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THE OFFICIAL ASK ALBERT THIEL THREAD


ZephNYC

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Les that is indeed a good price. I have some questions though ...

 

- how many LED's

55 LED's 3 watts each but only driven to 2 watts.

- what colors and how many of each color

30pcs Bridgelux Blue LED :465nm ;25pcs Bridgelux white LED 14000K

- did the unit come completely ready to use or did you have to do some assembly

plug and play just set the controller.

BTW I have mine set at 80% blues 100% whites.

- is it made for UK voltage with transformers inline ?

Made for the UK but made for most countries inc US with relative voltage and plugs etc.

 

 

 

Does it have anything else in it besides the LED's, e.g. T5 or actinic etc ..

Nope just the above.

 

Love to get some more info.

 

also nice tank ... I guess that was made in the UK (Company called Twister?)

 

Thanks, the tank is made by a company called Interpet but also branded it seems as a Kent so possibly branded as others. I have heavely modified it however in fact the only thing I can think of that remains standard is the glass itself :lol: You name it I have moded it and added to it one way or another.

 

Les

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albertthiel
Hey Albert!

 

Great to see a prominent reefing figure like you around the forums. Glad to have you here! :welcome:

 

Thanks for the kind words. They are appreciated. I enjoy being on the forum and learning as I read and sharing when I think I can make a contribution ....

 

Lots going on some days though and getting tons of notification messages :)

 

 

Albert

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Jedimaster when you have some time can you elaborate on this as if this is the norm then why would hobbyists want to use them ... or are these remarks about the lesser expensive ones coming out of China ...

 

Not sure I understand your post as so many Hobs seem to rave about LED's ... so IYO what would be a good mix of LED's (colors etc... and numbers) that would benefit ALL corals in the tank both SPS and LPS ...

 

Just trying to get more info from you as from everything I have seen YOU are the expert on them ...

 

Albert

 

 

 

 

Have you seen anything negative ? Can you post some pics of aquariums of Hobs in the UK who are using them showing that their corals are doing well ?

 

I think that would help .... Thanks Les

 

Albert

 

 

I can certainly post some of my own. Few people have posted pic's of corals under them and I don't like posting others pic's as I can only vouch for my own. However here's some recent ones of mine but do bare in mind I have had my lights barely a month so still early days.

CoralsundernewLEDs15062012020.jpg

CoralsundernewLEDs15062012016.jpg

 

CoralsundernewLEDs15062012013.jpg

CoralsundernewLEDs15062012011.jpg

 

CoralsundernewLEDs15062012010.jpg

 

 

CoralsundernewLEDs15062012009.jpg

CoralsundernewLEDs15062012008.jpg

 

CoralsundernewLEDs15062012007.jpg

CoralsundernewLEDs15062012006.jpg

 

CoralsundernewLEDs15062012002.jpg

CoralsundernewLEDs15062012017.jpg

 

CoralsundernewLEDs15062012001.jpg

 

CoralsundernewLEDs15062012.jpg

 

I have to say I am not the best at photography and the tank does not look so blue nor the corals as they do in the pic's

Edited by atoll
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albertthiel
55 LED's 3 watts each but only driven to 2 watts.

 

30pcs Bridgelux Blue LED :465nm ;25pcs Bridgelux white LED 14000K

 

plug and play just set the controller.

BTW I have mine set at 80% blues 100% whites.

 

Made for the UK but made for most countries inc US with relative voltage and plugs etc.

 

 

 

 

Nope just the above.

 

Love to get some more info.

 

 

 

Thanks, the tank is made by a company called Interpet but also branded it seems as a Kent so possibly branded as others. I have heavely modified it however in fact the only thing I can think of that remains standard is the glass itself :lol: You name it I have moded it and added to it one way or another.

 

Les

Thanks Les, well that answers a lot of the questions I have ... maybe some other members want to jump in if they have other ones.

 

Personally I have still not made up my mind on what I am going to use

 

I am waiting for some more info on the benefits of the current T5's (Zeph ... do you hear me :) )

 

 

Albert

 

 

 

I can certainly post some of my own. Few people have posted pic's of corals under them and I don't like posting others pic's as I can only vouch for my own. However here's some recent ones of mine but do bare in mind I have had my lights barely a month so still early days.

