Finally: Uprading to 120g Reef - Build Thread

[coffeetwitch]

Kk I suppose education is important. May I make a request and see if we can get a good quality pic maybe uploaded to photobucket or something like that. Attached pictures never really have the greatest resolution. I think we may share similar taste in lighting and I would really like to see how it looks in a higher def. If not oh well.

 

[Unicorn]

Kk I suppose education is important. May I make a request and see if we can get a good quality pic maybe uploaded to photobucket or something like that. Attached pictures never really have the greatest resolution. I think we may share similar taste in lighting and I would really like to see how it looks in a higher def. If not oh well.

I will try my best
So far my homework looks kind of freaky studying next to the aquarium.
Funny that it looks so blue-ish while the room is white-ly illuminated

 

[Greenturtle]

LOL that is amazing/awesome/scary! My laptop screen has a blue tint when I'm next to it hahaha

 

[coffeetwitch]

LOL that is amazing/awesome/scary! My laptop screen has a blue tint when I'm next to it hahaha

Next to her light? am I making assumptions?

 

[Greenturtle]

Next to her light? am I making assumptions?

next to MY aquariums light

 

[Unicorn]

Next to her light? am I making assumptions?

Ur assumption would be that he drove ALL the way from Virginia down to Florida just to check out my lights
doubt he wants to check out my "fixture" LOL

Ok, so here are some pictures for you guys
Sadly I dont have a good camera, only the one on my iphone... spending all my money on tank-stuff
In reallity the light is not blue like in those pics
also, i was unable to really play around with the fixture as one of my dogs had to play with one of the bulbs and broke it

here is the combo:
front
ATI Blue Plus
ATI Aqua blue special
ATI Blue plus
KZ Fiji Purple
GE Midday (6000K)
ATI Actinic
KZ Coral Light (10 000K)
ATI Blue Plus
back

It is crazy bright with a hint of blue and purple
Im kind of worried that my corals will get bleached, but there is no way of knowing yet... also I cant say anything about how the colors look bc nothing is inside besides LR... and the LR looks pretty cool white

here is a pic of the egg crate for coffeewitch to check out

full tank view, again: its not THAT blue, and the room looks like in a tanning salon where the tanning bed is open LOL

temperature wise it's not that bad. Got my heater on 77 and temp in tank reads 78-79... i can live with that

noise? what noise? My pistol shrimp that I got for my randall yesterday is louder than my ENTIRE tank

and I got two emerald crabs for the 30g


please let me know what ya think
also, what is your oppinion about the leaching-out corals with that setup?
I know Carey has a 12 bulb system with lots of blue in it... no bleaching?!?!?!

 

[carey]

Looks good. Great fixture and aren't the ATI's awesome?

 

[Unicorn]

Looks good. Great fixture and aren't the ATI's awesome?

yes they are
what do you have to say about the combo and possible bleaching? any ideas? worries?

 

[coffeetwitch]

Ur assumption would be that he drove ALL the way from Virginia down to Florida just to check out my lights
doubt he wants to check out my "fixture" LOL





here is a pic of the egg crate for coffeewitch to check out

yeah well my phone doesnt show where people are from. so it truly was all assumption. my sweety pie is on this site, didnt know if yours was too.


and thank you for the pic of the egg crate. i never thought of leaving the middle open.

wonder if i would have problems with the eel. if i did left the middle open.

do you like how your tank looks?

i get that the pictures dont do the tank justice because my pictures dont really look like my tank. i remember you saying that you didnt want 80's porn blue. did you avoid that with this setup?

 

[coffeetwitch]

i think your tank looks great.

 

[carey]

No bleaching yet, but I'm, getting new REAL bulbs friday so I will be in the same boat, wondering if ti's too much. lol I plan on putting my top mounted corals a bit lower in the tank so I can light acclimate them to the newer more powerful bulbs.

 

[coffeetwitch]

what is coral bleaching? just as it sounds? or just not able to see their colors?

 

[carey]

I had a brain coral that got bleached out and died. It literally will bleach. That was my first saltwater fail. Theres been a few since then, but thankfully not due to bleaching.

 

[Unicorn]

wonder if i would have problems with the eel. if i did left the middle open.

do you like how your tank looks?

i get that the pictures dont do the tank justice because my pictures dont really look like my tank. i remember you saying that you didnt want 80's porn blue. did you avoid that with this setup?

i'm hardly ever on my comb since ipad and iphone, but due to homework I have AA running in the background on my comp

dont know about eels, but I doubt he would have enough stability to get out this way. It is usualy easier for them along the wall

as for how it looks: yes, I do like it. Just cant say anything definite without seeing corals in it. dont know what this combo will do to color
and it is SUPER bright here at home

BTW: SUPER EMERGENCY
I randomly checked my pH and it showed 7.4
OMFG!!!! what I do what I do what I do what I do?!?!?!?!
I added some pH increaser stuff, hope thatll fix it. Dunno about Ca and alkalinity yet, will test once that pH increaser settled
Goes I will have to do water changes too (tomorrow)
OMG OMG OMG OMG OMG I didnt check it in a week and now this

 

[Unicorn]

No bleaching yet, but I'm, getting new REAL bulbs friday so I will be in the same boat, wondering if ti's too much. lol I plan on putting my top mounted corals a bit lower in the tank so I can light acclimate them to the newer more powerful bulbs.

definetly will add my corals on ground level first and slowly raise them up once they got used to the light and look happy

there is also ALOT of light reflection from the sand and the white stones

BTW I got the pH back up to 8.2
Ca is 400 but now my alkalinity is through the roof (14-15 )
LOL, guess I gotta do a water change no matter what

any other suggestions towards lowering dKH?

 

[coffeetwitch]

how did you raise your pH?

 

[Unicorn]

I used API pH 8.2 which is a buffer to increase pH
It also increases alkalinity, thats why I tested Ca and dKH to check.
Of course I did not get disappointed by the results
fixing it by adding Ca as that may lower dKH

Chemistry And The Aquarium: Solving Calcium And Alkalinity Problems — Advanced Aquarist's Online Magazine

 

[Unicorn]

pH issues
if anybody knows anything, here is a post I started

 

[Bige]

So do you have a hood? Point ph at the top. Water movement at the top will increase ph. Also, be careful adding stuff. What all are you doing? I would calm down and and have someone else test the ph. 7.4 is low. But 7.9 is do able. Its stability that's important. First, I would point ph at top of water. That will help.

 

[Unicorn]

So do you have a hood? Point ph at the top. Water movement at the top will increase ph. Also, be careful adding stuff. What all are you doing? I would calm down and and have someone else test the ph. 7.4 is low. But 7.9 is do able. Its stability that's important. First, I would point ph at top of water. That will help.

Thx

No, I don't have a hood and the powerheads were already pointed up with water agitation. I pointed them up more just in case though.
I know i panicked but the pH of 7.4 just freaked me out. And then it dropped by 0.4 over night. That's scary LOL

Thank you for your response! Will recheck again tomorrow and post results