dan_from_nz Posted December 16, 2004 Report Share Posted December 16, 2004 black? wouldn't that absorb your light isn't there a lighter colour that would not absorb so much light, or is it a "that colour works there" scenario? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lduncan Posted December 17, 2004 Report Share Posted December 17, 2004 I think he means black on the outside only. Layton Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pies Posted December 17, 2004 Author Report Share Posted December 17, 2004 Yeah just black on the visible outside part. Pie Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pies Posted December 18, 2004 Author Report Share Posted December 18, 2004 Well the tank is now full, and the rockwork is about 75% done. The bommie is the main focus for me right now as it is the home to the anemone that I am most worried about. Its been walking all over the place but seems happy now and has stayed put for a few days. Still lots of ghetto lighting and pumps all over the tank, but some pics to give you the general idea. Sorry for the quality of the photos. This is the tank from the front. Note the halides are down the left hand side, hence the reason its darker down the right, even though its being lit by 4x T5s and 4x 4ft Fluros. This is the tank from the viewable side (left hand if looking from the front). Lobo looking healthy and happy. Love the clams: Am concentraing soft corals, exnia, star polyps and zoo's etc on the bommie. This should contain them and not let them run rampant down the right hand end that will be 90% stone coral. Cept for all the mushrooms I missed, HUNDREDS Pie Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
chimera Posted December 18, 2004 Report Share Posted December 18, 2004 beautiful bro, once the lighting is sussed, it'll look wicked! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Warren Posted December 18, 2004 Report Share Posted December 18, 2004 Sweat Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
livebearer_breeder Posted December 18, 2004 Report Share Posted December 18, 2004 In think the term is Sweet, and it is amazing! Shae 250 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jetskisteve Posted December 18, 2004 Report Share Posted December 18, 2004 Cant wait to come down for a swim Kill that lonely aptasia! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fay Posted December 18, 2004 Report Share Posted December 18, 2004 YES!!!!!! That slice of ocean I have been amazed at your self control and patience Pies it has been such alot of work, but when we love it so much it doesn't seem like work. Congratulations on an excellent job A+ Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pies Posted December 18, 2004 Author Report Share Posted December 18, 2004 Kill that lonely aptasia! Ha! Yeah bloody thing, I didn't even know it was there until I took the photo! There is also a lone Marjano in there too. I promise to exterminate it ASAP! I've moved some fish upstairs. I wasn't going too, but in the end I felt bad for the in a big tank with nothing in it! So lighting and a bigger return pump take my priority at the moment. The rockwork isn't finished, but I have some macro algae attached to the rocks I want to use, so I think the best way to take care of it is to light starve it out. So will take a week or 2. Pieman Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fay Posted December 18, 2004 Report Share Posted December 18, 2004 GOT YA Fish up stairs Just lost that self control & patience Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Brianemone Posted December 18, 2004 Report Share Posted December 18, 2004 looks really good, i really like the left hand side and the veiw from the end, i think it adds a nice extra dimension to the tank. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pies Posted December 18, 2004 Author Report Share Posted December 18, 2004 FAY - Yeah I was going to hold off, but the downstairs tank has little rock, no coral and no light at the moment, so I just couldn't leave the fish in it any longer. So selfcontrol is still there, just didn't want to leave the fish in the dark The conditions in the tank must be good. The boxing shrimp spawned last night, I have a mated pair. She was loaded with eggs the other day and I watched her release hundreds of free swimming lavae last night. The tank want nuts, EVERY coral opened for a feed, as did the fish (even the clowns!). So I suspect none survived, but still, was quite a site. The male shrimp following the female EVERYWHERE gaurding her, very cool. But its nice to know that the conditions are good enough for spawning some of the critters in the tank, hopefully with 2x as much space they will be even