Eric Alvarado

No, I am aware of that. But each technology has a range of values - even if it varies. Obviously there is a lot more such as color spectrum for photripic response, photosynthetic response, and chloryphil response. However, some people rely on "watts per gallon" or "PAR value" or PUR Value, etc. I have seen nothing that even tries to compare them, so choosing lighting is at best a guessing game. Do you go with MH, LED, PC, VHO, etc. How can anyone choose anything without knowing or having some basic method to compare the technologies.

What I want to know is as follows:

What is the average PAR for T5

What is the average PAR for MH

What is the average PAR for PC

What is the average PAR for VHO

Additionally, I know that the length of the bulb seems to play into how deep it can penatrate water, but would 2 24" bulbs give the same light a 1 48" bulb?

I know LED differs radically, but given whatever numbers on above, you could potentially take reading and compare. But to compare, you need at LEAST a basic understanding of how much light each technology generates.

This has probably been asked a thousand times, but has anyone seen a comparision of lights?

i.e. PAR values of T5s, vs. LED vs. Metal Halide vs. VHO? etc.

I've kept freshwater tanks for years on and off, 30s, 50s, 10s, 20s, etc. It took far less work. I also think the prospect of losing a $1.50 fish as oppsoed to a $50 fish puts more emphasis on the challenge. I've lost lots of freshwater fish over the years, and it never phased me. When I lose a saltwater fish, I'm heartbroken.

Mixed Reefkeeping on the other hand has been a challenge. There are far more fish of interest to choose from with far more specific requirements. That means, if you are over eager, over anxious, and go too fast, you have problems. It's that exact complexity that attracts me to the hobby.

I like Hydor Koralia and Tunze.

You might be asking how much flow to add, I'm too much of a noob to answer, but I would think 10x in the tank is what I have seen most people state. Seems to be some personal preference, along with what kind of critters you have. Some corals like high flow, some hate it. So it is hard to just answer the question.

http://www.marineand...rhead_s/615.htm

http://www.marinedep...-FIPHAD-vi.html

I love Shedd. We used to go there all the time when visiting my family in Chicago.

For something small but big enough to have a couple fish on your desk, I would suggest a 8 or 14G biocube. I have a 14g on my desk at the office.

What size is the tank? That will make a difference on the answers

Fluval Edge is like a 6G tank.

Update on water parameters.

I did a 15G water change on Sunday.

PH: 7.8 - 8.0 (Have I mentioned I hate color comparisions, I just can't read this crap).

Alk: 3.3 / dKH 9.0

Oyx: 5.0

Nitrate: 15-20ish (hard to tell with this ATI test kit).

Amonia: 0

Also seeing Cyno growth.

Sold

Sold

I had to get my Mg up to 2500ppm with tech-m along with reducing NO3 to get it to go away. There was negligible byopsis loss even above 2000ppm until I got the nitrates down.

When I ran mine, my nitrates were around 5ppm. Interesting information.

i dont think that "they" take care of anything. i think the mom dies soon after the babies are born

They being the people who had the tank. Assumed that was in a tank and not open sea

I went the natural rout... but nothing worked..

I tried snails

hermit crabs

urchins

different types of fish including lawnmower blenny

manual removal and darkness of the tank.... It grew back

I even changed my entire RO/DI unit for better water quality

The only thing that worked for me was magnesium.. I dosed every day for like 3 weeks straight, but I never could get it above 1200ppm. I now dose about once a week to keep it at that level.

Here is a video of what my tank looked like...

http://www.austinree...e__hl__jakedoza

That was in December and it took a good 6 months to get rid of it all.. Good luck with the fight..

EDIT: I did not have much coral when this outbreak happened, so that is something I did not have to worry about.

I dosed half a large bottom on day 1, 1/2 what was left day 3, and the remainder day 5. Mag was at 2300. I did not lose anything, but it is important to note by tank was very new at the time. Probably only 6 weeks old. I did not have a lot of coral at the time (but I did have some SPS, LPS, and zoas and snails, pepermint). This was in my 125G which at the time did not have a sump. I did not lose anything.