 

Wow ... that looks really GREAT ... love how those corals and other critters look ...

 

Besides the lighting if that has anything to do with it after 1 month (and at least nothing seems to be reacting negatively) you must have some pretty good filtration and mineralization/nitrifiation set up on that tank ..

 

Using a skimmer? Large? Any CO2 injection ? Any other reactors.

 

Again ... great looking tank and corals ... thanks for posting the pics. I am sure other members will enjoy seeing them as much as I did

 

Thanks

 

Albert

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Not sure I understand your post as so many Hobs seem to rave about LED's ... so IYO what would be a good mix of LED's (colors etc... and numbers) that would benefit ALL corals in the tank both SPS and LPS ...

Albert: LED's add a fantastic shimmer to the tank. But not all LED's are created equal. The PAR value on them vary.

 

HEre is a link to the ecoxotic stunner strip, an LED light that costs $50, is slim, easy to install and gives fabulous colors. HOWEVER! It will kill your corals as the PAR value is dismal. This light is for color only, not for coral health/growth, only for color enhancement.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vzVltnNIbRk

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albertthiel
yup. in a tupperware. :rolleyes:

His sea horses love me because they got some real plants to hold on to.

 

I did not see a Tupperware in that picture though :) but knowing Zeph now I am sure he could make it happen if he set his mind to it .. right ?

 

 

 

Albert

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yup. in a tupperware. :rolleyes:

His sea horses love me because they got some real plants to hold on to.

 

Due to the very high nutrient level in the seahorse system, Kats macro gift exploded.

Look at these guys..theyre like.." holy #$%!! is this real??"

dsc0239jv.jpg

Edited by ZephNYC
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albertthiel
Albert: LED's add a fantastic shimmer to the tank. But not all LED's are created equal. The PAR value on them vary.

 

HEre is a link to the ecoxotic stunner strip, an LED light that costs $50, is slim, easy to install and gives fabulous colors. HOWEVER! It will kill your corals as the PAR value is dismal. This light is for color only, not for coral health/growth, only for color enhancement.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vzVltnNIbRk

 

Kat ... if it is going to kill my corals (once I have the tank going) why would I want to use that light ... :)

 

I am reading a couple of articles on LED in Coral Magazine ... and got the one where Dr Joshi's article is in + articles by a few others so I am brushing up on knowledge on LEDs ...

 

So I guess I should not use that ecoxotic :) :)

 

Albert

 

 

Due to the very high nutrient level in the seahorse system, Kats macro gift exploded.

Look at these guys..theyre like.." holy #$%!! is this real??"

dsc0239jv.jpg

 

:) this looks like a painting or a photoshopped image ... :) Hair algae too .... :(

 

Not sure what you state is indeed what I see ... :) or maybe I can't see the pic well enough ...

 

Albert

Edited by albertthiel
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I did not see a Tupperware in that picture though :) but knowing Zeph now I am sure he could make it happen if he set his mind to it .. right ?

 

 

 

Albert

 

laughing again...i did...im growing 3 foot trees in a little tupper wear container. That just shows how friggin long theyve been in there!

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Thanks Les, well that answers a lot of the questions I have ... maybe some other members want to jump in if they have other ones.

 

Personally I have still not made up my mind on what I am going to use

 

I am waiting for some more info on the benefits of the current T5's (Zeph ... do you hear me :) )

 

 

Albert

 

 

 

 

 

Wow ... that looks really GREAT ... love how those corals and other critters look ...

 

Besides the lighting if that has anything to do with it after 1 month (and at least nothing seems to be reacting negatively) you must have some pretty good filtration and mineralization/nitrifiation set up on that tank ..

 

Using a skimmer? Large? Any CO2 injection ? Any other reactors.

 

Again ... great looking tank and corals ... thanks for posting the pics. I am sure other members will enjoy seeing them as much as I did

 

Thanks

 

Albert

 

 

Cheers Albert, I have sent you a PM to link to my tank build, not sure you can put links up of other forums on here hence the PM..

