Phil's 90g SPS dominant reef (aka The Electric Reef Project)

[outofthewater]

I love the Jim beam tabling acro read through the thread it looks great

 

[curiousphil]

I love the Jim beam tabling acro read through the thread it looks great

Thanks bling! It's one of my faves as well.

 

[curiousphil]

I was feeding the fishies some mysis the other day and I noticed that about 1/3 of my LEDs were burned out.... so I contacted Brandon about those metal halide fixtures he's had sitting around since May... and that led to this little project this afternoon:

Two PFO HQI reflectors that I got from Brando this week along with a single ended Hamilton fixture (also from Brandon about a year ago) in the middle. Going to be using XM 20k's in the sides with a Radium in the middle - all 250w. Was going to just do two fixtures but the PFO pendants turned out to be small and spotlight-ish so I threw the bigger fixture in the middle for better coverage. Didn't think it would fit but everything actually fits very nicely.

 

[Marz]

It's posts like these that help me to select what I want for my tank ... excellent FTS.

 

[curiousphil]

Thanks Marz I enjoy seeing your tank evolve.

 

[Poseidon]

Haha, I think you also bought those retro t5's off me as well lol
Looks great!

 

[curiousphil]

ROFL yeah I forgot about that!! It's all working great man, thanks. Glad we have a guy like you on the forum grabbing those Kijiji tanks and parting them out!

 

[curiousphil]

Also very thankful that the demand for MH units has gone down with the rise of T5 and now LED....

 

[Poseidon]

ROFL yeah I forgot about that!! It's all working great man, thanks. Glad we have a guy like you on the forum grabbing those Kijiji tanks and parting them out!

Yea that's probably done for awhile, I no longer have the time lol
But glad you can make use of it!

 

[curiousphil]

New Radium came in yesterday and got installed last night. I love it! Very similar colour to what I was getting from the LEDs when they were working optimally. PAR isn't quite what I was hoping for but we'll see how things work out. Seeing 800 something PAR right at the surface directly beneath the bulb but it drops off fast - down to 350 by the time it hits my topmost coral.

Still waiting on the double ended XM bulbs for the other two fixtures so that should help once those are filling in the gaps. Hoping they will be in by Friday.

TBH now that I've seen the Radium on my tank I've got the itch to try two 400 watters mounted high up in widespread reflectors like the Hamilton.... oh this is a slippery slope lol...

 

[Poseidon]

I've got a pair of 400's
Hahaha

 

[Poseidon]

But that's a helluva lot of heat, I can't see why the 250's would work?

 

[jroovers]

So you are all MH and T5 now, no LEDs at all? I think you might see your corals really take off with this change. Either way, looks great and it looks like you will have fantastic coverage and a ton of light. Definitely won't be on the end of too little light lol. Make sure to lower the photoperiod initially, maybe dose some lugol's if you aren't already, despite what your PAR meter says your corals may be sensitive to the change and you don't want to roast them.

 

[jroovers]

But that's a helluva lot of heat, I can't see why the 250's would work?

It is a ton of light, I had 2 x 250 MH and 4 x 54w T5 on my 120 initially, if I had to do it again I would simply go with the two 250s on their own or at most the two additional T5s instead of four.

 

[curiousphil]

But that's a helluva lot of heat, I can't see why the 250's would work?

I'm sure the 250s will take care of things fine lol I'm just curious more than anything! Won't likely do it. I don't want to spend anymore on lights haha.

So you are all MH and T5 now, no LEDs at all? I think you might see your corals really take off with this change. Either way, looks great and it looks like you will have fantastic coverage and a ton of light. Definitely won't be on the end of too little light lol. Make sure to lower the photoperiod initially, maybe dose some lugol's if you aren't already, despite what your PAR meter says your corals may be sensitive to the change and you don't want to roast them.

Yup MH and T5 now! I am considering salvaging some of the RB and violet LEDs for a single strip or two down the road... maybe if I get bored this winter. Just for some extra colour pop. I've already noticed that some of my corals look much more bland under normal lights.

I've started the MH on 4 hour photoperiods, hoping that is short enough to acclimate the corals without too much shock. What would dosing Lugol's help with? I do have a bottle handy and have been dosing 4 drops approximately once a month.

 

[jroovers]

I've started the MH on 4 hour photoperiods, hoping that is short enough to acclimate the corals without too much shock. What would dosing Lugol's help with? I do have a bottle handy and have been dosing 4 drops approximately once a month.

Supposedly it helps corals with light shock. I usually dose it when ever my corals pale/react to a light change. If I were you I would dose 4 drops a week for the next little bit, but not sure how much of an impact it will have (if any). Definitely won't hurt things though.

 

[curiousphil]

Good to know, love learning new tricks!

 

[curiousphil]

Latest FTS

 

[jroovers]

Looks good Phil

Any difference with the MH shimmer, or about the same as the LEDs? I loved the gradual lighting increase of my MHs as they were powering up.

 

[curiousphil]

The shimmer is very similar but somehow different.... more uniform and a little less shimmery. I like it, the LED shimmer was sometimes hard to look at. It is neat watching as the bulbs warm up!

I've been happy with the heat too. Hasn't gone above 79.