gsgentry Posted February 13, 2014 Share Posted February 13, 2014 I see you mentioned that you pulled out the purigen. Was there a reason for that? Were you having problems with it at all, or did you maybe feel it had something to do with the cyano? Link to comment
defender.TX Posted February 13, 2014 Author Share Posted February 13, 2014 I see you mentioned that you pulled out the purigen. Was there a reason for that? Were you having problems with it at all, or did you maybe feel it had something to do with the cyano? Yes, I believe it had reached saturation and wasn't do anything to continue taking DOCs out of the water. I took it out to recharge it. Unfortunately I don't have any bleach or Prime on hand, so I need to buy both before I can recharge the Purigen . Link to comment
gsgentry Posted February 13, 2014 Share Posted February 13, 2014 Gotcha... I just put some in my tank and was starting to worry that it may cause an issue. Thanks for the info. Let's see some updated pics!! Link to comment
defender.TX Posted February 16, 2014 Author Share Posted February 16, 2014 New Photos! Now, lets talk about the future. I'm about to get a bonus and have a contract pay out, so I'm going to have some cash to put into the tank. My primary concern is definitely new lights. I've gone back and forth between a bunch of different LED solutions but my main problem is that I'm still on a budget and only want to spend around $450 up front. I have to light a 3 foot tank and don't want Chinese LEDs like Reef Breeders. I'm sure you can see that's a tough proposition! So most recently I got a wild hair and thought WHY DON'T I RUN T5s?! Yes, you have to replace bulbs two-three times a year. Yes, they run hotter. Yes, my electricity bill might go up. But it's a tried and true method to growing coral and I've seen absolutely pitiful growth out of these lights on everything but my GSP. Bulk Reef Supply has a 36" 4x39W ATI Sunpower for less than $400. I'm going to have a lot of light spillage, but I think I'm going to give it a try. I haven't seen anybody else running T5s on a Nuvo. What do you guys think? Am I totally insane? Could I get away with the 24" Sunpower on my 3 foot long tank? Do I definitely need the 36" Sunpower? Link to comment
novice Posted February 17, 2014 Share Posted February 17, 2014 you tank is looking great. i love the firefish. oh, i noticed you have a blue legged hermit, i'll give you my experience w/ them...they're MURDERER's. they go after my cerith snails even though i have lots of extra shells in there. i'd keep an eye out on it. they do clean up very well though. as for lights, i have thought about T5's. most of the serious coral growers around here stick w/ t5's and add a blue stunner strip to make the corals pop. but if you do go LED, i've had no issues growing coral w/ my Maxspect Razor. actually, i have some Acro's going too. the Razor is BRIGHT. if you do go T5 though, i'd go w/ the 24". if you go w/ a 36", your lower light corals won't have anywhere to escape the bright light unless you have built in shade w/ rocks. our tank is REALLY shallow so that light is going to piece through no matter what. what i want to do is sort of like an "evil hybrid" where i have 2 t5 bulbs, one on each end and the center w/ Led pucks like a Razor. Link to comment
Cameron6796 Posted February 17, 2014 Share Posted February 17, 2014 Yeah I just think you don't have a good or strong enough led Link to comment
defender.TX Posted February 17, 2014 Author Share Posted February 17, 2014 you tank is looking great. i love the firefish. oh, i noticed you have a blue legged hermit, i'll give you my experience w/ them...they're MURDERER's. they go after my cerith snails even though i have lots of extra shells in there. i'd keep an eye out on it. they do clean up very well though. as for lights, i have thought about T5's. most of the serious coral growers around here stick w/ t5's and add a blue stunner strip to make the corals pop. but if you do go LED, i've had no issues growing coral w/ my Maxspect Razor. actually, i have some Acro's going too. the Razor is BRIGHT. if you do go T5 though, i'd go w/ the 24". if you go w/ a 36", your lower light corals won't have anywhere to escape the bright light unless you have built in shade w/ rocks. our tank is REALLY shallow so that light is going to piece through no matter what. what i want to do is sort of like an "evil hybrid" where i have 2 t5 bulbs, one on each end and the center w/ Led pucks like a Razor. Yeah I just think you don't have a good or strong enough led I'm completely aware that I could buy an LED strong enough to get the light levels that I want. But, like I said, I'm looking to buy a new light solution that's also an upgrade to what I have for only $450. That's tough! Most lights don't have the spread. For example, I could buy one Kessil A360WE, or one AI Hydra, but they wouldn't cover the outer 6 inches of the tank. Also, as I said, I don't particularly want a chinese fixture that's repackaged on Ebay or Reef Breeders. I would rather buy something that's known for quality even if it's "last years" technology. So, if my two choices are a Reef Breeders Photon 24 or an ATI SunPower I'm thinking about going with the ATI. Also, on the blue legged hermit, my wife warned me that she saw him going after our Cerith one day but I didn't see it. I guess I'll have to keep my eye on him - it's a shame because I like him. Link to comment