happier. Pie Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Critters Posted December 19, 2004 Report Share Posted December 19, 2004 Wow a really interesting thread Pies you have done very well I imagine there must have been alot of very hard work involved Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fay Posted December 19, 2004 Report Share Posted December 19, 2004 Good boy keep up the good work Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pies Posted December 19, 2004 Author Report Share Posted December 19, 2004 Layton - Have a read of this please and let me know what you think, regarding lighting: All ballasts are not the same. The role of a ballast in a MH lamp setup is to act as a resistor (kind of) and limit current through the lamp. Without the ballast, the lamp would "overdraw" and quickly self destruct. (Incidentally, the difference between an ideal ballast and a resistor is that an ideal ballast stores energy, rather than disipating it as heat, so does not waste electricity like a resistor would - real ballasts have some resistance, which is why they get hot and consume an additional 10% (roughly) of the total energy of the system)... but I digress. MH lamps of the same wattage differ in terms of their ideal current and voltage, and hence, need different ballasts. In 400W lamps, there are three lamp voltages that are common: 100V, 120V and 135V. What happens to the rest of the 240V? This is the voltage that is "dropped" by the ballast, so a 100V lamp requires a ballast that will drop 140V at a current of 400W/100V = 4A. From here I could work out the inductance of the ballast, but I'm sure I'd put people to sleep. Ballasts also differ in their efficiency. A ballast that is wound with "fatter" wire has less resistance and is more efficient. The down side is that it is also heavier, bigger and more expensive. But for you Mark, the bottom line is that BLV 400W lamps are 100V lamps. The ATCO OGB400-100 is for 135V lamps, while the OGH400-100 is for 120V lamps... you need an ATCO OGS400-100, an OGS400-109(TH) or an OGS400-106, all of which are for 100V lamps. The 109 has a thermal cutout, but otherwise performs the same as the 100. The 106 dissipates (wastes as heat) 34W as opposed to 37W for the other two. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lduncan Posted December 20, 2004 Report Share Posted December 20, 2004 Yeah Pies, fun isn't it. When it comes down to it, all those ballasts will run all 400W bulbs, whether they are 135V or 100V. You may have seen ballasts advertised as M58 or M59, this is the ANSI standard number associated with a ballast. The OGB running at 135Volts is a M59 compliant ballast. The OGS being 100Volts is a M135 compliant ballast. From the OGB's I have, i've run Venture bulbs (M59) and coralvue bulbs which i suspect may be M135's, no problems. In short it may affect the spectrum. If it does i'd say the higher the voltage, the more blue light will come out of the bulb, but with whatever ballast you go with, you'll always be getting a full 400W of "light". As for the power difference, 34W as opposed to 37W wasted would equate to about $2 of electricity a year. So it's up to you, whatever is cheapest I say. Layton Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jetskisteve Posted December 20, 2004 Report Share Posted December 20, 2004 Well pieman I hope the bulbs I got for you today are the right ones :-? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pies Posted December 21, 2004 Author Report Share Posted December 21, 2004 Layton, thanks for that, just wanted to check. I will buy 1 and set it up and see how it treats me. Don't supposed you can take some snaps of your lights for me? Also are you using a 3 wire plug to the bulb? Any special considerations for cable length? How far away can the ballasts be (as I understand it only 5 feet?). Also do the ballasts make any noise? Anything else I need to do before I start? Steve - I am sure they will be fine. did you get a ballast price? Pie Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lduncan Posted December 21, 2004 Report Share Posted December 21, 2004 Pies, I'm not using a 3 wires to the bulb, (but I should) the 3rd ground wire should be attached to the metal reflector/hood. It's just incase the wiring to the bulb socket becomes loose and touches the metal hood it shorts to ground tripping the circuit breaker when it does. If you don't do this and one of the wires somehow contacts the metal hood, you will get a fatal elec shock. Cable length to the ballast is not so much of an issue as the cable length of the ignitor to the bulb. The ignitor puts out a 4kV pulse to start the bulb. The shorter the wire this 4kV has to travel the better, but I have about 2.5 meters of wire between my bulbs and my ignitors. The ballasts