Veng's 20L - Black Friday Madness!

[gena]

So my mom made me a cake:

 

 

And poor Max!! Poor thing probably thinks we're about to give him back to the shelter. (His last 'parents' gave him back because they were about to have a baby.)

 

Ignore the less than stellar focus here:

So very pretty (the cake too )!!! I love your style, tailes!!!!

[Veng]

So, the OCW channel just died on the LED light. I'm trying to figure out what to do. Don't really want to spend the money on buying a new light. Not really sure what I want to do at this point. Kind of worried I'm not going to have any time to spend on it in the coming months. Need to figure out what I want to do on it.

[jedimasterben]

:/

[Veng]

Anyone know anything about this light? http://www.marinedepot.com/AquaticLife_T5_HO_4_Lamp_Light_Fixtures_w_Lunar_LEDs_24_Inch_T5_Fluorescent_Light_Fixtures-AquaticLife-AK01035-FILTFIT54U-vi.html

 

I really don't know anything about T5HO bulbs and which bulbs I'd want.

(2) 24" T5 HO 24W 420/460 Lamps
(1) 24" T5 HO 24W 700+ Lamp
(1) 24" T5 HO 24W Purple Lamp
(2) 1W Lunar LED`s

[jedimasterben]

You want ATI for bulbs. The fixture I think is just a typical OEM thing, so mid-range quality but would be fine.

 

Probably two Blue+, one Coral+, and one True Actinic, but I'm a sucker for violet range

[Veng]

I could get an ATI fixture and chose the bulbs, but ATI's fixtures are hang only, with no leg options. The fixture above comes with legs. ATI fixture looks to be about 430 w/ bulbs.

[jedimasterben]

I don't think the legs will fit your tank, since it is 30" long, unless they are adjustable.

[Veng]

Pretty sure they're adjustable on little rails.

[jedimasterben]

Ok, then it should work. The ATI fixture would be best and let the bulbs have the longest life, but still expect to replace them every 6-9 months before their phosphors degrade.

[Veng]

The ATI fixture is about twice as much and doesn't have leg options. If I was going to hang it, it would make sense, but I can't hang it where the tank is now.

 

Still, trying to guess if I'm going to have any time to enjoy the tank a month from now or if it's just going to crash while I'm ignoring it in the next few months...

[jedimasterben]

I would get it prepped for coasting. Get dosing figured out, buy a food timer, and let it ride. Without a skimmer or algae scrubber, though, you'll need very aggressive use of carbon and GFO to prevent nutrient buildup.

[markalot]

The AquaticLife fixtures are awesome. You can google around for a PAR measurement using ATI bulbs, but suffice to say they have very decent reflectors. I have fought with these beasts for over a year now and I've finally removed most of my ATI bulbs in favor of the AL bulbs. Color of their blue and purple very similar, but much less PAR. I know your corals are acclimated to LED but I wonder just how bright it was? IMO 4 bulbs over a 20 long will be very very bright. I know when I had my 20 with a crappy fixture above it I bleached everything when I switched to ATI bulbs.

 

As for the baby ... I think you'll have time, but I know my wife would not allow an icky fishy tank anywhere near a young child. I had to wait till mine were older to get into the hobby.

[metrokat]

Hello from San Antonio. I love my Aquatic life fixture and have ATI bulbs in it. You don't need and ATI fixture to use ATI bulbs. My combo is

 

Blue plus

Purple plus

GE 6500

Blue plus

 

If you don't like the color combo, you can switch it in 9 months when you have time and need new bulbs.

 

As for enjoying the tank. I can picture the baby being rocked to sleep while either parent is gazing at the tank. And also soothing the baby with the water movement when she is able to focus on objects.Pushing back. Vegas here I come...

[Deleted User 3]

I could get an ATI fixture and chose the bulbs, but ATI's fixtures are hang only, with no leg options. The fixture above comes with legs. ATI fixture looks to be about 430 w/ bulbs.

get a fish need it fixure and buy ati bulbs. thats what i have lol, but it's not dimmable or anything fancy

[Veng]

Hrmmm... I guess my LEDs still have the cw and rb LEDs so I've got some time to think.

 

I did have to frag/trim the hammer coral today. It was encroaching on the spa next to it and was really extending and stinging it today. I cut back 4 heads. Turns out its skeleton is much more fragile than I thought and I crushed two of the heads trying to remove them. Got another two heads on a frag plug.

[Veng]

Ok, so I'm officially a horrible person. So the Max was bugging me a little, so I put some goldfish (crackers, not the fish) in a cup and fed him some. Well, he LOVES goldfish and often gets some as a couple are low cal for him and make great discrete treats. Anyways, so I then took them upstairs and gave them to tailes while she was in a bath. Now Max is completely fixated on her and the cup and leaving me alone...

[tailes]

****er. Rotten rotten ****er.

[Veng]

Roflmao

[jbb]

Well played sir , well played

[Veng]

Some days I wonder if I don't post every few days if nano reef is going to think I'm not only dead, but I deserved it and they'll all totally swear tailes was with them. Then I think it was totally worth it for what I said/did.

[metrokat]

%$#&*-+((

[jbb]

I can provide an alibi for the small fee of cheesecake

[Veng]

Honestly, for her cheesecake, I'd provide an alibi for her for my own murder.... Nom nom nom k

[tailes]

You know why I don't make anything anymore right? I'd eat it all before you got home.

[tailes]

Wooo jury duty.