Arkayology's Rimless 40g

[Arkayology]

One more set of pics. My "edgar's acro" went from this

 

to this. It's going to come around and is already starting to encrust but I lost the entire colony save for this frag and another similar sized one. It was stung by my poccilapora colony and that did it in.

[Spencer7]

Yup yup, GL. You're doing fine. Keep it up.

[latteslave]

Still have some T5 options for you. Glad to see everything is recovering.

[markalot]

Hopefully you've turned the corner on this. Marriage is worth it.

[Arkayology]

Good luck with the recoveries man, corals look great though. Love that emerald table.

Thanks. I really like it as well. It is a great grower and the PE is crazy at night. It loves high light and high flow. I have a friend that has had probably twice as much growth as I have had out of mine though. His colony of it practically grows in front of you lol.

 

Yup yup, GL. You're doing fine. Keep it up.

Thanks man. It took a lot of param monitoring/stablizing, tank babying, and amino acid dosing to get to this point. I still have a ways to go to get the colors back on some of the colonies but at least they are growing again!

 

Still have some T5 options for you. Glad to see everything is recovering.

I have something in the works with Dave Fason... I think?

 

Hopefully you've turned the corner on this. Marriage is worth it.

Thanks man! I think things are getting better now as well. So far the only thing that marriage has changed is my lady has my last name and I am wearing a ring. Other than that, same ole happy life.

[Jstn]

What are you running for carbon source if any these days? Starting to come off zeovit, first step was exchange start3 for vinegar, the tank looks ok, next is pull the reactor.

[Arkayology]

What are you running for carbon source if any these days? Starting to come off zeovit, first step was exchange start3 for vinegar, the tank looks ok, next is pull the reactor.

I'm not dosing any kind of carbon. I haven't for about 8 months since I took my biopellets offline.

[Jstn]

Just gfo and water changes?

[Arkayology]

Just gfo and water changes?

I hardly use GFO anymore. I use some passively in a chem bag once in awhile if I see some algae show up but I don't usually need it. I change 5g of tank water with filtered NSW every two weeks or so. I do use some GAC in a chem bag passively all the time though to keep the water clear.

[Jstn]

wow, thats amazing! I may pull the reactor tonight to generate extra cash for the build.

[Arkayology]

wow, thats amazing! I may pull the reactor tonight to generate extra cash for the build.

Ya, I basically quite zeovit cold turkey. Based on the damage I was doing to my tank (while dosing below the recommended amount) there was nothing that could happen that would have been worse than the STN I was getting.

[Jstn]

Ya, I basically quite zeovit cold turkey. Based on the damage I was doing to my tank (while dosing below the recommended amount) there was nothing that could happen that would have been worse than the STN I was getting.

 

 

Im not getting damage, its just not doing really well. After stopping start3 for vinegar, all my red dusty crap seemed to go away; i think I mat continue to use the supplements, but the basic four not so much.

[picoreef78]

Even with the loss, your tank looks great. Keep up the good work. I am also looking into the Neptune doser. Just moved and need to figure out my tanks consumption rate.

 

Question, I got a strontium tester for kicks and tested at zero. After half a tank crash (not sure why, other half remained fine) and a move to new house with fresh made Red Sea Pro saltwater, retested strontium at 4. Plan to dose an check, have you had any need for this? I was hoping weekly water changes will keep trace elements in check.

[jedimasterben]

Hey ark, I ordered one of the Sunblaster T5HO strips to play around with, but I did find out today that, unfortunately, the ballasts used in their simple plug n play fixtures are instant start, not programmed start. In a nutshell, this ballast completely destroys lamps and will reduce their lifespan significantly. You'll first see the ends of the lamp turn black after a couple thousand hours, then the lamp will fail to strike altogether soon after. In addition, if the ballast does not contain end of life sensing (the guy on the phone didn't know what it was), it can literally cause the bulb to explode.

 

Hooray!

[Jstn]

Hey ark, I ordered one of the Sunblaster T5HO strips to play around with, but I did find out today that, unfortunately, the ballasts used in their simple plug n play fixtures are instant start, not programmed start. In a nutshell, this ballast completely destroys lamps and will reduce their lifespan significantly. You'll first see the ends of the lamp turn black after a couple thousand hours, then the lamp will fail to strike altogether soon after. In addition, if the ballast does not contain end of life sensing (the guy on the phone didn't know what it was), it can literally cause the bulb to explode.

