Becact's Zeovit SPS Cadlights 39g Sig

[Anthonyjiz]

How'd you get those Ricordea's all formed to one and going up??

[becact]

How'd you get those Ricordea's all formed to one and going up??

 

I superglued a small rock to a frag plug, then superglued the rics to the rock

[mkregs]

Very nice indeed!

[timdanger]

those are some nice looking frags! i especially love those orange-fuschia ricordea, though.

 

you're doing good work over there!

[becact]

I am thinking of getting rid of my ATI fixture for a different and unique lighting setup. It would cost me some coin to upgrade, and I still need to do some research, but if I go through with it would be very cool indeed. Stay tuned for details

[Reefman36]

Why are you thinking of getting rid of the ati fixture?

[becact]

I'm very happy with it, that's not why I'm thinking of changing light setups. If I go this new route I'd just have a very unique lighting system.

[becact]

Got a new coral today, a mini colony of aussie dendros. Denrophyllia are different from sun corals because they are easier to get to stay open all day. Here's a picture during feeding time. This is the second time I fed them today. They're hungry!

 

 

[DaveFason]

Looking good becact.

 

Are you looking at LED spotlights?

 

Anyways I know you said you dont like buying bulbs from the net but try aquarium specialty out. They are only a day shipping to FL.

 

I use the same Sunpower fixture and found one of my favorite bulb combos is...

 

ATI Blue +

Aquablue Special

Fiji Purple

Blue +

 

Gives a radium look and I think it would help some of your corals pop.

 

Anyways keep it up!

 

-Dave

[becact]

Yup, you guessed correctly, lol. I think EvilC himself is the only one currently lighting a larger tank this way. I was thinking of going with 3 or 4 spotlights. But I'm really happy with the ATI, so it will be a tough decision.

 

You know, I just tried your combo and didn't like it at all, until I installed the bulbs in the order you suggest. Before I had:

 

blue plus

Fiji purple

blue plus

aquablue

 

because I wanted the two blue plus bulbs on for sunrise/set. In this configuration the Fiji was just too much and gave the tank a pink tint. I also tried three blue plus and the Fiji, but again it was too pink.

 

then I tried the order:

 

blue plus

Fiji

aquablue

blue plus

 

Much better! I think that the aquablue being right next to the Fiji negates a lot of the pink effect. I think I will keep this combo for a few days at least to see if I like it long term. I do have to sacrifice my two blue plus bulbs as sunrise/set (now I have a blue plus and Fiji), but the blue plus and fiji don't look all that bad. I guess I could rewire the fixture so the two outside bulbs come one separately, and then have the best of both worlds.

 

The addition of the Fiji really makes my orange colors stand out, especially on the new dendros. I did like the 3 blue plus and aquablue, but the tint was kind of a pale blue. Now the tint is very white with just a touch of pink. The tips of my cali torts have better contrast with the black background now, as well, though the blue is not as vibrant. I still might go back to my old combo but will give this one a chance at least.

 

Another benefit is that it's much easier to take pictures since the tank is brighter. Here's a photo of the new dendros mostly open. The color change from the last pics to this pic is about equal to the color change in real life when changing the T5 bulbs:

 

[becact]

Almost forgot; I had to frag one of my cali torts and my valida due to STN around the base. I also removed the green slimer and superglued over some regions of STN that was extending up into the branches. The green milli also had STN of the base.

 

After asking the zeovit folks, I have tuned down the flow through my reactor, as indeed it was too high (30-40gph). Now it's probably 20 or so. Also, I am not pumping the media for 3 days. This should give the corals a chance to rest from the aggressive nutrient reduction. From now on, I will change my zeoliths and carbon at least a week apart, as changing them both at once may be too large a shock.

 

The STN on the green milli has stopped. Let's hope they can start to heal now!

[DaveFason]

Each there own

 

I to was thinking of lighting my new tank with the spotlights on a track light system. I am still not sure about LED's and SPS. T5's have proved that they can stack up with anything and the fixture's not look so good. I want to try some powerbrites out and see if I can get some of the corals to pop even more!

 

Anyways good job!

