Dary's tank!

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ryan-peddle said:
Well I think I am sold what brand name and wattage of LEDs are they?

I'm sure there's a ton of ones out there that'll do the job just fine and probably much , much cheaper than the ones I got,.( see Greg or Doug)... However, the ones I have are " Starks" Cree 60 watts with dimmers ,..each fixture has ten whites and ten blues LEDs @ 3 watts each...I'm running three fixtures,...so that's only a total of 180 watts for my entire 135 gal tank,..they've been going strong for a year now and although I do not nor have I ever suggested that I really know what I'm doing when it comes to the lighting aspect of this whole setup, ,I do know that most everything seems to grow very well under them,... This is what I got good or bad,..and I'm sticking with it for better or worse :) The three units combined were about a grand more or less at the time of purchase.
 
Dary421 said:
I'm sure there's a ton of ones out there that'll do the job just fine and probably much , much cheaper than the ones I got,.( see Greg or Doug)... However, the ones I have are " Starks" Cree 60 watts with dimmers ,..each fixture has ten whites and ten blues LEDs @ 3 watts each...I'm running three fixtures,...so that's only a total of 180 watts for my entire 135 gal tank,..they've been going strong for a year now and although I do not nor have I ever suggested that I really know what I'm doing when it comes to the lighting aspect of this whole setup, ,I do know that most everything seems to grow very well under them,... This is what I got good or bad,..and I'm sticking with it for better or worse :) The three units combined were about a grand more or less at the time of purchase.

Well that's not too bad considering this build is a nano 20 gallon so I would only need one. Thanks my friend
 
needmorecowbell said:
I like the look of them, and you corals look great.

Do you know if they have optics on them?

Says 200 par readings for each led from 5" distance , 60 degree view angle
 

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My ecorays are 30 bulbs (had to count) and my LPS go crazy with growth. SPS not as much. But every tank is different
 
Jlsardina said:
My ecorays are 30 bulbs (had to count) and my LPS go crazy with growth. SPS not as much. But every tank is different[
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A couple of years ago having and maintaing a reef tank was something that I thought ( for me ) was impossible..., wow,. Somehow I've managed to make it happen,.. All the alien like equipment needed, protein skimmers,reactors etc and reef capable lighting too...so far thru a lot of research and some trial and error I'm really happy with the equipment I have gathered.
A funny thing I've noticed since I've installed my mp 40 powerhead is that every now and then and in a certain area my triggerfish will spin like a John elway spiral for a few seconds before darting off,..at first I thought something was wrong., terribly wrong,..but then I realized that he was just taking advantage of some corkscrew like currents and was having fun,...heck he's shaped like a nfl football anyways so why not act like one,...I guess even fish like to have fun once in awhile too.
 
Lol that made me laugh pretty hard.. Triggers are my favorite fish.

I thought the same thing, i really didn't think I would ever have a saltwater tank, let alone a sps dominated tank. I thought I would have to be out of my house and most likely out of college. Luckily my parents understood how much this meant to me :)
 
A couple of years ago having and maintaing a reef tank was something that I thought ( for me ) was impossible..., wow,. Somehow I've managed to make it happen,.. All the alien like equipment needed, protein skimmers,reactors etc and reef capable lighting too...so far thru a lot of research and some trial and error I'm really happy with the equipment I have gathered.
A funny thing I've noticed since I've installed my mp 40 powerhead is that every now and then and in a certain area my triggerfish will spin like a John elway spiral for a few seconds before darting off,..at first I thought something was wrong., terribly wrong,..but then I realized that he was just taking advantage of some corkscrew like currents and was having fun,...heck he's shaped like a nfl football anyways so why not act like one,...I guess even fish like to have fun once in awhile too.


LOL Spin baby spin. hehehe
 
I've always have had a little bit of a nitrate problem in my tank and have never been able to lower it to the zero mark,...water changes, etc could never quite get it down to that zero mark,..it was never really horrible, it usually was between 1.5 - 3 ppm ,... So about five weeks ago I decided to buy a bio pellet reactor( reef octopus ) and some rather expensive pellets and try it out just to see if it actually would work,... All the videos and write ups pretty much stated to set it up like the " popiel" counter top oven,.."set it and forget it," ..... Just let it run for a month or two and that it'll take time for it to work properly.
They-also said it may cause alittle cyno build up at first but be patience that it'll eventually build up enough "BB" and that it'll kick itself in and will work as advertised,...so now after running this critter for the last five weeks ( and getting a little cyno too) my nitrates have finally dropped to zero on my last two readings,and.the little cyno outbreak is diminished to basically nothing ....so unless I'm missing something else here,..I think in my application,..the pellets are working .yea !
Everything else tank wise is humming right along without a hitch so with fingers crossed we'll see what happens next ! :-/
 
Wow, glad you pellet reactor has worked for you! I am still waiting to see results with mine after 3 months. lol

SOunds like the tank is going along just fine these days and thats great! :)
 
carey said:
Wow, glad you pellet reactor has worked for you! I am still waiting to see results with mine after 3 months. lol

SOunds like the tank is going along just fine these days and thats great! :)

Carey,..so far so good re.bio pellets BUT it's only been a short time ,..However, once again my nitrate test was at zero this morning,.... I'm not sure if the different manufacturers of the pellets would make any difference but I'm using vertex bio pellets,...I'm sure you're prob using BRS pellets,...there's a little FAQ on the vertex site that answers ., why your system may not be working with them,.. I ordered another bubble and another hammer coral yesterday,.. First new coral introductions in months,...got my fingers crossed .
 
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I read through the faq's you mentioned and may have found an issue. I am using the brs pellets as you guessed. lol

I did not soak my pellets over night, I did rinse them but that was it. I also did not introduce the bacteria to the tank. BRS mentions you CAN add it but it does not say you HAVE to add it.

Do you think this is my problem? I also saw it mentioned about larger water changes and i usually do like 40g on my 125g so maybe that is adding to the issue?
 
carey said:
I read through the faq's you mentioned and may have found an issue. I am using the brs pellets as you guessed. lol

I did not soak my pellets over night, I did rinse them but that was it. I also did not introduce the bacteria to the tank. BRS mentions you CAN add it but it does not say you HAVE to add it.

Do you think this is my problem? I also saw it mentioned about larger water changes and i usually do like 40g on my 125g so maybe that is adding to the issue?
This bio pellet stuff is all very new to me,..but ,yes I did soak my pellets before adding them to the reactor , but imo I think that's more of getting the pellets water logged so they don't have a binding / clumping issue when tumbling in the reactor ,..I personally do about a 25 /30 gal water change weekly on my 135 ,... maybe someone who's been using them for awhile will chime in that may have an answer for you but like they say..every tank is different and what's right for one my not be right for another.
 
My two new corals showed up at the doorstep today,..a neon green wall hammer and a neon/ lemon yellow bubble coral with a rosy interior,..as I stated in a post above ,these are my first purchased corals after killing a few of them with MY dosing disaster months ago,...so rightly so I'm a little nervous about these guys.... Here's a little time lapse pictorial over the last couple of hours as they acclimate to the tank,...obviously they're not fully opened yet but hopefully all will go well and tomorrow when I get home from work they'll be bright and happy little guys,...I think I need a beer.
 

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Nice pieces Dary!
I agree with Jl, they already look like they are liking their new home.
Did you get them from Live Aquaria?
 
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