artarmon42 Posted October 1, 2005 Author Share Posted October 1, 2005 Originally posted by adinsxq the fish look out of proportion to me. get about 15 neon gobies please You know, I was thinking about a school of really small fish... I might actually do that if I find someone who would make a reasonable offer for the Lineatus Link to comment
Kogut Posted October 1, 2005 Share Posted October 1, 2005 Looking great, man! I love the new fish in the tank. Link to comment
Travis Posted October 2, 2005 Share Posted October 2, 2005 LOOKS GREAT! I am supprised I havn't found this thread before! Link to comment
Travis Posted October 2, 2005 Share Posted October 2, 2005 Oh yeah, how is the t5's compared to the MH?? Link to comment
artarmon42 Posted October 2, 2005 Author Share Posted October 2, 2005 Originally posted by Travis Oh yeah, how is the t5's compared to the MH?? LOVE the T5s. I really had to get rid of the MH because: 1) Heat/evaporation 2) Spotlight effect with high-contrast lighting (either way too bright or in the shade... little in between). I've really grown to love the T5s since putting them in because: 1) They run so cool (relative to MH) 2) Consistent light (I no longer have the MH shimmer, but honestly I'm not missing it) 3) The color spectrum is much more appealing to my eyes. I had 20k XM MH with 65W Actinic but the T5s seem to bring out the colors of the tank much more. Everything is flourescing much more. It's too early to tell, but I think my corals are (slowly) changing to nicer colors. Overall, I don't have anything bad to say about MH. But MH just didn't work in my tank: 1) Nano tank, small volume of water, high temp fluctuations. 2) Dimensions of the tank with enclosed hood limited how high I could place the MH. Link to comment
Travis Posted October 2, 2005 Share Posted October 2, 2005 Cool, maybe I'll try some T5s latter down the road . For now, I amLOVINmy MH Link to comment
artarmon42 Posted October 2, 2005 Author Share Posted October 2, 2005 Originally posted by Travis Cool, maybe I'll try some T5s latter down the road . For now, I amLOVINmy MH Looks like the tank you're planning is 24" long. That'll be just the right length for the 24W T5-HOs. Good fall-back option Looking at your setup, I don't think you'll have the problems I had with my all-in-one design. I'm following your thread, and looking forward to seeing it in action! Link to comment
Travis Posted October 2, 2005 Share Posted October 2, 2005 Cool, and I will follow yours In about 6 months, want to do a frag swap? Link to comment
Samc Posted October 3, 2005 Share Posted October 3, 2005 Nice Tank! Your switch to T-5's is convincing me even more to add dual t-5's to my halide instead of buying a second halide pendant (plus its waay cheaper). Mind informing us of the exact ballast and reflectors you used? I'd be more than glad to take some of that coralline off your hands (I'm being very serious here)! Sam Link to comment
artarmon42 Posted October 3, 2005 Author Share Posted October 3, 2005 Originally posted by Travis In about 6 months, want to do a frag swap? I'm open to that idea, if I have anything frag-able. The problem with collecting "limited edition" corals is that they're limited for a reason... they grow so damn slow Link to comment
artarmon42 Posted October 3, 2005 Author Share Posted October 3, 2005 Originally posted by Samc Nice Tank! Your switch to T-5's is convincing me even more to add dual t-5's to my halide instead of buying a second halide pendant (plus its waay cheaper). I always wondered about whether T5s are all that people say... Was never sure, which is why I stuck with the tried-and-true MH for the new tank. Now that I've tried it, I'm a convert! My SPS as definitely growing. And I think they're actually growing faster and developing nicer color than when I had the MH! To be fair, I think the MH just didn't work in my tank (too bright in too little area). Nothing against MH, just that T5s outperform them in my setup. Originally posted by Samc Mind informing us of the exact ballast and reflectors you used? The ballast are "Universal Lighting Technology's AquaStart5". Yeah I never heard of them before either... The reflectors are Sunlight parabolics. The "white" bulbs are ATI. I bought ATI actinic bulbs, but looking closer they are badged as Geissmann. In the next week or so, I'm going to take apart my hood and re-run the wires (they're abit messier than I like). I'll take close up shots then. Originally posted by Samc I'd be more than glad to take some of that coralline off your hands (I'm being very serious here)! I'm constantly scraping the stuff off. Be happy to collect some and send it to you! I deny all responsibility if the coralline plague overruns your thank though PM me. Link to comment
