Top down shots

[Big E]

Thank you Bao,

Fish--
6-7" Purple Tang
5" Muelleri Copperband
Pair of Nigripes clownfish Female 3" Male 1 1/2"

I feed them all twice a day.

They were normally housed in 120g, but right now this holding tank has to suffice. In the 120g I'd probably have another half dozen or so, anthias, wrasses, or other dither fish.

Algae control--

I only use snails......assorted sizes. All astreas right now, but I really like the banded trochus as they can right themselves on their own if they fall over. Snails will get algae everywhere, even up close. Max amount of snails was probably around 30, but my Copperband will eat them if they fall on their backs & he also nips at their eyes, so I probably average around 15-20. There are also hundreds of baby astreas from the snails spawning. I'm not sure they do a lot right now.

Any macro type algae that snails, tang won't eat, I manually eradicate.

Blow your rocks off a lot with a baster..........most algaes get fueled from detritus that settles on your rocks. A coraline coated rock shouldn't have any detritus coming out of it.
If it does, it will fuel unwanted algae on any uncovered spot. I use only a few rocks in the diplay....the rest are dead coral heads, which aren't porous like rock. I also have a few pieces of rock in the sump.

On the basting, by a lot I mean every evening before lights out for 10 days straight. Once things settle in once a week is fine. Let the skimmer suck it up.

I don't use any filter socks.............I want the skimmer getting it. I'll occasioally sipon the sump, but there usually isn't much there.

 

[YoungREEFA]

Following

 

[topshotta]

I'm pretty sure I'm not below .10 PO4. I should probably borrow a Hanna & check it for curiosity sakes. I sold my old meter about 3 years ago.

If I get one of those rainbow loripe frags from you I'll bring my Hanna Checker and you can check your PO4.

 

[DiscusHeckel]

I am fascinated by the colours of your corals. Congratulations.

Are there any updates? Any chance of a FTS? Are you still using the same tube combination?

:beer:

 

[Big E]

Thanks..........I am still using the same combination 2 blue+ & 2 coral+

I haven't been updating this due to that I'm going to be setting up a new tank soon. When I get that going I'll post some full tank shots and more updates.

I"m planning to implement some new ideas from a design point and my goals with the new system

Here's a few progressive shots and a few new things---

Tierrra del Fuego

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BC Angels Blood

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Baby's breathe favia

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Rainbow Loripes

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[DiscusHeckel]

In a thread that you mentioned that you actually overdrive your T5 tubes. I am wondering the illumination would be affected if you did not overdrive the tubes.

I am going to replace my 6 ATI tubes next week and have decided to try your tube combination. However, ATI sunpower does not overdrive the tubes. What kind of illumination should I expect? My current combination is as follows:

front

ATI blue plus
KZ fiji purple
ATI blue plus
ATI aquablue special
ATI blue plus
ATI coral plus

 

[purplereef]

DiscusHeckel,
I also have a ATI sunpower with 6 bulbs. I live very close to Ed and we decided to run 3 ATI Blue plus and 3 ATI coral plus bulbs in my fixture. It looks awesome! I was also wondering about not using the purple plus or the aqua blue special and you will not even miss them. This is just my opinion.

 

[Big E]

I'm not sure overdriving the bulbs makes that much difference in the overall spectrum. They may burn a bit brighter with higher par.

The overall look is going to be leaning more towards white with a tinge of blue. It's probably going to look less blue than your current bulb configuration.

Too much blue can dull or darken the colors and the tank, which is why I prefer my combo.

 

[Chronicj7]

DiscusHeckel,
I also have a ATI sunpower with 6 bulbs. I live very close to Ed and we decided to run 3 ATI Blue plus and 3 ATI coral plus bulbs in my fixture. It looks awesome! I was also wondering about not using the purple plus or the aqua blue special and you will not even miss them. This is just my opinion.

The coral plus bulb is a mixture of Blue Plus (50%) + Aquablue Special (40%) + Purple Plus (10%)

So with your combo its like having 4 1/2 Blue Plus, 1 1/4 Aquablue Special and 1/3 ish Purple Plus. lol

I have been contemplating dumping my purple plus as well for a coral plus. I'm running a 6 bulb fixture with 4 blue plus, 1 coral plus, 1 purple plus.

 

[Lilmatty5dimes]

thats some good growth on the tdf and angel blood.

 

[DiscusHeckel]

I'm not sure overdriving the bulbs makes that much difference in the overall spectrum. They may burn a bit brighter with higher par.

The overall look is going to be leaning more towards white with a tinge of blue. It's probably going to look less blue than your current bulb configuration.

Too much blue can dull or darken the colors and the tank, which is why I prefer my combo.

Over the past month, I have replaced all my old T5 tubes with your combination. I absolutely love the way my corals and fish look. Both the fluorescent and reflective colours of my corals look superb.

 

[sahin]

Over the past month, I have replaced all my old T5 tubes with your combination. I absolutely love the way my corals and fish look. Both the fluorescent and reflective colours of my corals look superb.

DiscusHeckel:

I have the above same corals that Big E has. I also have Tort, Red Planet, Echinata, Strawberry Shortcake etc.