I then did normal water changes after 2 weeks, and slowly got it back down to normal levels. My mag stays around 1550 with regular water changes. I still don't have a lot of coral but willing to take donations

Thanks, that was fun to watch. Wonder how they take care of those hundreds of tiny newborn.

I was able to fight back a bad bryopsis infestation by raising magnesium. I want to say the article was attached to the FAQ section on the ARC site.

Well isn't this a small world . Trent and I were roomates in college and 10 yrs ago he started Primus in the living room of our rent house lol. He sold the company about a month ago, now the company is called white glove industries I think.

Yup, I am running his operations now, I am the director of managed services for White Glove Technologies. So I work with Trent on a daily basis.

Will see about adding to the CUC, I've never had all that much for CUC to eat, so I was always concerned about having too many.

This may sound morbid, but are you able to get to him with a kabob stick or a bent wire hanger? I have had to "fish" out dead fish from behind my rocks using all sorts of non-PETA friendly methods.

If you want to go humane you could use a small pump and a hose to "flush" him out from under the rocks. It would only disturb your sand bed.

Maybe, not with a coat hanger, but maybe with a long curved stick. At this point, I can't even see him. We could barely see his head behind the rock (from the top, there is a narrow opening between the rock wall and the back glass). I tried fishing him out, but only managed to push him father back into the rock. At this point, we are 3 days with him like that, not sure if he is still attached or if he is ready to fall apart. I can't tell if/what my CUC are doing with it at this point since the spot is completely hidden.

So second test, guess I will add amoninia.

PH: 7.8 - 8.0 (Have I mentioned I hate color comparisions, I just can't read this crap).

Alk: 3.3 / dKH 9.0 (it does appear to be going UP)

Oyx: 5.0

Nitrate: 10-12ish (about the same - again, hard to tell with this ATI test kit).

Amonia: 0

Just did a 15 G water change. Will retest tomorrow.

I was all over that until you said that mat wasn't included.

Mark, where are you using VHO bulbs? Do you have those as suppliment to your MH?

Good information, glad I posted.

Well, here we go.

No idea how many CUC I have left in the tank. About 4 weeks ago I broke down the tank and took it to Shane to have it drilled. I wanted to remove that big in tank filter and get more filtration. I also was given a sump from someone (actually, Hyrdo, he says he knows you well - the owner of primus networks) so I could get the tank a little more top end. Still wrestling with lighting, but that is a story for another day. That said, I lost a bunch of snails and such. I had 10 Super Turbo nassarius and 3 narrasius in there at one time, I think after all the tank moving (I went from a 55, to the 125G, then drilled the 125G) I think I have about 6 -8 left. So I dropped in 10 red legs yesterday. Do you think that is enough or do I need a lot more? I was looking at reef cleaners, and they tend to throw a ton of stuff into the tank. Also a cleaner shrimp and a pepermint shrimp.

Parameters:

Salinity: 1.024

Alk: 3.19 (this seemed high) / dKH: 8.8

Ph: 8.0-8.2 (**** color codes)

Nitrates: about 10-12

Calcium: 550

Mag: 1550

Phos: 0.03

Oxygen: 5.0

Figured I would keep an eye on PH, Nitrates,Alk, and Oxygen.

For Bry's problem: perhaps something else killed the fish, and the fish that died and was left was just the first fish to succumb to contaniment or a problem.

Price drop, $75.

Bump, still available.

Testing the water today won't make much difference, it could take days or a week to be a problem if it is going to be.

I wanted to test today to see where I was starting from, to see if there is a drastic rise. That way I could more proactively do a couple water changes to stay on top of it.

Thanks, appreciate the help.

Thanks for the help. The fish is back out of sight at the bottom base middle. I knew he had died, so took a while to flashlight around the back of the live rock to find him. so unsightly isn't a big deal, I was more concerned about the decay and nitrate spike.

I did recently have the tank drilled and added a 30G sump, so there is more water volume than before. Going to run my water tests today, and maybe do an extra 10-15G water change mid week.

Thanks