The Reef Central Corner Club Thread
- Thread starter Michael
- Start date
Husky_1
Premium Member
Boret, simply amazing...What is your total volume again? I love the idea of having tons of fish, but I dont think my volume can handle your biolad..
I am especially inlove with the fact that you are running a mixed reef. My last iteration was not so mixed, but going forward this tank will be.
I am especially inlove with the fact that you are running a mixed reef. My last iteration was not so mixed, but going forward this tank will be.
Husky_1
Premium Member
Thanks Boret,
My Icecap was purchased two years ago, but its the one that does not need the seperate heat sync. If I remember correctly, that was the "new" icecap at the time, but not sure if its the "old" one now )
I think I may look for the used one like you mentioned, I thought about it yesterday. I will probably stick with the Lumenarc mini3 stealth line though, as it seems like the spread is better than the Lumen Bright, any thoughts? Plus, I have a very negative affinity towards CV....
My Icecap was purchased two years ago, but its the one that does not need the seperate heat sync. If I remember correctly, that was the "new" icecap at the time, but not sure if its the "old" one now )
I think I may look for the used one like you mentioned, I thought about it yesterday. I will probably stick with the Lumenarc mini3 stealth line though, as it seems like the spread is better than the Lumen Bright, any thoughts? Plus, I have a very negative affinity towards CV....
reefscape15
New member
Boret - I actually have a 2 year degree + some in Autobody Technology. I know the paint is good
I would like the ease of just slapping a new/used reflector on my canopy (once that ever gets done), but I already have the aluminum (or aluminium for Michael!!!>). I am going to try to make it a little shorter than the standard Lumenbright, and add an extra point coming off the top to see if that will make for a little better spread. I'd like to make it exactly how I want it, and have the options to mod everything.
I would like the ease of just slapping a new/used reflector on my canopy (once that ever gets done), but I already have the aluminum (or aluminium for Michael!!!>). I am going to try to make it a little shorter than the standard Lumenbright, and add an extra point coming off the top to see if that will make for a little better spread. I'd like to make it exactly how I want it, and have the options to mod everything.
gawf4fun
Member
HOLY COW!!
I go away on vacation and come back to see another split took place. Congrats to all the regular posters and viewers and welcome all the new folks who bring a little something to this corner of Reef Central!!!
As for the oranges and reds, I personally don't have a lot of these colors but I do like what I see under my 2-400 watt 14K hamiltons supplemented with 4 x 95 watt VHO's (2 white and 2 blue actinics).
Here's a pic from a couple weeks back of the lagoon with reds and oranges.
and a new full tank shot:
The MH's are moguls and are running on a PFO HQI ballast with PFO reflectors.
As for the thread ideas, I like the idea of keeping it growing and siphoning out pertinent corner-related basic nuggets in another blog or secondary thread. Clueless how to do it myself, but that sounds more functional to me.
BORET!!!! Your tanks is awesome. very nice job. Thanks for sharing those pictures.
mark
I go away on vacation and come back to see another split took place. Congrats to all the regular posters and viewers and welcome all the new folks who bring a little something to this corner of Reef Central!!!
As for the oranges and reds, I personally don't have a lot of these colors but I do like what I see under my 2-400 watt 14K hamiltons supplemented with 4 x 95 watt VHO's (2 white and 2 blue actinics).
Here's a pic from a couple weeks back of the lagoon with reds and oranges.
and a new full tank shot:
The MH's are moguls and are running on a PFO HQI ballast with PFO reflectors.
As for the thread ideas, I like the idea of keeping it growing and siphoning out pertinent corner-related basic nuggets in another blog or secondary thread. Clueless how to do it myself, but that sounds more functional to me.
