Pirate's Reef

[Anonymous]

WOW you dont think your zoas are great....how dare you say that about those beautiful zoas :bash: :lol: anyways you want to swap a frag with me or sell me a frag i personally love those zoas they look cool :victory and well gotta be lucky to have that tank to look at and get the lose frags for almost nothing $$$ hate you :evil: :cry: :lol:

I like them too, but I don't think they will stay that color. They had a darker purple center when I first got them (too early, I must admit). They morphed into this color over the last month when I was having some problems with the water quality (possibly due to the black sand I had in the tank). It also could be that the zoos were under MH lamps at the LFS for a good while (no one bought them for like six weeks & they were only $30 big colony) and now they are under 96 watt PC lamps. If I did send you some of these, I think they would change colors in your set up and not be nearly as yellow as they are now. We could swap if you want to, but I didn't want you to be disappointed when they turn colors on you.

Well im using right now maybe around 2 weeks or so a 70w 12k MH & 2 24w blue actinic PC why??? they were like 9 inches above water but currently the fixture is like 6 inches from surface... EDDY:cool1:

I have been eying the Aquapod 75w or 150w. Problem is they don't have actinics and I don't think I would have room to squeeze any in. The fixture is about the same size as the outer dimensions of the tank. The sad thing is, this whole tank was designed around the CoralLife 96watt fixture. That is why it is the size that it is. I actually have 2 175watt and a 250watt electronic MH ballasts for mogul based lamps laying around here. That might be a bit much though.

 

[Anonymous]

Not that it really matters that much, but I did go back and repair the missing images in the first few pages of this thread. The site that was hosting my pics crashed and I lost everything that I had uploaded. Most of you have already seen the pictures, but some have not.

 

[TimSchmidt]

Of course it matter! This is one amazing build and is nice to go back and see how it was put together. You have some really good tips on making a tank from scratch in the begining. Here's an odd question you might know the answer too. At the local home stores they have MH ballasts and bulbs of varying outputs, have you ever used these lights on a tank? I'm pretty sure they wouldn't work but I'd thought I'd ask.

 

[Anonymous]

Of course it matter! This is one amazing build and is nice to go back and see how it was put together. You have some really good tips on making a tank from scratch in the beginning. Here's an odd question you might know the answer too. At the local home stores they have MH ballasts and bulbs of varying outputs, have you ever used these lights on a tank? I'm pretty sure they wouldn't work but I'd thought I'd ask.

Thanks Tim. I really haven't used the MH ballasts & bulbs from the home improvement stores. I doubt that the color temp of any of the bulbs would be right for a reef aquarium. Fixtures might also not be intended for use over such a harsh environment. I would stick to stuff intended for the aquarium trade, but that's just me. Probably some of the others could chime in here.

How did your project turn out?

 

[EDGRAY]

WOW you dont think your zoas are great....how dare you say that about those beautiful zoas :bash: :lol: anyways you want to swap a frag with me or sell me a frag i personally love those zoas they look cool :victory and well gotta be lucky to have that tank to look at and get the lose frags for almost nothing $$$ hate you :evil: :cry: :lol:

I like them too, but I don't think they will stay that color. They had a darker purple center when I first got them (too early, I must admit). They morphed into this color over the last month when I was having some problems with the water quality (possibly due to the black sand I had in the tank). It also could be that the zoos were under MH lamps at the LFS for a good while (no one bought them for like six weeks & they were only $30 big colony) and now they are under 96 watt PC lamps. If I did send you some of these, I think they would change colors in your set up and not be nearly as yellow as they are now. We could swap if you want to, but I didn't want you to be disappointed when they turn colors on you.

Well thats really normal on zoas im fully aware that any zoa i buy or trade it always mutate to a lighter or darker color so i guess is not a problem and why not give them a try...so ill see what i have for trade ok ... or if any request on zoa or other just let me know... ok and thx for sharing :mrgreen: .

 

[skipm]

There are alot of people that use the ballasts that can be purchased from a home improvement store but like Pirate already mentioned the bulbs are the wrong spectrum with the exception of them being used to grow macros over very large refugiums. You can find bulbs that are suitable for this but not to go over the reef.

 

[reefliving4]

Wow , ur an amazing builder. It would take me like 10 moths to get enought money to buy all that equipment. :shock: :shock:

 

[TimSchmidt]

Did you do any rethinking of the remote DSB?

 

[Anonymous]

Did you do any rethinking of the remote DSB?

I really haven't had time to do that. Probably could have done with a good bit less sand and I would have to increase the flow over the top of the sand and prefilter the water, so that I don't get an accumulation of detritus on top of the sand. I screwed up and put some live sand in there and that was the wrong thing to do.

 

[Anonymous]

Update - 7-15-06 - Week 9.

Today I upgraded my lighting. The CoraLife Aqualight just wasn't cutting it for me. The light was plenty bright enough, but the actinic part of the bulb just wasn't right. I even ordered a replacement bulb from HelloLights to see if their's was any better than the stock bulb. I didn't notice a big difference. I was noticing that corals looked completely different in color when I got them home from the LFS under the CoraLife fixture. Seemed that the actinic bulbs in the Aqualight just wasn't making the colors pop like the URI bulbs I had on my 75.

