ReefWreak's 29g SPS Biocube Adventure!

[ReefWreak]

Which google app are you using wreak? Everything still looking great and growing! Time to take the top off and mount a 24" ATI

For those pics I used the official Google Camera for Pixel phones, which has been "unlocked" to be loaded into other phones as a separate APK (I guess people call this side-loading in the Apple world?).

Yeah, I almost regret not committing to buying this 24" ATI powermodule hybrid that someone had locally for half price (it was broken and needed a few hundred invested in it, but still a good deal and the T5s worked fine). I just couldn't bring myself to spend that much money on a broken fixture not knowing the true cost of repair, plus whether it could be fixed. And lord knows I'm not spending $1,200 on a 24" lighting fixture new... I'd sooner buy a 48" powermodule hybrid and hang 1/2 of it over the biocube, so when I upgraded I could take it with me. I'd turn the other half into a tomato garden light

I'm still really happy with my current lighting setup though. I'm going to rework this DIY glass-shielded hood that I made and just stick the glass on the outside instead of the inside of the splash guard, since there isn't enough clearance on the inside with the LED fixture in there. I'll re-silicone it and let it dry over the weekend.

The plan is to move in the spring (heard that many times), so I'm hoping to upgrade if/when that happens, and size will depend on where we are living. At minimum I'll go to the Lagoon 50, but hopefully I'll be in a house with a 265 or something.

Mentioned DIY glass shielding project (pic was taken for another member who asked about the dimensions of the splash guard):

 

[homer1475]

Wow haven't read your log in a while reef!

Out of curiosity, why did you put the glass shield over the LEDS?

I hear you on the ATI fixture. Thinking about ditching my LED's and going with T5's. Someone has a 6 bulb 36" ATI sunpower in the for sale section, but the fans apparently don't work, asking 250$. Great deal if all it is is just the fans. I'm going to PM him ask ask about the fans.

 

[soulpatch]

Fans are on their own power supply and a common issue that simply needs replacing every so often. I LOVE my T5 for the growth and whatnot and it was loads cheaper then going full LED but that 120 every 6-8 months for bulbs is a small pain point. Still going to take a few years before I would have gotten to the $ mark of going LED though...

Reef when you move and get your new tank stable let me know. I should have some home/tank warming gifts for you....

 

[ReefWreak]

Wow haven't read your log in a while reef!

Out of curiosity, why did you put the glass shield over the LEDS?

Because the UV LEDs burn a brown circle into the polycarbonate, so I'm sure it was blocking a lot of the UV light at that point. Figured it would be a fun DIY project to take a dremel and saw out the area under the LEDs and replace the plastic with a piece of glass that probably has similar optical properties and won't brown, warp, or distort from the LEDs. Also, DIY projects are fun!

I hear you on the ATI fixture. Thinking about ditching my LED's and going with T5's. Someone has a 6 bulb 36" ATI sunpower in the for sale section, but the fans apparently don't work, asking 250$. Great deal if all it is is just the fans. I'm going to PM him ask ask about the fans.

Sweet deal. Fans are an easy fix. Even if the wiring and power supply for the fans in the fixture were nuked (worst case, assuming lights still work), you could replace the entire assembly with a cheapo switchable DC power supply and run the fans however fast you want them.

Fans are on their own power supply and a common issue that simply needs replacing every so often. I LOVE my T5 for the growth and whatnot and it was loads cheaper then going full LED but that 120 every 6-8 months for bulbs is a small pain point. Still going to take a few years before I would have gotten to the $ mark of going LED though...

I love the color you get from corals with T5s, and the efficiency of them relative to Halides, but I just have always hated the lack of shimmer. I know it's almost a cliche at this point, but T5 lit tanks always felt "flat" or "sterile". Mixing in LEDs changes a lot of that. And the corals certainly don't seem to mind. I've always wanted to give T5s a shot, but it was too early in T5s when I set up my last tank, and too small with this current tank (though if Aquatic Life is actually becoming a moderate/big player in T5s, their short 16" bulbs might be worth looking into again).

Reef when you move and get your new tank stable let me know. I should have some home/tank warming gifts for you....

But I'll have to come visit you and pick them up Much appreciated. I actually really look forward to seeing your tank in general. You have a really nice mixture of fishes and corals.

