Oldude's new 400 gal tank build
- Thread starter Oldude
- Start date
depresed34
Premium Member
lighting
lighting
hi,what is the combination of bulbs that U use?hours?
lighting
hi,what is the combination of bulbs that U use?hours?
depresed34
Premium Member
lighting
lighting
hi,what are the bulbs that u use ,hours ?,thanks
lighting
hi,what are the bulbs that u use ,hours ?,thanks
Re: lighting
Re: lighting
So anyway for now my lighting is a mixture of the following.
MH hqi bulbs:
3x aquaconnect 250 watt 14K
1x pheonix 250 watt 14K
2x XM 150 watt 20K
54 watt T5's are:
2x Fiji purple
2x aquamedic reef blue
4x aqua science 10K
4x KZ new generation
The lighting times are as follows:
4x T5 bulbs are first on & last off for 13 hours 9:45AM - 10:45PM
150 watt MH run for 12 hours 10AM - 10PM
remaining T5 & a single 250 w pendent (on the same timer) 11AM - 9PM
3x 250 w MH run 9 hours 12:30PM - 9:30PM
Moon light runs -- 8AM - 10AM & 10PM - 12AM
Re: lighting
I am contemplating going to all MH other than actinics as I am not thrilled with my T5 TEK light fixtures. I wish I had taken the advise I was given early in this thread about a year ago by James Dawson & Nick(GSMguy) regarding T5 lighting but to save money & for convenience sake I went with this inferior brand. Apparently you get what you pay for.
So anyway for now my lighting is a mixture of the following.
MH hqi bulbs:
3x aquaconnect 250 watt 14K
1x pheonix 250 watt 14K
2x XM 150 watt 20K
54 watt T5's are:
2x Fiji purple
2x aquamedic reef blue
4x aqua science 10K
4x KZ new generation
The lighting times are as follows:
4x T5 bulbs are first on & last off for 13 hours 9:45AM - 10:45PM
150 watt MH run for 12 hours 10AM - 10PM
remaining T5 & a single 250 w pendent (on the same timer) 11AM - 9PM
3x 250 w MH run 9 hours 12:30PM - 9:30PM
Moon light runs -- 8AM - 10AM & 10PM - 12AM
Amazing -
Amazing -
Looking good as always, Greg.
Always enjoy catching up -
I was surprised about your short post that you "tore out the old sand bed" ! That must have been a messy undertaking, worthy of more grumbling and cussing...
Did you experience any problems from stirring up the sand bed? Did your water conditions recover quickly?
How is the algae and cynao now?
Enjoy following along...
LL
Amazing -
Looking good as always, Greg.
Always enjoy catching up -
I was surprised about your short post that you "tore out the old sand bed" ! That must have been a messy undertaking, worthy of more grumbling and cussing...
Did you experience any problems from stirring up the sand bed? Did your water conditions recover quickly?
How is the algae and cynao now?
Enjoy following along...
LL
Thank you.
Thanks, come on over any time.
Thanks Ed, I think they make a nice addition to the over all look of the reef even if they do pick at my palythoas.
The good out weighs the bad with those fish. They do get picked on a bit by the emperor angel but nothing too serious yet.Thanks for your kind words & interest shown. The sandbed was very disgusting so I took everything out of the tank first and then shut off the feed pump so everything was contained and then drained out all of the water and took out the sand which I think I mentioned smelled like sulpher. The sand had a lot of black patches under the surface so that would not have been doing the system any favors. There have been a few issues with some colour loss in the frag tank and I lost a few frags but that might have been from them sitting in a rubbermaid bin for several hours while I cleaned the tank, cooling off and then no temp acclimation given when I returned them to the tank. It is also likely I had a small amonia spike in there as well from some die off after rinsing the frag rack down. I also lowered the rack which I thought would be a good idea but it wasn't and I have since raised it back up. The new salt water was added to the sump like usual and the frag tank was filled by the system water so in theory it was a 100% new/old water change. You are right, I certainly did some grumbling while doing the job but thought better than to vent my frustrations here. The cyano is under control and I expect things to keep getting better. Thanks for tagging along.
Dave's Reef
New member
Re: butterfly reflections
Re: butterfly reflections
Wow, really like this photo a lot Gregg! So, just how many of the Pyramids do you have anyway? I really like my Pyramid, he's got great personality!
Also, I'm curious... what problems are you having with your T5 lighting? Is it just the TEK fixtures themselves or are you dissatisfied with the T5's in general?
I'm having my first experience with supplemental T5 lighting and so far I've been real pleased with the results. I'm not using the TEK fixtures though, just a DIY IceCap retro fit that I put together. I'd sure like to hear your feedback on this when you get a chance.
Thanks Gregg, always enjoy your tank!!!
Re: butterfly reflections
<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=15512716#post15512716 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by Oldude
Wow, really like this photo a lot Gregg! So, just how many of the Pyramids do you have anyway? I really like my Pyramid, he's got great personality!
Also, I'm curious... what problems are you having with your T5 lighting? Is it just the TEK fixtures themselves or are you dissatisfied with the T5's in general?
I'm having my first experience with supplemental T5 lighting and so far I've been real pleased with the results. I'm not using the TEK fixtures though, just a DIY IceCap retro fit that I put together. I'd sure like to hear your feedback on this when you get a chance.
Thanks Gregg, always enjoy your tank!!!
Re: Re: butterfly reflections
Re: Re: butterfly reflections
Regarding the Tek T5's, they seemed ok at first but dimmed pretty fast. I was warned about their poor par & bulb dimming issues due to not having an actively cooled fan feature but I cheaped out and now wish I had gone either with ATI or the like or gone all MH with some T5 actinic supplement. I thought having fans blowing on them would be enough but it would appear that they need the fan function built into the fixture to be effective. For supplental lighting they are great and apparently work really well if you get the Euopean fixtures but I am not impressed with the Tek light band.
Re: Re: butterfly reflections
Thanks Dave, I only have 4 pyramid butterfies but the picture shows a reflection off the glass so it looks like more.
Regarding the Tek T5's, they seemed ok at first but dimmed pretty fast. I was warned about their poor par & bulb dimming issues due to not having an actively cooled fan feature but I cheaped out and now wish I had gone either with ATI or the like or gone all MH with some T5 actinic supplement. I thought having fans blowing on them would be enough but it would appear that they need the fan function built into the fixture to be effective. For supplental lighting they are great and apparently work really well if you get the Euopean fixtures but I am not impressed with the Tek light band.
