Sushi's ELOS

[sammy113]

Naruto

[captainbastard]

Naruto

 

Well Sasuke Uchiha, but yes the name of the show is Naruto

[sammy113]

Yeah, that. Sasuke and Itachi. I used to see it. Got to see some of the Shippudden though. Then got tired.

 

 

Tunned to see the new lamp

[supernip]

sushi's real name is sasuke btw

[sammy113]

[Sushi]

haha, maybe sometimes

 

Anyways, I snapped a few photos when I received the package earlier this week. For those of you who haven't had time to browse through the previous pages, I switched out the G1-110w to a G2-160w (with 30w LEDs), these suckers are BRIGHT!

 

Box

 

Package

 

Contents

 

Guts

 

30w LED

 

Quick shot over the tank...

 

As you can see the tank is super dirty, so I'm not taking a FTS until I get around to cleaning the back and right panel of the tank. Corals look a little bland now, because they've been under the E-Lite during the transition, but I'm fairly confident that they'll color in a little more with the replacement fixture.

 

You can see my ORA Yellow Assessor in the shot, one of my favorite fish!

 

Also, if you note the "dimmer" LEDs from the reflection, these are the "VIOLET" LEDs that MAXSPECT is now including in the fixtures. Please be aware though, that I swapped some of the bulbs out, so I have more blues and violets than a normal unit would have. I think I switched out a total of 6 whites and replaced them with 4 violets and 2 blues. So, I have more "blue" in the fixture than the standard version.

[supernip]

is that the cree version?

[sammy113]

doesn't look CREE to me. But is bright as hell. Those 30 watters should kick very nice

Hope this one works out great for you.

[Sushi]

Nope, they're not the 30w CREE's (at least I don't think so).

 

And Sammy is right, the 30w LEDs are a lot more impressive than I initially thought they would be. This time around, I made sure to request for a unit that had been tested to ensure functionality. Also ordered the extra few blue/violet/white XP-G LEDs too for when I want to adjust coloration against the white 30w LED. I am loving the 3 step timer though, I have it setup right now like this:

 

(Actinics) Blue/Violet -- ON for 8 hours

(Mixed) White with some B/V -- ON for 6 hours

(Whites) 30w Whites -- ON for 2 hours

 

Depending on how the corals adjust, I'll likely adjust the whites to 4 hours in a few weeks.

 

And.. lastly, I've been TRYING to fight an outbreak of Valonia at the moment... boy do I hate Bubble Algae, along with Bryopsis, and Caulerpa. My triple threat nightmare! Red slime is a joke compared to those three.

 

I bought an emerald crab but he prefers Mysis Shrimp over Valonia.

[captainbastard]

Yeah, that. Sasuke and Itachi. I used to see it. Got to see some of the Shippudden though. Then got tired.

 

 

Tunned to see the new lamp

 

I never really watched Naruto too much. Shippuuden has had some really sick fights though and you can get it in 720p. If you want something really good to watch then check out Full Metal Alchemist Brotherhood. Those lights are sick sushi

[Sushi]

Man, I can't find emerald crabs anywhere.

 

I seriously hate pest algae... small outbreaks of valonia, bryopsis, red slime... it never ends!

[Sushi]

Got a PM regarding the LEDs that I swapped.

 

Here's a rough description as to where the LEDs are.

 

B V V W B W V V B

W B @ B B B @ B W

W B @ B B B @ B W

B V V W B W V V B

 

B = MaxSpect Royal Blue

V = MaxSpect Violet

W = MaxSpect Cool White

 

@ = 30w MaxSpect White LEDs

There are only 2 of these, the @ is a placeholder.

 

I switched out a total of 4 violets and 2 blues. I really like the color temps that I'm getting as the tank cycles through the photoperiods. (Actinic to ~20K look to ~12K look and back). I think after a year or two I might start switching the violets to all blues, and start swapping the remaining whites to the CREE versions.

 

Also, I'm planning to cut down on photoperiod. This past month I've been getting a diatom bloom. The bryopsis has been kept in check with Kent Tech M, and the Red Slime has diminished slightly (save for a few areas of the tank), valonia has been disappearing slightly (manual removal and maybe some help from the emerald crab), but now I'm getting a small re-bloom of diatoms.

 

Old Photoperiod:

(Actinics) Blue/Violet -- ON for 8 hours

(Mixed) White with some B/V -- ON for 6 hours

(Whites) 30w Whites -- ON for 2 hours

 

Proposed New Photoperiod:

(Actinics) Blue/Violet -- ON for 7 hours

(Mixed) White with some B/V -- ON for 5 hours

(Whites) 30w Whites -- ON for 1 hour

 

I'll also have to kick it up a notch with water changes too. I'll be trying to do 2 gallon changes weekly to help combat the algae.

 

And lastly, I have to say, my corals are picking their colors back up! They're looking REALLY good now, and I'm happy to say that my SPS have gotten their vibrant colors back. The ELOS e-lite just couldn't cut it.

