T5 Powered 55 Gallon SPS Heavy Tank Build

[Frozn]

I don't even use actinics.. I find the ATI Blue + to give an awesome color for dawn/dusk, plus the PAR is excellant.

 

[HighestOlive]

So I guess here is my question then... The digial time controls 3 different lighting zones. Dusk/Day, Daylight, Moonlights.
Dusk/Dawn: Bulbs 1 and 3
Daylight: Bulbs 2 and 4
There seems to be a general trend confirming that I should change the bulbs. What recommendations (exact bulbs) can be made? I would still like to simulate dusk dawn and day light.

 

[divewsharks]

Blue+
75/25 or Actinic white
blue+
aquablue

the blue+'s would be on the dusk/dawn schedule.
You can check out T5 thread, all kinds of bulb combo suggestions.

 

[HighestOlive]

Are those all ATI bulbs?

 

[divewsharks]

ATI Blue+ (very blue with actinic phosphors)
UVL 75/25 (75% daylight & 25% actinic) or Actinic White
ATI Aquablue (not actually a blue bulb, is white w/ some actinic)

 

[HighestOlive]

Two days ago I filled the rest of the tank ( ie the fuge). All the pumps and returns are working properly. I got the tanks temp up to 78C. And the pH appears to be holding steady at 8.3.

Like I said earlier I need to transfer the contents of my other tank in are relatively short amount of time. So I added some Dr. Tim's Aquatics instant cycle (similar to bio-spira). I have had luck with thes products in the past. I purchased three Blue/Green Chromis to place in the tank the the bacteria did their thing. The Dr. Tim's actually recommended not going with a fish-less cycle. I also placed a good size ball of macro algea in the fuge. So far things are looking good. The fish are active and eating. I probably should get my test kit out and check some levels. At the same time I added the fish I threw in a small colony of Zoos that were from my old tank. They have all opened and seem to be doing well.

I also recently (yesterday) added some additional live rock (fully cured) from a LFS display tank they were breaking down.

I will post some updated pictures soon.

 

[HighestOlive]

Some Night time shots....

<a href="http://s239.photobucket.com/albums/ff33/HighestOlive/55%20Gallon%20Reef/?action=view&current=IMG_2224.jpg" target="_blank"><img src="http://i239.photobucket.com/albums/ff33/HighestOlive/55%20Gallon%20Reef/IMG_2224.jpg" border="0" alt="Photobucket"></a>

<a href="http://s239.photobucket.com/albums/ff33/HighestOlive/55%20Gallon%20Reef/?action=view&current=IMG_2230.jpg" target="_blank"><img src="http://i239.photobucket.com/albums/ff33/HighestOlive/55%20Gallon%20Reef/IMG_2230.jpg" border="0" alt="Photobucket"></a>

<a href="http://s239.photobucket.com/albums/ff33/HighestOlive/55%20Gallon%20Reef/?action=view&current=IMG_2240.jpg" target="_blank"><img src="http://i239.photobucket.com/albums/ff33/HighestOlive/55%20Gallon%20Reef/IMG_2240.jpg" border="0" alt="Photobucket"></a>

<a href="http://s239.photobucket.com/albums/ff33/HighestOlive/55%20Gallon%20Reef/?action=view&current=IMG_2242.jpg" target="_blank"><img src="http://i239.photobucket.com/albums/ff33/HighestOlive/55%20Gallon%20Reef/IMG_2242.jpg" border="0" alt="Photobucket"></a>

 

[HighestOlive]

Just wanted to give some updated shots...

As promised here are some updated photos....

