Kinetic 82g

[ezcompany]

http://www.reefcentral.com/forums/showthre...mp;pagenumber=1

[kinetic]

http://www.reefcentral.com/forums/showthre...mp;pagenumber=1

 

yeah I've been following, i posted there too.

 

thanks for looking out though =)

Edited November 21, 2007 by kinetic

[supernip]

are you worried about the seams on your tank with the two vortechs?

 

btw: I think kenny in norcal has kept thse guys successfully. You might know him, he gets around

Edited November 21, 2007 by supernip

[kinetic]

are you worried about the seams on your tank with the two vortechs?

 

btw: I think kenny in norcal has kept thse guys successfully. You might know him, he gets around

 

Hmm don't know any Kenny's very well, does he have a RC name? on BAR?

 

The seams are so beefy, I really can't see them wearing out by any means. I talked to Jesse at Elos and he said there isn't a problem at all, and doesn't void any warranties. The waves aren't too big, and the tank and stand are sturdy. Only time will tell, but looking at the tank it's pretty darn beefy.

 

I also am considering just running it in reef crest mode rather than pulsing for the waves... that'll be just for showing off to people who come over It keeps the pumps cooler, and may be a bit more natural, though no crazy swaying. Being all SPS I don't think the swaying would be as cool as if I had a bunch of xenia and euphillya (sp?).

[supernip]

neyugn0w01 is his brother. i think his name is like sharkdude or something.

 

lots of flow and light= fiji white xenia. It's about 5x as thick as regular xenia, grows as slow as an sps and extremely hard to keep. thats if you want a challenge. there's also a non branching frogspawn that's neon green w/ neon greener tips. Also a beautiful species. Perhaps a red goniopora with orange centers.

 

sps lose their charm after a while. trust me on this one

[kinetic]

neyugn0w01 is his brother. i think his name is like sharkdude or something.

 

lots of flow and light= fiji white xenia. It's about 5x as thick as regular xenia, grows as slow as an sps and extremely hard to keep. thats if you want a challenge. there's also a non branching frogspawn that's neon green w/ neon greener tips. Also a beautiful species. Perhaps a red goniopora with orange centers.

 

sps lose their charm after a while. trust me on this one

 

Oh okay, I know of neyugn, don't know his brother though.

 

 

Fiji white xenia? pulsing? I like the pulsing kind, but when it gets everywhere, I go nuts. I was thinking of pom pom xenia in my fuge for fun though =) But if you say it's slow and won't spread like wildfire, I'm TOTALLY down. I love xenia other than it gets all over and takes over. Where can I get some? Do you have any I can trade / buy? I can't believe I still haven't met you in person before.

 

The nonbranching frogspawn, is that like the wall type kind? Thing is, euphilya get so big and start stinging, otherwise I love'em! If the kind you're saying don't sweep as much, then I'm interested too.

 

I'm actually thinking about a goni. At Atlantis they have this really nice red/orange one which may be the same you're talking about. do those do better than the usual goni's that have a poor survival rate?

 

I'm totally down for a mixed tank... just haven't found a good LPS that I like yet...

[supernip]

The fiji stuff doesn't pulse at readily, and is rarely available. It's like a white version of Heteroxenia sp., which is also rather large. If I can ever commit to just keeping a xenia tank like I've been so vocal about, I'd hunt these down.

 

yes, the nonbranching frogspawn is the wall type. I think in terms of sweepers, they're the same as the regular type. But they build a wall instead of broccoli type heads, and can be more manageable.

 

As far as Gonioporas, the red variant with the shorter polyps seem to do well in our tanks. The regular green type is more of a lagoon species.

 

Have you looked at Alveopora?

 

Another very tame species with short sweepers.

 

But I guess the pinnacle is SPS. A few selected species that are allowed to grow out on top of your rock makes a better focal point in my opinion, but few hobbiest have the patience for that. "more is better," supposedly

[kinetic]

Updated tank parameters:

 

11/25/07

Ammonia - Undetectable

Nitrite - 0.1 ppm

Nitrate - 1 ppm

 

Looks like my cycle was done? well I decided to dose 7mg of Ammonia Chloride to see.

 

11/26/07 (24 hours later)

Ammonia - 1.5 ppm

Nitrite - 10ppm

Nitrate - 5ppm

 

Wowzers =) I'll dose again today at half dose.

[Kigs]

Awesome aquascaping Kinetic! I was also considering Ventralis and Borbonius, but they can be hard to obtain in my area. If you end up getting the Ventralis, plmk how they do.