So, I decided to try T5. I got the Current Nova Extreme 24" fixture. Neat little fixture. Separate circuits for the daylight, actinic and moon light bulbs. BIG difference in the actinic bulbs. It's also a 96 watt fixture. Anyway, I just put it on the tank today, so hopefully I will like the results.

I am still stocking the tank very slowly and with small specimens. Still doesn't look like much, but it is getting better.

Here's a night shot, bathed in moonlights (white & blue)...

Brief video (2mb) of shimmer with wave maker & moonlights on. Kinda neat.
http://www.reefbucket.com//files/6/Moonlight_shimmer.MOV

 

[islandcreation]

PiratesReef,

What kind of moonlights do you have setup? It looks great! I'm looking for a setup but I want somthing that would light it up just like yours. I tried those strips from Odessy and in less than 6 month some of the bulbs burnt out! ha,ha,ha You get what you pay for!

 

[Anonymous]

PiratesReef,

What kind of moonlights do you have setup? It looks great! I'm looking for a setup but I want somthing that would light it up just like yours. I tried those strips from Odessy and in less than 6 month some of the bulbs burnt out! ha,ha,ha You get what you pay for!

I use the Current Nocturnal Blue lamps (2 lamps with 2 LEDs each) and there are two white moonlights in the Current T5 fixture. I like the combination of blue and white. The picture or the video really doesn't do justice to what it actually looks like.

Current also makes a separate white light that are in the same kind of housing as the blues. The neat thing is they are cheap, bright and you can daisy chain 2-3 of them together on the same transformer. They sell a slave unit that comes with the harness.

Nocturnal Blue lights -
http://www.premiumaquatics.com/Merc...duct_Code=CU-USA01652&Category_Code=moonlight

Moon White lights -
http://www.premiumaquatics.com/Merc...duct_Code=CU-USA01650&Category_Code=moonlight

Lunar link or slave units (blue)
http://www.premiumaquatics.com/Merc...duct_Code=CU-USA01655&Category_Code=moonlight

Lunar link or slave (white)
http://www.premiumaquatics.com/Merc...duct_Code=CU-USA01653&Category_Code=moonlight

 

[islandcreation]

Thanks PiratesReef... I have a current on my nano now I just have to get slaves to add on... I forgot what kind of moonlight I had. Plus I wanted to now if there was a cheaper alternative rather than buying more slaves to add on. Cause I think to be sufficient for a 66 gallon (48 inches) I'd have to have four of those lights :sad:

 

[EDGRAY]

I know what you saying ISLAND i have same problem i wanted to use my old moonlights from my NC Hood but since wiring i cant use them so i dont have another option than to get the ones PIRATE linked... so i guess we are not gonna be able to save some $$$ :cry: but anyways what you guys think L & R blue moon light or L white & R blue moonlight ?? what would look better????

 

[Anonymous]

To me, the blue looks much better, if only using the one color. I kinda like the mix of the two though. Remember, those Current lamps are certanly not the smallest ones out there. Also, the shape of the housing makes them a bit of a challenge to find a place to mount them. I ended up hot gluing them to the inside of the canopy. They only shine on the front half of the tank and the white fills in the back. Interesting effect though.

The lamps are only $16.95 and the slaves are only about $11. I think that is pretty cheap. I paid $30 for one small fixture with 4 LEDs in it a few years back. The 4 LEDs are not as bright as the 2 on the Current though.

 

[Anonymous]

Update: Three months in. While the tank is far from mature, it is starting to look like something at least. Still been keeping an eye out for nice corals in small quantities at reduced prices. Not trying to be cheap, but trying actually to get some corals that can be kept for now and hopefully grow enough to propagate in the future for frags for the 140 - should I ever get that up and running.

I have been happy with the T5 lighting so far. I got a blue maxima clam a couple of weeks ago and it seems to be doing ok only six inches under the lights. Everything else seems to be going along pretty well. Here is an updated FTS.

And a few closeups...

Also, I picked up this hitchhiker anemone the other day. Not sure exactly what it is. It is about the diameter of a quarter. Anyone got any ideas? I have it down in the mini fuge at the moment. It was wandering around a little after I put it in the main tank, attached to a colony rock. NOt sure if it is desirable or a pest at the moment.

That's about it for now. Thanks for taking a look. I will update again soon.

Gary

 

[reefman23]

Great pics! I really like the look of this tank.

One thing... with the clam I think the incurrent syphon should be below the outcurrent syphon. He is beautiful though!

Jesse

 

[Anonymous]

Great pics! I really like the look of this tank.

One thing... with the clam I think the incurrent syphon should be below the outcurrent syphon. He is beautiful though!

Jesse

Thanks Jesse. It is still early on, but at least I feel like I am getting somewhere. Thanks for the tip on the clam. I have already flipped him over. As it worked out, he is even a little closer to the light now. I guess you learn something different every day - even if you are an old dog.

Do you have an idea of what that hitchhiker anemone is?

 

[reefman23]

The hitchhiker look like some sort of tulip anemone... it is a very cool looking anemone!

Jesse

 

[drty811]

nice pics.....great looking tank