[fiction101]

Why are your water changes so small? I do a weekly 5g water change on my 18g and that's with zero fish. I'm sure that's one reason why you're having all these algae issues.

[Sushi]

I've always done small water changes, never really had a problem until recently with the swapping of lights. Back in the days I'd do 5g on a 40g monthly and that worked out perfectly.

 

I think if I do water changes at 2 gallons week, it should be sufficient. Previously I'd do 1 gallon weekly, but that obviously isn't cutting it with waste removal.

 

Honestly I think 5g weekly on a 18g is excessive but if it works for you that's great.

[sammy113]

5 gallon on a 18 g tank seems too much for me. You want to replenish some trace elements consumed not create a huge change in water chemistry but that's just my opinion. I do like Sushi and we have just about the same tank

[fiction101]

It clearly showing that you're not doing enough water changes. Clean tanks don't have bubble algae, bryopsis, red slime and caulerpa outbreaks all at once. I don't buy it for a second that your lights are the main cause of these problems. These things needs lots of nutrients to thrive.

[Sushi]

It clearly showing that you're not doing enough water changes. Clean tanks don't have bubble algae, bryopsis, red slime and caulerpa outbreaks all at once. I don't buy it for a second that your lights are the main cause of these problems. These things needs lots of nutrients to thrive.

 

You're right, more water changes it is.

 

As for the Valonia and Bryopsis, I've always had them in the tank, been a constant battle ever since the frags started coming in. Just happened to explode during the last few months despite my current routine. I guess the only thing besides water changes is that it's about time for me to change my Chemipure Elite too.

[Sushi]

Still working on the algae problem, but here's a long delayed FTS.

 

30w LEDs weren't on for this pic, so it looks a bit purple (20k-ish).

 

April 2010 - FTS

 

My Yellow Assessor looks like a spot of algae on the glass

 

I need to move some corals around, especially those straddling the rock-work on the sand bed. Before I can do that though, I want to see if I can rid my tank of the diatoms with larger volume water changes. Going to pull the skimmer out and clean the pump on that too.

[Sushi]

Been doing some massive maintenance this past month. I've managed to rid myself significantly of several types of algae. I bought 1 emerald crab a few months back that I never really saw until recently. I thought it died but it's just lurking in the shadows. To my amazement he has thinned out the valonia (along with careful manual removal of the larger spores). The bryopsis is further diminishing due to my Kent Tech M treatments. Lastly, my red slime and what I initially thought were diatoms (which were really dinoflagellates), were diminished with a 3-day blackout.

 

I've tried blackouts in the past, but never really saw any benefits... so this time around I monitored the tank carefully and throughout the blackout period, I saw that the dinos and red slime noticeably deteriorated and disappeared.

 

In addition to the blackout, I have been doing small incremental water changes (2g a week). I figure it would be a good time to swap out my Chemipure Elite as well so I tossed my old bag and threw in a new one. The last step that I did was change the settings on my Tunze 9002. Before, I had it set to skim somewhat dry (dark slush/mud), but I changed it to skim wet and I think it's been helping out as I'm getting a lot of skimmate.

 

I'm going to stir the sand later this afternoon and siphon up some detritus... when the dust settles I'll post up another FTS.

 

I'm going to try to take some macro pics of my Birdsnest... it's looking really crazy with new growths protruding out of the main stalk.

[Weetabix7]

Very glad to hear of the improvements and your hard work paying off.

Looking forward to pics when you get a chance.

[sammy113]

Good to hear you're back on track. I've tried blackout also and it worked for me. Looking forward to pics as well.

[Sushi]

So I finally managed to take some pics... these were taken on my new Canon G11, I'm still playing around with the settings and the white balance so please bear with me. LEDs are hard to photograph and I find myself tweaking settings constantly. It is a very interesting learning process though.

 

This is one of my favorite shots:

 

Simple pic of the tank from a corner view:

 

Side View:

 

Not so clear pic of my peppermint shrimp carrying eggs... look at my Cardinal, can't wait for them to hatch!

 

Close up of my cardinal next to some zoas

 

Lastly, a long awaited FTS for May 2010

[sammy113]

Wuuu very nice!!! Those pics look so good to be under LEDs. I wish I could take something close to that

Tank looks like nothing happened before with all the algae and stuff

[Weetabix7]

Very nice!

I know how hard it can be to take good pics under LEDs, you have always made it look effortless.

[Sushi]

Wuuu very nice!!! Those pics look so good to be under LEDs. I wish I could take something close to that

Tank looks like nothing happened before with all the algae and stuff

Thanks... I was suprised myself at how nice the blackout was. All that's left for me to battle is the remnants of Bryopsis.

 

Very nice!

I know how hard it can be to take good pics under LEDs, you have always made it look effortless.

Thanks My biggest challenge is taking pics under 20K or actinic lighting. Under Actinics, I either get pics that look REALLY washed out in blue, or they're just way too vibrant and look fake almost. I guess this summer I'll try and practice to get the hang of it. I really want to take some nice actinic shots to share.