rigleautomotive's Tank Pics Thread

[Carressa]

Hey Dan,

Happy Holidays! and Congrats on TOTM!

First let me start by saying I think your tank is amazing I have been following your thread for quite some time and have admired the beauty of your corals since the beginning. I keep telling my husband that PA isn't that far from MA but for some reason he thinks it would be rude to show up and your door with my camera. Anyways while I will never have a tank the size of yours I have a burning desire to raise sps in a nano size tank 34gal to be exact which is as large as I can manage in my apartment dwelling lifestyle. My husband purchased me a Solana 34g for xmas and It has been up and running for several weeks now... I have nothing in it but my cleaning crew and live rock with shallow sand bed. We also purchased the Marineland reef ready leds 2 of them and 2 vortech mp10s all my params. are holding steady and I think the time has come to add my first sps corals. I worry about the lights a little because leds are still pretty new in the reef world...But due to the space restriction we thought we would give them a try. So my question is ..what do you suggest for a beginner in the sps world? Any advice would be greatly appreciated. And did I mention how much I love your tank!?!

 

[nbsdsailor]

Is this Jedi mind trick?

 

[john90009]

I think it's the tyree monti undata. Jedi has redish polyps

 

[rigleautomotive]

Soon when we get together, I will have a nice HD Video of his tank! Wait for the update People!

Thanks Jon,I am anxiously awaiting

Hey Dan,

Happy Holidays! and Congrats on TOTM!

First let me start by saying I think your tank is amazing I have been following your thread for quite some time and have admired the beauty of your corals since the beginning. I keep telling my husband that PA isn't that far from MA but for some reason he thinks it would be rude to show up and your door with my camera. Anyways while I will never have a tank the size of yours I have a burning desire to raise sps in a nano size tank 34gal to be exact which is as large as I can manage in my apartment dwelling lifestyle. My husband purchased me a Solana 34g for xmas and It has been up and running for several weeks now... I have nothing in it but my cleaning crew and live rock with shallow sand bed. We also purchased the Marineland reef ready leds 2 of them and 2 vortech mp10s all my params. are holding steady and I think the time has come to add my first sps corals. I worry about the lights a little because leds are still pretty new in the reef world...But due to the space restriction we thought we would give them a try. So my question is ..what do you suggest for a beginner in the sps world? Any advice would be greatly appreciated. And did I mention how much I love your tank!?!

Thank you and if you make it down to PA you are definitely welcome to stop in
I think the ORA green pocillapora is the toughest SPS i ever encountered.It will survive in less then optimal conditions and even thrive and reproduce most of the time.As far as acroporas,a bali green slimer that has good genetics(grown in captivity for a few generations) is also a real hardy sps.
Serataporas and stylophoras are also real hardy and will do well with less light and a bit more nutrients then most acroporas.Stick to aquacultured corals and not wilds with your choices and they should do fine under LEDs as long as the water quality is paid attention to.

Is this Jedi mind trick?

John is correct,The pic is the tyree undata.The jedi is also an undata(i believe) but a red polyp variety.I also have the jedi but it is in a tuff spot to photograph so you may only have seen a glimpse while viewing other coral shots.I will try to get a good pic of it posted soon so keep a eye out.

I think it's the tyree monti undata. Jedi has redish polyps

BINGO,you are right bud

 

[x2uranium]

its past your bedtime dan. Happy new year

 

[Rskillz]

Easily one of the best tanks I've ever seen. Dan, you should check out my thread I just posted and help identify any SPS issue you might see, since you obviously are doing well =)

 

[mobyreef]

Congrats on the TOTM! It is obviously well deserved and an earned honor for all the work and dedication you have put in to it. I really appreciate your openness with the sharing of you knowledge & resources for others. It shows through this thread.
I am ready to change out my MHs from 2-10k & 1-15k XM bulbs to Radium 20k on a 150g tank. Can you share your acclimation schedule/period when you change bulbs? I don't want to burn the few acros that I do have. Do you measure the par after about one year of bulb life or measure the kelvin/color temperature of the bulbs you are about to replace? Also has any one read of issues with running Radium 20k bulbs with IceCap 250w electronic ballast? I noticed that the IceCap 250s have been discontinued.