BORET!!!! Your tanks is awesome. very nice job. Thanks for sharing those pictures.
mark
boret
Premium Member
Husky_1 check the ballast itself, it should have the name of the ballast maker. Mine is the Metrolight M400MH-1-HF-CAD which IceCap doesn't carry anymore, they mentioned supplier issues and use of more efficient technology on the new ones. This one is electric, dimmable and fires the Radium without a problem. I am getting the Vertex I won online today. I will see how it does.
Reefkeeper15 seems that you know your paints then!!
You are pretty much looking at a reflector that improves the incidence of light further out from the center.
Dead center, the PAR reading I get is the same regardles of the reflector because it is pretty much a straight shot from the lightbulb itself, but ones you start moving off center you can see how well the reflector does.
If you can get a hold of a PAR meter (my local club has one that members can borrow) it will help you a lot when putting your reflector together.
I use the Lumenarc III Mini:
Mainly because I got it for a great price together with the electronic ballast. But if I was buying new or in the market for one I will probably go with the Lumenbrite 3 or the regular Lumenarc 3:
The Lumenarc III mini is 14.5" by 14.5",
Lumenbright Mini is 16x16"
the Lumenbrite 3 is 19x19"
The Lumenarc III is 19x19"
When I first considered reflectors I created cutouts with cardboard to get an idea:
Reefkeeper15 seems that you know your paints then!!
You are pretty much looking at a reflector that improves the incidence of light further out from the center.
Dead center, the PAR reading I get is the same regardles of the reflector because it is pretty much a straight shot from the lightbulb itself, but ones you start moving off center you can see how well the reflector does.
If you can get a hold of a PAR meter (my local club has one that members can borrow) it will help you a lot when putting your reflector together.
I use the Lumenarc III Mini:
Mainly because I got it for a great price together with the electronic ballast. But if I was buying new or in the market for one I will probably go with the Lumenbrite 3 or the regular Lumenarc 3:
The Lumenarc III mini is 14.5" by 14.5",
Lumenbright Mini is 16x16"
the Lumenbrite 3 is 19x19"
The Lumenarc III is 19x19"
When I first considered reflectors I created cutouts with cardboard to get an idea:
boret
Premium Member
Tough call Husky_1! I think the best bet is to look at tanks with different lights in person. When I first saw ROBZ's tank with 20K radiums I knew that was what I wanted. Before I was running 10k ushios on my 55 and getting good growth but the color wasn't there. This blue intensity and the pop of the fluorescence is unnatural, when you look at diving pics or videos the Ocean reefs are not as colorful as our tanks. But I like that look, I like the bluer tint over the reddish tint.
But it might be different for you. You are welcome to come over and see mine if you are ever in DC. That goes for you as well Jim, I know you visit the area often.... so next time stop by.
I couple of weeks ago I bought a 10k 24" VHO (Aquasun) by UV Lightning, and replaced one of the Super Actinics with it.... I hated the look. And it was just 1 of the VHO bulbs out of 4 and still, it made things pinkish.
As far as changing light bulbs, how long have you had the DE that you currently use? Might as well try to get as much out of it and then change to a SE. If you are getting growth and corals are healthy don't worry too much. Get a few months out of it, take your time finding good deals on reflector/ballast/bulb and go from there.
Thanks gawf4fun the compliment coming from you, the owner of "the" corner tank means a lot!!! What white VHO do you use? I tried the aquasun but didn't like it.
Yeah, man, we have been very prolific lately in the thread, and the split has definitely helped. Good to have you back from vacation... now get back to work and start posting!!
As far as the blog. I think is a good idea, but it is time consuming to keep it up. Maybe we could try to organize some of the future postings while keeping the regular flow of comments, questions, etc. What I mean is the following:
We could do a weekly thing, where we ask everyone to post their pictures and setups and comments in one post about 1 subject. We could start with Lighting and we can post the equipment we use, with pictures of the light fixture / DYI reflector, supplementation, etc.. and a FTS to see how it looks. All in one post per each of us. Then we can move to Canopies, Flow, Aquascape, Stands, Sumps, Refuges and Filtration.
