Carey's Rimless LED Build

[carey]

Charge cards are a wonderful thing! LOL

I am having some serious concerns about my corals in this tank.
I did a battery of tests and they came out good: amm 0 trites 0 ph 8.2 ish temp 79 salinity 1.024 trates are at barely over 0.
But my corals are not at all looking like they used to.
here is a picture of my duncan now.

Here is a picture of it in the pico a while ago.

Could it be not as large and opening as much since it's splitting heads rapidly? I plan on leaving the MH on for 8 hours today and most every coral is on the bottom for now, I didnt wanna burn anything up.

Should I just give it a few more days with the new light? Or should I get a new bulb, the guy who I bought it from said it was almost a year old but had a few months left in it. Then theres the choice of bulbs....I think I;m gonna go cheapo just to see if the 20k spectrum is where I want to be? THEN I may get an expensive bulb if I like the blue the 20k is supposed to provide.

Any help or opinions appreciated! As always, thanks guys.

 

[scubasteve03]

I would say give it a few more days as it still might be getting used to your water and set up. I have always bought a new bulb when I get a used light. I think you are really going to like the 20k I love lights with lots of blue lol

 

[carey]

I picked up a new coral today for this tank as well as some for the 125g. I got this tank a new Blastomussa. I also clarified that I have a branching blastomussa, I thought it was a micromussa. lol

Anyways, here is a shot of the new blasto which hasnt opened up yet. :-(

 

[scubasteve03]

Wow nice coral I love blastos. Need not worrie Carey you got skills LOL

 

[TLTGF]

That's WAY bigger than mine - Mine only had (1) head and it was still $35!

 

[carey]

I paid $20 for it too. Great deal in my mind. lol I also got my branching blasto for $20. I buy alot of $10-$25 frags and corals. I did pay $45 today for a large colony of lunar eclipse zooas though, they were so cool I couldnt resist. I already have some lunars in this tank and paid $20 for 4 polyps. The new one from today has at least 30 I'd say.

 

[TLTGF]

WOW! Must be just Michigan. If I order a big order online, the shipping brings the total of what I can get at the LFS, for you it seems that you actually pay the better price. Good for you!!!! That's awesome.

I checked my MINT budget yesterday and my total for Aquaria this month was $499. Only $399 over budget! LOL

 

[carey]

i went coral crazy this week, I probably spent over $300 dollars easy. :-(

not to mention the new rimless tank that i bought two weeks ago with stand and all. And the halide I bought yesterday. And the new 55g setup I bought sunday. oh man....I am really over budget. It's actually making my stomach churn thinking about it....

lol

 

[huma-huma]

Carey I honestly havent the slightest clue how you fund your severe fishy obsession lol

 

[carey]

Neither do I . LOL Lots of charge cards and creative financing.

 

[rdnelson99]

Carey I honestly havent the slightest clue how you fund your severe fishy obsession lol

I just want to know which bank she held up so when I get ready I don't hit the same one. It would be a shame to go through that and then find the vault empty.

 

[carey]

I just want to know which bank she held up so when I get ready I don't hit the same one. It would be a shame to go through that and then find the vault empty.

You just made me laugh out loud! Very clever!

 

[rdnelson99]

I am here to serve. Just in a little different way than you because I don't know squat about this stuff without asking. LOL

 

[carey]

I ask my fair share of questions too, some are kinda dumb too from time to time.

Like right now- I am not liking my new MH fixture. It seems way too dim and my corals are not even close to liking it. I like the shimmer but thats about it. I'm thinking I made a mistake going for the MH. ggrrrrrr.....so what do I do now?
lol

 

[scubasteve03]

Use both lights you have if you can fit them and not get to hot

 

[rdnelson99]

I ask my fair share of questions too, some are kinda dumb too from time to time.

Like right now- I am not liking my new MH fixture. It seems way too dim and my corals are not even close to liking it. I like the shimmer but thats about it. I'm thinking I made a mistake going for the MH. ggrrrrrr.....so what do I do now?
lol

As an electrical contractor, I can tell you that the quality of the light will deteriorate over time with MH. While we deal in totally different color temps and most humans don't notice the gradual change, I suspect the corals do. After all, we don't rely on the lighting in the same way. From what I have read on this web site MH is the best way to go. I would say, try a new lamp before you chuck the fix in the trash.

 

[carey]

Off to ebay to buy a new bulb! lol

Do you think even a cheapo bulb will be good enough to start with? I don;t want to spend $80 on a bulb and still be unhappy with it....

 

[rdnelson99]

Off to ebay to buy a new bulb! lol

Do you think even a cheapo bulb will be good enough to start with? I don;t want to spend $80 on a bulb and still be unhappy with it....

I would say you would be fine with a cheap one to see if it does the trick or not. It will degrade faster imo but why waste a ton to find out that wasn't the problem.

 

[carey]

Thanks so much, that was what I figured too. I can live with a short bulb life if it'll give me the color I want and intensity.

Thanks again, going to order one now.
woot!

 

[carey]

ordered a 20k bulb, should be here by friday I hope. Then i can decide what to do. lol I just wish my corals would respond, only the zooas are opening although my duncan looks alot better today.