WEKA Posted February 11, 2006 Report Share Posted February 11, 2006 Thanks Chimera I guess the control gear is the same for T5 & T8 so I can do a bit of experimenting once I get things going. Mine is starting off as cold marine so T8 may be OK I am just about to start on the construction of the light box so may try and design to allow for MH lights in future Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
suphew Posted February 11, 2006 Report Share Posted February 11, 2006 The control gear is different, the wattages are different and I think the starters will be differend as well. Also the tube length (T5 3 foot tubes are actually about an inch shorter than 3 foot) and contacts. So simply put, no you cant put in T8 fittings then swap the bulbs later. A point from chim's post that maybe wasn't clear is that most of what he was saying relates to the same wattage, i.e. lumin output per watt is similar but a 3 foot T5 is 39 watts, where as a 3 foot T8 is 30 watts so almost 25% less light Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
WEKA Posted February 11, 2006 Report Share Posted February 11, 2006 Thanks Suphew I was planning on using 5ft tubes but I guess there is a difference in length there as well. Where do you get these T5 tubes I have not seen them around. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
suphew Posted February 12, 2006 Report Share Posted February 12, 2006 Pies uses 5 foot T5 tubes, he got his last lot from Reef so you could try him, only other option I know of is de lighting in Singapore, theres a thread in the commercial section. He does good prices on lighting kits too, reflectors, ballasts, water proof end caps. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
chimera Posted February 13, 2006 Author Report Share Posted February 13, 2006 Some updated pic's of corals - showing older ones to compare. None have been colour enhanced, only cropped and sharpened. some photo's are a bit crap. unfortunately there are some differences that could change the nature of the photos, eg: different W & K for lighting, different camera settings (never made note of what the camera was set too) and relocated corals. I've still got to put T5 lighting over the tank too - I believe this will make a significant difference on growth patterns. i would also get significantly more symmetrical growth if i had a 4th 150W halide and had them spaced further out (monti cap below is a classic example) Lots of corals still got some coloring up to do but getting there I really believe if I take all my sand out they will colour up twice as fast. --------------- aug 05 oct 05 feb 06 --------------- sep 05 feb 06 --------------- apr 05 jul 05 feb 06 (classic example here of camera settings, does not look anywhere near this brown in the tank, looks more like the earlier shots) -------------- aug 05 oct 05 feb 06 (not sure how well the 'parent' branch will eventually hold the weight of this milli?!) --------------- oct 05 (this hydno's growth has slowed down somewhat - and im quite glad it has because it grew incredibly quickly to start with) feb 06 --------------- apr 05 feb 06 (note how the direction of the blue coral has changed since the monti has sheltered it. also note lack of growth on left side of monti where there is no direct halide lighting) --------------- (this one is interesting. it showed absolutely no colour for months and months. all of a sudden, the tips (where light is the darkest) have started to go bright green. i have a feeling it might be a tri-colour) mar 05 --------------- right side/middle acro's aug 05 feb 06 (note how the staghorn is growing like a frickin' weed at the front!!! might snap it and replace near the back of the tank soon) --------------- heres a purple acro i dont have any before shots of but starting to colour up nicely --------------- and lastly a little stylophora frag i got from stevea (cheers dude, awesome frag), pissed off coz i knocked a branch off the frag in the middle. i know, it'll grow back... decided to do a little experiment with the piece that broke off so chucked it right in the middle of a monti cap (which i really want to get rid of but it's encrusted the most part of a rock) i'll manually intervene if it starts killing the stylo off Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
chimera Posted February 13, 2006 Author Report Share Posted February 13, 2006 Oh and a shot of my clam. This thing has grown heaps, only had it about 5 months (?) but what you see in white on the shell is how much it has grown... now I definately need a bigger tank Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wasp Posted February 13, 2006 Report Share Posted February 13, 2006 Some very cool pics! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
reef Posted February 13, 2006 Report Share Posted February 13, 2006 Things are growing well; getting colours come with experience as there is a bit more to it then just adding additives. I had the same problem when I started due to lack of information. I also note that some of those acros are hard to colour up anyway, especially some of the purple type. It looks like you still have nutrients in the tank as the rocks look like they have some algae on them. Lack of light will also stop acropora from colouring up. Your lights look dim, (do you still use the narva bulbs)have you looked at getting bulbs with more par, like blv 14ks. or Xms. They are really bright and might help with colour. In saying all that cracker has 20ks and his acros are really colourful, so it could be a combination of many things. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
