off at 8pm, mhs on at 8am off at 4pm moonlights on at 7:30 and on all night suggestions pls thx Grant
northbay-reefer
New member
Sorry but we don't do pictures here, it is going to have to be up your imaginations .... LOL
Grant W
New member
really sorry about no pics but I'm pretty primative on the photo stuff, but lets just say I've even amazed myself this time , literally everything came together EXACTLYas I had designed all reflectors are on the same plane, no gaps{was the hardest part) and as my son put it it looks like something off of the space shuttle hehe, entire interior I built out of white laminate and stainless steel, looks real nice with all of the aluminum reflectors and oh man did I get what I was hoping for as far as light ,just the 4 t-5s are at least as bright as my old coralife pro hood WITH the halides and also the geissman actinic + bulbs are popping the reds really well which I never had seen before plus when combined with the new mh setup it is just rediculous. Now I'm waiting for the equally rediculous algae bloom............( note to self upgrade CUC stat)
Grant W
New member
thx Ken you can stop by any time. Any suggestions on breaking the fish and corals in to minimize damage ? So far what I have set up is the blue+ at 6am, the actinic+ at 8am,the MH at 10am, halides for 3 hrs so off at 1pm, the actinic+'s off at 4pm and the blue+'s off at 8pm and of course the moonlights all night any suggestions would be appreciated .
Reef Bass
colors and textures
Geez Grant you may as well have said "barebottom or sandbed?", "best MH color temp?" or any one of those questions which have oodles of very opinionated answers.
My lighting theory starts with recognizing that corals evolved in tropical equatorial waters and as such experience relative equality of day and night, a 12 hour photoperiod. Allowing 2 hours for the sun to get up and get it shine on and 2 more for it to set still gives 8 hours of fairly intense sun. I run my 400w MHs 8 hours and my actinics 10 hours, one hour before and after the MHs.
It is also my understanding that sps tend to produce bright colors as a sunscreen, which is why the delicate, rapidly growing, usually closest to the light tips tend to be intensely colored and the rest generally brownish. More light = brighter color, to a point.
There are lots of people who would argue these points til the cows come home. These are my opinions. Use at your own risk. Your mileage may vary.
My lighting theory starts with recognizing that corals evolved in tropical equatorial waters and as such experience relative equality of day and night, a 12 hour photoperiod. Allowing 2 hours for the sun to get up and get it shine on and 2 more for it to set still gives 8 hours of fairly intense sun. I run my 400w MHs 8 hours and my actinics 10 hours, one hour before and after the MHs.
It is also my understanding that sps tend to produce bright colors as a sunscreen, which is why the delicate, rapidly growing, usually closest to the light tips tend to be intensely colored and the rest generally brownish. More light = brighter color, to a point.
There are lots of people who would argue these points til the cows come home. These are my opinions. Use at your own risk. Your mileage may vary.