artarmon42 Posted October 4, 2005 Author Share Posted October 4, 2005 I thought I'd take some shots of the corals... Here's Al G Blenny's Lucky Jade Acro when I first put it in this tank(taken under 150W 14k MH) It turned mostly brown a week or so later, and had remained that way for most of it's time under MH. Here is the same after a week of the T5s It's starting to turn green again. The shade of green seems brighter than when I first got it, but I think that's the T5s bringing out the color rather than any strange color morphing. My fugia plate, was a nice green/purple when I bought it. It had turned solid beige, but seems to be coloring up (from the bottom). Possibly the best pictures I have to show the color improvement of my corals are these: Both shots were under the new T5. You can judge from the color of the surrounding coralline that the color pallete and light conditions are relatively the same. Taken 8 days apart. Look at the polyp colors! I took this shot 8 days ago: Here is the frag today: You should be able to see the skeleton progress to even more yellow. While the angle is different, it looks like alot more "growths" are starting to come out. I'm going to (try to) leave it at this angle, and take another shot a week from now for comparison. Since changing the light (I still do the same amount of maintennace, I don't dose anything, etc) I am noticing positive things happening! I'm not saying the T5s are a miracle light... just that, for this setup, everything looks better since moving from MH. Link to comment
supernip Posted October 4, 2005 Share Posted October 4, 2005 I like your bonsai, and onyx. lucky guy =( Link to comment
artarmon42 Posted October 4, 2005 Author Share Posted October 4, 2005 Originally posted by supernip I like your bonsai, and onyx. lucky guy =( No hating 'nip! You know I'll hook you up when it's frag time Link to comment
artarmon42 Posted October 9, 2005 Author Share Posted October 9, 2005 It's been a week since the last update, and I'm pleased to report that the coloration improvement seems to be continuing. Here's a shot of the Jade Acro with the green returning/spreading This was the Tubs Birdsnest frag last week Unfortunately the snails/hermits move the frag, but this is a shot from yesterday (1 week later). I circled some areas that shows "new" growth. The skeleton continues to progress to the much nicer yellow color. The Fugia also looks to be getter more color back in it. This is from last week and from yesterday, the color is working upwards towards the center. Although not obvious, the center/mouth is starting to show the purple color that was there when I bought it many months ago. Link to comment
Maeda Posted October 9, 2005 Share Posted October 9, 2005 That birds nest coloration is insane! I like whats going on here. Link to comment
Carinya Posted October 9, 2005 Share Posted October 9, 2005 lovely design on the tank. congrats on the baby too. Link to comment
artarmon42 Posted October 10, 2005 Author Share Posted October 10, 2005 Thanks Carinya! That birds nest coloration is insane! The mother colony that the frag came from had purple polyps with a pretty bright yellow skeleton. Saw it with my own eyes, so I'm looking for even more change Link to comment
Maeda Posted October 10, 2005 Share Posted October 10, 2005 Thanks Carinya! The mother colony that the frag came from had purple polyps with a pretty bright yellow skeleton. Saw it with my own eyes, so I'm looking for even more change I had no idea SPS cam in such interesting color combos. I might have to start the MH change over sooner then I thought. Link to comment
artarmon42 Posted October 15, 2005 Author Share Posted October 15, 2005 I picked up a Crocea... The shots were when I first picked him up, so he's gaping a little more than normal. I also discovered a feather duster attached to the shell of my electric blue hermit It might be a little hard to pick out in the picture... Lastly, a FTS... Thread followers will notice that I picked up some Frogspawn. My Onyx pair went (from the GSP) to the Frogspawn the day after I introduced it. Link to comment
Babycakes Posted October 15, 2005 Share Posted October 15, 2005 awesome before and after shots! those T5s really did a lot for your sps. are you sure it was the T5s and nothing else? that's a lot of improvement! where did you get your onyx pair from? are they wild or tank raised? whatever they are they are beautiful Link to comment
artarmon42 Posted October 16, 2005 Author Share Posted October 16, 2005 awesome before and after shots! those T5s really did a lot for your sps. are you sure it was the T5s and nothing else? that's a lot of improvement! Yup, the T5 was the only change. I use Catalina NSW, don't dose and feed the tank once a week. I'm super happy about the T5s where did you get your onyx pair from? are they wild or tank raised? whatever they are they are beautiful I got the pair as juvies from Rod Buehler: They were tank born from his mating pair. I got them when they were about 2 months old, and I've had them for about 8 months now. They're still immature (as in I don't think they're male/female yet), they hang out all day but slept separately. Since introducing the Frogspawn, they're sleeping together now. Hopefully this will be the start of something special Here are some shots over the time I've had them... Link to comment
Tigahboy Posted October 16, 2005 Share Posted October 16, 2005 awesome plate coral hosting pic!!! i really want a pair of those onxy now. Link to comment
Cesar Posted October 16, 2005 Share Posted October 16, 2005 Man those Onyx look awesome. Beautiful tank man. Link to comment
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