Thanks

 

[rigleautomotive]

Congrats on the TOTM! It is obviously well deserved and an earned honor for all the work and dedication you have put in to it. I really appreciate your openness with the sharing of you knowledge & resources for others. It shows through this thread.
I am ready to change out my MHs from 2-10k & 1-15k XM bulbs to Radium 20k on a 150g tank. Can you share your acclimation schedule/period when you change bulbs? I don't want to burn the few acros that I do have. Do you measure the par after about one year of bulb life or measure the kelvin/color temperature of the bulbs you are about to replace? Also has any one read of issues with running Radium 20k bulbs with IceCap 250w electronic ballast? I noticed that the IceCap 250s have been discontinued.

Thanks

Thank You,I am glad to share my experiences and failures to stop some of the very expensive mistakes I have made from reoccurring.The honesty is sometimes lost in the hobby due to shady retailers trying to sell whatever there best profit margin is rather then whats best for the animals and the folks trying to keep them.There are plenty of honest ones out there also that do the right thing.Weeding them out can be tricky and expensive sometimes.

I only speak from first hand experience with a product and get nothing for my recommendations so that takes a few variables out of the equation.

Radium 250 watt moguls run fine on ice cap and ARO electronic ballasts.I have had no issues with either and get good life with each combination.Radiums do not seem to loose as much par as they age as some of the other(non German) bulbs I have tested so at about a year there is not a huge loss in par(apogee par meter).I believe(without checking my notes) the loss of par was only about 15% and tended to shift to a more white color form but still pleasing.I did not experience any light shock when I changed out bulbs the last 2 times and did nothing different with my photo-period.Every tank is different so I would err on the side of saftey and reduce photo period by 30% or so for the first few days paying close attention to sps for signs of poor PE or lightening.If you see this reduce period accordingly.If after a few days all looks good then increase the photo-period by 1 hour increments every couple days.Main thing is to closely examine each acro closely to look for negative signs(pay attention to detail) or hopefully positive.As I said before,close daily inspection of each and every coral is your best defense from failure.

Don't change carbon or GFO when introducing new lighting,water clarity is a big factor in stopping light shock and IMO carbon can be a detriment if not used correctly.


Any other questions,fire away

 

[SBV]

Dan, 1st off I love your tank. Going on with the lighting.....I run ARO 250 watt electronics and have so for 3 years now. I have run (2) XM 10k's and now Reeflux 10k's with 440 watts of actinic over our 120 (4x2x2). Everyone says that unless you run Radium's with the M80 (like PFO) ballast the bulb is horrible blue. Your tank looks awesome and I wanted your input on this. I want to run the radiums but have always been scared to pull the trigger on this because of other responses with electronic ballasts.

Thanks in advance, Michael

 

[rigleautomotive]

Dan, 1st off I love your tank. Going on with the lighting.....I run ARO 250 watt electronics and have so for 3 years now. I have run (2) XM 10k's and now Reeflux 10k's with 440 watts of actinic over our 120 (4x2x2). Everyone says that unless you run Radium's with the M80 (like PFO) ballast the bulb is horrible blue. Your tank looks awesome and I wanted your input on this. I want to run the radiums but have always been scared to pull the trigger on this because of other responses with electronic ballasts.

Thanks in advance, Michael

Michael

People that talk without having first hand experience or hands on testing tend to say things that are not proven or tested.Sanjay told me quite a few years ago that Radiums fired fine on ice cap and other electronic ballasts and I believed him given his expertise and extensive testing.He also pointed out to me that the appearance of a certain K bulbs is purely a users preference so color temps can not be suggested to others.They may or may not perceive the color as pleasing.I fully agree with these statements.

That said I can only recommend what I have first hand experience with and I will say I am very pleased with the Radiums performance with electronic ballasts.Not so much with the china made bulbs.I have had less then desirable results using the china bulbs on ANY ballast.For instance on a 3 bulb system,I was unable to get any 3 bulbs to fire the same color consistently long term.The inconsistency in color and par drove me away from these cheaper bulbs and towards the german made bulbs.I doubt I will go back given the fact I used matched ballast and bulb combinations with the same results.Inconsistency.

That being said I will tell you to choose your bulb ballast combination with your individual taste dialed into the equation.Some do not like the bluer bulbs and tend to like a more natural looking reef with the 10k look.I personally want the best colors I can get on my acros so I use the radiums.I feel they give me the color I am looking for.This is a personal choice and I suggest looking at some tanks (*in person)with the combo you are planning and see if that pleases you. HTH. GL.

