Jahmic's 20L zoa garden
- Thread starter jahmic
- Start date
They should be accurate for that light. It's a coralife fixture and their reflectors are pretty bad. The readings were taken under a 31W 10k T5 and 31W actinic T5...so no need to adjust for the lack of a full spectrum under LEDs.
I did multiply by 5...and although the values were disappointingly lower than I had hoped with the 10k + actinic combo, I wasn't surprised. I have the same fixture over my FW planted tank about 28" from the substrate and my PAR level is 10-15 across the bottom of the tank running a 10k and 6.7k bulb.
Those coralife fixtures are great if you are intentionally setting up a low light system...useless for sps though. Also keep in mind that the readings I took on that 20 long were through my 1/4" glass lid, which cut PAR by about 15% on average.
I did multiply by 5...and although the values were disappointingly lower than I had hoped with the 10k + actinic combo, I wasn't surprised. I have the same fixture over my FW planted tank about 28" from the substrate and my PAR level is 10-15 across the bottom of the tank running a 10k and 6.7k bulb.
Those coralife fixtures are great if you are intentionally setting up a low light system...useless for sps though. Also keep in mind that the readings I took on that 20 long were through my 1/4" glass lid, which cut PAR by about 15% on average.
Here ya go:
http://www.marinecolorado.org/forums/showthread.php?11823-Jahmic-s-JBJ-28-first-reef-build/page13
He's in my other tank.
http://www.marinecolorado.org/forums/showthread.php?11823-Jahmic-s-JBJ-28-first-reef-build/page13
He's in my other tank.
A few updates:
Moved pretty much all of my zoas into here. Everything seems to be MUCH happier already. Dunno if it was lighting, flow, or low nutrients (or some combination of all 3), but many of my zoas that were only partially opened in the cube or a bit curled up (captain americas) are now all open and looking good. I'll try to update some pics soon, right now everything is pretty much tossed in there...I'll start actually scaping the tank once my lighting issue gets worked out.
My planted tank uses the same fixture that I originally had over this tank...long story but the brand new fixture over my planted tank died, so I took the one I had off this tank and moved it to the FW setup. There weren't many corals in there at the time...so no huge loss. I've decided to ditch going with a T5/LED combo and will just be running LEDs over this tank. Right now, Jack is letting me borrow some lighting (thanks again!) until I can get things sorted with this semi-functional Chinese LED.
I need to figure out fish still. I had a 6-line in there after the cycle, but after doing well for a couple weeks he stopped eating and lasted about 4 more days before I found him belly up. Strange/crappy...he was eating frozen brine prior to this and the water tested out fine. I was originally going to just stock the tank with 1 fish...but I may end up with 2 now.
I plan on moving my african flameback angel from the cube into this tank. He's doing well, but is kind of a jerk to my chalk basslet. Not overly aggressive...he just doesn't like the fact that the basslet likes to sleep in the same corner of the tank...so my basslet spends all day hiding from the angel to avoid the angel flaring up at him, which is as bad as it gets. Besides that, there's essentially no algae in the cube for the flameback angel to graze on; there should be plenty in the 20 long. He does pick at the macro, which is fine considering how quickly it grows in the tank...but as much as he grazes, I'd rather him be in the 20 long with just an HOB for filtration. The cube is running a skimmer and GFO...algae is non-existent in there aside from the occasional green film on the glass, which he obviously doesn't touch.
Any suggestions on a pest-control wrasse that might get along with him? He does fine with my lubbocks fairy and yellow coris; unfortunately I can't add a yellow coris to this tank (no sand bed) so I need to look at some other options. I'd rather not try to pair him with a 6-line for obvious reasons. What does that leave? Are there any other pod/nudi/bug eating wrasses (or even other sp.) that I could go with that don't require a sand bed?
Moved pretty much all of my zoas into here. Everything seems to be MUCH happier already. Dunno if it was lighting, flow, or low nutrients (or some combination of all 3), but many of my zoas that were only partially opened in the cube or a bit curled up (captain americas) are now all open and looking good. I'll try to update some pics soon, right now everything is pretty much tossed in there...I'll start actually scaping the tank once my lighting issue gets worked out.
