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Sean

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Posts posted by Sean

    sump sizes

    in Reef Keeping

    Posted

    One answer is, if you can combine a sump/fuge, then the bigger the better. More volume = more stability plus the added benefit of more room for adding extra goodies. As technology in the industry grows you may want to squeeze one more thing in that sump too. =-)

    My top-off system isn't working properly

    in Reef Keeping

    Posted

    Maybe I have it upside down. The pic that came with the top-off unit showed the black cords coming from the bottom of the blue thing and that's the way I have it. Is it upside down? Does it matter, since there are 2 floats in there?

    Karen,

    Some ato's won't stop the flow once it is started. If the supply is higher than the sump, the siphon effect takes over once the flow is started.

    T5 Lighting

    in Do It Yourself

    Posted

    Ok, so I should get 150 W metal halides and 4 T5s? So should I get 24" T5s?

    If I were doing it over again, I would have at least one 250w. Your tank is much shorter so blending a 150 on one end and a 250 on the other might blend well. You could put your more demanding corals under the 250w.

    T5 Lighting

    in Do It Yourself

    Posted

    GIVE ME YOUR METAL HALIDES OR I'LL SHOW THE RECEIPT FOR THEM TO YOUR WIFE! :D

    I have known for some time now that you really play dirty! :doh: First the kids, now the wife. :blink: You can have the kids and wife, just don't threaten my reef!!! :D Ha Ha :-)

    T5 Lighting

    in Do It Yourself

    Posted

    I would get 250w MH and I think the T5s come in 54w.

    I agree, however I only have 150w MH on each end. (therefore the extra t5s) I would have 250w but the price on the two 150w was too tempting at the time and I wanted to hurry up and start reefing. I REALLY like the shimmer but didn't think I would get so addicted to SPS and want the 250w so badly. Perhaps after Christmas I will upgrade and post the 150w up for sale... But then again, I am also very reluctant to change what is working so well for me now...

    Long Spine Urchin

    in Livestock

    Posted

    Sorry guys, I just dropped off the face of the earth b/c my inlaws unexpectedly came into town Friday morning to stay for the weekend! We had the aunts, uncles and cousins here all weekend... I am sure you understand.

    As for the urchin, I will pass this time. Sorry again!

    Koralia vs. Seio

    in Reef Keeping

    Posted

    I have a koralia 4. Its no tunze, but it moves alot of water around still, compared to a regular powerhead.

    I am decently pleased with it, and at $50 (Horizon has them for that price, same you get online!), it was a pretty good deal.

    I dont personally know about the seio.

    I LOVE my two koralias I got at horizon several months ago. Also, dont personally know about the seio.

    Is this a good deal on lights?

    in Reef Keeping

    Posted

    OK. Can you do a quick comparison of VHO lights to T5s?That says wattage is 440. Would 440 watts in VHO be the same as having 440 watts in PC or T5?

    I have been told that lighting is not all about watts anymore... That's just what I have been told by people who know a lot more than me about marine lighting.

    All things being equal, I much prefer T5. That IceCap ballast WILL work on T5 lamps. I have three different ballasts running my T5's and my favorite one is the IceCap! It runs the coolest, (to the touch) is completely silent, and seems to be the brightest.

    T5 Lighting

    in Do It Yourself

    Posted

    We're supposed to test phosphates????

    Yeah, tell me about it!!! I had no idea why I had so many issues initially and took a sample to an lfs and they told me I had high phosphates. I had no idea what that was so I took another sample to another lfs and they said the same thing. (I am a slow learner sometimes...) After learning about phosphates and reading up on GARF, " http://www.garf.org “ I decided remote DSB (deep sand bed) was what I wanted.

    I knew intrinsically that it worked well when I kept fresh water fish twenty years ago to have a deep bed of gravel and cringed at the thought of getting rid of the gravel and replacing with a sump full of Bio Balls 15 years ago when I converted to Salt fowlr setup. Now moving up to reef, It was time to get rid of the balls and go back to DSB. I didn't want it in the tank so I set it up in a large sump.

    That's what I LOVE about this hobby though, always learning something! Unfortunately, I am the kind of person that USUALLY learns from my own mistakes. Sometimes I have to make the same mistake repeatedly but, I guess I will eventually learn something huh?

    T5 Lighting

    in Do It Yourself

    Posted

    as far as the micro bubbles go, I have seen a filter sock solve that problem more than once. But only if the bubbles are coming from the sump side of the pump. Also, just raising the H2O level in sump by an inch or two has helped me in the past. You might also try a 90 or even 45 degree on the supply side of the pump to rearrange the angle or location of the intake. Sometimes it like hunting the proverbial needle in the hay stack and only a combination of solutions will work.

    T5 Lighting

    in Do It Yourself

    Posted

    I wanted a deep sand bed to help control phosphates but didn’t want much more than half an inch of sand in the main tank. Since adding the sump (after it aged a few months) my phosphates have dropped dramatically. The remote deep sand bed in the sump is working extremely well for me! My water parameters are perfect and seem to remain that way no matter what I change in the main display or how much I vary my feeding patterns.

    T5 Lighting

    in Do It Yourself

    Posted

    Ohhhhhhhh you play dirty! My kids would never eat fish-sticks again! I couldn't eat chicken for a year after I watched my grandmother wring one! Nobody understood why I didn't eat dinner that night... and didn't eat any meat for the longest time. After getting very sick I finally got over it and resumed my carnivorous diet.

    T5 Lighting

    in Do It Yourself

    Posted

    I love that, too. I'd like to have the shimmer, if I can ever get rid of my bubble problem. My tank looks nice, but nowhere near what any of yours does. I'm having to take baby steps because it's so darned expensive.

    Hey, I just realized what your avatar is. Shame on you! :D

    It is expensive but I have decided to spend it all before I die because I have never seen a hearse pulling a u-haul to the cemetery! Ha Ha, just kidding... Yeah, "one-step-at-a-time" is the "only-way-to-go" unless you have corporate budgets with large expense accounts.

    I do so appreciate your appreciation of my sick attempt at sushi humor. =-)

    T5 Lighting

    in Do It Yourself

    Posted · Edited by Sean

    Are all T5 bulbs 54 watts, or is that just what you guys use?

    Yeah, 54 watts is the only way to go!!! I have seen cheaper ones but they just don't give the same amount of light... It looks like you have light on one side, you could supplement by adding a mh on the other side. I really like the look of combining MH with t5. You just don't get the shimmer without the mh.

    T5 Lighting

    in Do It Yourself

    Posted

    Check this out:

    <a href="http://www.sunlightsupply.com/product.cfm?sid=0DC80A8FE0815D55342853287527EA4F&p=1035&cs=products%2Ecfm%3Fsid%3D0DC80A8FE0815D55342853287527EA4F%26c%3D34%26kys%3D%26pgi%3D1" target="_blank">http://www.sunlightsupply.com/product.cfm?...ys%3D%26pgi%3D1</a>

    Download the instruction for a better idea of what is going on. We 24" kit on the seahorses and its great. Except there is only one switch meaning we can't do a dawn/dusk effect.

    You would need way more then three over a 120gal.

    Tek reflectors are 2-3/4" wide. That looks likes you could get 8 48" 54 watt bulbs comfortably over the tank. I have 8 36" bulbs over my 67 gallon and it rocks!

    I have 3 of the t5 kits (6 bulbs) centered over my 135 along with a 150w de/mh on each end. You have seen the light combination. The mh gives the shimmer effect and the t5's give good color and great growth. I saved for these lights for a long time though. I bought/installed the t5 kits one at a time over 6 months... then a month later, added the mh for pop. Works for me!

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