September 2013 Tank of the Month

Sweet tank & congrats!

At first I thought I was looking at a 30g tank & after reading I see it is a 75g. Your corals are so big, that they make your tank look small :)

Just curious if you were to change LED lights & purchase a pre-made fixture, which ones would you be willing to spend your money on?
 
thanks again!

FastUno,

I am not familiar enough with all the available options out there to make a educated recommendation. However, I can say that with all the different colors manufactures are trying to incorporate into a fixture, color mixing will be an issue. Assuming the added colors really add to coral health, I can't see how having a few of the different colored LEDs scattered about will work. There will invariably be areas within the light column that will be devoid of those minority colors, while saturated in others. If however, the goal is purely aesthetics, having additional colored point source emitters will increase the already existing dilemma of multicolor shadows. Specially designed optics can help to a degree, but there are limits, and the gain in color mixing will come at the expense of focus. I personally am not sure where this trend for additional color specific LEDs is going. It seems that at some point early on, the reefing community decided that LED technology's seeming failure in the reef tank lays in the lack of colors, such as red or green. Business savvy companies rushed to be the first to offer lights which contain these colors. Now, it seems that violet is the new "missing link" and companies have now added this color as well.
Honestly, I think most if not all of the available commercial options will work. Implementation will take some experience. The difference in my opinion will be whether specific emitters such as red will be revealed in time to cause more problems than it will solve.

-Robert
 
So you have the worried, sit and wait for the next best thing in LED phobia that we all do then.

I was contemplating the uneven spread in Light spectrum too, then it just hit me. The higher you place the fixture up, the more spread one will have and the intensity will dwindle (just as you have). I bet a more successful LED system will result if placed higher up in the tank. Rather than just running them at 50%, as some fear & do, they can be run then at 80-90%.

Some corals need less par, but more of the mixture of light as we are learning.

On another note, it is interesting how you have your rocks in your sump? Do you have a light in your sump or do a reverse light cycle?

I've always wondered are non light loving bacteria more beneficial to a system than are the ones growing at lights distance. I am sure the oysters, sponges, feather dusters, & other creatures that hide in the dark also help with filtration. Have you noticed a difference in parameters or benefit from moving your rocks from your main tank to your sump?

Would you suspect if you had a longer & narrower sump and just completely packed it with rocks. Would that give you the added extra edge in parameter control?
 
I wouldn't say I'm worried, but I do think there is a bit more complexity involved in the implementation of a LED setup when compared with more traditional lighting technologies such as MH or T5. The problem I think is that reef lighting companies seem to be designing systems based on hearsay, rather than proof achieved through controlled scientific testing. On top of that, there are no clear standards, such as "how high should I mount my lights?", which would most certainly vary depending on variables such as emitter density, drive current, optics, etc... One would almost never encounter such a dilemma with MH or T5, because there are a lot less variables, and a few inches difference only results in a relatively minor change to intensity. For example, no one would even consider mounting a MH or T5 system to the ceiling since it is obvious that goes against common sense and established standards.

I currently have lighting in the sump to provide light to the grow-out rack. I haven't always had the frag rack in the sump. I did not notice any system wide changes when moving rocks to the sump or upon the introduction of lighting to the sump (except for the occasional need to clean algae from the sump now). I thought about setting the sump lighting on a reverse cycle, but decided against it since I need to work in the sump during waking hours.

I think that it can't hurt system stability to have more rocks, provided detritus can be kept in suspension. There was a very interesting and successful TOTM that employed ceramic rings in a dark area of the sump that provided an obscene amount of surface area for bacterial colonization. I suspect that method would be equivalent of having many times the amount of rock in the sump. I would love to employ something like that someday if I had the room...

-Robert
 
September 2013 Tank of the Month

Nice job San! LOL, you basement setup looks hauntingly similar to mine heh :idea:
 
My hat is off to you for not only having a gorgeous tank but encountering all those pests and beating them. I was hoping you can tell me how you beat the monti eating nudis, I have dipped in coral rx, bayer tried six lines, and yellow corras wrasse . I can get the nudis down but it's the eggs that always get by.
I really don't want to but am I just going to have to cut my losses w my Monities until starve them out?
What us Floridians would give to have basements instead of having to cram every bit of equipment we have under our tank. Once again congrats on TOTM.
 
Thanks Outlets710,

I am by no means an expert at beating monti-eating nudis, since I believe I caught them very early. I was able to remove the one monti along with the rock to which it was attached. An iodine based dip was performed after manual removal of only a couple that were visible. Then I scrubbed the whole thing with a toothbrush. It looked very bad after the scrubbing, but it bounced back after only a short period of time. It was easy in my case since that was the only monti I had in my tank at the time. Ease of removal also played a role. If possible, I would salvage a piece off each type of monti you may have. Dip, scrub, inspect and repeat as needed. Keeping them in a separate system for isolation and monitoring. I'm not sure there are any sure methods that don't involve removal of all affected species from the main system.

While it is nice to have a basement for this purpose, having one also adds to the maintenance needed on the house, as basements often flood after heavy rains or develop leaks over time. This creates the need to monitor humidity levels to prevent other associated problems such as mildew or mold.
Sometimes I wish we didn't have a basement :)

-Robert
 
Congratulations Robert. A well deserved TOTM. I wish these would be stickied as I missed this one. I visit the SPS forum mostly and only have a quick looks at the Reef Discussion forum...

I recall your LED thread and the PAR measurements. A lot of people owe thanks to you for doing that. Back at the end of 2009 there wasnt all that many LED tanks...now MH is getting rare! LOL.

Its amazing that the Formosa spawned. SPS spawning is so very rare in captivity. I've only heard of only a couple of other reefkeepers who've had their SPS spawn. And I dont count Poccilopora LOL. Your tank and water quality must be extremely clean.

I have Trochus snails breeding in my tank and there are tiny babies now. I also have my blue legged hermits breed. The fry (not sure if that is the correct term) look like tiny shrimp. The tiny things get released after the main lights go off. I also see the hermits "mating". Well, I dont see much other than two shells stuck to each other...other males (I assume) try and get in on the act and the bigger hermit fights them away...quite fascinating. :)

Well done. You deserve the recognition. :thumbsup:
 
Hi Sahin,

Thank you for the kind words :)

I did not know how long the spawning process would take. In hindsight, I should've shot a video with my macro lens...

I've also seen the funny hermit mating antics. Is is quite amusing, although I have to excersise self control to not interfere...

-Robert
 
I still go back to your TOTM for some inspiration.

1) So it has been 4+ years with your Cree XR-E emitters, do you notice any degradation in intensity or spectrum?

2) It looks like you will make 5 years (the lifespan of LED's), do you plan to replace or change?

3) Any negative impact on corals thus far? Do you have issues with shading?


Also, I am using LED's as well & I would like to show you my tank video to get your take on why something is happening & why you think this is happening.
 
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