[kinetic]

Awesome aquascaping Kinetic! I was also considering Ventralis and Borbonius, but they can be hard to obtain in my area. If you end up getting the Ventralis, plmk how they do.

 

it's going to be hard for me to get any ventralis as well. the one fish store I goto the most has very ethical practices (which is great!) and won't bring in fish such as the ventralis because they have such dismal survival rates.

 

I may end up going with LiveAquaria if they ever get any. I'm pretty confident with any LiveAquaria specimen. They always make sure the fish eats well and QT's them before shipping the fish.

[Uhuru]

So I saw from RC that you are switching to the Spectra after all. Mind sharing what was wrong with the aquactinics? I'm thinking of getting a TX5 to run on a 40 breeder.

 

Also how did you order your reeferrock? I went to the website and for the dry base rock section it says under construction.

 

Thanks!

[Blaze]

Well I went out on a portrait shoot today, but forgot to have her pose by the tank, but this is the shots I got anyway:See all photos: http://flickr.com/photos/kineticTeasers:Model: Stephanie W.

um i really should learn how to do portraits...i mean i can do action sports really well but i have not even diped my toes in to portraits.what camera do you use?

[kinetic]

So I saw from RC that you are switching to the Spectra after all. Mind sharing what was wrong with the aquactinics? I'm thinking of getting a TX5 to run on a 40 breeder.

 

Also how did you order your reeferrock? I went to the website and for the dry base rock section it says under construction.

 

Thanks!

 

The aquactinics is a bit too narrow in the focus. The hanging kit is also a little crude. The fans are REALLY loud for a quiet quiet living room... defeats the purpose of all the rest of my noise reducing measures. The fan noise is probably the most. The looks of it and performance otherwise are amazing! I think with the fans it will be the best performing, but at the moment I'd like something much quieter.

[supernip]

I heard your vortechs are loud too, which is weird cause mine are so dang quiet. Anyway, perhaps get the sfiligoi infiniti. They have better reflectors than the spectra but the spectras are way better looking...or go hqi. I doubt the performance difference is drastic enough to cause your corals not to thrive either way

[kinetic]

I heard your vortechs are loud too, which is weird cause mine are so dang quiet. Anyway, perhaps get the sfiligoi infiniti. They have better reflectors than the spectra but the spectras are way better looking...or go hqi. I doubt the performance difference is drastic enough to cause your corals not to thrive either way

 

The vortechs are "loud" at 3,000gph, but otherwise not too bad. The ramping in pulse mode is even worse. If I goto half speed it's completely silent. I'm pretty sure I can get away with 2,000gph each, for about 60x turnover. at the least, 50x turnover I'd need about 1600gph each. Once in awhile when I'm not at home or something, I'll crank them up to 3,000gph in reef crest mode just for kicks =) In anti-sync mode in reef crest at 2,000gph it's totally managable. I'm also going to use a protractor and measure out exactly what gph it is for the speed controller. It's unmarked =P weird... the guys at ecotech say "nobody ever cares about exactly what gph they're running, so we didn't include it". WTF?

 

I'm deciding between the spectra or the grotech photon. Grotech photon because captive ocean is local (napa, ca), and can be customized with whatever ballast in a Single Ended configuration. It's also very quiet.... but also twice the cost. Very little can be said about them since only like 3 people I've found on RC use them in the united states.

 

I also don't like the sfiligoi only because they are all HQI, while I want to use the 175watt SE Iwasaki 15K's... those paired with ATI Blue Plus T5's is the most amazing color ever in my opinion, great PAR too for less than the 250watt fixtures in terms of wattage. Unless you know that the sfiligoi are SE as well?

 

I don't really mind the looks, as long as it's not butt ugly, I think the simpler the better. The aquactinics would be perfect, simple and not distracting, but too noisy =(

 

 

I've posted on the PremiumAquatics forum on RC to ask to see if they can get the Geisemann Spectra for me and I'll compare that to the Grotech Photon. I guess my new lenses will have to wait...

[supernip]

well firstly, my vortechs are silent even at 3k gph in both lagoon and crest. I have to test the other one out to see if it's like this as well. and secondly, I think the ecotech marine guys really meant it's a bit more complicated than putting in gph ratings. I find those kinda arbitrary myself. How are they measured? with what medium? SW has a higher density than FW, and all sorts of things can affect flow rate such as placement, back pressure, coralline growth, etc.