Over the next few months we can collect all of the text and pictures , create a simple website and I will be glad to put it in my server.
What do you guys think?
But it might be different for you. You are welcome to come over and see mine if you are ever in DC. That goes for you as well Jim, I know you visit the area often.... so next time stop by.
I couple of weeks ago I bought a 10k 24" VHO (Aquasun) by UV Lightning, and replaced one of the Super Actinics with it.... I hated the look. And it was just 1 of the VHO bulbs out of 4 and still, it made things pinkish.
As far as changing light bulbs, how long have you had the DE that you currently use? Might as well try to get as much out of it and then change to a SE. If you are getting growth and corals are healthy don't worry too much. Get a few months out of it, take your time finding good deals on reflector/ballast/bulb and go from there.
Thanks gawf4fun the compliment coming from you, the owner of "the" corner tank means a lot!!!
What white VHO do you use? I tried the aquasun but didn't like it. Yeah, man, we have been very prolific lately in the thread, and the split has definitely helped. Good to have you back from vacation... now get back to work and start posting!!
As far as the blog. I think is a good idea, but it is time consuming to keep it up. Maybe we could try to organize some of the future postings while keeping the regular flow of comments, questions, etc. What I mean is the following:
We could do a weekly thing, where we ask everyone to post their pictures and setups and comments in one post about 1 subject. We could start with Lighting and we can post the equipment we use, with pictures of the light fixture / DYI reflector, supplementation, etc.. and a FTS to see how it looks. All in one post per each of us. Then we can move to Canopies, Flow, Aquascape, Stands, Sumps, Refuges and Filtration.
Over the next few months we can collect all of the text and pictures , create a simple website and I will be glad to put it in my server.
What do you guys think?
gawf4fun
Member
Boret : I use the URI Actinic white bulbs. You're right, they do cast a little bit of a pink hue when I'm in dusk and dawn modes. When I'm in daylight with the 14K MH's on however, that pink hue disappears completely.
I do like your idea of a regular weekly subject post as well. It allows for a focus on a specific tank component or subject, with a wide variety of inputs of equipment types, tank sizes, user preferences, etc. that can be accumulated into a central location. Again, I'm not savvy about this "whole internet thang", so I'd be useless as tits on a boarhog to set it up or maintain it, but I would certainly refer to it and take an active part in providing my take on specific subjects.
and...because I like pictures, here's a recent shot of my favorite wrasse:
I do like your idea of a regular weekly subject post as well. It allows for a focus on a specific tank component or subject, with a wide variety of inputs of equipment types, tank sizes, user preferences, etc. that can be accumulated into a central location. Again, I'm not savvy about this "whole internet thang", so I'd be useless as tits on a boarhog to set it up or maintain it, but I would certainly refer to it and take an active part in providing my take on specific subjects.
and...because I like pictures, here's a recent shot of my favorite wrasse:
nomorenames
New member
I put my new reflector in I placed it 13-14" off the surface it has spread the light out a lil more but all in all not that much differnt than my old reef optics maybe its the cheap bulb iam running
nomore, is your's 175 0r 250??? I'll try to get a pic of mine tomorrow when the lights are on. Also give the color temp and brand of bulb and type of ballast.
I have the same reflector and had a luminarc on the previous set up and can tell the difference between those two. I'm still running a cap and core ballast with Reefmax 14k bulbs. No suppliments and I think the color is pretty good, though my next light upgrade will be 3 24" vho actinics.
I have the same reflector and had a luminarc on the previous set up and can tell the difference between those two. I'm still running a cap and core ballast with Reefmax 14k bulbs. No suppliments and I think the color is pretty good, though my next light upgrade will be 3 24" vho actinics.
nomorenames
New member
Mine is a 250w on a blueline magnetic ballast the bulb is a SPS(South Pacific Sunlight) 14000k and 2 65w PC's both actinic 460nm
reefscape15
New member
Wow Boret!!!! That last pic is great! That's what I was saying about TOTM may be in your future. Looking amazing!