I have wanted to try Big E's combo for a long time, but each time I take out the PurplePlus, I lose a lot of the coral pop ie the strong reds etc.

Do you have any before and after photos to demonstrate/show an example of the change?

Can you describe how your corals looked at first and talk about the changes?

Since I have the same corals (obviously no lineage, but I have travelled all over the UK to source my SPS, so I know what I have. It would amazing if I could get the some strong colouration. In my corals the colours are there, but kind of like just "poking through". :headwallblue:

I keep thinking can a simple change in the combo if tubes make such a difference. In my mind I keep putting Big E's success to his overall system.

If you can convince me, I will buy a new set of tubes this weekend.

 

[Big E]

thats some good growth on the tdf and angel blood.

Thanks, I believe the TDF is a slow grower and that Angels Blood seems to have gone into hibernation lately.

DiscusHeckel----

"Over the past month, I have replaced all my old T5 tubes with your combination. I absolutely love the way my corals and fish look. Both the fluorescent and reflective colours of my corals look superb. "

That's great to hear.........there's been a few people here locally that have tried it and so far they have been very happy.

Intensity plays a roll too. I moved this Babys Breath to the bottom and the yellow and pink went bonkers.

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For most acros, they need the higher par to make some of those pigments pop.

sahin,
"Since I have the same corals (obviously no lineage, but I have travelled all over the UK to source my SPS, so I know what I have. It would amazing if I could get the some strong colouration. In my corals the colours are there, but kind of like just "poking through".

I keep thinking can a simple change in the combo if tubes make such a difference. In my mind I keep putting Big E's success to his overall system."

I'm sure it's a combination of variables that work together, but once your in that range of system balance, it's all about the lighting.

I do run my PO4 a little higher, so that might contirbute to a more dense or vivid color in some acros.

The best thing I like about this combo is that the colors are in the coral. There isn't a large amount of blue light or some other color casting fake colors onto the coral

 

[DiscusHeckel]

I'm sure it's a combination of variables that work together, but once your in that range of system balance, it's all about the lighting.

I do run my PO4 a little higher, so that might contirbute to a more dense or vivid color in some acros.

I agree that a combination of variables is the key. Every system is different though. For example, in my tank I may have moved towards finding the right balance only after turning off my GFO and GAC reactors. However, I still do not get any NO3 (Salifert) and PO4 readings (Rowa Merck). I still have some more work to do because I cannot claim that my acros are as colourful as yours. However, as I said I am very happy with the spectrum I am getting from your tube combination. Every bit helps. Thanks again for the advice.

 

[Big E]

I agree that a combination of variables is the key. Every system is different though. For example, in my tank I may have moved towards finding the right balance only after turning off my GFO and GAC reactors. However, I still do not get any NO3 (Salifert) and PO4 readings (Rowa Merck). I still have some more work to do because I cannot claim that my acros are as colourful as yours. However, as I said I am very happy with the spectrum I am getting from your tube combination. Every bit helps. Thanks again for the advice.

Since the GFO is off the PO4 is feeding the bacteria & they in turn feed the zoo in the acros, so the reading might not change, but your colors are more vivid.

That's why I don't like chasing test read outs or target them..........the corals will tell you with your eyes as the test. When everything looks awesome with good growth, that's when you want to test. That gives you your target for the sweet spot for your tank.

People always want to do it backwards. They chase the numbers first and don't know why their corals don't look good.

The best example I've given before is......which tank will look better, the 100g tank with 3 fish that gets a .03 reading or the 100g tank with 10 fish and the same PO4 of .03.

 

[Bobf216]

Ed,

How about a full front tank shot and picture of your sump.

 

[Fail_sh3d]

This is awesome. Love the pics. Inspiring tank, Ed.

 

[Big E]

This is awesome. Love the pics. Inspiring tank, Ed.

Thanks for the kind words.


Bob,

The tank looks like Sanford & Sons junkyard right now with racks and corals everywhere. It's hard to get any good pictures from the front as the tank is 25years old and scratched up.

I have a 80g rimless close to start up, plus I'm setting up a 45g frag tank to store all the frags and corals I don't want in the display. Once the 80g is set up I'll take some full tank shots.

Here's the sump that'll stay the same......it's very basic and accessible which is all I care about. A few extra pieces of rock, skimmer and a $20 top off system. The only controller I have is a Ranco temp controller which is under the stand. The sump isn't looks friendly but it's the type of setup used for a basemennt or fishroom away from the tank. This tank will be moved eventually, so nothing is going to be fancy or permanent.

I hooked up the Bubble Magus doser about 3 months ago and still haven't hooked up tha Calc pump. I've hand dosed for 5+ years before that & it took me a year to finally set up the doser.........old habits die hard I guess.

Notice how small my alk reservoir is...........even if the doser malfunctions I won't kill my tank. Paranoid, maybe, but I don't mind filling it up daily. I wanted the doser for stability of doses over 24 hrs. more than anything else.

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[Melchior]

Ed,

Your thread has inspired me to improve my tank. Reading up on vinegar dosing now and will be giving it a try as part of the 'regular' maintenance. I like to keep things simple too and don't do much other than alk/calc dosing either, so this is right up my alley.

 

[cmador]

Great stuff Ed. Looks like you skim a bit wet, any reason?