 

Hooray!

 

 

So the mico4 retrofits are better than those I take it?

[jedimasterben]

So the mico4 retrofits are better than those I take it?

The ballasts used in the LET retrofit kits are HEP brand, which are programmed start and have a ballast factor of 0.95, which runs Sylvania and Narva (aka ATI, Korallen-Zucht, Pacific Sun, and Giesemann) T5HO right at spec. It's this reason that ATI uses HEP ballasts in their fixtures.

 

You can also use Philips Advance Centium ballasts, their cost is about the same as HEP but have much higher availability outside of buying the LET kits.

 

The Sunblaster reflector I very much look forward to testing out, I'm just not sure how they can mount to a bulb without drilling a hole in them, nor do I know the proper distance from the reflector (though I will know that data after I receive the Sunblaster all-in-one fixture).

[Arkayology]

Hey ark, I ordered one of the Sunblaster T5HO strips to play around with, but I did find out today that, unfortunately, the ballasts used in their simple plug n play fixtures are instant start, not programmed start. In a nutshell, this ballast completely destroys lamps and will reduce their lifespan significantly. You'll first see the ends of the lamp turn black after a couple thousand hours, then the lamp will fail to strike altogether soon after. In addition, if the ballast does not contain end of life sensing (the guy on the phone didn't know what it was), it can literally cause the bulb to explode.

 

Hooray!

Thanks for checking that for me! I'm glad we have Ben to give us sound advice on lighting! I should have something in the works with Dave soon though I hope!

 

Even with the loss, your tank looks great. Keep up the good work. I am also looking into the Neptune doser. Just moved and need to figure out my tanks consumption rate.

 

Question, I got a strontium tester for kicks and tested at zero. After half a tank crash (not sure why, other half remained fine) and a move to new house with fresh made Red Sea Pro saltwater, retested strontium at 4. Plan to dose an check, have you had any need for this? I was hoping weekly water changes will keep trace elements in check.

I've never tested for strontium. I'm not sure if I would need to or not. Let us know what you think about strontium levels and coral health for sure though!

[jedimasterben]

Thanks for checking that for me! I'm glad we have Ben to give us sound advice on lighting! I should have something in the works with Dave soon though I hope!

I need deets. lol

[Arkayology]

I need deets. lol

Me too! you know know about as much as I do! lol

 

I'm waiting for the Dave's creative genius to make me something.

[jedimasterben]

Me too! you know know about as much as I do! lol

 

I'm waiting for the Dave's creative genius to make me something.

Wait. I think I already know

[Arkayology]

Wait. I think I already know

Yeah? You should tell me so then I know then! lol

[picoreef78]

Not sure, never did it before. I had a pretty successful Red Sea Max 130D for 4 years. This last tank has been a handful. The more technology, the more things go wrong.

 

I can't find any compelling evidence that it is essential. I would of liked the test to show what my salt mix has though.

[Arkayology]

Not sure, never did it before. I had a pretty successful Red Sea Max 130D for 4 years. This last tank has been a handful. The more technology, the more things go wrong.

 

I can't find any compelling evidence that it is essential. I would of liked the test to show what my salt mix has though.

The zeoviters say that strontium is necessary for growth. It is an importance trace element in the creation of coral skeletons so it does matter. Now if we need to test and dose it is another question all together.

[picoreef78]

I think having levels close to that of sea water is goal. With regular water changes ideally the levels should be close to that of the salt mix. I am not sure why this is not the case for me. It is similar to calcium and is incorporated into the skeleton, if it is necessary for coral growth I am not sure., probably has some benefit.

 

I am not sure on the zero-vit system. It seams like a lot of money making the tank pristine and a lot more money pumping AA's and nutrients back in in a controlled fashion for a stressed, pastel looking tank.

[markalot]

Hey Ark,

 

when you lazy west coasters wake up ... what is the perceived brightness (subjective) of your tank? Is it as visibly bright as you were expecting, or do the corals look better if you run dimmer (more blue) light?