digitallinx Posted March 23, 2004 Share Posted March 23, 2004 18gal Via Aqua 70w MH(ushio 10000k/Sylvania Ballast) will add 36w True Blue Actinic once bulb comes in Ecosystem 40/HOB Refugium(Various Macro/4lb LR/10lb LS) 25lb LR/55lb LS-5"(Arogonite/Southdown mix) 20 various snails(margarita, astrea, bumblebee,cerith, nassi,stoma's) 4 hermits/ 1 emerald crab 4 small bristle worms/1 lg grey worm/several tube worms/peanuts tons of small feather dusters/2 lg brown striped Blue spotted watchman Goby and Neon dottyback Orange Sea Star Various Colored zoo's,frogspawn,Candy coral,pagoda cup, capnella,various mushrooms,devil's hand,green yuma's,brown acro,green hydno,gsp,toadstool ***10 hr light 24/7 light on fuge(10w coralife 50/50) 2.5 gal water change ro/di every week(religiously) dose-2 pt Bi-ionic/coral vite/reef solution feed-phyto,frozen mix,table shrimp auto top off >>>salinity 1.024 temp 78 degrees all other parems were they should be Link to comment
theclearblue Posted March 23, 2004 Share Posted March 23, 2004 How long has the sea star been in the tank, any problems? Do you do you feed it? Very nice looking tank, wish I'd gone with a DSB too. Link to comment
digitallinx Posted March 23, 2004 Author Share Posted March 23, 2004 the star has been in the tank for about a month, as far as feeding...i don't directly feed it anything, i guess it eats of the rock or the food scattered in the tank, he's about 1.5 inches Link to comment
smythie14s Posted March 23, 2004 Share Posted March 23, 2004 Those last pics, are they a blenny with a mandarin? Just wondering because I really want a Mandarin when I get my tank set-up, but will wait about a year or so! Oh, nice tank by the way! Chris Link to comment
smythie14s Posted March 23, 2004 Share Posted March 23, 2004 Ok nvm...thats a dottyback! Very nice! Link to comment
ratched Posted March 24, 2004 Share Posted March 24, 2004 Very nice tank! I have the same via aqua. Would like to upgrade fromthe pc's. Could you tell us more about your light system? Thanks. Link to comment
digitallinx Posted March 24, 2004 Author Share Posted March 24, 2004 thanks for the compliment...as far as the lighting, i got the idea from this thread.... http://www.nano-reef.com/forums/showthread...&threadid=24207 also i added a sylvania quicktronic http://www.goodmart.com/products/200134.htm ,instead of the usual aromat or wpi, don't mind the price i got it for much cheaper. the only problem that i experienced is the heat the bulb(70aq ushio 10000k) throws out. i have small pc fans(40mm) on each side, one blowing in and one blowing out, i also have a fan blowing on top of the hood and tank, keeping things cool outside the tank as well as inside. But, I forgot to connect the fans one day and cracked the glass(regular 1/16 window glass, actually 1/8 size fits perfect in the grooves). so make sure you have enough ventilation in the hood (Via Aqua hoods are much thinner then CSL, thus less room for air to move) or go with tempered glass. I also added a DIY moonlight that i picked up at PEPBOYS. Good Luck with your project, would like to see your tank once you done. thankx digi... Link to comment
mattie Posted March 24, 2004 Share Posted March 24, 2004 pretty nice tank good idea on the lighting it makes the tank Link to comment
SeaSide Posted March 24, 2004 Share Posted March 24, 2004 Nice tank. It looks like you have an overflow box. Can you show us your plumbing and sump? Link to comment
digitallinx Posted March 24, 2004 Author Share Posted March 24, 2004 thankx...it's not connected to a sump, i wish i had done some type of plumbing on this tank...it's a refugium with overflow box http://www.ecosystemaquarium.com/html/hangonback.html Link to comment
myelin Posted March 24, 2004 Share Posted March 24, 2004 Nice tank. I had a small red sea star like yours until my carpet anenome decided to sting it. Before that, it was quite the hardy creature. Link to comment
sandsrfr Posted March 25, 2004 Share Posted March 25, 2004 Nice Tank I too have this fixture and I am either going to take a stab at retro'g it with a MH or will start a new tank all together. So how long have you been running the 70 MH in the via aqua hood? You mentioned you had a heat problem? Was that only in so much as it cracked the glass, or also that it was really overheating your tank? I'm thinking that the 2x36pcs aren't enought light to sustain corals at the bottom of the tank (ie: keep good color) over long periods of time (ie: 2+ yrs in my experience). So I'm tempting the MH trend now. Any thoughts/experiences you've had would be great to hear. Thanks, Sands P.S. How much did you end up getting the sylvania $302 ballast fore? Link to comment
digitallinx Posted March 25, 2004 Author Share Posted March 25, 2004 Thank you and good luck on your project! I've been running the MH for approxiamately 2 weeks now. Like I stated above the heat and crack of the glass was due to the fans not turned on. MH bulbs runs higher temps then regular pc bulbs. I suggest you put two fans small 40mm (they have them on ebay called sunco or something like that), one blowing in and one blowing out. I put my fans on as soon as the lights go on and about 10 minutes after the lights go off, to cool things down. As far as anything else getting hot, I haven't experienced that problem. I run a fan on top of hood/tank, to keep the tank at 78 Degrees( It's a little hot in my house, not to much air flow). Remember, Via Aqua's are open top tanks and the lights sit about 5" above so if you have proper air circulation in your house/apartment you shouldn't have a problem. As far as any experiences on the light fixture, it's still too early to tell, just have enough air flow in the hood and outside the hood to keep the temp. of the bulb a little down....I'll tell you this much, MH is the way to go, the corals love it and the tank looks much better. Corals look much fuller, in two weeks, I already have growth on zoo's I just spotted three bright solid yellow polyps(WOOHOO), toadstool stands tall and full, just overall better then pc's. And I'm just running the 70w MH, waiting for 36w actinic to come in the mail. The sylvania ballast I purchased of ebay, forgot the guys name, for about $50.00 and I have a aromat ballast 5 series on the side just in case. Good luck on your lighting project and tank and I would like to see your outcome once you're done. thanks Digi.... Link to comment
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