 

-Dave

[Rehype]

Good call on changing the bulb order. The colors look alot more natural. Sorry to hear about the frags succumbing to stn. I change my carbon every 4 weeks and my zeolites every 6-8 weeks. Hey b are you running the pump in 3 hour intervals or continuously?

[becact]

Continuously. I asked, but they said to just run it 24/7.

 

I saved about 90% of the cali tort and 50% of the valida, so at least I didn't lose all of them. I also got a nice frag from the tort that I can sell when it heals up.

 

There's a company coming out with a 35w metal halide spotlight in early 2010. So maybe one or two of those in the mix would be good

[Rehype]

I run mine continuously as well. Well i started with the 3 hour intervals but after a month i started running them continuously.

 

Im glad you were able to save them. Hope it all works out with time

 

The spotlight option should be cool as long as you have a way to dim them

[mew]

STN/RTN blows. I just had a bout with that over the Thanksgiving holiday week. I lost some nice pieces like my pearlberry. Glad it stopped early enough for you.

[becact]

I sure hope the STN is done. I'm keeping a close eye on all the corals. If I can get through 2 or 3 weeks I'll consider it passed.

 

Unfortunately there is no way to dim Evil's PAR38 spotlights. Even if they could, I wouldn't be too keen on buying a controller to do it. I'd just stick to the old school 2 hours sunrise/set on either side of the full lights.

 

Someone in my local club has a PAR meter, and I am trying to convince them to bring it over so I can get some readings with different bulb combos. I suspect they are probably pretty high, as the Fiji purple and Aquablue are both among the highest PAR T5s out there, and the blue plus are not far behind.

[becact]

I swapped out the Aquablue for a UVL actinic, so now I am running 2 ATI Blue Plus, a KZ Fiji Purple, and a UVL Super Actinic. I was worried about having too much PAR on the sandbed, where I have some low light corals. Also, I like the color better. The tank is still pretty bright, surprisingly, and probably not as blue as you might think. The whiter bulbs seem to easily wash out the blue.

 

Also, I figured out how much flow my tank has. The display on this tank is about 25 gallons, and I keep my Vortech at about 50%. The Vortech goes from 1000-3200 gph, so at 50% it is 2100 gph. I'm guessing the return is about 500gph (that's what Cad's site says), so I have a flow rate of 104 times my tank's volume per hour! However, on reef crest mode the Vortech is random and tops out at what you set it at, so most of the time it is lower than that. But that's still pretty good. If I were to dial the Vortech to 100% (which I do occasionally) I would have about 150 times turnover.

 

I also removed the jawfish house because he just isn't even looking at it. I feel bad that he is in the back of the tank, and that the sand is not really deep enough for him to make a proper burrow in the front. But there's no way to catch him to give him to a larger tank... I squirt several mysis in his cave at feeding time, so at least he's getting food. I rarely ever see him though, only when I look into the cave from an extreme angle from the back of the tank.

 

I also really need a new magnetic cleaner as the magfloat just isn't cutting it. It's not very strong and doesn't clean the corners very well. Thinking about getting a nimble nano but the guy took a week or two just to respond to my e-mail, so I'm not sure I want to send money unless I know my product will leave in a reasonable amount of time.

[Rehype]

Those jawfish houses are a gamble since jawfish burrow wherever they please. But i wouldnt worry about it my jawfish started his burrow in the back of the tank as well. Then a few months later(to my surprise) he started a new one right in the front of the tank.

[BlakeL]

After calculating the price of a 40g Breeder build, I am seriously considering this or the 22g CAD.

[becact]

I've done some reading that indicates Salifert alk tests are consistently 2.0 dkh too high. That means since I've been keeping my alk at 7-7.5 with Salifert, it may actually be 5-5.5! Perhaps this is the cause of my STN woes (found some more today, don't know if it was there before though since the other STN has stopped). I'll be picking up some Elos kits soon since my Salifert Ca and Alk are almost out.

 

If that is true, it makes sense. Someone keeping a traditional Berlin tank at 10 dkh would not be affected by a bad test kit, as their alk would still be 8 in actuality. But for someone on zeovit who needs to keep their tank at 7.5, having a kit read 2 dkh too high is a big deal! At least if the Elos kit reads the same as the Salifert, I can rule out that as a cause of my problems.

