SaraB's 268 Gallon Build¦ Try #3!

[SaraB]

Very nice Gary. I know Sara has more awesome chalices than those, so please help me pass the day

There will be a couple more large ones to post, but the majority of the rest are just frags. Gary did get a FTS, so you may see some chalice nubs that I finally moved into the display onto the Reef Shelves on the back wall.

 

[mpoletti]

Very cool Sara Those little shelves are really nice.

 

[glparr]

Having a little photographic fun with this fts. This is not a very good photo, but it'll work. This is a combination of three images. Count on a better image in the near future, so Sara keep the acrylic clean. Click on this link to see a larger version:
http://www.gparr.com/images/sarabpanorama3k.jpg

 

[Rickyrooz1]

What is your current lighting configuration?

 

[SaraB]

What is your current lighting configuration?

Still running the same lighting config with 3 Lumenarc III Reflectors with Radium 250W 20K SE Bulbs and 4 - 18" Actinic VHO's. The VHO's are mounted on the wood pieces over the bracing on the tank and run front to back.

 

[Rickyrooz1]

Is that enough light for acropora's?

 

[SaraB]

Is that enough light for acropora's?

Well, the SPS are growing like mad, so I have to say yes. The tank is only 26" deep and the lights give great coverage. If you look at the FTS posted a couple responses up, you can see all but a couple SPS are located on the rockwork on the right side of the tank.

 

[mpoletti]

Yep, One of my favorite tanks, tfp's 300 acropora jungle, is lit by only 3 250 watt lamps and vho's. Tims tank is also 30" deep :eek1:

Sorry about the cross chatter Sara. I hope you don't mind. What do you use to clean the back wall with?

 

[SaraB]

Yep, One of my favorite tanks, tfp's 300 acropora jungle, is lit by only 3 250 watt lamps and vho's. Tims tank is also 30" deep :eek1:

Sorry about the cross chatter Sara. I hope you don't mind. What do you use to clean the back wall with?

I don't mind any of the chatter ... chat away! I just think it's interesting that some believe you can't grow SPS without 400W which I find is a total myth and a waste of my hard earned electric bill dollars :fish2:

Clean the back wall??? What is that? That pristine black wall was long, long ago. Check out Gary's new FTS above on post #563 ... the black back is a hot mess! I'd love to keep it clean, but with a 30" width, no access from the back and a canopy on, I can't reach it to maintain it

 

[mpoletti]

I don't mind any of the chatter ... chat away! I just think it's interesting that some believe you can't grow SPS without 400W which I find is a total myth and a waste of my hard earned electric bill dollars :fish2:

Clean the back wall??? What is that? That pristine black wall was long, long ago. Check out Gary's new FTS above on post #563 ... the black back is a hot mess! I'd love to keep it clean, but with a 30" width, no access from the back and a canopy on, I can't reach it to maintain it

:lol: I thought that was just an oversight in the latest pictures. Can you get your arm being the tank? I use a blade that is glued onto a magnet.

I totally understand about the 400 thing. I guess I should tell my tank that also has 250's on it, for only 5 hours a day, that its should not be growing :lol: Acros need a lot less light than we originally preached in the hobby. I guess we finally learned about light saturation

 

[pookstreet]

Awesomeness, in every which way

 

[melev]

Agreed. I use 250w 10,000Ks on my reef for the past 5 years with good results. If I had better water quality, I think the growth would have been much faster.

 

[glparr]

Jimmy's Orange Sherbet from the SaraB collection. Awhile back I helped Sara tear down a tank that was in her upstairs living room. This coral surfaced amid the mess and looked like it was near death. She has brought it back and it is now thriving/growing at a nice rate. This is one of those corals that looks much different up close than it does from a distance. The orange is more dominant when you're simply looking at the reef. When you get close, you see the rainbow of colors that makes this a special chalice. This is a stack of 15 images.
Gary

 

[SaraB]

That looks great Gary! I'm glad you can now see the beauty of the Orange Sherbert

 

[kevinpo]

Hello,
Just read through the build. Nice well planned, thought out, and executed system.

Best regards,
Kevin

 

[SaraB]

Hello,
Just read through the build. Nice well planned, thought out, and executed system.

Best regards,
Kevin

Thank you Kevin!

 

[glparr]

Did a bunch of image stacks from corals in Sara's display tank.
Gary

Oxypora, 14-image stack

Oxypora, 13-image stack

Two-eyed frag, 15-image stack

Unknown chalice, 16-image stack

One becomes two, 10-image stack

Cynarina, 10-image stack

Unknown, 7-image stack

 

[Sanjay]

Gary.. very nice !!

You will have to explain to me what this image stack stuff is. ?

sanjay.

 

[tryingsalt]

Wow!!

 

[glparr]

Gary.. very nice !!

You will have to explain to me what this image stack stuff is. ?

sanjay.

Thanks. You simply take a series of shots of a scene using a relatively shallow DOF and focusing at points progressively deeper into the scene. Then you combine the shots into one image using software such as Helicon Focus. Gives you much more DOF than is possible with one shot and still allows you to keep the background blurred. It's very addicting.
Gary