Lizs Fusion 20- Gel Photos! 7/29

[Elizabeth94]

Well, tank arrived. It only took four days for my lfs to get it. This will be my last upgrade for another year or so since I just finished college.

Skimmer: AquaMaxx HOB-1

Flow: Stock return pump and MP10

Lighting: 4 bulb ATI Sunpower





I have custom acrylic coming to me so I can have a nice white bare bottom tank and a sky blue background.

Stocking:
Orchid Dottyback (love this guy)
Cardinal Fish (might get rid of him, he is super boring)

Might add..

1x Wrasse of some sort
1x clown for a BTA

As far as corals goes, I am thinking I will keep the LPS that I have, but may make it sps dominate.

[Dunlager]

Very cool! Can't wait to see this get started.

[Elizabeth94]

Uh oh!

 

I figure that a 4 bulb would be plenty. Going to try 2 Blue+ and 2 Coral +. But I figured I would get an actinic to see what would happen if I switched out one of the blues for it.

 

[spectra]

I am running a ATI now and switching all my bulbs to blue plus and atinic only. My new 8 bulb will have only 1 atinic and the rest will be blue plus. I have seen those bulbs in action and love the look. I have a coral plus now and not so happy with it.

[Elizabeth94]

I am running a ATI now and switching all my bulbs to blue plus and atinic only. My new 8 bulb will have only 1 atinic and the rest will be blue plus. I have seen those bulbs in action and love the look. I have a coral plus now and not so happy with it.

 

 

Hm, interesting. The problem with me is I want a white crisp look with just a tad of blue. I feel that no coral plus would mean it would be way too blue for my liking. What is the actinic like? A dark/deep dim blue?

 

Edit: I like the coloring of this tank. It will be hard to achieve with just four bulbs but I may order more. They are only 20 bucks so its not too too bad.. I just need to get timers and build a DIY pvc light stand.

 

http://reefkeeping.com/joomla/images/stories/totm/Feb2014/feb46.jpg

[spectra]

Yep its hard to tell. Find a tank you like and go from there. My issue also is my T5s have LEDs also so I have to deal with that to.

 

I just love the look of the corals in my local store that runs 5 blue plus and also a atinic. I am not a blue fan and it does not look bad to me. But at the same time being in a fish store I think everything is blue

[Elizabeth94]

You have LEDs? So the power module? Nice fixture for sure. I was thinking of somehow rigging up my AI Prime just to get a little shimmer but I think I have way too many things plugged into one socket haha.

 

You still have that awesome collection of acans? Do you find they hold their color better under T5's vs leds?

[spectra]

You have LEDs? So the power module? Nice fixture for sure. I was thinking of somehow rigging up my AI Prime just to get a little shimmer but I think I have way too many things plugged into one socket haha.

 

You still have that awesome collection of acans? Do you find they hold their color better under T5's vs leds?

 

Yes the power module over my garage tank or beater tank in my sig. Its a 24" with 4 T5s and one LED puck. For the money not sure it is worth it. I am also dealing with a ballast issue now and running a metal halide as a temporary light......new tank is a 8 bulb sunpower with a few nanobox arrays in it......

 

I think when it comes to acans T5s are where its at. I think LEDs help morph them. A few of my pieces came from a local collector and all he ran was a ATI 6 bulb over the tank.

[Elizabeth94]

I am very excited to see how my current acans and sps morph with the T5s. I have only ever had leds on my tanks, but it is time for a change.

 

Sucks about your fixture.. I read many reviews over the past few weeks about ballast issues, mostly in the dimmable sunpower. Good thing you had another light for the time being.

[spectra]

ATI is on it new ballasts on the way. I am old school anyway have been in the hobby for a while and well Metal Halide is what I started with and a few VHOs.......Then tried T5s and back to metal halides......but the heat sucked and well got out for a while......then back in it and wow LEDs look at these neat little fixtures.....I had a Kessil also a XR15 and now a nanobox over my RFA tank. I will say I loved the shimmer on the Kessil but the coloring on my SPS was just not there.....Hated the XT15 disco ball light......love the TIde......

