A Golden Reef Tank (v2)
- Thread starter halmus
- Start date
Looks great! How long have you been running the new halides? Any supplements with them? How long is your daylight cycle?
Sent from my iPhone using MASC mobile app
Sent from my iPhone using MASC mobile app
Thanks! I only switched to MH because I was afraid of loosing your beautiful blue tort. 
I did have problems keeping blue coral prior. It could be a complete coincidence or whatever settings I was using with LED.
The MH is on 4.5 hrs a day at this point. It had been running for a month now. T5 is on 8-9 hrs. It ramps up and down since I have three separate T5 fixtures. I have two ATI 4x bulb fixtures on the outside edges of the tank. I have a 2x bulb fixture running down the center of the tank. (That was the section I had to shrink to fit in MH. Below is a rough sketch playing on my phone showing the footprint over the tank.
View attachment 15327
When you ask about supplements are you referring to lighting or chemistry? Obviously I have a lot of lighting supplement. I’m not supplementing any chemicals at this time. As much as I have going on in the back room, it’s very simple. Skimmer, fuge, filter socks, and lots of rock. No GFO or charcoal for at least 9 months.
Lots of flow. Lots of light. Lots of water volume. We’ll see how that works. So far so good.
I did have problems keeping blue coral prior. It could be a complete coincidence or whatever settings I was using with LED.
The MH is on 4.5 hrs a day at this point. It had been running for a month now. T5 is on 8-9 hrs. It ramps up and down since I have three separate T5 fixtures. I have two ATI 4x bulb fixtures on the outside edges of the tank. I have a 2x bulb fixture running down the center of the tank. (That was the section I had to shrink to fit in MH. Below is a rough sketch playing on my phone showing the footprint over the tank.
View attachment 15327
When you ask about supplements are you referring to lighting or chemistry? Obviously I have a lot of lighting supplement. I’m not supplementing any chemicals at this time. As much as I have going on in the back room, it’s very simple. Skimmer, fuge, filter socks, and lots of rock. No GFO or charcoal for at least 9 months.
Lots of flow. Lots of light. Lots of water volume. We’ll see how that works. So far so good.
I followed the “CoralLab” study from the beginning. I think they recommended the AB+ profile? Whatever their study showed as the best results for SPS. I downloaded their profile and shot it into the Radions. I only shifted the lighting schedule to meet my desires for viewing period but didn’t change duration.
Over the two years I ran the lights, I slowly increased/decreased intensity trying to make things work. I never got over 50%. That would have fried coral in my system. I used a quality PAR meter to make sure I was getting sufficient PAR to coral. Sometimes overshooting recommended levels, undershooting recommended levels, exact recommended levels. Always allowing months to go by for things to adjust and only messing with one variable at a time. (I wasn’t messing with chemistry, just maintaining a steady state). As much as time would allow, I tried to be scientific about the process. Since I wasn’t quantifying growth rates, the results were arbitrary judgements based on color and growth. So, not exactly scientific but still valid for me since I just want my system to look good. I’m not raising a hog to take to market for peak pork belly pricing.
Eventually, I tried tweaking spectrum and duration.
Again, I know people have success with LED. I just wasn’t seeing the success I wanted. It’s entirely possible it was still user error on my part. At this point, there’s no sense in me trying to figure out what I was doing wrong. I have a plug and play light system that has little adjustment possible. I like that especially now that I know I can manage the additional heat during the summer.
Over the two years I ran the lights, I slowly increased/decreased intensity trying to make things work. I never got over 50%. That would have fried coral in my system. I used a quality PAR meter to make sure I was getting sufficient PAR to coral. Sometimes overshooting recommended levels, undershooting recommended levels, exact recommended levels. Always allowing months to go by for things to adjust and only messing with one variable at a time. (I wasn’t messing with chemistry, just maintaining a steady state). As much as time would allow, I tried to be scientific about the process. Since I wasn’t quantifying growth rates, the results were arbitrary judgements based on color and growth. So, not exactly scientific but still valid for me since I just want my system to look good. I’m not raising a hog to take to market for peak pork belly pricing.