Hookup
New member
nice photo's... i'm going to miss my corner tank...
I know what you guys mean about having difficulty showing off the "depth" of the tank... I'm not sure if it is because of the bow-front or bad photography...
However, i'm going to put Jesse on the spot... You got some skills behind the lense man... what do you think about FTS of the corner and depth?
I know what you guys mean about having difficulty showing off the "depth" of the tank... I'm not sure if it is because of the bow-front or bad photography...
However, i'm going to put Jesse on the spot... You got some skills behind the lense man... what do you think about FTS of the corner and depth?
It's very difficult. Firstthe depth is more than most tanks. On mine front corner to back corner is about 27 inches. There are very few tanks deeper than 24 inches and the 92 is deeper than that. You have to take the aperature to about 11 to 13 to give you enough DOF. This in turn tries to keep the shutter open longer to give enough light but then you get fish blur. You can up the ISO to decreese the shutter speed, but at a certain point the pic will get more grainy.
If shottong a FTS, try to start with the camera, on a tripod, with a shutter release, and a few feet away from the tank. This also helps with DOF by backing of the tank.
If shottong a FTS, try to start with the camera, on a tripod, with a shutter release, and a few feet away from the tank. This also helps with DOF by backing of the tank.
boret
Premium Member
Ha ha ha ha, you guys are too funny.
Let's get the lighting started then!
Boret's 92 Corner Tank Light configuration
1 x 400 Watt SE Metal Halide (Radium 20K)
1 x Lumenarc III Mini (14x14x9") Reflector
1 x IceCap Electronic Dimmable Ballast (soon to be replaced by a Vertex Ballast)
4 x 24" UV Lighting Co. Super Actinic VHO 75 Watt
1 x Workhorse 7 Ballast running 2 VHOs
1 x ARO220 Ballast running 2 VHOs
T12 VHOs have internal reflectors
3 Blue LEDs scavenged off a trashed T5 light fixture someone was throwing away, glued into top of canopy, running off a power supply also scavenge off the same fixture.
Cost:
Radium Bulb $85 (I've seen them as low as $72)
Reflector (used) $50
IceCap Ballast (used) $50
4xVHO Bulbs ($20x4) $80
ARO220 ballast (Kit with endcaps): $75
7 Workhorse ballast (used): $20
End caps, lamp supports, waterproof wire nuts: $30
LEDs Free
Exhaust Fans (computer 12v fans $5 each): $10
Fans power supply (Radioshack transformer): $6
Home Depot InLine 120v 4" Fan: $15
8' Flexible Duct: $20
Total: $426
Pictures:
Let's get the lighting started then!
Boret's 92 Corner Tank Light configuration
1 x 400 Watt SE Metal Halide (Radium 20K)
1 x Lumenarc III Mini (14x14x9") Reflector
1 x IceCap Electronic Dimmable Ballast (soon to be replaced by a Vertex Ballast)
4 x 24" UV Lighting Co. Super Actinic VHO 75 Watt
1 x Workhorse 7 Ballast running 2 VHOs
1 x ARO220 Ballast running 2 VHOs
T12 VHOs have internal reflectors
3 Blue LEDs scavenged off a trashed T5 light fixture someone was throwing away, glued into top of canopy, running off a power supply also scavenge off the same fixture.
Cost:
Radium Bulb $85 (I've seen them as low as $72)
Reflector (used) $50
IceCap Ballast (used) $50
4xVHO Bulbs ($20x4) $80
ARO220 ballast (Kit with endcaps): $75
7 Workhorse ballast (used): $20
End caps, lamp supports, waterproof wire nuts: $30
LEDs Free
Exhaust Fans (computer 12v fans $5 each): $10
Fans power supply (Radioshack transformer): $6
Home Depot InLine 120v 4" Fan: $15
8' Flexible Duct: $20
Total: $426
Pictures:
