OgreMkV

I just got home from a business trip and the lights cam in at the same time I was flying out. So here's the first pics. no real review yet except this seems like a solid piece of equipment. There's really no 'cheap feeling from anything here. I will say that this is G1, not the G2. So I don't have moonlights (no big deal) and there's no separate programing for the pair of 30W LED floods. On the other hands, shipped, this units was less than $500. And a rough time between LED replacement of 24 months is pretty impressive. The lighting unit is actually much smaller than the 20" PC fixture it will replace and much lighter too. The LEDs are very thin and the rest of the unit is a pair of fans and a HUGE aluminum heat sink. THe powersupply and programmer are a separate unit. On to the pics unboxing (mounting rails on top, side attach rails already on unit., hanging gear in bag, power supply on left) the lights themselves (the big panels are the 2 30W whites, the others are half blues and half whites) Tank with current 96W PC (dual actinic and 10K) fixture Tank with LEds (whites and blues)... there is a noticable shimmer in the water column and these pics really do not show the glowing of the corals. Even the mushrooms are glowing (well, some of them). ♠ Tank with just blues

MD has the panorama. I was looking at that, but this was slightly cheaper and seemed to have better PAR values. If anyone has a PAR meter, then I'll be willing to put up test results.

These lights are fairly new. They were just introduced last month. I haven't seen a lot of them around. One of the few places that has them is in Germany and it was $135 shipping to get them here. The current tank light is a 96W PC bulb that's dual 10K and actinic. I'll have before and after shots for next weekend.

My rich uncle gave me a few bucks (like he does every year about this time) and I bought my wife a new laptop and me a new set of lights for the tank. I've been researching the heck out of metal halide and LED lamps for a month now. Finally... I gave in. I found a really great price on a 160W LED unit. It's the G2 16) on this page: http://www.fish-street.com/product_p...hp?item_id=454 There are 2 30-Watt white bulbs (about 20K) 14 3-Watt white bulbs (about 10K) 14 3-Watt blue (420nm) 4 1-Watt violet moon lights. Each color bank (and the big whites) are independently programmable. I've got the plans drawn up for a solid glass top. Going Monday to have that made. The unit should be here on Tuesday. From the pictures I've seen (on other forums), it is epically bright. I'm planning on running it without the 30W whites for several weeks, the turning them on, just for a while at first, then building up time. I'm also planning on adding a few more SPSs in prominent locations. Full report forthcoming.

I don't know if this helps you, but I did mine myself and it's a bit larger than one of the pre-packaged nanos, but it's about the same price. Occasionally, you'll find a really good deal at petco or petsmart. I got a 45 gallon pentagonal tank with stand for only $150. The light is a single 96W PC fixture that I bought from a guy here on ARC (about $125 new). I've got a aquaclear 70 HOB filter with sponges and cermamic tubes (about $50?) and a pair of PHs with a sponge filter on one of them (about $30 each). So for, less than $400, I've got a much larger tank than a normal nano and it's was pretty cheap. Pluse the upgrade possibilities are endless. Add a Metal halide, put a HOB refugium and skimmer, throw a sump underneath... etc. I would encourage you to go that route rather than with something that can never be upgraded (at least is very difficult to upgrade).

Right now i've got a pair of clowns (ocellaris) in the Q-tank. As I don't plan on having anything larger than those two, it will be fine for me. In the future I'll have a goby or blenny to be named later and maybe a shrimp. I've only a 45g display tank that's pretty coral heavy so I'll be going easy on the fish.

OK, so my two clowns had ich. I assume it was ich because I don't have a microscope and a degree in marine parasites. The two clowns have been in a ten gallon quarantine tank with a small heater and a maxi-jet 900 ph with a sponge filter. The sponge filter and the maxi-jet have been in my display tank for about 8 months, so it's well seeded with bacteria. Never-the-less, I did a 10-20% water change daily. There are a pair of 3-inch PVC pipe elbows in the Q-tank as well. The smaller of the two clowns got several (less than 10) white spots on him. After a day, the spots went away and they were gone for four days. Then they came back and there were many more than before (not a dusting, but more than 10 spots). The large clown also got a single spot this time. At no point did either fish show signs of stress due to the ich. No clamped fins or fast breathing and both were eating heartily. We were advised by an authority that I trust (i.e. not LFS) not to use copper products on clownfish. We had the malachite green/formalin solution and went ahead and started the treatment. 9 drops went into the tank. It's supposed to be 1 drop per gallon. I figured with a light case of ich and the pipe, sponge, ph, and heater, 9 drops would be sufficient without straining the fish. The water turned a nice bright blue and we watched the fish carefully for the first hour. They seemed to have no problems so we turned out the light and went to bed. Apparently, it's important to medicate as near as possible to the time the lights go out so that the parasites are hit with the treatment when they drop off the fish for the night. The next morning everything was fine. That evening I did a 10-20% water change (because the medication probably killed all the bacteria in the sponge) and retreated. The medication regime is for three doses 24 hours apart. For us it was nine drops each time and a 10-20% water change a few hours before treatment time. At no point did the fish seem stressed due to treatment. It was obvious that they didn't enjoy it, hiding under the sponge filter or in the pipe elbows, but no stress, heavy breathing and always hungry. After the third treatment, I waited 24 hours and placed a large bag of carbon in the tank. I don't have a HOB filter, so I just dropped the carbon bag in the tank. I'll do an additional water change tomorrow and return to my testing regime. Malachite green/formalin is some nasty stuff and you don't want it on you or spilling on the table or floor. There have been no spots on the fish since the final treatment. I'm hoping that the treatment will not have to be repeated. In conclusion, Malachite Green/formalin (30%) solution seems to be an effective treatment.

