alexmurovec Posted May 7, 2007 Author Share Posted May 7, 2007 it seems like jlaquatics just doesn't really have much in stock right now. they have a bunch of corals listed on their website, but when i talked to them on the phone, he only had a couple frags. kind of weird to have a huge site yet not have much in stock, maybe they just sell alot? either way, i'll let you know. Link to comment
alexmurovec Posted May 8, 2007 Author Share Posted May 8, 2007 got my astralux bulb today, but it appears to be burnt or something. as you can see in the picture below, the middle peice of the bulb has brown specs over it, and some of the glass is faded. any ideas? also, i do not have any rubbing alcohol (100% alcohol) is there anything else i can wipe the bulb off with? it appears to be a little dusty right now. Link to comment
dtfleming Posted May 8, 2007 Share Posted May 8, 2007 Test the bulb to see if it works, looks like its blown or broke. Link to comment
alexmurovec Posted May 8, 2007 Author Share Posted May 8, 2007 i just fired it up, but its definetly not as bright as i thought it would be. its a very nice blue shade, will it warm up and be brighter yet? the bulb is also buzzing, is this normal? Link to comment
alexmurovec Posted May 9, 2007 Author Share Posted May 9, 2007 well the new bulb, although looking burnt, still fires. i don't know if its the bulb, but i pictured the light to be alot brighter than what it is. or maybe i am just not used to the shadowy look. anyways, i posted a couple progress pictures of my finalized canopy, and the new tank, with comparisons on lighting. here we go..... mounted DIY pendant top view light is on a hinge close up of the bulb in the pendant i like my room closer view of hood, it is a little big here are the comparisons from the old light, to the new light. 65W compact flouresant 50/50 bulb DIY MH 70W Astralux 14K side view with MH tell me what you guys think of the light, i really thought it would be alot brighter than it is. its been about a hour since it fired, does it still need to warm up? it is very blue right now too, which isn't bad though. my little hitchhiker polyps that i have used to be brown, and now all of a sudden they are lime green. gotta love it. anywho, i want to know if it looks normal. Link to comment
Travis Posted May 9, 2007 Share Posted May 9, 2007 I told you to go with the 150w! I'd add the PCs to go with the MH. It does looks nicer than with only PCs though. Link to comment
NitroJunkie Posted May 9, 2007 Share Posted May 9, 2007 its amazing how much difference a mh makes in the way things look nice tank bro Link to comment
alexmurovec Posted May 9, 2007 Author Share Posted May 9, 2007 I told you to go with the 150w! I'd add the PCs to go with the MH. It does looks nicer than with only PCs though. i got the one 65W PC fixture, and i could remove the casing, and retrofit it into my hood. it would be pretty high above the water surface, but it will make a difference. i have a 50/50 in there right now, do you think i should get an actinic for it? that might just make it even more blue, and wont add much intensity. i have the glass top on my tank, will that make the light less intense because it has to penetrate through it? is it because my light is only 3 inches off the water surface? to tell you the truth, i'm almost dissapointed, i thought it would be much much brighter, but maybe its just something to get used to. its amazing how much difference a mh makes in the way things look nice tank bro thanks man. i think i'm definetly going to have to get used to the new sytle of light. everything seems so sketchy because the water flow makes so many ripples with how the light reflects off of it. i can't wait to get some corals in here and they should look pretty vivid. ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- couple quick questions 1. does it matter which way the metal halide bulb is placed in the sockets. like the bulb has that little dink thing on the one end in the middle of the bulb, does that have to be facing up or down? (facing reflector or water) 2. maybe its not as bright because the bulb is defected? refer to some above pictures of the bulb appearing to be burnt. 3. i have my HOB filter on full tilt and it skims the surface, do you think this is why i am seeing so much light sketchyness? 4.how long does it take the bulb to warm up and give out its full light? 5. my sand is blue, is this normal with a 14k bulb. Link to comment
lanxang Posted May 9, 2007 Share Posted May 9, 2007 I checked several bulbs and they are all the same thing. Here is a picture of three bulbs. DE bulb usually takes about 30min to fully warm up. I'm using a 150w over 20h and I don't think it's bright. I miss my 250w but it might be overkill for rics and zoas. Link to comment