My planted tank uses the same fixture that I originally had over this tank...long story but the brand new fixture over my planted tank died, so I took the one I had off this tank and moved it to the FW setup. There weren't many corals in there at the time...so no huge loss. I've decided to ditch going with a T5/LED combo and will just be running LEDs over this tank. Right now, Jack is letting me borrow some lighting (thanks again!) until I can get things sorted with this semi-functional Chinese LED.
I need to figure out fish still. I had a 6-line in there after the cycle, but after doing well for a couple weeks he stopped eating and lasted about 4 more days before I found him belly up. Strange/crappy...he was eating frozen brine prior to this and the water tested out fine. I was originally going to just stock the tank with 1 fish...but I may end up with 2 now.
I plan on moving my african flameback angel from the cube into this tank. He's doing well, but is kind of a jerk to my chalk basslet. Not overly aggressive...he just doesn't like the fact that the basslet likes to sleep in the same corner of the tank...so my basslet spends all day hiding from the angel to avoid the angel flaring up at him, which is as bad as it gets. Besides that, there's essentially no algae in the cube for the flameback angel to graze on; there should be plenty in the 20 long. He does pick at the macro, which is fine considering how quickly it grows in the tank...but as much as he grazes, I'd rather him be in the 20 long with just an HOB for filtration. The cube is running a skimmer and GFO...algae is non-existent in there aside from the occasional green film on the glass, which he obviously doesn't touch.
Any suggestions on a pest-control wrasse that might get along with him? He does fine with my lubbocks fairy and yellow coris; unfortunately I can't add a yellow coris to this tank (no sand bed) so I need to look at some other options. I'd rather not try to pair him with a 6-line for obvious reasons. What does that leave? Are there any other pod/nudi/bug eating wrasses (or even other sp.) that I could go with that don't require a sand bed?
I ended up going with an awesome two-tone wrasse that I picked up from Nick (Ambrosio). Haven't seen him but once (2 days ago) since adding him last week. He buried himself in the tray of sand I stuck in the corner, and I'm pretty sure he's only coming out late at night for now. I added some pods to the tank (thanks Chad) so he can hopefully munch on those since I haven't been able to feed him. The wrasse looked good a couple days ago when I saw him though, and he was nice and fat when I brought him home so I'm not too worried.
I'm pretty sure my african flameback angel that I added to the tank wasn't allowing him to settle in; I added them simultaneously but the wrasse just hid right away. I'm pretty sure the angel was being a jerk and trying to claim the tank whenever the wrasse did venture out....so, the angel is in an isolation box for now. Once I see the wrasse settling in to the tank and out regularly I'll add the angel. Hopefully that works out...I was able to trap the angel but would rather not go through catching him a 3rd time.
Got a 120w chinese led over the tank now...just waiting for things to settle in before I start gluing frags to the scape. The tank is a bit of a mess right now since everything is just tossed in there. I even have some pieces of live rock rubble from my cube just haphazardly taking up space and causing clutter...but they were loaded with tubeworms, pods, sponges, and strawberry nems; hopefully they seed the tank with some good hitchhikers.
In spite of the clutter...here are a few pics. Can't believe pretty much all of those zoas were actually in my cube.
I did glue down a few zoa colonies that had been stretching for light in the cube...they've been placed toward the top of the tank. I'm gonna make a point of separating some of the more invasive zoas and palys by placing them either at the top of a couple columns, or on rocks by themselves at the bottom of the tank if they prefer lower light.
Til my wrasse settles in though, I plan on keeping my hands out of the tank as much as possible...so I'll just have to deal with this mess of frags and keep telling myself it'll look better soon. Hopefully.
I'm pretty sure my african flameback angel that I added to the tank wasn't allowing him to settle in; I added them simultaneously but the wrasse just hid right away. I'm pretty sure the angel was being a jerk and trying to claim the tank whenever the wrasse did venture out....so, the angel is in an isolation box for now. Once I see the wrasse settling in to the tank and out regularly I'll add the angel. Hopefully that works out...I was able to trap the angel but would rather not go through catching him a 3rd time.
