It begins - first coral is in

[carey]

ATI is the best as far as I am concerned. I have them on all my tanks. lol

If you have a 4 bulb fixture I would go with 2 specials and 2 blue pluses.

I currently am trying out 2 purple bulbs in my array of 12 bulbs and I can't say I like it very much. Too much purple in my opinion.

[kurtyboh]

Originally Posted by MikeYQM

How many bulbs? I hear the ATI can't be beat; maybe 50/50 Aquablue Special 12000k & Blue Plus

Well maybe by geissman... There ae a lot of great bulbs out there ati is certainly a top if not the top competitor.

[mr_X]

Originally Posted by kurtyboh

. Mh is the cost effective top dog as of right now

i disagree. i'd rather use T5HO than halides. an 8 x 54 watt fixture can cover a 48" tank, and can keep whatever you want. you can't do that with a single 400 watt halide, and 2 x 250 would be more wattage and not necessarily more punch.

[bighabeeb]

The fixture I have is a 4 bulb. I'm not looking to keep anything too insane because I know that I'd need more light for it: looking mostly at zoanthids, softies, mushrooms - things of that nature. I'd love to have a clam, but I don't think the light is going to be strong enough even at the very top of my tank for them (in the current configuration anyway).

So with the 4 bulb (plus LED moonlights, exciting I know lol!) 2 specials and 2 blue plusses eh? Do you by any chance have links to those?

Also I'm reading about "reflectors" - can someone explain? I mean, I assume its more complicated then just sticking a few mirrors in the fixtures?

[kurtyboh]

Parabolic reflectors are very nice, but have a nice pricetag as well.

Geissman lights have the top half of the bulb with a reflector on the inside to prevent loss of light...

Depending on the wattage id wager you could have a clam in the top half at least. If their 24" bulbs mybe not but...

I dont think ive seen a rundown of the tank, such as size and equipment.

[kurtyboh]

But yes reflectors ae basically that mirrors, if youre not using them now wait until you add them the differece is astounding.

[bighabeeb]

Originally Posted by kurtyboh

Parabolic reflectors are very nice, but have a nice pricetag as well.

Geissman lights have the top half of the bulb with a reflector on the inside to prevent loss of light...

Depending on the wattage id wager you could have a clam in the top half at least. If their 24" bulbs mybe not but...

I dont think ive seen a rundown of the tank, such as size and equipment.

Most of the tank has been up and running for awhile so I don't remember brands and things of that nature, but I'll post up the rundown when I get home this evening. Most of it is fairly "entry level reef tank" stuff...coralife skimmer, marineland pumps, just adding a couple of additional 600gph powerheads this evening (When they arrive hopefully). It's definitely been sufficient for my fowlr needs, but I'm sure I'll need to do some upgrading now that I'm getting into the coral game a bit.

So basically reflectors get all the light thats going up into the fixture and therefor being wasted, and pushing it down into the tank instead - how much impact is that likely to have on temperature in the tank, and is it likely to cause damage to the fixture? My tank is already sitting at around 78-80 degrees with just the lighting and pumps I have...my heater hasn't turned on since I upgraded to the T5...

Thanks and sorry for all the questions - I got knowledgable people in this thread so I'm gonna abuse em

[MikeYQM]

Im not sure about a heat increase with reflectors, maybe slightly. A reflector will bounce light back down from inside the fixture. So, yes it will reflect some heat, but the fixture would have reflected some heat down as well. I'm sure someone can come up with a better physics related answer based on radiant heat, but I would say you are better to have them regardless.

[kurtyboh]

I didnt notice a diffrence in heat when i added reflectors to my qt. They bulbs are creating the same amount of heat and the heat gets trapped in he canopy eithr way... At least thats my guess as to why it workef that way.

[mr_X]

it's not the easiest thing in the world to add individual reflectors to a fixture. what's in the fixture now? it's definitely going to have a reflector. it's either a single sheet of polished metal, or one that's contoured around the lamps. the latter is the better one.


you asked before about the ideal temp. i'm not sure if anyone answered, but i would like to keep a tank at around 78. if the lights are raising the water temp to 80, i would rather no temp fluctuation and have it 80 around the clock. corals stress most from drastic parameter changes. large temp, ph, alkalinity swings, and salinity changes can greatly effect them.

[bighabeeb]

I'll have a better idea about temps shortly - I had a very wonky thermometer in there that was showing some pretty dramatic shifts. Got a new one last night and plopped it in and, stupid suction cup refusing to stick aside, it seems to be showing more consistency.

[bighabeeb]

For any that are curious, coral is wide open and looks great.

copper banded, o nthe other hand, is no more. Went back to the LFS - he'd had two of them and the other one died in the shop apparently, so I don't feel totally awful about it - however I will not be trying those **** fish again.

[carey]

sorry about the butterfly....that really stinks....

[mr_X]

yeah, very few of them live in captivity. the odds are against you with most butterflies IMO.

[kurtyboh]

Originally Posted by mr_X

yeah, very few of them live in captivity. the odds are against you with most butterflies IMO.

Thats what my research has shown as well... Still sucks to lose a fish tjough.

[bighabeeb]

Yea I know they dont tend to last long - which is why I wanted him for 2 weeks just to clean up the aiptasia...but evidently he wasn't eating the aiptasia or the frozen stuff I was offering him.

Beautiful fish but will definitely be steering clear from now on.

So the next question, what DO I add? My family, for whatever reason, is in love with tomato clowns: I'm more of a fan of ocellaris, but since its a tank for everyone I'd like to keep them happy. I don't know much about the tomatos, but liveaquaria sems to indicate that they really want an anemone and/or a coral they can bash about. I don't anticipate adding any anemones to this tank (I tried it once - little bastard wouldn't hold still and wound up in a powerhead. Remarkably I was able to get him out, but won't be trying that again) - and I'd really hate for him to beat up any corals that I may add in the future...

Any personal experience?

I also noticed that they're listed as pretty aggressive....but also as a good first fish? Seems odd to me as I've always been told to add the most aggressive LAST - do I have that wrong?

Thanks all, as always,

[kurtyboh]

Yeah tomatoes dont play nicely, i would wait a bit for them... You could show your fam some designer occelaris, such as black ice, or naked... Stock list is always hard

[bighabeeb]

Originally Posted by kurtyboh

Yeah tomatoes dont play nicely, i would wait a bit for them... You could show your fam some designer occelaris, such as black ice, or naked... Stock list is always hard

Yea that's what I'm trying. LFS had a (Still fairly aggressive) maroon/yellow clown that I was in love with - but they didn't like him.

Sadness

That having been said, any suggestion? Previous tank occupants were an ocellaris, hippo tang (a real small one), PJ cardinal, a couple blue chromis, at one point back a bit a small foxface.

Requirements from the family: pretty, nice color variety, and something different.

Knowing what I know now, I don't want the hippo since they get way large for my tank size...thinking about a dottyback or something similar since they get that beautiful purple color in there...but I'm definitely open to feedback/suggestions!

[MikeYQM]

I have a mystery wrasse & love it. Great temperament, personality & Colour.

[kurtyboh]

A lot of fairy wrasses are very cloful, reef safe and not much is said about them. Not all are, but fron reading it appears more then half.