chimera Posted February 13, 2006 Author Report Share Posted February 13, 2006 cheers. yeah nutrients highly likely causing unwanted algae, either that or excessive iron from zeovit gut feeling is its leaching from the sand bed though. i think that because acros are showing signs of colouring, then its just a matter of time before nutrients drop low enough. addition of t5's will certainly help. im not adding anything except drip feeding calcium carbonate from the reactor. other than that filtration is ap902 skimmer, zeovit, fluidised rowaphos reactor, carbon and of course LR. the only thing that gets me is seeing others tanks that have been setup for a shorter period of time and getting better colours. trying to work out what im doing wrong (or might simply be what im not doing) im a advocate of learning by experience though so not too fussed addition of t5's shortly may help - but in saying that someone like cookie has few lights and good colours. then again, not every tank is the same. one step at a time! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
suphew Posted February 13, 2006 Report Share Posted February 13, 2006 Glad to see the picture of your clam, I have one the same which I got at the same time, I have been worried about mine because the shell is growing so fast (more than doubled in size) but the mantel isn't as extended anywhere near as far as other I have seen. Now I see yours is the same I guess it is just the type. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
chimera Posted February 13, 2006 Author Report Share Posted February 13, 2006 yeah man so true, its always one of those things you want to ask but arent quite sure how to thats why i love seeing pics on this site, many answer a few questions without actually having to ask Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SteveA Posted February 13, 2006 Report Share Posted February 13, 2006 ......decided to do a little experiment with the piece that broke off so chucked it right in the middle of a monti cap (which i really want to get rid of but it's encrusted the most part of a rock) i'll manually intervene if it starts killing the stylo off The Stylophora will loose against an Acro, not sure about a Monti. When I finally get my new camera I am thinking of experimenting with a blue flash (blue filter on flash actually) to see if I can get the flash light to match the tank's lighting and preserve the colours, which tend to wash out with a normal flash. Good pics anyway. Does your clam stay in one place? My one keeps moving and has covered over 40cm since I put it in. It seems to be moving towards the higher current area. Steve Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
suphew Posted February 13, 2006 Report Share Posted February 13, 2006 Mine keeps moving, I placed it on a rock to start with, in high light med flow, but it moved itself off the rock onto the bottom, and has been turning round on the spot since Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
chimera Posted February 13, 2006 Author Report Share Posted February 13, 2006 mine hasn't moved an inch! mind you the tank has about 70 times turnover i'd imagine its pretty happy. The Stylophora will loose against an Acro, not sure about a Monti if thats the case its highly likely to lose against the monti. any ideas on the best way to kill the monti off that rock? nuke it with kalk paste? i'll manually break it down where possible but as ya know it takes the tiniest slither of a frag to continue growing. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SteveA Posted February 14, 2006 Report Share Posted February 14, 2006 ...... any ideas on the best way to kill the monti off that rock? . Lean some mushrooms against it for a few days. Steve Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
chimera Posted February 14, 2006 Author Report Share Posted February 14, 2006 :lol: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
puttputt Posted February 14, 2006 Report Share Posted February 14, 2006 I can lend you some nice little nudibranches that will do the job Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lduncan Posted February 14, 2006 Report Share Posted February 14, 2006 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fay Posted February 14, 2006 Report Share Posted February 14, 2006 You have some really nice corals there Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
chimera Posted May 16, 2008 Author Report Share Posted May 16, 2008 Casting a spell and conjuring up the dead here,... might as well add to the end of this... its only been 2 years and 3 months since an update Had 3 tank crashes since :-? largest visual change other than aquascaping was stripping the blue background and changing to black. best change i've done thus far IMO. from this layout/colour as at sept 2006 (tank crashed a month later) to this as at may 2008: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HaNs Posted May 16, 2008 Report Share Posted May 16, 2008 Thats looking mighty fine! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
livingart Posted May 16, 2008 Report Share Posted May 16, 2008 loooking goood Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wilson Posted May 16, 2008 Report Share Posted May 16, 2008 looking good chimera Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Emperor Posted May 16, 2008 Report Share Posted May 16, 2008 looking great, RBTA looks good. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wasp Posted May 16, 2008 Report Share Posted May 16, 2008 Very nice. It looked pretty good in the first picture also but all those lps's in the 2nd picture add another dimension to the tank. The other surprise was all those user names in the previous pages that i hardly remember! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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