[zhenya]

Originally Posted by Poseidon

Fantastic as always Gene. If you do the 400W bulbs, I would go to a higher Kelvin bulb. I know you get less PAR, but it seems the additional wattage would make up for it. Plus if you do that, then you may not need the actinic at all, which would save you a little bit on the power bill.

Thanks Mike!
Power consumption is cetainly something to consider, it is not cheap around here for sure. If I use actinics at all it would be for the dusk/dawn effect mostly, and some supplimentation too, so yes, I may go to the higher Kelvin bulbs. I'm working on designing that hood/canopy to house the Lumenarcs. The manufacturer says not to enclose them completely because they get extremely hot( something that bothers me alot ) so it is another stone in the gears, if you know what I mean...
I need to do some research and see if those reflectors make a big difference in the 250w bulb performance( reflected light), maybe then I can simply stick with the 250w bulbs and just get the T5's.

[zhenya]

Couple more shots for the thread.
A close up of acropora...


And I just got two little T.maxima clams from Barry at Clamsdirect, I'm hoping they will persist for some time in my tank.


Everything just looks so much better with the new bulbs( Megachrome 14.5K) and I hope to complete the Lumenarc installation by this weekend.

[charlie]

Love the 2 little guys!!! What size are they?
Are you gonna give us a picture by picture description of the installation? Can't wait to see the finished results, I think you will like them.

[Poseidon]

WOW Gene, those are great! Are those 2 little guys sitting in a shell? They are TINY aren't they?

[zhenya]

Yeah, those guys are 1.5" and 2" respectively.

Charlie, I won't be taking any pictures of how I do those reflectors unless someone is doing it and I am taking the shots... I won;t have time to stop and take shots because I decided to simply switch the reflectors in the existing canopy and be done with it. Otherwise it may take another year to complete...

[charlie]

So you are gonna put the Lumenarcs in your existing canopy? I still think you will love them, you just won't get to look at them.

[zhenya]

Originally Posted by charlie

So you are gonna put the Lumenarcs in your existing canopy? I still think you will love them, you just won't get to look at them.

Charlie, I have no doubt that I will like them. As a matter of fact, I think I may have to raise that canopy few inches to acclimate corals to more punch from the bulbs. And, to help with the heat issues. I'm going to replace my existing VHO's with 2 or 4 54w T5's. More than likely it will be just two of them, super blues of some kind for dusk and dawn effect. The reaction I got from the corals to those new bulbs is unbelievable, so I will just use those T5's for couple of hours in the morning and maybe an hour in the evening. Those lumenarcs should provide enough coverage with just the MH bulbs for 10 hours.
I will be updating this thread with the pictures as time goes by. For now I simply love this new Giesman's bulbs, they are a bit expensive at 100 bux a pop but worth it to me. I just wonder if I should change my ballast to electronics or keep my HQI ballast?

[zhenya]

Here's few more shots I took recently.






And this one is for Charlie. The blue is slowly coming back to the polyps on this Monti, Charlie.

[charlie]

As far as the ballast goes Gene, if it ain't broke, don't fix it!!!!!

When I was over in Spokane, Kevin was telling me about these 450 nanometer T5 bulbs that he is using on one of his cubes. I think you would really like them. Maybe you should PM him and find out a little more. Better yet, get him to take a couple of pics of them in action. I think he might also have them on his display at the store.

[charlie]

And this one is for Charlie. The blue is slowly coming back to the polyps on this Monti, Charlie.

Typed at the same time

That is just beautiful!!!!!

[zhenya]

Originally Posted by charlie

Typed at the same time

That is just beautiful!!!!!

Thanks Charlie!

I will definetely consult Kevin on the exact bulbs that he is using and will try to get them. I alredy ordered the T5 fixtures( because they got reflectors in them ) and bulbs I think I can buy separately.

[charlie]

Got a link to the fixtures you bought? This is getting interesting!!

[zhenya]

Originally Posted by charlie

Got a link to the fixtures you bought? This is getting interesting!!

It is similar to this, in fact it is the same.
Helios 54w - 47" HO T5 III Fixture - no bulb: Premium Aquatics

[charlie]

Those are really nice Gene. Just another thing to stash in my feeble memory banks.

[zhenya]

Hey guys,
I was looking through some images from last year and one shot in particulat caught my attention in regards to growth of my green with blue staghorn coral.
I took a shot today just for comparison, check it out.
Also, note that purple tipped A.nana. I got a frag of it back from a friend last year, thank god I gave some frags to people.

This shot is from last year, September or October I can;t remember.


And this is from today.



One other coral that grew really good for me is this pink Seriatopora that I got from Chad Bryant in August of last year.
Here are some pix for comparison.



And today's shot.

[zhenya]

Here's a picture of my tangs grazing on some rocks.


And I think you'll enjoy looking at the picture of this old battle axe.

[Poseidon]

Those are great! Gene, I really like your new bulbs, the spectrum is much more eye pleasing. The shots from a year ago seemed so purple/red....

My pink seriatopora has not grown anywhere near as much as yours has... My brown however.... that grows like CRAZY!!!! Now why is that.... because the brown is CHEAP, that's why!

[zhenya]

Thanks Mike!

I too love the coloration of this bulbs, I think the color is the most natural I've seen in a while. I actually switched my camera to auto wb now and it is as accurate as can be.
The best part, though, is that many corals had repaired damaged areas and begun to grow again, in the shortest time to do it as well.
I wish they were a bit cheaper but what can I do?

[weez1959]

Hi Gene,
Fantastic tank!, can't wait 'til mine starts looking like that.
I would really like to know what it is you have growing on the back and side walls.... I want some Can't stand scraping all the time
By the way, I love your "old battle axe"

[zhenya]

Originally Posted by weez1959

Hi Gene,
Fantastic tank!, can't wait 'til mine starts looking like that.
I would really like to know what it is you have growing on the back and side walls.... I want some Can't stand scraping all the time
By the way, I love your "old battle axe"

Thanks Louise!

The stuff that grows on the back and side glass is plain ol coralline. I just left it alone and stopped scraping, after awhile it gets real thick, though, and you can;t scrape it anymore. I left it like that because my tangs graze on it constantly( thin film of green algae will be forming there as well as on the clean glass ).

The "old battle axe" and I go back awhile, her tasting my blood and me trying to wack her after that...but she's alive and well as you can see.