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albertthiel
laughing again...i did...im growing 3 foot trees in a little tupper wear container. That just shows how friggin long theyve been in there!

 

In a fuge (the pic I saw earlier today) ... what substrate are you using for them at the bottom of the tupperware?

 

What made you decide to put them in a tupperware ? Was it Kat ?

 

Albert

 

 

 

Cheers Albert, I have sent you a PM to link to my tank build, not sure you can put links up of other forums on here hence the PM..

 

Thanks Les, got it and will try to find out what the policy is on that ...

 

Can I put a link to another forum in this thread ? ? ?

 

Please someone let me know ... Thanks

 

Albert

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I am waiting for some more info on the benefits of the current T5's (Zeph ... do you hear me )

 

 

Albert

 

 

 

Albert,

You must have me confused, I only run halides. Never had a T5 in my life. Also I think you, or me, is seeing the seahorse pic wrong. There is no hair or micr algea..its a nice caulerpa field and some red grape something or other, the pic is not photoshopped .

 

In a fuge (the pic I saw earlier today) ... what substrate are you using for them at the bottom of the tupperware?

 

What made you decide to put them in a tupperware ? Was it Kat ?

 

Albert

 

 

Haaa...no that was long before Kat came into my life. I put them in a tupperware container 5 years, ago simply filled with sand. THey were small then. The good thing about it is I can move them around easy, like I just had to do. I am building a new dedicated 125 clam only system and will transplant them to a permanent position.

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albertthiel

Albert,

You must have me confused, I only run halides. Never had a T5 in my life. Also I think you, or me, is seeing the seahorse pic wrong. There is no hair or micr algea..its a nice caulerpa field and some red grape something or other, the pic is not photoshopped .

 

In a fuge (the pic I saw earlier today) ... what substrate are you using for them at the bottom of the tupperware?

 

What made you decide to put them in a tupperware ? Was it Kat ?

 

Albert

 

 

Haaa...no that was long before Kat came into my life. I put them in a tupperware container 5 years, ago simply filled with sand. THey were small then. The good thing about it is I can move them around easy, like I just had to do. I am building a new dedicated 125 clam only system and will transplant them to a permanent position.

 

Oops must be my mistake on the T-5's ... I'll have to figure out who it was ...

 

Got you on the other explanations ....

 

Thanks for clarifying

 

Albert

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albertthiel
This kind of made me laugh, because is the short version of my life story... I like to over due things. Gets me in trouble sometimes, but puts things in perspective. These two have grown more in the 2 months they've been under halides than they did in a year under the old shop type bulb. I just had to get them out of the clam system because of the iron issue, like you said. and this 300w system was pretty much the only alternative. But they are growing dangerously close to the bulbs so changes soon.

 

 

 

 

Yes, there are natural co2 producing alternatives like growing yeast etc..Im not exactly sure how its done, but I would much rather just have a niceee big old 20 lb canister of the good stuff. I can get it in NJ from my old wholesalers but its a trip. Its the one thing I never did before - carbon dioxide injection.

 

Never too late to start and if you can get the CO2 you are much better off .... when you are ready to start that project just let me know and I'll see how I can help you ... you'll need quite a few pieces ... I used to get mine from beer supplying places ... because you need the regulators and the pressure valves etc ... but more once you are ready to go ahead with that

 

Albert

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jedimasterben
Hmm don't tell that to the guys who have been running them for around 12 months here in the UK.

My sandy coloured hystrix is turning pink.,my LPS have never been so colourful same for my mushrooms and zoas. I agree its still early days yet for my tank but then others have been running them longer. I will just have to sit it out and see how they all develope over the coming months.

They will find this out on their own. It's mostly SPS that will brown out, but I have seen it firsthand in all types of coral. Unless you are supplementing with additional spectrum (mostly in the red area), they will not continue to be as colorful as they are.

 

It's like your body - You need high amounts of, for example, nutrient A, B, and C, and only small levels of D and E, but you only receive A, B, and C, and absolutely no D and E. At first you'll do fine, but without D and E, you will slowly be doing harm to your body.