<a href="http://s239.photobucket.com/albums/ff33/HighestOlive/55%20Gallon%20Reef/?action=view&current=IMG_2288.jpg" target="_blank"><img src="http://i239.photobucket.com/albums/ff33/HighestOlive/55%20Gallon%20Reef/IMG_2288.jpg" border="0" alt="Photobucket"></a>

<a href="http://s239.photobucket.com/albums/ff33/HighestOlive/55%20Gallon%20Reef/?action=view&current=IMG_2291.jpg" target="_blank"><img src="http://i239.photobucket.com/albums/ff33/HighestOlive/55%20Gallon%20Reef/IMG_2291.jpg" border="0" alt="Photobucket"></a>

<a href="http://s239.photobucket.com/albums/ff33/HighestOlive/55%20Gallon%20Reef/?action=view&current=IMG_2293.jpg" target="_blank"><img src="http://i239.photobucket.com/albums/ff33/HighestOlive/55%20Gallon%20Reef/IMG_2293.jpg" border="0" alt="Photobucket"></a>

<a href="http://s239.photobucket.com/albums/ff33/HighestOlive/55%20Gallon%20Reef/?action=view&current=IMG_2290.jpg" target="_blank"><img src="http://i239.photobucket.com/albums/ff33/HighestOlive/55%20Gallon%20Reef/IMG_2290.jpg" border="0" alt="Photobucket"></a>

<a href="http://s239.photobucket.com/albums/ff33/HighestOlive/55%20Gallon%20Reef/?action=view&current=IMG_2298.jpg" target="_blank"><img src="http://i239.photobucket.com/albums/ff33/HighestOlive/55%20Gallon%20Reef/IMG_2298.jpg" border="0" alt="Photobucket"></a>

<a href="http://s239.photobucket.com/albums/ff33/HighestOlive/55%20Gallon%20Reef/?action=view&current=IMG_2300.jpg" target="_blank"><img src="http://i239.photobucket.com/albums/ff33/HighestOlive/55%20Gallon%20Reef/IMG_2300.jpg" border="0" alt="Photobucket"></a>

<a href="http://s239.photobucket.com/albums/ff33/HighestOlive/55%20Gallon%20Reef/?action=view&current=IMG_2301.jpg" target="_blank"><img src="http://i239.photobucket.com/albums/ff33/HighestOlive/55%20Gallon%20Reef/IMG_2301.jpg" border="0" alt="Photobucket"></a>

<a href="http://s239.photobucket.com/albums/ff33/HighestOlive/55%20Gallon%20Reef/?action=view&current=IMG_2304.jpg" target="_blank"><img src="http://i239.photobucket.com/albums/ff33/HighestOlive/55%20Gallon%20Reef/IMG_2304.jpg" border="0" alt="Photobucket"></a>

<a href="http://s239.photobucket.com/albums/ff33/HighestOlive/55%20Gallon%20Reef/?action=view&current=IMG_2303.jpg" target="_blank"><img src="http://i239.photobucket.com/albums/ff33/HighestOlive/55%20Gallon%20Reef/IMG_2303.jpg" border="0" alt="Photobucket"></a>

 

[reefer334]

Nice Tank And Dog!!

 

[HighestOlive]

Thank you I am working on it. I can't wait to get it filled out.

 

[dgill]

How do you like the Aquatic Life fixture?

 

[spleify]

Tank is looking good!!

I would highly recommend getting the Sureflow magnets for you modded MJ's, thos suction cups WILL fail in time and cause a huge mess.

JME

HTH

Spleify

 

[mrbigshot]

i reccomend you not buy sureflow magnets and epoxy some mag cleaners instead. save you about $40 that way.

 

[mordibv]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=14602479#post14602479 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by HighestOlive
Actually they are not the same bulbs. These bulbs were especially designed by the folks at Aquatic Life. As I said before I spoke the the developer of the system and he gave me a lot of information.

If you want you can check out the independent lab test of the bulbs yourself.

Daylight Bulb

Actinic Bulb

These bulbs was designed like other higher end bulbs to have specific peaks and valleys that are associated with the specific lighting needs of various photosynthetic species.

To be honest i did quite a lot of research before buying this system. The guy at aqutic life was just about the only person who would take some time and actully talk to me about their system.