 

[homer1475]

If I can get it for 200$ I might pull the trigger. Just looked up what it would cost for new fans, 15$ is worth it. I could probably get silenX fans or something cheaper, but never having seen the unit, I can't start looking at different fans other then OEM parts.

I'm just really hating these blackbox units, and new LED's are way out of my price range right now.

 

[ReefWreak]

Yea that would be a solid price. I do hate that you have to buy fixtures and bulbs, so it's always more than just a fixture, but they are solid lights.

I'll have to go back and check out your LEDs. Sorry you're not liking them. I guess they work for a need and budget. If/when I get a bigger tank, I'll actually have to think about a serious investment into lights. Scary stuff, but I'm definitely a huge fan of buying used and/or broken and fixing them up myself. If the technology is solid, and it's a good brand, no issues with buying used.

I'd love to build LED platforms for my future tanks, but I get really nervous about LED success in a larger system, where you have lenses and light spread to worry much more about. If it was a cooler climate area or the tank was in a cool basement, I'd probably end up with Metal Halides again

It is definitely sweet that I haven't had to change bulbs in 3 years though.

 

[soulpatch]

Ati fixture with reef brite xho strip. You get the shimmer and pop of led with growth and color of t5.

Sent from my SM-G955U using Tapatalk

 

[homer1475]

Ati fixture with reef brite xho strip. You get the shimmer and pop of led with growth and color of t5.

Sent from my SM-G955U using Tapatalk

This is exactly what I was thinking. I don't "hate" the black boxs per se', but I think I should have gone with 2 of the 165W units instead of the 2 300W units. 2 units can't be dimmed far enough with 0-10V dimming via apex, and 1 unit won't be enough for my tank.

Now I know you'll say to just dim them, but with all black boxes, some dim to 10% others will only go as far as 40%. One of mine shut off at 29%, The other at 18%, and with 2 units over my 36x24 tank, it's just way to much and I'm killing most things by severely bleaching them. I hadn't really noticed the bleaching until I looked back at some older pics of the green plate I got a few weeks back. Its main disk is still faintly green, but all it's tentacles are white. I also think this is why I have such a severe algae issue is just the pure amount of light I have. Nutrients are in check, and the rock should have released any built up PO4 by now, yet it persists and I have pretty much 0 coralline despite my parameters being rock solid for nearly a year now.

So I figured why not go back to the tried and true T5 lighting. Any new LED or even used will still cost way more then a new T5 fixture and bulbs.

Sat down with my wife and figured it out cost wise. New name brand LED's will be around 1k for a decent light. If I can get this T5 fixture for $250 shipped + $120 for bulbs, even if I changed out the bulbs every 6 months it would take about 3 years to recoup the cost of the LED's.

 

[ReefWreak]

Homer,

1. You could always pick up some eggcrate lighting diffuser from home depot and try that for short term and see if it makes a difference.

2. I have to say, I was feeling that something was wrong with my lights when I was "choking out" my tank by keeping nutrients super low to try to starve my bubble algae. What I found was that within 2 days of starting to "heavily feed" (in my perverse low quantity, most people would consider my heavy feeding actual light feeding) with frozen mysis, my corals deepened their color and looked much healthier. I thought it might have been lighting, or parameters, or something, but as soon as I fed more, everything colored up much more. Just something to think about or try if you've had your tank on a diet to fight algae.

Otherwise, you can't go wrong with a nice T5 fixture. You could even see if there are any of the hybrid lights floating around for a reasonable price on ebay or here used, or even check local/regional forums (including Manhattan reefs, where I saw the ATI fixture I almost picked up).

 

[soulpatch]

Homer it was the costs that got me to move to T5 as well. My current setup new was:

Reef Brite strip - 350
Ati Fixture - 500
yearly bulb cost at 2x a year 240
Total year 1 - 1090
Total following years - 240

I would have needed one of the following: 3-4 radions, 6 Kessils, 2 AP700s, or the like to get full coverage. the pricing would have been roughly 2-4K. And that is assuming I wouldnt have thrown a few T5 bulbs on in addition.

So I would have to spend 1000-3000 after year one to break even and at 240 a year is a 4-12 year rate. Add on the slight increase in electricity and knock perhaps a year off. I am also not convinced we yet know which LED intensity/spectrums to run for all corals where as we know T5s just work without the shadow issues.

 

[five.five-six]

IMO, the heat issues with halide are easily mitigated and overstated.

