[zhenya]

Originally Posted by charlie

Take a look at the difference on the purple monti Gene!!!! At least I think there is a difference.
It'll be interesting to watch the corals reaction in the next few weeks.

Indeed, Charlie! Very keen eye you got...
In person it's actually even much more pronounced and the overall look of the corals is different somehow. I hope it's all for the good...

[charlie]

Time will tell Gene. I would keep a close eye on things in the next couple of months actually.

[Poseidon]

WOW! It looks like you added a 3rd or FOURTH bulb to the tank! Definately keep an eye on things, I may even reduce the photoperiod for a while too!

[charlie]

Originally Posted by Poseidon

WOW! It looks like you added a 3rd or FOURTH bulb to the tank! Definately keep an eye on things, I may even reduce the photoperiod for a while too!

Good idea Mike. gene, why don't you scale back an hour on each side of the day, just to protect your investment!!!

[zhenya]

Thanks for suggestions, guys!

I actually elevated the fixture a tad, didn;t seem like much at first but when I measured carefully the bulbs are at least 5" higher than they were in the old set up. So I think I'll leave the photoperiod alone for now and simply keep my eye on things. If I see anything going on that shouldn't go on I will raise it another few inches and take it from there.

[charlie]

Gene, if I remember correctly, your bulbs were what, 9-10" off the water originally? I think you will be just fine then. You may be able to sit back and let those Lumenarcs do their thing.

[zhenya]

Originally Posted by charlie

Gene, if I remember correctly, your bulbs were what, 9-10" off the water originally? I think you will be just fine then. You may be able to sit back and let those Lumenarcs do their thing.

Charlie, you are correct. I have a picture to show you aproximately how high they are off the water surface. You can see how bright those lights are as well in this picture.



Also, since I have your attention, here's a fun pic of the small crocea clam I have.

[charlie]

How is that little Crocea doing Gene? It certainly looks pretty healthy from the pic.

[zhenya]

Originally Posted by charlie

How is that little Crocea doing Gene? It certainly looks pretty healthy from the pic.

Sorry I missed your reply and question, Charlie.

That little clam is doing really well and hopefully with the new reflectors it will do even better.

Couple of close ups I shot the other day.

[charlie]

Gene, How are the reflectors doing? Do you notice anything bad happening?

Those pics don't look like clams

[zhenya]

Originally Posted by charlie

Gene, How are the reflectors doing? Do you notice anything bad happening?

Those pics don't look like clams

Charlie,

I waited as long as I could to answer your question about reflectors without being considered as a rude knucklehead...
To be honest, I haven;t noticed anything bad happening in the tank. In fact it is opposite that is happening, some of the corals that were browned out are returning to their original colors. I have couple of pieces that had gorgeous coloration when I first recieved them only to loose it in the following weeks/month. One is A.florida that I got from online vendor, it is almost lavender color now just like it was when I bought it...
I hope you can see some of it in this picture(it;s on the right side of the picture).


And a close up, the color is impossible to capture in the close ups, though.



Oh, and here's that picture of the clam for you.

[charlie]

Oh yeah, the clam pic!!!!!!
Good to hear that there are no adverse effects Gene. Are you going to lower the reflectors, or do you think that would create a heat problem?
I have heard nothing but good things about those Lumenarcs, I may consider them on my 180 instead of the PFO hood.
Refresh my memory, are these the newer Lumenarcs?


Nice pics of the A. florida!! Why is it with the lighter colored corals, that the macro pics don't show the color. I could never recreate the color of my Seriatopora hystrix either. In fact, I could never get a clear shot of the rows of polyps!! I think alot of it was where the coral was in the tank, but then again, it could have been operator error too!!!

[Reefland]

I like the stag behind the clams better.

[charlie]

Originally Posted by Reefland

I like the stag behind the clams better.

He is a fuzzy little guy, isn't he??

[zhenya]

Charlie, I bought the mini Lumenarcs simply because of the space consideration and size of my tank. They cover my tank perfectly and spread is even front to back. One thing that I didn;t like is that I couldn't mount bulbs perpendicular and had to return to the paralel mounting. The problem lies in the sockets and long, adjustable brackets for them. But it;s a minor nuissance and I can live with it just fine.

On the reproduction of true colors in the close up shots I would divert to asking Mike. I too have terrible time capturing pastel colors of the corals but darker blues or purples are coming through fine.
I need to do more research on this topic as I think it may be indeed the user errors that we experiencing (proper exposure, etc.).

[zhenya]

Originally Posted by Reefland

I like the stag behind the clams better.

I like it too, Scott, however it is a pain in the butt to place it without it touching stuff... so I moved it on the sand bed.

Originally Posted by charlie

He is a fuzzy little guy, isn't he??

I'm not sure if I can call it small fuzzy guy or a medoum fuzzy guy, I know one thing and that it is very fuzzy.

Judge for yourself.

[charlie]

Reminds me of the A. loisetteae (sp?) that I used to have, nice bright blue tips!!!!

[zhenya]

Originally Posted by charlie

Reminds me of the A. loisetteae (sp?) that I used to have, nice bright blue tips!!!!

Charlie, I have no idea as to what species that stag is. I mean I knew it but than promptly forgot...

Anyways, back to the scheduled program of showing pictures of Gene;s tank...
Took some top down shots today and not too happy with results but still, it is better representation of the actual colors.

Here's a picture of that A.florida viewed from the top, mind you the top down box casts some shadows so some alteration of color is probably present.


And a closer look.


Here's a picture of another stag that I had for a very long time and finally got a frag back. It is growing at a very quick pace and hopefully won;t slow down. It's very delicate with thin branches and breaks easily. I think it belongs to the staghorns but I could be wrong...

Here's a picture of it from long ago, please note here that it was dying and discolored in this picture. I;m glad I gave a frag of it to someone and it lived.



And today..



I also noticed this reddish colored crab residing in the tri-color colony, and the interesting part about the whole thing is that I see a lack of polyps where he is moving about. Not sure if I should pluck him outta there or leave it alone. Time should tell...

[charlie]

Great pics again Gene. The top down pics translate the colors better, don't you think? I don't think you have to worry about the crab, unless you start to see some real damage.
Come to think of it, since you added the reflectors, your ability to take top down shots has gotten better, hasn't it. We expect to see some real stunners out of you!!!!! Hope the pressure doesn't overwhelm you.

[zhenya]

Thanks, Charlie!

Sorry for getting to this thread so late but I had some problems in the family of the personal kind, so can't go into the details for now.

Anyways, I see some more amaizing transformations since installing those reflectors and changing the bulbs. It took awhile but I see my blue polyped encrusting montipora had regained the "blue" in the polyps. Hope you know what I mean... Some other corals exibit the same, colors wise, and overall look of the acroporids are lighter(less brown hues). Not to the point that I would be concern about bleaching, far from it. It's just that the colors have more punch to it.

I'm attaching some images for you, too...