Chinese black boxes- please show me your tanks!

[LesPoissons]

There are 2 power heads, a jebao RW-20 and an OW-50. I can def add more flow. What would you suggest? (Budget minded please, I cant do $700 powerheads- hence the black boxes lol)
I have rented a PAR meter from BRS- should be here in a week, so starting the lighting process!

 

[LesPoissons]

I have 2 jebaos- a rw20 and an ow50, they rate 5283 GPH each at highest setting- which they are on but need cleaned. Between cleanings I cant keep them on that high bc they move enough water to make a wave over the tank. today I just threw in an old hydro korilla and some other off brand dual head pump I had in a box to increase the flow. I ordered some citric acid to clean everything. There are 2 return pumps- a Danner mag rated at 1075gph w a 6foot head, and a 650Gph w a 6 foot head. Investing in new pumps in an option- what would you recommend? The vortex I know are nice but idk if I can do more than 1 right now. Anything more budget friendly? Maybe it’s the placement? I rented a par meter from BRS- should get here next week.
Parameters: ph 8.1, alk 8.5, ca 430, mag 1350, nitrates 12, phos 0.05, ammonia 0, temp 79.

 

[LesPoissons]

(Sorry for the double posts- one wouldn’t go through so I started the 2nd and then they both posted).

 

[LesPoissons]

Hi guys, so today I cleaned off my power heads with citric acid, moved them around the tank and created a gyre to increase the flow. I also got my rented PAR meter and took readings for the V par spectra 165 lights. I’ll post readings tonight or tomorrow when I get a chance under a new thread if anybody would like results.

 

[LesPoissons]

Warning: Picture Heavy but you asked for it.

I have (4) Mars Aqua 165w Black Boxes with 2 80W Blue+ T5s over mine. I replaced the diodes on the white channel with a better spectrum and how run them at 100% both channels. This is my 150 gallon Acro dominate tank just a little over a year old. Everything started from frags and most still are. However, I am getting good growth so far. Honestly, you dont need to spend a bunch of money on new LEDs. The key is changing the diodes over to the proper spectrum and possibly adding another light.

could you tell me what diodes to change out? I have the 3 165w ViParSpectras, I just ordered 2 more. How do you know what to change and what to change it with? = )

 

[LesPoissons]

How deep of a tank?

30 inches

 

[JCOLE]

could you tell me what diodes to change out? I have the 3 165w ViParSpectras, I just ordered 2 more. How do you know what to change and what to change it with? = )

I have Mars Aqua on my DT and ViparSpectras on my Frag tank. What I did was left the blue channels untouched and changed out all of the white diodes except for 8 of them. Change out the whites with a mixture of 440-450nm and a couple 425nm. This way you can crank up the whites for more PAR and still have the look you want. The key is to get more PAR while achieving a better spectrum for the corals.

You can check out my build thread and I believe it is page 8 and 9 where I listed my layouts along with changing the diodes.

 

[LesPoissons]

I have 5 viparspectra on my 220 sps tank. I have good growth and colors. I would agree with previous post on flow possibly being part of the issue.

Hi, how do you have your lights laid out? I just got 2 more so I will have 5 but how are yours placed?

 

[van7271]

IMHO I would say, patience dear grasshopper. A lot of these people with the really full gorgeous tanks sink thousands of dollars to fill them with all of that coral. It takes time to grow things out. Especially if you are starting with a single little frag. If you are not feeding your corals specifically once or twice a week then start it helps. Be patient add more coral as you can and have fun with it.

 

[LesPoissons]

Thank you! I went ahead and added 2 more ViParSpectra lights, boosted lights up to 100% blues and 20% whites, rented a PAR meter and moved all the rock work around to get all the corals and nems to the PAR placement they should like, moved the power heads to create a gyre and increased the flow. Now we wait and hope for the best!!!