alexmurovec Posted May 9, 2007 Author Share Posted May 9, 2007 the bulb seemed to warm up a decent amount now. fixture is very hot, but tank is still stayin steady. we'll see in a couple hours yet. anyone give a go at a few of those questions in above post? Link to comment
Travis Posted May 9, 2007 Share Posted May 9, 2007 The sketchiness is what is referred to as MH Shimmer, most people desire this affect. You went from a 65w bulb to a 70w bulb, you can't expect a dramatic difference. If you can find a 150w MH ballast, you can hook it up to the fixture, I think they are the same sized bulbs? you would need a 150w bulb though. Adding the 65w PC will add more light, and make the tank look brighter. I would go with a solid 10k PC bulb if the 14k is too blue for you. Link to comment
alexmurovec Posted May 9, 2007 Author Share Posted May 9, 2007 The sketchiness is what is referred to as MH Shimmer, most people desire this affect. You went from a 65w bulb to a 70w bulb, you can't expect a dramatic difference. If you can find a 150w MH ballast, you can hook it up to the fixture, I think they are the same sized bulbs? you would need a 150w bulb though. Adding the 65w PC will add more light, and make the tank look brighter. I would go with a solid 10k PC bulb if the 14k is too blue for you. i think it took a couple hours just to get used to it. the MH shimmer is actually super nice once you get used to it too. the light overall looked less blue after a couple hours and i just started to get used to it, and forget how my old one was. its kind of like if you get the worst plasma tv on the market, and you wanted the best one, but once you watch yours for long enough, you would never know a difference because you adjust to it. i might go pick up a coral or two at the lfs today, i'll see if they got any deals on right now. thanks for your help. Link to comment
Travis Posted May 9, 2007 Share Posted May 9, 2007 Hey Al, check out this thread, I just redid my scape. http://www.nano-reef.com/forums/index.php?...t&p=1147626 Link to comment
alexmurovec Posted May 9, 2007 Author Share Posted May 9, 2007 What'd you get? What'd you get? i am going after school, so in about 3 hours i'll post an update if i get something. Hey Al, check out this thread, I just redid my scape. http://www.nano-reef.com/forums/index.php?...t&p=1147626 great, i'll take a look. Link to comment
alexmurovec Posted May 9, 2007 Author Share Posted May 9, 2007 well all the lfs in kelowna officially blow! total pet is just a right off, and petcetera is the same. pet city is the only ok one, and their xs gsp and clove polyp frags are 60 bucks! plus, most of their corals have aiptasia and bubble algae on them. theres one privately owned, home based saltwater reef store, so i'm going to go check that out soon. Link to comment
mr.fishman01 Posted May 10, 2007 Share Posted May 10, 2007 im checking out your thread a little late but how did you make your internal overflow box? I have a 20H tank that needs redoing and your tanks setup may be its mentor. And what ballast are you using for your 70w Halide? Link to comment
willyboy Posted May 10, 2007 Share Posted May 10, 2007 The MH looks great Alex. I want to see some corals, but not for $60. Does your shroom(s) still look the same? Link to comment
alexmurovec Posted May 10, 2007 Author Share Posted May 10, 2007 im checking out your thread a little late but how did you make your internal overflow box? I have a 20H tank that needs redoing and your tanks setup may be its mentor. And what ballast are you using for your 70w Halide? i just made a plexi glass corner in my tank, just 2 pieces, joined at 90 degrees, to form a square corner in my tank. i cut the plexi glass as high as i wanted the water level to be, ya know. i should have put slits in the overflow plexi glass, because snails and other stuff can just fall right over top and into the overflow compartment. hopefully this wont happen with fish. so anyways, just cut slits like all the cube tanks. then in my overflow i just have some filter floss, intake for HOB, heater, pump which feeds the output drilled thru the plexi glass wall. other than that, the overflow is pretty empty, and my cheato and lr rubble are in my HOB filter. i find by putting the intake for the HOB inside the overflow, the only place where water is being sucked in, by either HOB or powerhead, is throw that overflow. so all the water has to come over that overflow and then to the intakes of my pumps. putting filter floss on the top of the overflow is great, because its garrunteed to see all the water in the tank, and filter it out. hopefully some of this made sense, if you got anymore questions, just ask. The MH looks great Alex. I want to see some corals, but not for $60. Does your shroom(s) still look the same? at the lfs today i saw their one tank just covered in that mushroom, they are just regular mushrooms, nothing special and they just took over the hole tank. i decided i do not want to have any mushrooms just because of that reason, maybe a couple ricordeas or something, but i'm gonna keep them in control. so in that case, the mushroom is out of the tank. i think the home based reef store has one frag of gsp for 30, but other than that, i gotta wait till the online supplier gets more stock in. i cant wait! Link to comment