 

I'm not saying your corals will not grow or survive, but they will not be nearly as colorful as they once were. this is the issue with narrow-spectrum LED arrays like that.

 

Jedimaster when you have some time can you elaborate on this as if this is the norm then why would hobbyists want to use them ... or are these remarks about the lesser expensive ones coming out of China ...

 

Not sure I understand your post as so many Hobs seem to rave about LED's ... so IYO what would be a good mix of LED's (colors etc... and numbers) that would benefit ALL corals in the tank both SPS and LPS ...

 

Just trying to get more info from you as from everything I have seen YOU are the expert on them ...

 

Albert

See my reply to Les above. I have nothing against less expensive LEDs, but if they are the wrong spectrum, the end user will end up unhappy with their tank. Using high-kelvin whites is the biggest issue with LEDs because people see "10,000k white LED" and they think "10,000K T5 bulb", but they look absolutely nothing alike.

 

The best starting point is using neutral white LEDs, 4000-5000k, mixed in a 1:2 or 2:3 ratio with royal blue. This combo alone will match or best most metal halide bulbs in terms of color rendition and overall tank color.

 

Lots of people are now adding violet (390-430nm), deep red (660-670nm), cyan/turquoise (480-530nm), and cool blue (470-480nm) into their arrays. These additional spectrums not only hit more photosynthetic peaks (violet in particular, but also deep red and cool blue) to add to growth, but also make corals simply fluoresce like has never been seen before. You will see colors on corals that you would otherwise never know were there, even with the most expensive and best of halide bulbs. I have seen this firsthand.

 

the amount of each LED to use depends on what brand of LED, how large a surface you are covering, and what kind of corals you would like to grow (like SPS needing more light/PAR).

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Kat ... if it is going to kill my corals (once I have the tank going) why would I want to use that light ... :)

 

:) this looks like a painting or a photoshopped image ... :) Hair algae too .... :(

Not sure what you state is indeed what I see ... :) or maybe I can't see the pic well enough ...

For color Albert. For supplemental lighting. I have 3 of them in my tank.

 

Zephs pic has caulerpa, you're seeing runners, not GHA.

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albertthiel
They will find this out on their own. It's mostly SPS that will brown out, but I have seen it firsthand in all types of coral. Unless you are supplementing with additional spectrum (mostly in the red area), they will not continue to be as colorful as they are.

 

It's like your body - You need high amounts of, for example, nutrient A, B, and C, and only small levels of D and E, but you only receive A, B, and C, and absolutely no D and E. At first you'll do fine, but without D and E, you will slowly be doing harm to your body.

 

I'm not saying your corals will not grow or survive, but they will not be nearly as colorful as they once were. this is the issue with narrow-spectrum LED arrays like that.

 

 

See my reply to Les above. I have nothing against less expensive LEDs, but if they are the wrong spectrum, the end user will end up unhappy with their tank. Using high-kelvin whites is the biggest issue with LEDs because people see "10,000k white LED" and they think "10,000K T5 bulb", but they look absolutely nothing alike.

 

The best starting point is using neutral white LEDs, 4000-5000k, mixed in a 1:2 or 2:3 ratio with royal blue. This combo alone will match or best most metal halide bulbs in terms of color rendition and overall tank color.

 

Lots of people are now adding violet (390-430nm), deep red (660-670nm), cyan/turquoise (480-530nm), and cool blue (470-480nm) into their arrays. These additional spectrums not only hit more photosynthetic peaks (violet in particular, but also deep red and cool blue) to add to growth, but also make corals simply fluoresce like has never been seen before. You will see colors on corals that you would otherwise never know were there, even with the most expensive and best of halide bulbs. I have seen this firsthand.

 

the amount of each LED to use depends on what brand of LED, how large a surface you are covering, and what kind of corals you would like to grow (like SPS needing more light/PAR).