make no noise, other than when the ignitors are doing there thing when you first turn them on. That is only for a few seconds until the bulbs strike. My camera is again on it's annual holiday abroad with my parents, so no photos for three or four weeks. I keep telling them to get one themselves they're not that expensive anymore! Anyway my lighting pics would be the subject of a "how not to wire high powered lights" thread, rather than a by the book, safety first, OSH approved method. Layton Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nodle Posted December 21, 2004 Report Share Posted December 21, 2004 Pies i used a three pin plug on my lamp side so i could earth the reflector just to be on the safe side. If you pm me your email i will send through the info i have on the ballasts from TRIDONIC ATCO it tells you about outputs ignitors and capacitors that you should use. Also what is the tradename of the plastic eggcrate meterial you used on your reef stand as i need some for the back of my light hood. and where did you get it from Thanks Dave. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pies Posted December 22, 2004 Author Report Share Posted December 22, 2004 Lighting continued - I have 2 ballasts from RADIUM LIGHTING in auckland. They are 400w, wired back to the mains via 3 pin, with a femail 3 pin (round earth hole) to run the bulb. $100ea, these will run Radium 20k & 10k bulbs, also should work on all/most Eurpoean bulbs. Big thanks to JetSkiSteve who not only went and grabed them, but sorted out a great price at the same time, thanks Steve. Will get them on the tank later in the new year. Coral death? Almost but no quite. One of my staghorn acropora corals had started bleeching from the bottom up over the past few days (since being moved upstairs). Not sure whats causing it. I broke of the end and re-afixed it and its doing fine, but I expect the bit left behind to be dead when I get home tonight. Strange, obviously some sort of infection or diesese. Otherwise tank is doing great and looking good. Fish are so much happier than I have seen them. They really enjoy the extra swimming space and all the rocks and current. They are acting differently than they had in the previous tank. Corals are all doing fine, still have some rockwork to finish. Should have most of it sorted in the next few days. Lots of little things to do but overall its really taking shape. Finalise the positions of the STREAMS so I can get my cable management in would be nice, but the big negative of the streams, stupid mounting system. Also I am keen to get the return pump sorted sooner rather than later. I could do with more turnover simply to clear the water up a little more as when the sand/rock is stired up it takes a day for the water to clear as the sump turnover is so slow. Anyone ordering IWAKI pumps soon? The exchange rate is good right now. Pie Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pies Posted December 27, 2004 Author Report Share Posted December 27, 2004 Lighting is on hold at the moment until Steve comes up to visit and I shake this nasty throat infection i've picked up. Not feeling good at all. Still though had a chance to take some snaps of the tank and its inhabitance. One of the acros i've had in reserve in 'survival mode'. This will be purple or blue judgeing by its tips with awesome green polyps! Blue Tang wants to get in every photo. Frogspawn, this started as a frag from Alois has since budded 2 new heads. Has taken about 8 months to produce the 2 heads so not exactly a fast process but still at least its growing. Ever woundered what a Galaxia polyp looks like up real close? I did. Such awesome looking corals, slowing becomming one of my favorites. I have one I grew fron a single polyp, is now over 50 polyps! Shame these things kill everything within reach. This is a softie frag i've had kicking around. You can't tell in the photo but its skin is actually lime green. Cool looking coral and never did well before hand but seems to like its position in the new tank, polyps out most day and looking fully inflated and happy. Thats all for now. Pieman Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Drifty Posted December 27, 2004 Report Share Posted December 27, 2004 pies do you have the magnets to hold the streams, much better than the ones the come with, I switched mine over and am much happier with it Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lduncan Posted December 27, 2004 Report Share Posted December 27, 2004 Those damn tricolours are so sensitive! Any small change and they brownout then take weeks to get any sort of colour back! Layton Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Join the conversation
You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.