Got a 120w chinese led over the tank now...just waiting for things to settle in before I start gluing frags to the scape. The tank is a bit of a mess right now since everything is just tossed in there. I even have some pieces of live rock rubble from my cube just haphazardly taking up space and causing clutter...but they were loaded with tubeworms, pods, sponges, and strawberry nems; hopefully they seed the tank with some good hitchhikers.
In spite of the clutter...here are a few pics. Can't believe pretty much all of those zoas were actually in my cube.
I did glue down a few zoa colonies that had been stretching for light in the cube...they've been placed toward the top of the tank. I'm gonna make a point of separating some of the more invasive zoas and palys by placing them either at the top of a couple columns, or on rocks by themselves at the bottom of the tank if they prefer lower light.
Til my wrasse settles in though, I plan on keeping my hands out of the tank as much as possible...so I'll just have to deal with this mess of frags and keep telling myself it'll look better soon. Hopefully.
Seriously? Has it been a month since my last update?
The tank is doing great overall. I had some issues with nuisance algae on the glass which resolved on it's own and was replaced by green coraline on the front glass. It was a PITA to keep clean; it was growing extremely quickly as I had sunlight spilling into the room and hitting the tank. Lucky me though...my girl bought me some sweet blinds on a track system and even helped me install them...so the tank is stable again and not getting blasted by sunlight, which was causing zoas to stretch toward the front glass.
Enough text...here's a photobomb for you all:
HOT
Moved my Pink and Golds up, as recommended by Matt...and this is what I got out of it
Cherry Charms
The tank is doing great overall. I had some issues with nuisance algae on the glass which resolved on it's own and was replaced by green coraline on the front glass. It was a PITA to keep clean; it was growing extremely quickly as I had sunlight spilling into the room and hitting the tank. Lucky me though...my girl bought me some sweet blinds on a track system and even helped me install them...so the tank is stable again and not getting blasted by sunlight, which was causing zoas to stretch toward the front glass.
Enough text...here's a photobomb for you all:
HOT
Moved my Pink and Golds up, as recommended by Matt...and this is what I got out of it
Cherry Charms
Pink N Golds / Cherry Charms side by side
These make me drool daily
Got a SICK deal on this little colony yesterday...Jokers, Lunar Eclipse, and....dunno the 3rd one
Can anybody ID the pair of zoas on the left for me?? Sorry about the craptastic photo...I'll move the frag up and try to get a clearer shot if that helps. My ability to crop and zoom and still get a sharp picture is limited by my 10MP camera...as well as my lazy arse not using a tripod, lol.
Also need an ID on this hotness I scooped up at Elite Reef last week:
No full tank shots yet, I'm working on it. It's been a challenge between positioning the camera and dialing in the ambient lighting in the room to cut down on reflections. I had to change all my camera settings just to get the pics above, so with a little trial and error I should get things dialed in for a FTS.
These make me drool daily
Got a SICK deal on this little colony yesterday...Jokers, Lunar Eclipse, and....dunno the 3rd one
Can anybody ID the pair of zoas on the left for me?? Sorry about the craptastic photo...I'll move the frag up and try to get a clearer shot if that helps. My ability to crop and zoom and still get a sharp picture is limited by my 10MP camera...as well as my lazy arse not using a tripod, lol.
Also need an ID on this hotness I scooped up at Elite Reef last week:
No full tank shots yet, I'm working on it. It's been a challenge between positioning the camera and dialing in the ambient lighting in the room to cut down on reflections. I had to change all my camera settings just to get the pics above, so with a little trial and error I should get things dialed in for a FTS.
Thanks Jason. I'm shooting with a top-down viewer attached to the lens, so it definitely helps. The only thing I don't like is that it seems to be causing some premature wear on the bearings in the manual focusing ring on my lens...so I'm going to address that issue and try to mod my porthole attachment so it stops putting pressure points on the focusing ring. It's definitely given me some great pics though!
I'm shooting with a top-down viewer attached to the lens, so it definitely helps. The only thing I don't like is that it seems to be causing some premature wear on the bearings in the manual focusing ring on my lens...so I'm going to address that issue and try to mod my porthole attachment so it stops putting pressure points on the focusing ring. It's definitely given me some great pics though!