 

You haven't seen the Photon lights have you? They're even uglier than the planet II's. I think you're buying too much into the hype of the bulbs, warranted or not. Even if your bulbs put out more par, a good reflector with a lower par bulb might match or beat that first bulb.

 

I also think you'll be fine even with 2x150 DE bulbs. You're really limiting yourself in a lot of ways, and sacrificing bulb choice, aesthetics, etc for the sake of a single bulb. Even though I must admit saki is an awesome company.

 

If I'm not mistaken, the Sfiligoi XR4 can be outfitted with SE bulbs as well. Per their website:

" Wide choice of HQI bulbs

Infinity XR4 can be equipped with 250 and 400 W bulbs, both double-ended (FC2) and single-ended (E40), with colour temperature 10.000 K and 14.000 K. "

 

And knowing you from your forum posts, aesthetics will be very important in the long run.

 

Lastly, the spectra is still a good choice. I dunno how much I like premium aquatics though. I once broke a piece off my schuran calcium reactor and emailed them about a replacement. They stated:

1. I would have to wait until their next shipment (1 month wait)

2. I would have to pay freight for a $1.50 piece from Germany (quoted me $100+)

 

I emailed Schuran and they directly sent me two replacement parts FOR FREE. best of luck with your tank though. I kind of want an elos system 70 myself

[kinetic]

Thanks for the post! I appreciate the time you take to help out =)

 

Let me know how your other vortech goes. I'm sure one of my vortechs is slightly louder, but not enough to warrant it to be "defective". I'd be marked as a nitpicker if I tried to get a replacement sort of thing and be banned from ever buying from them

 

Also, if they can measure 200gph, and 3,000gph at their extremes, why not in between? It's not that I want to set it exactly at some setting, but just knowing details of what I've set it to helps. I'm an engineer in my day job, so maybe it's just the way I think? =P I'm a weird one, I know.

 

I've only seen pictures of the photons, they do look a bit funny I guess.

 

I'm not going for the iwasaki's for the PAR strength, and 2x150watt would DEFINITELY be way enough, I just love their color! The matchup between the ATI Blue Plus and the Iwasaki 15K is what I've always dreamed of. But of course, I can probably find another combo in the 150watt world and sell off my 15K lamp. You speak the truth =) I will consider.

 

If I do go with HQI at the 150 area, I may just go with a maristar, my last one (24") looked absolutely beautiful, and fired up just as nicely. I guess going that route I'll have a whole bunch of other options opened up. Thanks for giving me the push.

 

Lastly, have you heard that SE give better spread than DE lamps? It seems like SE lamps are just a DE lamp inside a UV protective glass bulb to me =P

 

Get an ELOS 70, those are really sweet =)

 

well firstly, my vortechs are silent even at 3k gph in both lagoon and crest. I have to test the other one out to see if it's like this as well. and secondly, I think the ecotech marine guys really meant it's a bit more complicated than putting in gph ratings. I find those kinda arbitrary myself. How are they measured? with what medium? SW has a higher density than FW, and all sorts of things can affect flow rate such as placement, back pressure, coralline growth, etc.

 

You haven't seen the Photon lights have you? They're even uglier than the planet II's. I think you're buying too much into the hype of the bulbs, warranted or not. Even if your bulbs put out more par, a good reflector with a lower par bulb might match or beat that first bulb.

 

I also think you'll be fine even with 2x150 DE bulbs. You're really limiting yourself in a lot of ways, and sacrificing bulb choice, aesthetics, etc for the sake of a single bulb. Even though I must admit saki is an awesome company.

 

If I'm not mistaken, the Sfiligoi XR4 can be outfitted with SE bulbs as well. Per their website:

" Wide choice of HQI bulbs

Infinity XR4 can be equipped with 250 and 400 W bulbs, both double-ended (FC2) and single-ended (E40), with colour temperature 10.000 K and 14.000 K. "

 

And knowing you from your forum posts, aesthetics will be very important in the long run.

 

Lastly, the spectra is still a good choice. I dunno how much I like premium aquatics though. I once broke a piece off my schuran calcium reactor and emailed them about a replacement. They stated:

1. I would have to wait until their next shipment (1 month wait)

2. I would have to pay freight for a $1.50 piece from Germany (quoted me $100+)

 

I emailed Schuran and they directly sent me two replacement parts FOR FREE. best of luck with your tank though. I kind of want an elos system 70 myself

[supernip]

I haven't heard that, I would imagine the opposite. BTW, have you checked that you have your pin spacer aligned correctly? Mine was extra loud cause I had it at the wrong thickness. Now it's quieter than my tunze 6025 were.

