I just wanted to share that my 300 gallon reef is now illuminated by white and blue L

[Gregcoyote]

I just wanted to share that my 300 gallon reef is now illuminated by white and blue LED's. Over 300 of them all of them each at 1 watt output. Replaced about 1200 watts of metal halide. Practically no heat, the light quality has set the corals off and running. I wish I had done this earlier, but these high output LED's were too expensive. I had a guy on the west coast build the panels, they did not come from the aquarium trade, but they work perfectly. Highly recommended as my chiller hardly ever kicks on now and I am saving loads of power.

 

[Smitty]

We want pictures!

 

[Gregcoyote]

Will do.

 

[Zer0]

Yes, we need pictures of your LED's!

 

[iDream]

sounds awesome! i love seeing large scale LED builds!

 

[Gregcoyote]

Here is a link to a Googe page where I will start uploading images. When I service the tank next, I will shoot shots of the LED array.

https://picasaweb.google.com/gregcoyote/Fishtank1?authkey=Gv1sRgCMvIq8feso3dlAE#

 

[Gregcoyote]

Before I changed over to LED, I had a heat problem and that seemed to cause a Green Bubble Algae attack. That seems under control now, but getting rid of these has been a challenge since my tank is over 32" deep.
I have devised something that I think can kill them using laser light one at a time. My theory is that if I can hit a bubble with a short pulse of blue laser light, I can cause the interior to boil, theoretically killing the spoors and destroying the bubble. As I am an engineer, I have access to such things and safety goggles. Testing will be on bubble specimens in a small test tank first. Will just corral the fish away from the action area for the real operation. Will post results.

 

[Smitty]

That will be interesting to see. How about using a video camera to record the results? Just know that if you break that bubble you will be spreading those spores everywhere over the tank.

The key to the algae is to try and find the source. Perhaps the lighting was the source of yours and they will clear up in time themselves.

Oh yea, your tank does look nice! I guess you are one of the lucky ones with a flame angle that leaves your coral alone

 

[iDream]

wow that sounds intense! id love to see a video of that!

and whats your tank dimensions? thats pretty deep!

 

[Gregcoyote]

The tank is L shaped and wraps around a corner. The reef is built up on the corner so that the fish can actually get out of view of each other. That has reduced fighting and seems to keep the fish interested as it must seem like a bigger environment to them. The Flame does pick, but he is looking for Copepods, which I have in abundance. If they hit a polyp, it will retract and then come right back out. I have seen this on real reefs before and it seems as long as the angel doesn't concentrate it attacks and the tank is big enough, the coral doesn't seem to mind. The Black Tail is actually rougher on the coral than the Flame is.

The bubble algae has stopped growing, but isn't going anywhere fast either. I think the laser will kill the spores as well as the parent, we will see.

 

[Smitty]

How about some full tank shots?

 

[azure bones]

I agree I wanna see some pics of this beast

Sent from my Droid desire using Aquarium

 

[mr_X]

Before I changed over to LED, I had a heat problem and that seemed to cause a Green Bubble Algae attack. That seems under control now, but getting rid of these has been a challenge since my tank is over 32" deep.
I have devised something that I think can kill them using laser light one at a time. My theory is that if I can hit a bubble with a short pulse of blue laser light, I can cause the interior to boil, theoretically killing the spoors and destroying the bubble. As I am an engineer, I have access to such things and safety goggles. Testing will be on bubble specimens in a small test tank first. Will just corral the fish away from the action area for the real operation. Will post results.

algae spores aren't easy to kill. they live through quite a bit. this is why you can put dry rock that's been out on your back porch all winter, in a new tank and all of the sudden have hair or bubble algae. how will you cause the interior of the bubble to boil and not the water in front or behind the algae? i would definitely be targeting the nutrient issue that caused the algae, instead of the algae itself.
i do not think it was a heat issue.

i would love to see pics of the tank too. sounds really cool! did you get any PAR reading on the fixtures you are using yet?

 

[Gregcoyote]

Haven't take any light readings yet, but my camera acts like it is shooting in medium outdoor indirect lighting. I have a small direct sunbeam that periodically hits the tank and it is about twice as bright.

I plan to do the laser tests in a small test tank with no fish or coral. I am unsure of the results as well. Probably just burn a hole in the bubble, but it might be absorbed by the whole bubble and heat it up way past the temps the spores can survive. I will start out with a short burst at 455nm at about 1/2 watt. That isnt much, but it is hundreds of times brighter than a regular laser pointer. If that doesn't work, I will go up to 1.8 watts in small steps. At this strength the laser will burn a hole thru a 2x4. Pinpointed on a bubble algae, it will at least be interesting. Tried a green laser, but of course that didnt work, at least at the power levels I have because the green algae reflects the green light back. If the blue laser doesn't work, I plan to try a red one. This is not recommended to anyone without proper safety equipment and knowledge as even the lowest powered lasers will blind you fast. This is simply an experiment to see if organisms like this can be killed from a distance thru seawater. And yes, it might be cool.

 

[Gregcoyote]

By the way, I think you were right, but it was more of a lack of water changes. The algae scrubber is so efficient, I went for a long time on just supplements, also my halide bulbs were getting old. Lots of different circumstances added up to it. But now it has the ability to really hang in there. Emerald crabs, sail fin tang, nothing gets rid of them but plucking them and that is an impossible job. If my laser works, I will take great joy in blasting them one by one. Otherwise, I will wait for the tang to get bigger.

 

[mr_X]

i wish you could do a video of your experiment.

 

[Gregcoyote]

I will. I am concentrating on eliminating my brief bubble algae issues.