Eventually, I tried tweaking spectrum and duration.
Again, I know people have success with LED. I just wasn’t seeing the success I wanted. It’s entirely possible it was still user error on my part. At this point, there’s no sense in me trying to figure out what I was doing wrong. I have a plug and play light system that has little adjustment possible. I like that especially now that I know I can manage the additional heat during the summer.
If you’ve followed my thread, you’ll probably notice that my system is a little overly complicated.
I’m going on a trip soon and Xcel is threatening to kill power to our house to do some transformer work (part of a solar project that has been dragging out for 6 months). We have a house sitter and reliable neighbors that are capable of turning on a generator. However, what components should they switch over and where do they get plugged back in when utility is back?
I decided it was time to streamline my power outage plan.
I ran 2x 12-2 lines from new (male) plugs outside of my house where the generator is staged. Those terminate to temporary outlets in my water resistant control cabinet inside the aquarium room.
I’m going on a trip soon and Xcel is threatening to kill power to our house to do some transformer work (part of a solar project that has been dragging out for 6 months). We have a house sitter and reliable neighbors that are capable of turning on a generator. However, what components should they switch over and where do they get plugged back in when utility is back?
I decided it was time to streamline my power outage plan.
I ran 2x 12-2 lines from new (male) plugs outside of my house where the generator is staged. Those terminate to temporary outlets in my water resistant control cabinet inside the aquarium room.
I also ran 12-2 lines in conduit from 4 critical components on my main display. (2 return pumps, a frag tank pump, and a heater).
Each of those components has a line that runs from an outlet (or Apex outlet). That runs to the patch panel on my control cabinet. And is cross connected to a line which returns power back to the component. Below each of those is access to the generator power.
So, when it comes time to power up the generator, all I have to do is:
1: plug the generator into the wall outside
2: move each of the 4 plugs from “utility” power to “generator power”.
There is no need to dig around underneath counters or sumps to find the right things to plug in. There is no need to run extension cords through windows to the components. No need to run power strips and cords across the room.
Each of those components has a line that runs from an outlet (or Apex outlet). That runs to the patch panel on my control cabinet. And is cross connected to a line which returns power back to the component. Below each of those is access to the generator power.
So, when it comes time to power up the generator, all I have to do is:
1: plug the generator into the wall outside
2: move each of the 4 plugs from “utility” power to “generator power”.
There is no need to dig around underneath counters or sumps to find the right things to plug in. There is no need to run extension cords through windows to the components. No need to run power strips and cords across the room.
I also prepped 4 lines for my QT system but they aren’t fully terminated yet.
All three conductors for the utility side and generator side are isolated. No common ground.
The panel on the front of this cabinet is a temporary fix. Eventually, I am going to wire each one of these circuits into individually switched relays. I don’t like having the 120VAC running to the face of the cabinet since I open that door periodically. I will run low voltage DC lines to switches on the face of the cabinet which control the relays. The utility lines will go to the NC contacts on 3PDT 120VAC 10A relays. So, even if the relay fails, it will fail while maintaining power to the component when normal utility is available.
I’m also going to add a power strip to the face of the cabinet from the generator for any additional power needs during an outage.
All three conductors for the utility side and generator side are isolated. No common ground.
The panel on the front of this cabinet is a temporary fix. Eventually, I am going to wire each one of these circuits into individually switched relays. I don’t like having the 120VAC running to the face of the cabinet since I open that door periodically. I will run low voltage DC lines to switches on the face of the cabinet which control the relays. The utility lines will go to the NC contacts on 3PDT 120VAC 10A relays. So, even if the relay fails, it will fail while maintaining power to the component when normal utility is available.
I’m also going to add a power strip to the face of the cabinet from the generator for any additional power needs during an outage.