 

Thanks for all the clarifications .... I have made a note to NOT get the cheap varieties for sure that is If I get LED at all ... not sure yet .. but I do thank you for the explanations and clarifications you are giving ... When it comes to LED's I seem to learn something new each time I read a message as there are so many and so many variations and other factors that it is indeed not that easy to understand reading just a few messages. Thanks for all the info here and in the Lighting section.

 

When I make a decision and if I decide on LED's I will check with you for further recommendations once I have decided what I will be putting in the tank as that seems to affect what type of LED's to use (and of course that makes a lot of sense).

 

Again thanks

 

Albert

 

 

 

 

For color Albert. For supplemental lighting. I have 3 of them in my tank.

 

Zephs pic has caulerpa, you're seeing runners, not GHA.

 

Kat so tell me what lighting exactly you have over your tank if you don't mind ....

 

Thanks

 

Albert

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jedimasterben
Thanks for all the clarifications .... I have made a note to NOT get the cheap varieties for sure that is If I get LED at all ... not sure yet .. but I do thank you for the explanations and clarifications you are giving ... When it comes to LED's I seem to learn something new each time I read a message as there are so many and so many variations and other factors that it is indeed not that easy to understand reading just a few messages. Thanks for all the info here and in the Lighting section.

 

When I make a decision and if I decide on LED's I will check with you for further recommendations once I have decided what I will be putting in the tank as that seems to affect what type of LED's to use (and of course that makes a lot of sense).

 

Again thanks

 

Albert

I'm not saying that all cheap LEDs are bad (hell, the Bridgelux LEDs from Aquastyle can look really good when in a full-spectrum array), but you gotta get the right ones.

 

You're very welcome, and if you would like to know anything else, please let me know, I'd be happy to answer any questions (this goes for anyone else reading this, too).

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albertthiel
I can certainly post some of my own. Few people have posted pic's of corals under them and I don't like posting others pic's as I can only vouch for my own. However here's some recent ones of mine but do bare in mind I have had my lights barely a month so still early days.

CoralsundernewLEDs15062012020.jpg

CoralsundernewLEDs15062012016.jpg

 

CoralsundernewLEDs15062012013.jpg

CoralsundernewLEDs15062012011.jpg

 

CoralsundernewLEDs15062012010.jpg

 

 

CoralsundernewLEDs15062012009.jpg

CoralsundernewLEDs15062012008.jpg

 

CoralsundernewLEDs15062012007.jpg

CoralsundernewLEDs15062012006.jpg

 

CoralsundernewLEDs15062012002.jpg

CoralsundernewLEDs15062012017.jpg

 

CoralsundernewLEDs15062012001.jpg

 

CoralsundernewLEDs15062012.jpg

 

I have to say I am not the best at photography and the tank does not look so blue nor the corals as they do in the pic's

 

I reposted your pics just in case some NR members who visit here had not seen them as they are a few pages back now and I am still not totally sure how messages come up .... and what one sees ... sometimes I have to go back a page or two to find messages that I may not have seen or not replied to ...

 

Albert

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albertthiel
2 55W T5's

3 Ecoxotic Panorama PRO LED's

3 Ecoxotic Stunner Strips

 

Thanks Kat and that is over a 29G BC right?

 

I'll look up the details on them

 

Albert

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albertthiel
No, this is a Red Sea Max 130D. A 34 gallon All in one.

The biocube was retired in January.

 

Thanks I'll have to look that one up and put it on my list of tanks to check ...

 

Did you make a lot of modifications to it as it seems that most members who get AIO's modify them and some modify them so much that they are really no longer AIO's :)

 

Albert

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albertthiel
No, this is a Red Sea Max 130D. A 34 gallon All in one.

The biocube was retired in January.

 

I looked up the tank on Drfoster etc ... and I see a price of about 850 dollars ... Am I looking at the correct one or not ... seems like a high price for just a 34 gallons tank but then maybe with all the included options that it what it goes for ...

 

Seems like if that is the price that I can do a lot better buying everything separately and end up with more for that kind of price ... I am starting to put a costing sheet together as I have to get everything that is needed and want to make sure I am getting it at the most reasonable prices and do not spend money that I really do not have to ...

 

Albert

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