 

[SBV]

Appreciated response and well said.

What height above the water surface are the Radium's?

You have officially made my decision to try these out.

 

[rigleautomotive]

Appreciated response and well said.

What height above the water surface are the Radium's?

You have officially made my decision to try these out.

Bulbs are 9 inches from water surface.Farther would also work depending on your reflector choice

 

[mobyreef]

Hi Dan,

Just out of curiosity was salt mix do you use? You noted that you do a 25% weekly change, is that automated or do you change it manually? I have created an automated system to do water changes. I have it set up to do 2-gallon daily exchange on my 150g. It actually dumps two gallons and then pumps in two gallons of new water.

Thanks

 

[mobyreef]

Can you ID this coral for me? Is it a Copps' bonsai?

 

[rigleautomotive]

Hi Dan,

Just out of curiosity was salt mix do you use? You noted that you do a 25% weekly change, is that automated or do you change it manually? I have created an automated system to do water changes. I have it set up to do 2-gallon daily exchange on my 150g. It actually dumps two gallons and then pumps in two gallons of new water.

Thanks

Semi automated.I need to flip a few switches and start a siphon but no carrying buckets anymore,lol
and I have a floor drain next to the tank
I recently switched back to IO from Red Sea Coral Pro.The RSCP started to get a bit too high for my likings on alk and it really started to leave the scum behind in the mixing pail much like reef crystals is reported to do.Now I just tweek the IO with a bit of cacl and magnesium to get it in my range.It mixes much cleaner then the RSCP

Can you ID this coral for me? Is it a Copps' bonsai?

No thats the ORA Perlberry

 

[rigleautomotive]

A couple shots to bring in the new year,Happy new year everyone

 

[mobyreef]

Any other questions,fire away

I am taking you up on that...

Are there any soft corals you definitely would not put in your reef with the sps? I have been reading & hearing about soft coral emitting some defensive chemistry that impedes sps growth. I personally have some wessophyllia and a green finger corals in my mixed reef. I do run carbon regularly so I also understand that as long as you keep running carbon you can keep these animals in the same tank.

Also... Can you elaborate on the addition of Calcium & Mag. in your salt mix? what proportions etc. I am using Reef Crystal salt and have had no problems with mixing it. But I mix up 100 gallons at a time & run it through a media reactor with carbon to keep it really clean.

Thanks Again & again :spin1:

 

[rigleautomotive]

I am taking you up on that...

Are there any soft corals you definitely would not put in your reef with the sps? I have been reading & hearing about soft coral emitting some defensive chemistry that impedes sps growth. I personally have some wessophyllia and a green finger corals in my mixed reef. I do run carbon regularly so I also understand that as long as you keep running carbon you can keep these animals in the same tank.


Also... Can you elaborate on the addition of Calcium & Mag. in your salt mix? what proportions etc. I am using Reef Crystal salt and have had no problems with mixing it. But I mix up 100 gallons at a time & run it through a media reactor with carbon to keep it really clean.

Thanks Again & again :spin1:

Well there are plenty that would become a problem,star polyps,actinio discus,clove polyps etc.. too many to mention.Some leathers and LPS generally will not hurt the SPS from chemical warfare if allowed plenty of room and you take measures to isolate like corals on pillars or islands keeping spreading soft corals well away from sensitive acroporas.Running carbon is no magic bullet,you need to pay close attention and prune or move affected corals when stress is noticed.If SPS is your goal it would be easier to keep things at bay leaving softies out of the equation.I personally have not been able to give up some of my oldest soft corals and LPS so I watch closely and frag,prune or move as needed

Your WC regimen sounds fine and if its working fine for you i do not suggest changing salts.If it aint broke,dont fix it I always said.


I put 32 ounces liquid of Randys magnesium formula and 36 ounces of Randys formula 2 calcium liquid to a 55 gallon drum of RODI to give me matching parameters with my DT when using Instant Ocean.This works best for me and I do not like using a salt mix that tests alk at 12 dkh or higher (RC)if i am running my system at 9 dkh.If you do smaller water changes or run you tank alk higher,this would be less of a problem.

 

[rigleautomotive]

grape watermelon chalice.starting to really like these things

 

[rigleautomotive]