Drilled and sumped 8 gallon

[evanski]

What brand 20k bulb? Giesemann megachrome comes In a 175000k, interests me possibly. I will not buy a bulb until the led fixture gets here.

175000K? ROFLMAO...that must be so far past the blue spectra as to end up as an X-ray!

 

Assume you meant 17,500 (17.5K), which I have not seen before but might be a nice compromise between the usual 14K and 20K coloring vs growth.

[Dnanoreefer]

I have decided on the 20k I don't think I will have a problem with growth because of the wattage of the light. I like the 14k but I want the coral to pop more.. Hopefully I can get it ordered after Christmas.

[sekunda]

What test kits are people having best results with. I was using the API kits in the past with no problems. But I have read that many people do not like them.. Are the Red Sea test kits more accurate?

 

I have the API kits as well, I find that they are off sometimes… So I picked up some of the Salifert kits and a Hanna Checker for phosphates. Having great reading results with both.

 

Great setup!

[Dnanoreefer]

Just got my buildmyled light. Purple wave color. 12" length. FOR SALE. 140.00 shipped to ur door.

[Reefkid88]

Did you not like the light ?

[Dnanoreefer]

Nope. I just do not like led i come to find out. I may see what it looks like without the halide on..

[Reefkid88]

I mean I've heard that the blending with halides and leds isn't great,so I wouldn't shoot it down completely. I say try just leds by themselves and see how you like it.

 

I know you're not a full led set up guy,but there's too much out there giving leds the credit they deserve for both color and growth,putting off no heat,costing nothing to run and longevity compare to halides and t5's. That's just my noob opinion here lol.

[Dnanoreefer]

I don't think LEDs are bad by any means.. Most everyone uses them now. And most everyone that uses them are having success. It's my personal preference I think.. I just don't like em.. I absolutely hate the disco ball look. The buildmyled light is extremely bright and really good quality for sure! But I'm not sold on LEDs. I will be selling the light. Buying a 20k bulb and a moonlight and calling it done! If anyone is interested in a brand spankin new light still in the original box and everything let me know. I will post pictures tomorrow of the light.

[Reefkid88]

I completely understand. Different strokes for different folks man lol. They're not for everyone. I would like to see how good the spectrum is though on their lights if you could post a picture.

[cocojakes]

do you find you get enough flow with only 75GPH coming out of that Eheim at full blast, minus head? I'm planning on adding a sump to my 16 Tall (footprint of a 10G but taller) and am looking at using the rio 1400 with a hydor flo on the output, but I kind of like your centre overflow with dual returns idea so long as it doesn't block too much light getting down to the tank.

[Dnanoreefer]

The pump is an Eheim compact plus 3000. It is adjustable from 525-300 gph. It's set around 300gph if I turn it up more the tank will overflow due to the overflow box not keeping up. Overflow is rated at 300gph so it's perfect.. Tons of flow also.

 

I will post pictures tonight of the light for ya reef kid.

[cocojakes]

The pump is an Eheim compact plus 3000. It is adjustable from 525-300 gph. It's set around 300gph if I turn it up more the tank will overflow due to the overflow box not keeping up. Overflow is rated at 300gph so it's perfect.. Tons of flow also.

 

I will post pictures tonight of the light for ya reef kid.

Oh I misread it as an Eheim 300 which is only 300lph not gph, my bad. So you have about 2x150gph outputs, its funny I find myself still wanting more flow in my 16H with 2x 425gph powerheads

[Dnanoreefer]

The pump is actually rated for 396-700 here are specs via marine depot.

 

http://www.marinedepot.com/Eheim_Compact%2b_Pump_Aquarium_Powerheads_Compact_Pumps-Eheim-EH11036-FIPHCP-vi.html

 

Awesome pump I would recommend it to anyone

[Dnanoreefer]

Here is a picture of the tank with the light on.

[Dnanoreefer]

My buddy is going to buy the light for his fish only 72g he has 2 par bulbs now.. This will be the icing on the cake for his tank.

 

I am thinking about heading to the Lfs this weekend. I actually discovered a new store the other day. It's called reef pro. Hopefully they are a "pro" shop. We will see what happens the weather is supposed to b real bad ?

 

Here is a comparison.. The 20k bulb will be best!

 

[Dnanoreefer]

A lot of people have asked about the reef octopus bh50 skimmer I am using. This picture is after 5 days of running. I do feed my coral and fish on a regular basis.

 

Full sump

 

The rocks in the sump are growing a ton of the white sponge, along with some really cool red sponge. The chaeto I have has gotten really dark green. I think it's doing really well. Not growing much but healthy looking none the less.

[Reefkid88]

Do you just not like the color ? If so I can see why. Maybe if it was more blue it would compliment the halide better. But it's like grow light purple.

 

That skimmer is putting in some work though.

[Dnanoreefer]

I don't like the color. The LEDs also didn't blend together well. They have a disco ball look. I'm just going to stick with a 20k bulb and get a moonlight real soon.

 

The coral and fish are doing good. Im stRting to see some noticeable growth on the chalice frags and Favia/war coral frags.

 

The Lfs I have been going to has another big sale going on. Hopefully I can make a trip there this weekend. I also need some hermets and a few sand sifting snails.

 

The skimmer has been working real good. I would definately recomend it.

[Dnanoreefer]

Went to a few stores this evening. One was changing ownership so their stock was really bad. The other was a store that I go to often to look, the prices are pretty high. I picked up 4 hermit crabs and a purple hammer. The hammer is fully extended still and looks happy. I will get a few pictures when the light is on tomorrow. I might be heading to the other store Monday to hit up the sale.

[Dnanoreefer]

Here are some pictures of the new frags I picked up. Everything is open now. Some of the pictures aren't the best. But I think I'm done with buying coral for a little wile until all this stuff is settled in and glued to the scape.

Spongodes

Zoas

Purple tip hammer. And Gilbert in the background.

Not positive on the id but it's really cool.!

Nice blue birds nest. It looks a tad rough in the pic but I'm pretty sure it will be a real nice peice. I got it for 8$

[Dnanoreefer]

Here are the spongodes

[Dnanoreefer]

Got a pic of the moonlight on. The iPhone doesn't do well with the spectrum. It's a 460nm 3w light. It's perfect for the tank! Really makes the coral glow nice. The moonlight was one of the last things I needed to add to the tank and I'm glad it's on there.. Looks so awesome when it's on.

 

The new frags settled in really nice. All zoas opened up. The birds nest is always super bushy with polyps extended,

 

I have 17 frags now so I think I'm done for a little wile, at least until the frags are glued to the scape.

 

[Dnanoreefer]

No love? ?

[Reefkid88]

I had a comment typed out earlier,but I guess I didn't post it lol. That monti is nice,and that birdsnest is really really blue !! I'm thinking it may be a Birds of Paradise maybe ? I cant really tell. Everything looks really good though !!!

 

Oh,I meant to ask.. Have you tried to run the moonlight while the halides are on to add some more color to things ?

 

Happy Hollerdays btw

[Dnanoreefer]

Thanks! The bird nest is real nice! I will get a better picture tomorrow. And I did think of running the light wen the halide is on for color. But I think my ultimate decision is to get a 20k bulb. I think that will b the solution.. The light is very high power for the tank size so I don't think I need the grow power of the 14k, the 20 will probably give me good growth along with having the color I want..

 

The build my led fixture is for sale still. 125.00 shipped.