gsgentry Posted February 17, 2014 Share Posted February 17, 2014 Even though I'm a nano box guy, if I had $450 with your tank, I'd save another $50 and get the 16k 27" Razor. Just my $.02 Love the new pictures! Tank looks great!! Link to comment
defender.TX Posted February 17, 2014 Author Share Posted February 17, 2014 Even though I'm a nano box guy, if I had $450 with your tank, I'd save another $50 and get the 16k 27" Razor. Just my $.02 Love the new pictures! Tank looks great!! That's a good point, but it's not about saving another $50. I could spend $500 and get the razor if I wanted. I just don't want to . I guess I'm a little weird but I don't think a 12" deep tank that's only ~20 gallons of water needs a $500 light. It just seems like so much overkill. I can buy a 24" ATI SunPower for only $350 and it will be just as much light. Plus, considering that my wife and I are also very much into planted tanks, the idea that I can recycle it in the future over a planted tank with different bulbs is appealing to me. So I know I'm in the minority on this one but that's okay! Link to comment
gsgentry Posted February 17, 2014 Share Posted February 17, 2014 That's a good point, but it's not about saving another $50. I could spend $500 and get the razor if I wanted. I just don't want to . I guess I'm a little weird but I don't think a 12" deep tank that's only ~20 gallons of water needs a $500 light. It just seems like so much overkill. I can buy a 24" ATI SunPower for only $350 and it will be just as much light. Plus, considering that my wife and I are also very much into planted tanks, the idea that I can recycle it in the future over a planted tank with different bulbs is appealing to me. So I know I'm in the minority on this one but that's okay! It's about what YOU like and what works for YOU!! My thought with my light is that I can use it on a bigger tank when I get one. A bigger tank for me is not an "if", it's more of a "when". If the T5's have better functionality for you because of other tanks, by all means give them a try. If you think you may get a bigger tank down the road, go with the Razor which will save you the single largest expense in this hobby. I have not seen a Nuvo 24 with T5's so you could be the pioneer as well. Those who venture out and try new things aside from what everyone else does, is a leader in my opinion.I tried to do unique and different things on my tank. Not for the sake of being different, but for trying to think outside the box. So far it has all paid off. How would you hang them and keep them aesthetically pleasing? Link to comment
defender.TX Posted February 17, 2014 Author Share Posted February 17, 2014 How would you hand them and keep them aesthetically pleasing? I was thinking I would use a conduit bender and some black Rust-Oleum to make hangers that I can attach to the back of my stand. Either that or just buy the pre-built AquaticLife ones off Amazon Prime for $90. Then I can hang it pretty high above the tank to start because it's going to be a shock to my system. Over time I hope to get it 6-12" above the water, even if I have to run only 3 bulbs. As far as the lights themselves, I think the ATI SunPower is pretty pleasing on the eyes. It's not as thin as the LED systems (especially the Razor) but it's not too thick either. Link to comment
novice Posted February 17, 2014 Share Posted February 17, 2014 I think the problem with the Nuvo and T5's is color and the depth of the tank in terms of front to back distance. How many bulbs would you run on only 12" of space? Two bulb or 4? If you run two, you're stuck with either white or blue or a combination of both. I have a friend that grows out coral, his display tank is his frag tank. He has a 6bulb 36" T5 setup over a 58 gallon tank. With his bulb combination, it was great for Acros but he had to shade his zoas as that light was just piercing all the way to the bottom. He doesn't even run whites anymore, just blues and violets (mostly blues). So your bulb combination is going to affect what you grow. I really like t5's as somehow the light just covers more, it doesn't get the shadowing like LEDs give off if you can follow me there. But I like the pop LEDs give. I bought my maxspect with the intention that one day I will buy a 36" tank, just bigger. Also wholesale price on a Razor is right below $450 I believe Link to comment