NIce build so far . Keep it up .Nice blue dot gigas . I miss mine .
What are you doing for top off ?


That link to the lighting states the color is almost 10 k but the CRI index is 79 indicating it is lacking in accuracy of that said cct K or holding that so called color .

I have seen ATI blue plus (which is a blue bulb ) punch out more par than a current 10k bulb . The par tests have been done .


imho I agree with 2 + others in changing to a higher quality bulb that are tried and true . Try the link below for some more info on T-5 bulbs .

http://tfivetesting.googlepages.com/

 

[HighestOlive]

Wow, I am impressed this post made it back from being buried 9 pages deep.

First off I will say this. You are rigth about the magnets. Suction cups will fail... and yes it was a mess. The pump fell with the impeller facing right into the sand bed. It was a sand storm. On top of that it happened the night before my wedding. What fun.

As for the top off I am using a two float switch set up from, Autotopoff.com. The first switch is the main and the second is the back up. I have these attached a to pump in a 5 gallon bucket. This will normally keep me good for about a week. I also normally have a Kalk stirrer/reactor inline, but don't right now due to syphoning issues (Currently working this out).

As for the Aquatic life light system, I will say I do like it. It is clean, cool, and it was really nice to have the built in timers. But maybe i can get some opinions. Thought I only have one Acro currently in the tank (a tri color) it did brown out shortly after it was introduced. It is at mid height and strong flow.

By accident I also have a hyper-saline enviroment. Tests show it to be upwards of 1.028 - 1.030, which from what I read some where (though i can't find again) can cause a coral to brown out. I am working to bring this down. So until I rule that out I can't truely say if that brown out is due to the lighting or not. The tank is also so new, with such a low bio load so there might not be enough nutrients in the water column yet for good coral coloration.

The clams I have in the tank, place on the sand bed are doing great though. No obvious signs for stress.

I am leaning towards trying out some new bulbs if i can't get the color to change though.

mcliffy2 suggested, earlier in this thead: 2 ATI blue bplus and two ATI aquablue special, or try subbing a Fiji Purple for one of the aquablues.

So I could try that. There have been other suggetions as well: Blue+
75/25 or Actinic white
blue+
aquablue

From what I read on the googlepage referenced about the ATI bulbs have the highest Par reading. I guess I would have to order them because I have not seen them locally.

Any other lighting combination suggestions.

 

[HighestOlive]

What about this:

(All ATI)
Blue+
AquaBlue Special
Blue +
ProColor

 

[divewsharks]

I wouldn't use the Pro Color, not the prettiest bulb. Can be harsh/dominate if not mixed with enough bulbs.
As for the 75/25, Actinic White and Fiji Purple, they are very similar in what they do, highlight reds pinks, FP is high probably higest PAR of those 3 (but also most expensive).

you can order all of them from reefgeek.com

 

[mordibv]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=14831301#post14831301 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by HighestOlive
What about this:

(All ATI)
Blue+
AquaBlue Special
Blue +
ProColor

I agree FP is a nice bulb . I use one . I love that bulb . The proc color is harsh . Better off with a GE daylight .
If UV are local . Should be no more than 25.00 a pop . I can get all day in my area .

Then try . The 454 is similar to a blue + ,aquasun slighty more yellow than a blue special 10k to 12k . The 75/25 is deep pink or slightly purple but mind it not even close to a FP . I have them both . I know .

454
75/25
aquasun or actinic white
454

HTH

 

[HighestOlive]

So i decided to try this combination

Blue+
AquaBlue Special
Blue +
75/25

I have ordered them from reefgeek. I guess I will see how they work.

 

[mordibv]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=14833156#post14833156 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by HighestOlive
So i decided to try this combination

Blue+
AquaBlue Special
Blue +
75/25

I have ordered them from reefgeek. I guess I will see how they work.

These are overdriven by icecap . THe same bulbs u just ordered .

Have fun

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