We (or at least one of us) will be there!

Hey guys, This is our first real freeze since moving to the area. We live in a fairly new house with a slab foundation. What do we need to do? Drip faucets? indoor and outdoor? Thanks

Definitely a fast grower. I've got PC lights and mine has doubled in main branch length and I've got 3 new branches.

Hi guys, I need some help. I seem to flow a water flow problem. It's either too much or not enough and everything is getting POed at me. The tank is a 45g pentagon. About 24 inches wide and high (on the longest sides) and 24 or so high. The top 1/3 of the tank is free from rock work, while the bottom 2/3 is pretty heavy. See full tank shot below At the moment, I've got an aquaclear 70 HOB filter (about 300 gph), a koralia 1 (400gph) and a maxijet 900 (with a sponge filter) (less than 250 gph). So call it 900 gph. I can't seem to get them adjusted to the point where the torch and the hammer corals aren't getting beat to death. I'm wondering if the koralia is too much (not to mention having a narrow range of positions) and I should switch it for another maxijet with the diffuser. Since my chemistry is finally getting better (pH and kH issues) and I have no measurable nitrates, nitrites, etc... maybe I could slow down the aquaclear, I just don't want it to get stagnant in the filter. I also want to get this fixed up before my fish come in. If anyone wants to come over this weekend and fling advice at me, I've got some ham, southwest dip, chips, and some cookies left over from New Years. Thanks Kevin

Trust me. Go see this movie. The story line is better than expected. Pay the $14 bucks for the IMAX 3-D version. The cinematography will blow you away. The science (for those of us so inclined) is fascinating. It is really a stunning movie... by far the best movie I've ever seen.

Thanks again guys. The candy cane is awesome and the zoas (everything except the blue hornets) are already out and gorgeous. These are my Christmas presents, so thanks!

More from Tate1... thanks! Candy Cane Acan Shrooms New zoas and the armor of god Full tank shot

BTW: Will you be fragging the candy cane?

Just wait a minute (or a few days)... we're trying to make room. I'm building a new bridge with dead rock...

Hammer (in the sand) Armor of Gods open. These are gorgeous!!!

Leather - there's actually a baby one growing off the back of the main one. Bird's nest - considering this is 96W of PC lighting, this is doing amazingly well. Of course, it's like 9 inches from the lights. Still, it's very, very cool. New Armor of Gods Dragon's Eye Eye of Ra Trumpet - almost there Group shot of the new stuff - green mushroom, armors, Blue Hornets in the back, blue stripe mushroom and another mushroom to be IDed later Green stripe and osme other new zoas - Lexie forgot what they are.

Lexie just came home. Thank you guys very much. She was SO excited about the blue hornets. She also said your tank was gorgeous. I can't wait to see it. Thanks again Ogre

I've got some, but I've bought stuff from you before, so if you want some macro, let me know.

I've got some really nice macro algae that I can trade. I'm pretty sure it's money algae (Halimeda genus). I have two kinds. One with a small round 'leaf' and one with a larger oar shaped 'leaf'. A trade would give you 3 or 4 3-inch 'vines'. With a little nutrients and a little flow, this will grow out into a nice large bundle in two-three months. This is show tank quality macro. Looking for zoas, shrooms (green preferably). No Xenia please. Thanks Kevin

Much better full tank shot.

This is a beautiful tank guys. I got several frags. Thanks Kevin

It's really nice (and I love the tank). I really like the depth of the sand. Have you secured the rocks in any way? That big one on the top and in the center looks precariously balanced. You might try to epoxy the rocks. You might also (if you epoxy them) try to open it up a touch (make some tunnels for fish to swim through, etc.)

the flash on the camera really washed out the mushrooms... my wife's the photographer. Big thanks to Derry for the Eye of Ra polyps. Simply gorgeous. These mushrooms are actually purple and green.