[kinetic]

I haven't heard that, I would imagine the opposite. BTW, have you checked that you have your pin spacer aligned correctly? Mine was extra loud cause I had it at the wrong thickness. Now it's quieter than my tunze 6025 were.

 

I'll check the pin spacers tomorrow. I set them at 1/2" which is what the tank thickness is. I'll try it at different settings tomorrow to see. Thanks for the tip!

 

 

OceanVision Background - [ 11/28/07 ]

 

 

BTW I tried the OceanVision background from Underwater Warehouse:

 

 

Compared to before:

 

 

 

I cleaned the glass bottom to get rid of the precipitation from the Ca / ALK or whatever reef crystals leaves behind and it's so shiny. I think I liked it when it precipitated, looked kind of like sand! I'll probably leave it white.

 

The vortechs have basically dissapeared, and the overflow box too. Sure the contrast is high because of the very strong lighting, but without toning down the lighting so the rocks aren't blown out, it still looks pretty clean.

 

I've also added a Koralia 2 on the overflow box, on the left side of it pointing towards the left of the tank, flush with the back wall to kick deadspots out from behind the rock. It is doing an OK job, since all that's left is larger sand sized rock crumble.

 

What do you guys think?

Edited November 29, 2007 by kinetic

[kinetic]

Trying to decide for some new lighting.

 

Sfiligoi Infinity XR4

2x 175watt SE

4x 54watt T5

6x Moonlights

IceCap ballasts

$1970

 

Grotech Photon Plus

2x 175watt SE

4x 54watt T5

$1900

 

Geisemann Spectra

2x 175watt SE

4x 54watt T5

no price / contact yet for these

 

 

I'm leaning towards the Sfiligoi. I know a few who had problems with the older model Sfiligois, but I think that has been fixed. I'm getting a pretty good deal too. Problem is it'll cost $125 to ship from AquariumObsessed =(

 

I haven't found any good 2x 150watt DE + T5 fixtures... maristar / geisemann are all 250watts when it comes to the 2x DE configuration.

[supernip]

sfiligoi= alcs dimmer option. I believe if you dig back a few weeks, there was someone on rc trying to sell one. I have a solesingle and love it.

 

giesemann infinity comes in 2x150 de which can easily be found. The advantage of the DE version of the giesemann is that you can reorient the reflectors (which are very nice, though no xr4 in design) horizontally.

http://www.marinedepot.com/ps_ViewItem~Sea...in~vendor~.html

 

spectra is way cute as well. Can't speak for the photon other than my opinion on its aesthetics.

[ezcompany]

wait wha wha why u chaing lights

[kinetic]

sfiligoi= alcs dimmer option. I believe if you dig back a few weeks, there was someone on rc trying to sell one. I have a solesingle and love it.

 

giesemann infinity comes in 2x150 de which can easily be found. The advantage of the DE version of the giesemann is that you can reorient the reflectors (which are very nice, though no xr4 in design) horizontally.

http://www.marinedepot.com/ps_ViewItem~Sea...in~vendor~.html

 

spectra is way cute as well. Can't speak for the photon other than my opinion on its aesthetics.

 

I talked to a guy in arizona (who likes KU and has a nice elos, you can probably guess who) and he said the infinity xr4 will probably be as wide as my tank is! It will be way too monsterous over the top. I may skip the sfiligoi for now. Unless Scott at AS comes through, I may have just narrowed it down to a Giesemann 230 Plus or Infinity. If I get the infinity, I'm going to see if I can control pairs of T5's independantly of each other. I want to do a sunrise without that crazy blue color, so I'll probably have the sunrise consist of a 6500K daylight lamp and a pure actinic. Then the midday will be the halides mixed with the ati blue plus lamps.

 

wait wha wha why u chaing lights

 

Noise from fans, aesthetics, MH reflector focuses too narrowly.

[supernip]

infiniti is the revised 230 plus. Kappa has a 230 plus. I believe NAKA has the infiniti.

[kinetic]

infiniti is the revised 230 plus. Kappa has a 230 plus. I believe NAKA has the infiniti.

 

The infinity has the four t5's, and 230 just a pair. The infiniti also seems to reflect the T5's towards the center rather than straight down, similar to the sfiligoi infinity.

 

The 230 is nicely within my price range though, the infiniti would need another month or so of waiting.