New Toys!

Hello! Not many updates this summer. Tank is still rocking along. I have added a number of acropora frags and all are growing well. Heat has not been a problem, despite the warm summer.

I have reduced the total number of bulbs to six. The current setup, from back to front:

• 470 nm actinic *
• 22k
• 16k *
• 22K
• 12k *
• 440 nm actinic

The * indicates it's one of the newer Hi-PAR bulbs. The other three are the older "90 LED per foot" designs.

Other New Toys:

I accidentally water-logged my LiterMeter topoff pump. After 7 years, it is toast. So, I purchased a Bubble Magus. This three-headed monster now doses Calci

um, Alk, and water throughout the day. Any of the single pumps are a little under-powered for the water topoff duties. To compensate, I have made the Alk and calc formulas at half strength and dose double the amount in order to get more water into the system each day.

I also picked up a ProfiLux controller. It acts as a controller for the Tunze flow pump, and its four switched outlets control my moonlights, heater, skimmer, and sump.

Oh: The Tunze 6100 was replaced with a 6105. Slightly smaller and slightly more powerful.

So, will SPS grow under LEDs? Take a look at these fun four photos:

Here's my orange cap in a 130g tank, growing up the front side of the tank:

A closer look of at least an inch of growth up the front glass... it was also attached to the back as well:

A top down photo:

And finally, the huge beast, out of the tank prior to surgery with a Dremel and a high performance non-breakable cutting blade:

"Tank of the Month Award"from Captive Reefs!

Wow! The system was given the "Tank of the Month" award by Captive Reefs, a internet forum. Seethe writeup and system details at: http://www.captivereefs.com/forum/showthread.php?t=8095 for all the gory details! :)

April Update... Gen 2 "Hi Power" bulbs

The tank continues to thrive under the LEDs. Some interesting observations:

The Hi Power bulbs seem to be a LOT more PAR. Some light-hungry SPS corals really colored up when I added the first hi-power bulb (a 470 nm actinic in December). They continue to thrive when I added the another Hi Power gen 2 (16k) last month.

Growth is just sick. I had to perform MAJOR fragging of the "Hollywood Stunner" chalice. The Orange Monti Cap needs to be cut as well. It is now growing up the front and back edges of the tank.

The Hi Powers allowed me to actually drop a bulb. No longer running 8... just 7 bulbs. I would imagine that use of all Hi-Power Gen 2 bulbs would allow reduction to six or -- GASP -- only five bulbs? We'll see as time goes on.

More Cree bulbs added!

I've swapped out a few bulbs for another of the Cree-based "Hi-Power Gen 2" bulbs.


[IMG]http://i2.photobucket.com/albums/y30/pjr300/Aquaria/sunbrite/New12kand16k.jpg[/IMG]

I played around with the combination in the system; the new bulbs are surely stronger than the old models! It's a new 16k.

So, in summary, running the following:

• Hi Power 2nd Gen in 470mm and 16k
• 2nd Gen in 440mm, 22k x2, and 16k
• 1st Gen in 12k

New Pics!

Other Tank Hardware...

This post is about some of the other particulars of my setup. Overall system management is a Reefkeeper 2. I do have the webserver set up so I can monitor the tank from any web browser (it's connected to an old Pentium 3 computer sitting in the basement). I use a Tunze 6100 and a small Korilia nano for flow in the tank. A Maxi-mod 1200 is available as a backup.

The sump is pictured at right; I just added a larger model last week after using a smaller Pro-Clear since the tank's 2005 start up. Skimmer is a Tunze 9010.... compact, energy efficient, easy to clean, and quiet. Heater also rests in the sump.

The thin white tube feeds topoff water from the basement.







Return pump is an Iwaki MD-30. The smaller Iwaki pumps are quiet (no fan), cool, and use relatively low energy. You can see the Sunbrite timer pack under the tank as well.









Topoff water comes from an old 15 gallon tank sitting on an use d aquarium stand. I manually fill the tank every week or so with RO; it's mixed with a Sodium carbonate and/or sodium bicarbonate to maintain the tank's alkalinity and PH. A SpectraPure "Liter Meter" doses the water upstairs to the sump.








Finally, the RO system. An electronic valve (upper left) is turned on for 2 hours daily by a timer (at right). The valve feeds water to the RO system (middle left), which flows to the Rubbermaid container. This water is used for making up water for topoff and weekly changes.