 

How deep is your sand E? Mine is only 1-1.5", so it doesn't leave the jawfish many options. In the 90g with 3" sand he dug one out in the open and tunneled to a rock. In this tank the opening is going to have to be right up against a rock, I'd think. I guess I'll just have to wait and see!

[timdanger]

I also really need a new magnetic cleaner as the magfloat just isn't cutting it. It's not very strong and doesn't clean the corners very well. Thinking about getting a nimble nano but the guy took a week or two just to respond to my e-mail, so I'm not sure I want to send money unless I know my product will leave in a reasonable amount of time.

 

If you are having concerns about sending your money to Jerome, there are two things to keep in mind: 1) there are definitely a lot of people on nano-reef who use the Nimble Nano; and 2) I can tell you from my own experience that he sent it out when he said he would, and although the post office took longer than expected to get it to me (i'd request priority mail shipping in one of those flat-rate boxes), it has been a very nice addition to the tank. i think a lot of others would say the same.

 

HTH.

 

Those jawfish houses are a gamble since jawfish burrow wherever they please. But i wouldnt worry about it my jawfish started his burrow in the back of the tank as well. Then a few months later(to my surprise) he started a new one right in the front of the tank.

 

my jawfish's burrow is.. what's the footprint of the tank again, 24x20? ya, that's about where he hangs out.

 

seriously though, i got lucky and my jawfish hangs out up front about 99% of the time. it was just a totally random happenstance, though.

 

i haven't had any experience doing this, but an idea for relocating jawfish = target feed directly into the jawfish house (or other desired location)!

 

How deep is your sand E? Mine is only 1-1.5", so it doesn't leave the jawfish many options. In the 90g with 3" sand he dug one out in the open and tunneled to a rock. In this tank the opening is going to have to be right up against a rock, I'd think. I guess I'll just have to wait and see!

 

you didn't ask, but my sand is 1-1.5" as well. my bluespot jawfish dug his tunnels/burrows out down to the glass, but he seems happy.

[Rehype]

[quote name='becact' date='Dec 7 2009, 01:11 AM' post='2559798'

 

How deep is your sand E? Mine is only 1-1.5", so it doesn't leave the jawfish many options. In the 90g with 3" sand he dug one out in the open and tunneled to a rock. In this tank the opening is going to have to be right up against a rock, I'd think. I guess I'll just have to wait and see!

 

 

Hey B my sand is about 1-1.5 inches as well. My jawfish has rearranged the sand so that its the deepest where his burrow is. That why i tell ppl not to worry about having such a deep sand bed as your jawfish will arrange the the sand to his liking. At one point the the sand in the back of my tank was nearly 3" high while the sand in the front was only a centimeter or so high

[becact]

Thanks guys, the jawfish will have to survive without a PVC house for now . The sand around his cave is about 4" thick so I know what you're talking about, lol.

 

I just ordered Elos Mg and Ca kits, and a LaMotte Alk kit. I got the Mg kit locally and tested the water tonight, and it was 1200, so I added some Mg supplement to my online order. I also ordered the nanomag cleaner.

 

edit: another reason I think the Salifert Alk test is inaccurate is because my pH is not going above 7.8. A low alkalinity would explain this. Can't wait to test and find out if alk issues are indeed the cause of my STN!

[timdanger]

Thanks guys, the jawfish will have to survive without a PVC house for now . The sand around his cave is about 4" thick so I know what you're talking about, lol.

 

I just ordered Elos Mg and Ca kits, and a LaMotte Alk kit. I got the Mg kit locally and tested the water tonight, and it was 1200, so I added some Mg supplement to my online order. I also ordered the nanomag cleaner.

 

edit: another reason I think the Salifert Alk test is inaccurate is because my pH is not going above 7.8. A low alkalinity would explain this. Can't wait to test and find out if alk issues are indeed the cause of my STN!

 

I'd love to hear your impressions of the Elos test kits (especially versus the Salifert).

 

I've been holding off on purchasing test kits after my last set expired, just letting the LFS test my water, but I really feel like I'm dosing in the dark during the week between LFS-visits. Not fun, and probably not good for stability. Elos seems to be the preferred kit at this time (based on reviews I've read), but I'd still like to hear your opinion.