chimera

ok, coz this thread is starting to get image heavy, started new thread showing "with and without" T5's, photo here... http://www.fnzas.org.nz/fishroom/here-vp143004.html

Here's a full tank shot, 3 x 150W halides only. Here's a full tank shot the following day, 3 x 150W halides + 4 x T5's (2 white, 2 blue) It's only after I put these on did I realise how poor my lighting was. Huge difference! Now the test continues again, will be interesting to see if acro's colour up THIS time!!!

All 4 x T5's are on now, what a difference. As the wife said, looked like it only had a night light on previously! Considering a 4th halide now too.

nice work!

great idea. keep the thread on topic!

special K interesting topic, keep to the point and I might actually learn something here...

exactly

yeah biggest misconception certainly is the number of water changes required - gotta remember theres little point if what you take out you're putting back in in a smaller quantity for replenishing trace elements, or larger quantity if you're removing nutrients

a very good article, shows some good graphs and dispels some myths. a very good read IMO. writer is not biased in anyway, takes his conclusions from mathematical results. certainly has got me thinking about my water chemistry. and if you dont read it in its entirity, dont jump to the conclusion that "water changes aren't needed". its simply shows how many water changes are required to replace trace elements and remove nutrients... http://www.reefs.org/library/article/t_ ... ll_wc.html

funny you say that wasp, was just about to post a question who wants to go halves in a 25kg sack of calcium chloride? i think its around $130

tested water last night, still crap. getting really frustrated - surely it shouldnt take more than 4 days to get levels back up? kH was ok-ish at 7.5. Ca low at 310, Mg low at 1140. checked this morning and reactor needed tuning again - bubble rate was ok and consistant but outlet feed was blocked. it continues to do this, whenever excess CO2 goes through the reactor it seems to block the outlet (strange but true) if i shake the reactor all the CO2 bubbles rise to the top. have to then fully open outlet which lets the CO2 escape then once water comes out again, tune it back to a drip a second. i think the filter media at the bottom of the reactor is clogging up again. stupid design really.

oh, and remember this photo i took a while ago? same coral (poc), same camera, just different camera settings. amazing how much different you can get the colours just by adjusting camera settings...

push the little flower button, turns macro setting on. don't fully zoom into the shot otherwise it loses focus. zoom in as close as you can before it loses focus (hold finger down half way on 'take photo button' ) zoom out a little more if its not in focus, keep going til you get it right. in regards to colours, i've noticed the sony is crap for showing colour matching. even the photos i've posted here dont look as good. mates got a point and shoot canon, kicks arse over the sony for colours imo. i'll check the camera settings tonight and let you know exactly what i've got everything set too. oh, and if you want better colours, simply angle your photos down on the coral as opposed to upwards at it. if the view finder points too much at the halides, it looks washed out. have to find a happy medium.

thats exactly it. current tank is 5x2x2 (a little over 500 litres). new tank will be 6x3x2 (a little over 1,000 litres) will probably go to 650mm height rather than 600. the hole in wall will stay the same size to hide the streams (6" each side should be sufficient) also the closed loop pipes will be completely stealthed - all aquascaping will be designed around the location of these - or in other words the pipes will be extended to poke through the rocks but not seen, so water flow is maintained but you wont know where its coming from! the idea of the new tank is to give it a natural look and a more 3D view. aquascaping will have the current centre piece maintained but the 'valley' will go along the left side and behind it. this will mean that you will get different views depending on where you stand in front of the tank. i have the exact layout in my head and have done for the past 6 months. money and time are the only things stopping me as to when it happens - especially considering the mega rennovations we've just done! (and are still doing ) probably make a start end of this year/early next. design will adopt a similar look and feel to steve weasts tank.

nope sorry dude. i do have 2 extra 4ft reflectors but they'll be used on the new tank. 4 x halides in the middle and 4 x 4ft T5's around the outside (making a shape square for both ) This will match the shape of the tank (or at least similar to it) See jetskisteve he's got heaps of T5 gear at a good price

thanks, it's only a sony dsc-p100 camera (5mp) took me a bit to work out the optimal camera settings. can't just use the normal point and shoot setting otherwise shots come out too blue. have to set to manual (P) i found having macro setting on, only zooming in about half way then cropping the image and sharpening it in photoshop works best no colours are enhanced (not that you would expect them to be :lol: ) also makes a big difference cleaning the glass hard core (in and out) otherwise the focus gets a bit screwed up. i'll get a photo tonight on the same angle as the full tank shot above but with the T5's on. interesting to see if it makes a difference to the clarity of the photo - should do with more lighting

unless u r planning to upgrade in the future - as I was when i bought the AP902

probably the same reason you think coral beauties and flames are boring

for sure AP902 or even 701 too big for that size tank. either 1250 or 1060 would be better. you should be able to pick one up 2nd hand for about $500 - $800 depending on actual model and condition.

one of those wide aquamedic scrapers. blade is about 6 inches across? takes about 2 minutes to scrape the front and back!!! makes it look 10 times better than having coralline all over it - the corals stand out more. in saying that though the new tank will have a black, removable section (not sure of material yet, probably perspex) at the back that can be taken out and cleaned outside the tank (also allows access if anything falls down the back )

just ask, after doing my tank I have a masters degree in plumbing!

i use the deltec ap902, it seriously kicks arse http://www.deltecusa.us/proteinskimmers/ap902.php

cheers guys. i finally decided i'll have a late one at get the T5's installed. scrounged around the house for enough computer power cables, screwed the "3 x T5's" to the hood then wired them up. Each T5 ballast powers 2 bulbs and it wont work at all unless both are wired up. because i have 3 x T5's made up, i could only get 2 (whites) to work (need the 4th wired in order to get the last 2 (blues) going) i must admit i have never seen a brand new T5 bulb light up (the only ones i've seen were old and probably in need of replacement) the brand new bulbs are quite amazing - way brighter than i had hoped. just having 2 (whites) going at the moment has certainly made a considerable difference. will hook up the 2 x blues tomorrow night. these will be on a separate timer to come on 1 hr before and 1 hr after the halides. heres a recap of the 3 x T5s i made up: will get a pick up to show them installed later will also take a frontal shot (same pic as above, same camera settings) with the T5's installed to show the difference.

haven't posted one in a while. lights lights lights - thats what i reckon im lacking and a comparison of a milli frag, when i got it aug 05 now... and another, aug 05 now....

ditto. i get free sky instead