 

[ReefWreak]

IMO, the heat issues with halide are easily mitigated and overstated.

Yeah, seeing the actual prices laid out for the cost of T5 makes me a stronger believer in biting the bullet on LED or just sticking with tried and true Metal Halide. The heat can be a big concern though, as you either need to evaporate a boatload or run a chiller, and the electrical use is a problem as well, depending on what you pay for electricity in your area ($0.20-$0.25/kwh + 100% of that in delivery costs where I live in NYC).

I really want to see more about the Philips CoralCare, since allegedly their dispersion is enough that you don't get the shadowing and light deficient undersides of corals with it, but it seems to have stalled on getting approval for sale in the USA (bizarre since Philips has a huge presence in the USA already).

As always, lots of pros and cons and different circumstances and situations where each lighting option is best. Isn't it wonderful that we have choices!

 

[soulpatch]

Not sure why seeing that it takes 5 years to even break even for led makes sense to you? Every year the leds get better but still not to level of t5 or mh.

When they get to that level that the fixture would match quality and durability of t5 I'll reconsider them

Sent from my SM-G955U using Tapatalk

 

[five.five-six]

Yeah, seeing the actual prices laid out for the cost of T5 makes me a stronger believer in biting the bullet on LED or just sticking with tried and true Metal Halide. The heat can be a big concern though, as you either need to evaporate a boatload or run a chiller, and the electrical use is a problem as well, depending on what you pay for electricity in your area ($0.20-$0.25/kwh + 100% of that in delivery costs where I live in NYC).

I really want to see more about the Philips CoralCare, since allegedly their dispersion is enough that you don't get the shadowing and light deficient undersides of corals with it, but it seems to have stalled on getting approval for sale in the USA (bizarre since Philips has a huge presence in the USA already).

As always, lots of pros and cons and different circumstances and situations where each lighting option is best. Isn't it wonderful that we have choices!

I'm doing halide and there is a 3 pronged approach. First, canopy is open top. 2nd lighting shuts off if temp gets high and 3rd, I use the accelerated evaporation with fans to enhance kalkwasser dosing. No chiller used and even with a chiller, most times you spend more money heating your tank than cooling it.

Not saying any one approach is best, just that there are pros and cons to each. One pro to halide is that it's super cheep to start up.

 

[homer1475]

Well I purchased the 36" ATI unit that was listed used in here. Got it for 230$ shipped.

I just went and measured my tank, its 34" lmao. For some reason I thought it was 36. The 90 cube is 36. Anyways I'll have a little hangover, no big deal as it was cheap and an 8 bulb 24"(which I would have to have used) is 500$ new and I haven't seen one used anywhere. Pics he sent me has bulbs in place and said he would ship them as they are only a few weeks old, but I'll buy new. Now just to figure out what bulbs to buy......

 

[Rakie]

Get the 50 lagoon, if not, I'd advocate a 36x24x20 SCA!

 

[ReefWreak]

Well I purchased the 36" ATI unit that was listed used in here. Got it for 230$ shipped.

I just went and measured my tank, its 34" lmao. For some reason I thought it was 36. The 90 cube is 36. Anyways I'll have a little hangover, no big deal as it was cheap and an 8 bulb 24"(which I would have to have used) is 500$ new and I haven't seen one used anywhere. Pics he sent me has bulbs in place and said he would ship them as they are only a few weeks old, but I'll buy new. Now just to figure out what bulbs to buy......

It'll be fine. Don't feel bad, the bulbs are only 34", so it's a perfect fit!

I'm following along in your thread, so looking forward to it coming together.

 

[ReefWreak]

Some of you have already viewed it, but I uploaded a video update of the tank. I sort of wish the colors came out better in this one, as some of the colors really are super vivid, which the still pictures have been capturing, but the video has washed out a bit.

I was also testing out a new camera rig that I set up (gyro stabilizer). It's better for the SLR, but I'd really only use the SLR for macro, which needs a tripod, not stabilizer, anyway. I need to do some updated macro shots...

<iframe width="560" height="315" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/w5B11HBAQC0" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe>

 

[soulpatch]

cant watch the video now but will later tonight.

I also need to break out my DSLR again and slap on the downward tube for some good shots...

 

[Rakie]

You have an exceptionally well behaved and playful flame angel -- Were all waiting for that little 50g lagoon. A 40 gallon breeder would also be quite nice, get two!