Reefoptics 20k

[timrandlerv10]

SURE IS BLUE!!!

will this whiten up after a few days?

it casts a blue pall over the whole room...the pendant is about 16" over the tank, so lots of light gets lost (and promptly found!).

we also got a 14k that we'll be trying out later just to see that color.

 

[speakeraddict]

My experience with several bluer bulbs is they all whiten up a bit after break in.

That being said, some of them take longer (blueline) some of them only a few days(XM) to actually break in.

I haven't tried the reefoptics but my guess is you will notice a significant change shortly. Especially because your eyes will get used to it to. Sort of a psychovisual masking if you will.

Hope this helps,
speakeraddict

 

[Tomoko Schum]

It took my XM 20K bulbs about a month or even 1-1/2 months to lose the strong blue. I had two sets of them and it took 3 months for them to really mellow out. On the other hand a couple of John Newby's XM 20K bulbs came in with much less blue some time ago. I am afraid that there is a bit more manufacturing variation with these bulbs than I like.

I like 14K Phoenix bulbs by themselves a lot. If I had strong actinic bulbs such as VHO bulbs along with them, I'd say it would be almost too blue, too.

Tim - Do you have actinic PC's with the MH bulb? If so, I'd turn the actinic bulbs off.

Tomoko

 

[6Speed]

I love the blue look. I'm running some hamilton 14ks, and they have a nice color, but I'd like more blue. I think I'll get some 20ks next time... that is, if I can afford to replace them when the time comes. lol

 

[timrandlerv10]

actinic-nope! just the 175W 20k.

75G-so far we have two 175w MH retros and four moonlights. what else will i need in there?

i have an old...PC? fixture, i think, and we could use that to supplement the MH.

 

[Mariner]

FWIW, I love this thread which has pics showing the effects of different bulbs... pretty accurate IMO.
Mariner

 

[Tomoko Schum]

I remember reading the thread a few years ago. It's a good one. I heard that JBNY's tank crashed rather recently.

Tomoko

 

[timrandlerv10]

what causes random tank crashes?

 

[Mariner]

Most tank crashes are caused by driver distractions...JBNY was probably talking on his cell phone. Sorry, that was bad. :rolleye1:
Seriously, if anyone knew for sure, we'd be able to prevent them. I suspect that a lot of mature systems crash when DSB's or LR become old and overloaded with waste... but, that's another thread.
Mariner

 

[H@rry]

What is a crash?

What is a crash?

I asked the question a couple of years ago. I heard people talk about a tank "crashing" but they never explained what happened. Do the fish die, do the corals die, do all the rocks crumble to dust, do the lights catch on fire, does the glass split open, etc.? Nobody really answered the question. I think some people would say their tank "crashed" it they had an outbreak of hair algae. As a matter of fact, I may have had a "crash" without realizing it. A couple of years ago my deep crushed coral bed became so saturated with detritus that I could no longer control the hair algae so I guess it did crash.

Put that question in this group:

1. How do you tell when a girl is pretty?
2. How do you tell when you have enough money?
3. How do you tell when a steak is good?
4. How do you tell which car to buy?
5. How do you tell when a tank crashes?

Means different things to different people.

PS. Tim and Mariner, I did my best to help with the thread hijack!

 

[timrandlerv10]

i'll know it when i see it?


DSB full of detritus...or bacteria become worn out

how does this happen? i thought the bacteria would constantly replenish, and that crabs, etc. would consume the detritus off the floor. add something that sifts the sand, and it seems like this is a system that can help maintain itself...if its really that bad, its seems like we could add more and varied bacteria by doing a sand swap, like was mentioned two dozen threads back...

how the @#$ do you QT sand?



(its not a hijack...i started the thread!)

besides, do lights have anything to do with crashes?

(back on track!)

 

[buzzbait00]

IMO we are trying to mimmic a system designed by our creator.Thats a hard act to follow!Don't think we will ever get it right but it is fun trying

 

[Tomoko Schum]

Tim -

I suppose we need to define what we mean by "crash" a little better.

Here's my definition: When a tank no longer supports the organisms in it, the tank has crashed.

Other people may define it differently.

When a salt water tank has a massive die-off, I tend to say that it crashed. I suspect a lot of people use this definition.

This does not mean that the massive die-off was caused by one particular thing. A death of one large animal might have triggered something that lead to the eventual die-off. It could be an accident. Could be bad husbandry.

So many people talked about their DSB going bad, but we really don't know what really happened except for the anecdotal accounts of bad algae proliferation or corals not thriving or turning dull. Many people said that it's due to wrong sand particle sizes (trapping detritus in coarser than optimum beds), the shortage of the right kind of detrivores, the accumulation of heavy metals. On the other hand, Eric Borneman said that he had 7 years old DSB that was still functioning very well - that was until he had the horrible crash with a massive drop in salinity (reported as a case of sabotage.) Still others have old DSB's that seem to support their tank just fine without algae outbreaks.

In any event, you'll be able to tell when something is going horribly bad whether you call it a crash or not.

I don't think lighting causes tank crashes. Too strong of a light may bleach some corals, though.

Tomoko

 

[timrandlerv10]

the GSP i got last..friday? thursday?...just opened its first polyp today. i was thinking about asking whether or not it was alive, so i guess it is.

why did it take almost a week to open? do you think the rest will come out?
(to stay on lighting) did the lights have any impact?

the anemone looks MUCH happier (totally subjective!) since we went to the new bulb. he is no longer stretching out like he needs to touch the light. plus we put a rotating powerhead that blows right over him.

 

[Tomoko Schum]

GSP often takes a while to open up if stressed. I am sure the rest of the polyps will open. GSP is one of the more durable corals.

Anemone loves light and a good water flow. It was stretching because it was not getting enough PAR. With a new bulb, it is obviously receiving enough light. A good flow helps, too. However, watch out for bleaching. When you replace an old bulb with a new bulb, you should either raise the light fixture or install a few sheets of shading material (such as window screen material) to prevent a sun burn.

Tomoko

 

[60Cubed]

if the 20k is too blue, you can always add some blue vho's. i run a 10k reeflux and a 20k xm with 8 vho's. two white and six blue. i actually think the tank looks better with the 10k on than off. the colors and growth are a lot nicer. the 20k alone omits too many spectrums and you see a lot of color "morphing". i say its plain out zoath loss. my deep orange monti cap turned a powder pink. looks cool, but i know it's supposed to be deep orange. so everybody has their own opinion. this is just mine!

 

[timrandlerv10]

best color for growth is 6500?

whats the best color for color?

i know i can just 'tune' my lights in the display for my tastes, but i would like to know the other two for a prop tank and fuge.

 

[Tomoko Schum]

The matter of color schemes is a personal thing as 60Cubed pointed out.

6500K color temp bulbs supposedly give you more PAR (photosynthetically available radiation) provided the wattage is the same. However, it is yellower than 10,000K.

The combination of various K ratings is the best if you are trying to strike a nice balance between the color and the growth.

Some people like to push growth since growing frags will bring an extra income to support his/her expensive hobby or it gives them an ability to trade for other corals. If you have some rare ones or very attractive corals, by all means please start a prop tank and share the bounty with the rest of the world. To this end, I suppose 10,000K or 6500K would work nicely.

As for the lighting for a refugium, an inexpensive curlicue compact fluorescent light bulb will suffice. Chaetomorpha does not seem to be very selective. They grow in a relatively dim light set up, too. You can use a 6500W PC bulb to push them, too, so that they will take up more nutrients.

Tomoko