mr.fishman01 Posted May 10, 2007 Share Posted May 10, 2007 i just made a plexi glass corner in my tank, just 2 pieces, joined at 90 degrees, to form a square corner in my tank. i cut the plexi glass as high as i wanted the water level to be, ya know. i should have put slits in the overflow plexi glass, because snails and other stuff can just fall right over top and into the overflow compartment. hopefully this wont happen with fish. so anyways, just cut slits like all the cube tanks. then in my overflow i just have some filter floss, intake for HOB, heater, pump which feeds the output drilled thru the plexi glass wall. other than that, the overflow is pretty empty, and my cheato and lr rubble are in my HOB filter. i find by putting the intake for the HOB inside the overflow, the only place where water is being sucked in, by either HOB or powerhead, is throw that overflow. so all the water has to come over that overflow and then to the intakes of my pumps. putting filter floss on the top of the overflow is great, because its garrunteed to see all the water in the tank, and filter it out. hopefully some of this made sense, if you got anymore questions, just ask. yeah i do have another. which ballast did you buy for your halide? Link to comment
alexmurovec Posted May 10, 2007 Author Share Posted May 10, 2007 yeah i do have another. which ballast did you buy for your halide? sorry i missed a question i got a nais ballast from a member on these forums. its the same one they sell on hellolights i think, but i could be wrong. so far, its been working good, and it doesn't get very hot. my DIY pendant gets pretty hot, but it hasn't affected my water temp more than 1 degree which is suprising. Link to comment
mr.fishman01 Posted May 11, 2007 Share Posted May 11, 2007 ok. I was wondering b/c ballastwise.com and hellolights.com both have ballasts but Ballastwise.com is cheaper and i dont want to buy one at the cheaper price just to have it mess up or run really hot. Link to comment
willyboy Posted May 11, 2007 Share Posted May 11, 2007 If its not too late, I think you should keep the shroom. You could isolate it on a small rock on the sand so it wont take over. They don't spread too fast if you just keep an eye on them. There's no telling how long it took the shrooms at the LFS to take over that tank. They probably don't pay attention the those shrooms. Link to comment
alexmurovec Posted May 11, 2007 Author Share Posted May 11, 2007 If its not too late, I think you should keep the shroom. You could isolate it on a small rock on the sand so it wont take over. They don't spread too fast if you just keep an eye on them. There's no telling how long it took the shrooms at the LFS to take over that tank. They probably don't pay attention the those shrooms. well its too late unfortunately, but i felt it was the right move. heres some good news though, i just got back from a home based business that specializes in saltwater fish tanks. i got a medium sized frogspawn and a cleaner shrimp, total was 60 bucks. anyways, the frogspawn is on a pretty big piece of lr and i was wondering if i can possible move it to a smaller piece. also, there are a bunch of little critters swimming around on the rock it came with, look like very very very small mantis, but lets hope they are pods. they are too small to tell, and are a little bit see through. i'm sure it should be good, because this frag came from their big 250G main display. i attached some pictures of the frogspawn, its currently just temp acclimating right now. maybe i should just put it in the sandbed for now until maybe i can move it to a smaller piece of lr rubble? it looks like it has been glued to this peice it is on right now anywho. Link to comment
MacheteAvenue Posted May 11, 2007 Share Posted May 11, 2007 The tanks lookin awsome! Not sure if anyone answered about your sand being blue from the 14K bulb but after a few days its will whiten up.. if it hasn't already. Is that reefkeepers place open on weekends? Link to comment
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