Lost Creek 270

[lostcreekreefer]

Coral update 3.13.09. Guess I was taking lots of pictures. The Orange SPS became the 'Hang Lose' coral (1st pic). Leather Frag from Charlie (3rd pic), 2 other frags from Charlie (4th pic) now starting to take off, also in 5th pic w/ orange plating coral from Bullet (4 months in this tank for the Orange coral)

[charlie]

I don't understand all the chemistry, never will, but if I read that correctly, keeping a close eye on your Ph, is just as good as ORP, it all depends on how "techie" you want to be I guess. That is why I still top off with a 5 gallon bucket, if you get my drift.

[charlie]

Kevin, one of these days, we will have a free day, and a 6 pack, and we will have to sit down and talk chemistry so I can understand it, I will even take notes!!!!

[lostcreekreefer]

I don't understand all the chemistry, never will, but if I read that correctly, keeping a close eye on your Ph, is just as good as ORP, it all depends on how "techie" you want to be I guess. That is why I still top off with a 5 gallon bucket, if you get my drift.

I think that is an excellent way to put it....a more 'techie' way to look at it, maybe another way to look at it as in multiple redundancy?

I haven't made it to the bucket, am dripping from gallon jugs...Ha! I do have the valves, tube and chose bucket, tho...

Sitting down to talk about chemistry...I dunno 'bout that one. So much going on, tweak one thing which re-tweaks everything else which then re-re-tweaks what you just tweaked, right? We just keep nudging various equilibrium reactions all day long.
Maybe we should just drink beer & take pictures of fish swimming & corals growing. Like your S. doliatus...how's he doing? How is Willis today, has the elbow callus calmed down?

[charlie]

I think that is an excellent way to put it....a more 'techie' way to look at it, maybe another way to look at it as in multiple redundancy?

There you go with the 18 letter words again.
Nothing wrong with redundancy, just depends on the level you want to take it to.

Sitting down to talk about chemistry...I dunno 'bout that one. So much going on, tweak one thing which re-tweaks everything else which then re-re-tweaks what you just tweaked, right? We just keep nudging various equilibrium reactions all day long.

Isn't that why we should keep it to the KISS method? Of course I am one to talk about that!!!!!

Maybe we should just drink beer & take pictures of fish swimming & corals growing. Like your S. doliatus...how's he doing? How is Willis today, has the elbow callus calmed down?

Amen brother, if we could just find a place where no one would have to drive home from!!!!
Rabbit is doing better even as we speak, and Willis seems to have quit the blood letting. I am actually glad I am home, I can keep an eye on the old fart. He has him on antibiotics, which could be good or not, know what I mean.

[lostcreekreefer]

Isn't that why we should keep it to the KISS method? Of course I am one to talk about that!!!!!

Like a reef aquarium is simple surely you jest?

[charlie]

Like a reef aquarium is simple surely you jest?

It is only as tough as the owner wants to make it Kevin. It sure ain't freshwater, but it isn't rocket science either. I mean if I can do this.........

[lostcreekreefer]

I'm back with more pictures, been getting over a cold. I have pictures of the refugium & what not to do.

1) First pic from 2.21.09, the refugium is really working well, lights are suspended. I may lower them a bit, but itsa pain to get at things then.
2) Cloudy water & poor viewing on left half of the tank 4.21.09. I let the algae scraping go 'for a bit', and had just finished scraping 1/2 of the tank and giving myself carpal tunnel syndrome in both arms. never again.
3) Close up of the growth on the acrylic. Yes, it IS hard to get coralline algae off of the acrylic
4) The brown Acropora and the orange Montipora are growing well
5) All dusted & cleaned up. Much more better.

[lostcreekreefer]

More of 4.21.09, once the 'dust' settled, a vast improvement.

[charlie]

Swamped today, eh Kevin!!!

Things keep looking better and better, throughout the pics, how does this happen??

[lostcreekreefer]

Things keep looking better and better, throughout the pics, how does this happen??

I have this special filter for my Canon....

[charlie]

So do I, Adobe Elements 7

[lostcreekreefer]

So do I, Adobe Elements 7

too funny...so you don't actually own all of those cool fish & corals? Actually I have gotten better at picture taking, I really want a new camera now, though. As I've seen before on this forum, just another money pit...

[charlie]

too funny...so you don't actually own all of those cool fish & corals? Actually I have gotten better at picture taking, I really want a new camera now, though. As I've seen before on this forum, just another money pit...

I should have sold you my Canon Rebel body and the kit lens, you could have had it dirt cheap. This hobby does teach more than just reefkeeping.

[lostcreekreefer]

I am moving this portion of the discussion from the November meeting thread over here to the LostCreek270 thread cuz this is where it goes and here's what wee said less some unnecessary comments...

November Meeting Posts:
#47 Charlie: Kevin, it was good seeing you again, thanx for coming up!!!! Do you have a pic of the top of your tank?

#48 Kevin aka LCR: Group gatherings with you folks are always fun, never the same or dull!Top of tank = the suspension system for the lights or the physical top (euro-bracing) of the aquarium?...yes to both

#49 Charlie: I was just wondering what you could get away with for halides, 3 openings, right?

