New lighting and aquascaping

[reelfreak]

Well the other day I made the mistake of reading a 30 page+ thread on aquascaping!! I could no longer take the "wall look" that I had in my tank....there were too many "dead" flow spots in the tank that gathered detrius too easily....So I did what all good reefers do, went to the beer store and proceeded to tear the tank apart.

I used two containers w/ fresh saltwater, one to rinse the rocks removed and one to hold them. I took every single rock and coral out of the tank....problem was, I couldn't see an inch into the tank w/ all the detrius clouds. I used filter floss and a bag of carbon to help clear some of it. I put the entire tank back together by "feel" not being able to see anything, all rocks and corals were replaced w/o any idea what it would look like. I was pleasently surprised when I awoke the next day

My new aquascaping has a more open feel and allows for good flow front and back.

I just got my new Tek T5 HO light yesterday and hung it last night.....All I can say is WOW!! :eek2: It's the 4 bulb system w/ 1 6500k ge daylight, 1 aquablue+, and 2 actinic +. I have no doubt that I can keep clams and SPS under this light. While the Actinics leave a little to be desired (rather blue) they floresce my corals incredibly!! I hear URI is coming out w/ an true Actinic T5 soon and will get one when they do.

For anyone who is questioning T5 lighting for themselves, do yourself and tank a favor and see a Tek fixture in person. I was told by a LFS that my 2x65w PC would be brighter than this fixture ..... There IS no comparison, it's night and day (literally)...T5 HO w/ individual reflectors is an incredible lighting system.

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[reelfreak]

Previous pic was old rock pile and old lights.... Here's what it looks like today..

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I am looking forward to watching my corals "grow" finally....seems before they maintained, but growth was rather limited.

PS- fish were issued coppertone and sunglasses prior to the new light.

 

[Ikaria]

Definitely like the new look! The T-5's are awesome. Dr's F&S? I can't wait to get mine over the tank!

 

[reelfreak]

I originally ordered it from the DR. but after four days w/ no tracking number I called them up and they hadn't shipped...bulbs on back order..

I called Reefgeek and he had them for less $$ w/ two free 6500k bulbs. Plus Reefgeek had better bulbs than the doctor. Mine are D&D (german) bulbs... I was extremely impressed w/ their packaging and highly recommend them. Paid the same as the Dr. would have been, but w/ better bulbs and one extra bulb to boot!!!

I also turned my backing around from the blue side to black and Like that soooo much better..

T5 HO w/ individual reflectors get my vote for certain. These things are incredibly bright.

 

[SSweet1]

I got my T-5 ( 8 bulbs 54 watts each) set up going and with the black background I ordered 5 blues, 2 50/50's and one 10k because right now it is 4 10K's and 4 blues and it is shockingly white. I agree that they are stronger than PC's but maybe not as strong as VHO's (close though) I like the broad spectrum I am getting though. I am anxious to see how the corals do under it as compared to the VHO/Halide setup that is on my big tank. So far the mushrooms look fine as well as the softies. It does seem that in the mornings they are a little slower to fully open up compared to the halides but it has only been 2 days

 

[PelagicMagic]

looks very good reelfreak, I like the new look better. I am going to replace my t-12's VHO actinics with t-5's

 

[reelfreak]

I switched from NO true actinic 03 bulbs....honestly I'm not really happy w/ the color of my blue+ compared to the true actinics, but the corals floresce wonderfully under these T5s....just the light is blue. I can post some pics of it later after work. The second pic of new lights might appear to be actinics only, but it's actually all 4 lights...

There is talk of URI putting out a true 03 actinic T5 bulb in the coming months. I am looking forward to that and will replace ONE of my two actinic/blue+ bulbs with the actinic 03. I only want to replace one becuase the actinic/blue + actually is contributing to growth opposed to 100% actinics.....We shall see how it comes out.

Thanks for the replies guys, I am quite pleased with the look of the tank. It's time to start looking around for some frags again!! I haven't added anything new for a while and am about to go hunting for some montis to start with. Saw some purple rimmed green caps I really want....Time to start filling this tank up.

 

[PelagicMagic]

i have purple rim green cap which I can give you a frag of

 

[reelfreak]

Sweet...I'd love a frag!! I had a green cap and a purple cap that I lost when a RIO pump shorted out a few months ago. Killed all my montis and my entire cleanup crew. Sent the tank into a cycle. It's stable again though, so I am ready to start adding corals again.

Let's do a fishing trip soon too, I took Goldstripe with me last weekend, you could jump on board for the next trip if you like!!

 

[PelagicMagic]

Yah that will be great. offshore? pm me when you can come by to get the cap

 

[GoldStripe]

Awome job re-scaping reelfreak. I knew those tek lights would be killer. It really looks good. I wanna see it in person. Are you working today?

 

[GoldStripe]

I need another fishing trip too!! LOL

 

[reelfreak]

Yea I'm working ( if you call it that )...I'm about to get out of here though. Fishing is definitely on tap soon, but I picked up a very cool second job!! We'll see what the schedule will work out to.....

We need to hang out again and you can see these Tek lights... Holy Cow they are bright.....and my zoos are glowing out of control now. Cant wait till they Grow out of control though...I'm extremely happy with the looks of the tank though, my "old aquascaping" had become just that OLD.