 

Anyway lets get back on track and get that 20 wet

[Elizabeth94]

I really want to get it up and running. My stress levels are way lower after I just sucked it up and bought the ATI.. I was going nuts trying to decide if I wanted that or LEDs (for less heat).

 

My acrylic should be here tomorrow! But I am working all week so I won't have time for the transfer

 

You need to update your beater tank thread! I would love to see those acans

[myarmolich]

I really want to get it up and running. My stress levels are way lower after I just sucked it up and bought the ATI.. I was going nuts trying to decide if I wanted that or LEDs (for less heat).

 

My acrylic should be here tomorrow! But I am working all week so I won't have time for the transfer

 

You need to update your beater tank thread! I would love to see those acans

 

Gotta love T5's

[Elizabeth94]

QUESTION

 

I am putting acrylic on the bottom and back of my tank to make it a white bare bottom, and blue background. I have already cut the sheets to the proper size, but should I silicone it in? I am worried that debris would somehow build up between the glass and acrylic.

 

Here is the tank as it sits. I have never had one with a blue background before, so I am not sure what to expect once I get some lighting in there. The blue is actually a bit lighter than the picture shows.

 

[Bowen1022]

I would silicone both. There will definitely be some detritus build up under the white piece and the overflow might not work as well is there is a small gap between the original wall and the new one.

[Elizabeth94]

I would silicone both. There will definitely be some detritus build up under the white piece and the overflow might not work as well is there is a small gap between the original wall and the new one.

 

 

Thats what I was worried about. I will have to pick up some silicone today. Been a while since I worked with it, and I will probably make a mess. Guess I will have to pick up some painters tape too. Thanks for the reply!

[Bowen1022]

No problem!

[Elizabeth94]

Well, all of the acrylic is siliconed into place, and looks pretty good. No water should ever get through, so I am happy. But now I have to wait a few days for it to cure, then it is time for the transfer!!!

 

My lights should be here Thursday, so excited! However, I still need to build a hanging "thing" for it, so I picked up some nice 2x4s and will make something with that. This tank is on my dresser and I am not allowed to hang the light from the celling, so I need to be a bit more creative. Ill take pics when I am done with the light "stand." I think I am going to paint the 2x4s black after I build it.

[Elizabeth94]

ATI is here! Bulbs are being shipped tomorrow for some reason even though I placed the order at one time.

 

[uwdanno]

Ah! That fixture over this tank is going to looks so cool. Good luck. Following!

[spectra]

Love the light!

[Elizabeth94]

Thanks guys! Now I have to figure out how high I am going to put it, and how many hours I want to run the bulbs/day.

 

Any recommendations? The coral is so used to the prime. I guess ill start it high up and lower the fixture every week.

[spectra]

You can always just run 2 bulbs and then 4 for a while then back to 2. Also it will take about 50 hours for the bulbs to get burned in.

[Elizabeth94]

You can always just run 2 bulbs and then 4 for a while then back to 2. Also it will take about 50 hours for the bulbs to get burned in.

 

 

Thats how I will be running them to make a dawn/dusk setting.

 

Two of the five bulbs came in today broken. I emailed BRS, do they normally send out replacements or just refund?

[spectra]

 

 

Thats how I will be running them to make a dawn/dusk setting.

 

Two of the five bulbs came in today broken. I emailed BRS, do they normally send out replacements or just refund?

 

Not sure as I normally get mine through a local store. He is just as cheap as BRS and I like to keep my local store happy.

[Elizabeth94]

So.... Everything is PISSED!

 

 

Please don't think that this is my scape lol.. I am going to keep it like this for a few days so that everything can settle in. It was so hard to do this transfer because I had to put the new tank in the same location as the old, and I only had a 2ft x 6ft area to walk in and put livestock.

 

ATI fixture will go up when I get replacements for the broken bulbs I got (Still mad about that, but nothing I can do).

 

I am loving the blue background already, and I am excited to see it with the sexy new light!

 

So now it will sit for a week or two, and then start making changes.