#52 Kevin: No it is euro braced with 2 openings...glad I asked what you were looking for! Here are the top down views, dust and all. Bonus pic of the track system that I cobbled together.
You thinking 2 or 3 X lights, 250 or 450 watts?
I am still really thinking about the Sea-Swirl in the front & center, also (and one in each back corner)

#54 Charlie: You are not going to go wrong with the Sea Swirl theory, are you talking about 3 or 4 of them?
If I am looking at the top of your tank correctly, it only looks as though you have room for 2 halides Kevin, I don't think it would be wise to do any more than that, because you definitely don't want them over the acrylic. Another wonderful design fault that Kyle fell for. I still say he should have been drawn and quartered for the way he let them design the thing.

#55 Kevin: 3 Sea-Swirls 2 lights NOT over acrylic (I wondered about that....plastic melts! and the rest of the drivel

#56 Charlie: I know that Kevin, it is just a super dumb way, and I guess it figures because of who designed it originally. You can do anything you want with the T5 Kevin, just minus the shimmer effect.

#57 & 58 Kevin: So back to the halides & acrylic (leaving the 'tank' out of the discussion )...I am wondering how to do it, yes, there are 2 holes to aim through. and I guess the other question to my mind is would I get a shimmer effect with the halides toward the front of the tank and the T5s toward the back (or will the T5s just drown the Halide light out...too bright). I moved the T5 fixtures around a bit last night and the rear portion of the tank would definitely get more light. Would/could the halides melt the T5 fixtures? Are you thinking 250 or 450 watt bulbs?

I feel better, at least it is not a regular dumb way as I am so want to do

#59 Charlie: How wide are the openings, and what is the width of the T5 fixture? How deep is your tank?

OK! so here we are.
Why am I wondering about adding this kind of light? I want to waste electricity and maybe burn my house down?
Nooo.. rather, 1.) I want the corals to looks better & grow faster 2.) I want the shimmer effect (thanks Vicki...I really think it adds ALOT to the tank).

So I have snazzy drawings with legos for visual aids. The tank is 6' long, 3' wide and 2' deep. the bracing is 6" on the sides, 4-1/2" on the front, 8" on the back and 10" down the center. Central overflow on the back wall.

The ATIs are 18" wide and 34" long.

The Legos are Red cuz they're VERY HOT!

please find enclosed 3 diagrams, #1 represents the top of the tank pretty much to scale, #2 with the ATI lights added, also to scale & where they hang relative to the tank now (~6" off of the water surface), #3 is AN IDEA (from somebody who has no idea what so ever of what he's doing with these things) of where to put a couple of halide lights.

I bet it matters where the corals and rock piles and all that jazz are in the tank relative to where one would place the lights, right?

Do you think there would be any detectable shimmer with all that light from the ATIs? I think thats all of the info. I'm gonna go to bed!

Peace!

[lostcreekreefer]

oh yeah...did you know that it is estimated that children play with Legos for an estimated 4 Billion (billion with a B) kid-hours annually? Most of it is at my house!

[charlie]

Kevin, to do this right, I mean upgrade to MH, I think the ATI are gonna have to go. Your third drawing is nice.................................. but unless you can find a light with only 2 MH that is 6', I don't think things are gonna fit like the legos do. Is there a chance you can give me a call sometime today, after 11 AM? We can talk a little more about it then, and I can explain things to you a little better.

Nice use of the legos though, I think it says something about a person.

[tehfeer]

Are you using 2 ATI fixtures right now? Those ATI fixtures are really nice fixtures. Are you looking just to add the shimmer effect or is the ATI not enough light? If you are looking to add shimmer to the tank you may think about a DYI LED setup. I have read that people have luck creating shimmer with these and their t-5 setup. (If you want to spend ALOT of money you could actualy run your whole tank on these 3w LEDs and not have to replace any bulbs for 10 years)

Here is a link with more information.

Ultimate LED guide - Nano-Reef.com Forums

[lostcreekreefer]

Nice use of the legos though, I think it says something about a person.

I am trying to provide Devon with MORE than his $25 worth of entertainment 'value', what good is ignorance unless it can have high entertainment value for others?

Charlie: I really don't want to get rid of the ATIs at this point..$K ya know. LEDs (shimmer, high PAR & low heat) sound ideal or are they just blowing smoke???? I will read more about LEDs & I'll give you a shout later this AM! Does anybody else have use LED lights around here...like/Hate, underwhelmed at the performance compared to the hype?

Tehfeer: the original impetus for changing the lights was mainly to get the shimmer, but also (secondarily) to help my corals out a bit with more PAR to do their coral thing with (i speak excellent English...on Tuesdays). We ahd the November group meeting at Vicki & Guy's place and the amount of light shimmer was quite striking to me and I simply do not have that in my tank. I have more of a uniform even light. I would be interested in lights that will help the corals out, also, initial glimpse at LED info says they'll do that. Is it wishful salesmanship or real experience of people with aquariums. I have only 2 feet of water depth, so that is a bit of a help I believe. Thanks.

[charlie]

Kevin, before you go off thinking that the T5 will not do what you want, you are wrong. Lighting is important, but if all you are interested in is the shimmer, your corals don't give a rat's *** about shimmer. You can do anything you want with those T5's. I personally think if you are gonna spend money, spend it on improving your flow in the tank. Sure, alot of corals depend on light, you have plenty, but flow also is as important, maybe more, than lite. Have you ever read thru the 5 part article by Jake Adams on flow in a reef tank?
The whole list of articles is in the Reef Aquarium sticky:
Click here before you ask, (links to answers)

Don't waste your time calling me, read the artcles on flow and then tell me what you think.

LED lights are pretty, but according to what lighting guru, Sanjay Joshi says, they aren't worth a hoot. That isn't quite a quote, but that is the gist of what he said when I heard him speak in Tri-Cities!!!!