defender.TX Posted February 17, 2014 Author Share Posted February 17, 2014 I think the problem with the Nuvo and T5's is color and the depth of the tank in terms of front to back distance. How many bulbs would you run on only 12" of space? Two bulb or 4? If you run two, you're stuck with either white or blue or a combination of both. I have a friend that grows out coral, his display tank is his frag tank. He has a 6bulb 36" T5 setup over a 58 gallon tank. With his bulb combination, it was great for Acros but he had to shade his zoas as that light was just piercing all the way to the bottom. He doesn't even run whites anymore, just blues and violets (mostly blues). So your bulb combination is going to affect what you grow. I really like t5's as somehow the light just covers more, it doesn't get the shadowing like LEDs give off if you can follow me there. But I like the pop LEDs give. I bought my maxspect with the intention that one day I will buy a 36" tank, just bigger. Also wholesale price on a Razor is right below $450 I believe Well the entire SunPower fixture is only 9.5" wide. So I'm assuming I could run all 4 bulbs. I was thinking front to back would be: Blue+, AquaBlue Special, Coral+, Blue+. I specifically want a whitish/pinkish hue because I've seen it on some other tanks that I just loved. Honestly, I kind of just feel like doing something different right now. I'm pretty much sold on the idea - just have to figure out how to make it work. Link to comment
defender.TX Posted February 17, 2014 Author Share Posted February 17, 2014 Oh yea, did I mention my wife is about to have my THIRD son?! Link to comment
gsgentry Posted February 17, 2014 Share Posted February 17, 2014 Oh yea, did I mention my wife is about to have my THIRD son?! CONGRATS!!!!! That is awesome!!! Link to comment
novice Posted February 17, 2014 Share Posted February 17, 2014 Congratulations!!! I must find out the secret to having boys, my family is filled with nieces and granddaughters. Link to comment
defender.TX Posted February 18, 2014 Author Share Posted February 18, 2014 Congratulations!!! I must find out the secret to having boys, my family is filled with nieces and granddaughters. Haha, I get that a LOT actually. I don't think there's any secret - just statistics . Link to comment
defender.TX Posted March 4, 2014 Author Share Posted March 4, 2014 Haha my blue legged hermit is always secretly trying to murder my conch! Link to comment
Steensj2004 Posted March 4, 2014 Share Posted March 4, 2014 Haha, I get that a LOT actually. I don't think there's any secret - just statistics . I got twin boys the first time around....thought it was cool........untill they got old enough to work together to get into trouble , lol. Oh, and pretend to be each other when they are in trouble...hahahah Link to comment
Bobyboy Posted March 4, 2014 Share Posted March 4, 2014 Are you still using the Aquatic Fundamentals 30/38/45 stand? If so what modifications did you do to it? Link to comment
gsgentry Posted March 4, 2014 Share Posted March 4, 2014 Are you still using the Aquatic Fundamentals 30/38/45 stand? If so what modifications did you do to it? I believe he is... I am as well. I put a back and a shelf in mine, that was about it. Link to comment
chicagoreef Posted March 4, 2014 Share Posted March 4, 2014 I also have the same stand brand. How did you put in a shelf? I have been thinking about using some screws to mount some egg crate to mount some powert strips and stuff. However, i dont want to reduce the integrity of the structure. Link to comment
defender.TX Posted March 4, 2014 Author Share Posted March 4, 2014 Are you still using the Aquatic Fundamentals 30/38/45 stand? If so what modifications did you do to it? I believe he is... I am as well. I put a back and a shelf in mine, that was about it. I also have the same stand brand. How did you put in a shelf? I have been thinking about using some screws to mount some egg crate to mount some powert strips and stuff. However, i dont want to reduce the integrity of the structure. I am still using the Aquatic Fundamentals stand. I really like it. I did no modifications to it other than mounting some eggcrate to the interior wall so that I could ziptie powerstrips to it. Basically I used some screws with 1/2" rubber stand-offs and metal washers to mount the eggcrate to the interior structure. The order is like this: wood | rubber stand-off | egg crate | metal washer | <- wood screw. The stand-off keeps it off the sides of the wood so that I have room to weave zip ties through the egg crate. Link to comment
Bobyboy Posted March 4, 2014 Share Posted March 4, 2014 Sounds interesting, I'm debating about picking one up for my 30L. Link to comment
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