Giessmann spectra

[Yanir34]

Mines a DIY halide/T5 set up but you wont be disappointed with a Geissmann Spectra. Im getting insane growth on my sps.

Looking good !!! What bulbs are you using?

 

[Yanir34]

Here you go!

Where is your build thread?

 

[56longroof]

Looking good !!! What bulbs are you using?

In this picture Im using Aquabright 250watt 10k with 4 T5 bulbs. 2 actinic and 2 in the 14k range.They are a little more blue than the XM 10k bulbs I normally use. I also have a stash of Ushio Aqualite 10k. All together I have enough bulbs to last me about 15 years. LOL I just catch then on sale and buy a few here and there.

 

[Yanir34]

In this picture Im using Aquabright 250watt 10k with 4 T5 bulbs. 2 actinic and 2 in the 14k range.They are a little more blue than the XM 10k bulbs I normally use. I also have a stash of Ushio Aqualite 10k. All together I have enough bulbs to last me about 15 years. LOL I just catch then on sale and buy a few here and there.

Awesome!

What ballasts and reflectors ?

Did you measured PAR ?

 

[JBNY]

Wow that's massive colonies , like the good old days of the halides

That should be the normal today!
Vitality and health comes with PROPER spectrum, intensity and distribution of light.

I think this is one of the bigger changes in the hobby, and I’m not sure it’s for the better.

People don’t grow colonies out much anymore. A coral gets two branches on it and suddenly it’s a “mother colony” with a frag rack under it and a price tag attached. Either that, or the coral never lives long enough to become anything other than a sad plug with a fancy name.

It feels like 90% of tanks now are really frag tanks with better photography. And I get it. Corals are expensive. If you can cut a piece and recover some money, that makes sense. I’m not pretending this hobby is cheap or that I haven’t fragged corals. I’ve cut plenty. But there is a big difference between fragging a colony because it needs to be trimmed, and never letting anything become a colony in the first place.

The part I miss is seeing a tank grow into itself. Letting an acro turn into the shape it wants to be. Watching it shade something, block flow, make you rethink placement, and generally become a pain in the neck like a proper SPS colony should. That’s the reef. Not twelve one-inch sticks on plugs all lined up like they’re waiting for school pictures.

Same thing with lighting. I’m still a big metal halide fan. Always have been. There is something about halides over an SPS tank that just looks right to me. But LEDs can grow coral. That argument is pretty much over. My new tank has LEDs over it, and I’m happy with them so far. I still miss some things about halides, but I’m not going to pretend LEDs don’t work just because I have old reefkeeper damage.

I’d just like to see more tanks where the goal is the reef again, not the rack. Grow the coral. Let it become something. Then frag it because it’s taking over the tank and annoying you like nature intended.

 

[JBNY]

Where is your build thread?

that tank was up for a long time,

270 Gallon SPS tank for JBNY

I thought I would finally get moving with this thread. If you missed some of my postings a few months ago I decided to take down my tank after being set up for 5 years to make way for a larger one. Unfortunately, or fortunately depending on how you look at it ;), I am doing some renovations...

forums.reefcentral.com

 

[Yanir34]

I think this is one of the bigger changes in the hobby, and I’m not sure it’s for the better.

People don’t grow colonies out much anymore. A coral gets two branches on it and suddenly it’s a “mother colony” with a frag rack under it and a price tag attached. Either that, or the coral never lives long enough to become anything other than a sad plug with a fancy name.

It feels like 90% of tanks now are really frag tanks with better photography. And I get it. Corals are expensive. If you can cut a piece and recover some money, that makes sense. I’m not pretending this hobby is cheap or that I haven’t fragged corals. I’ve cut plenty. But there is a big difference between fragging a colony because it needs to be trimmed, and never letting anything become a colony in the first place.

The part I miss is seeing a tank grow into itself. Letting an acro turn into the shape it wants to be. Watching it shade something, block flow, make you rethink placement, and generally become a pain in the neck like a proper SPS colony should. That’s the reef. Not twelve one-inch sticks on plugs all lined up like they’re waiting for school pictures.

Same thing with lighting. I’m still a big metal halide fan. Always have been. There is something about halides over an SPS tank that just looks right to me. But LEDs can grow coral. That argument is pretty much over. My new tank has LEDs over it, and I’m happy with them so far. I still miss some things about halides, but I’m not going to pretend LEDs don’t work just because I have old reefkeeper damage.

I’d just like to see more tanks where the goal is the reef again, not the rack. Grow the coral. Let it become something. Then frag it because it’s taking over the tank and annoying you like nature intended.

Totally agree !
My last tank was lit by ATI power module 10×54w bulbs, and man...that was a beast!
I wish that reefers simply let they tank grow naturally...

 

[56longroof]

Awesome!

What ballasts and reflectors ?

Did you measured PAR ?

PFO reflectors and Reefbrite ballasts. I am getting over 1000 par at the waters surface and 250-300 at the sand.

 

[56longroof]

Totally agree !
My last tank was lit by ATI power module 10×54w bulbs, and man...that was a beast!
I wish that reefers simply let they tank grow naturally...

Nice tank. I let my do its thing. Some corals get over run by faster growing ones but to me that's the natural look. I do trim on occasion and its only the monti plates. If I didnt that's all I would have.

 

[A. grandis]

I think this is one of the bigger changes in the hobby, and I’m not sure it’s for the better.

People don’t grow colonies out much anymore. A coral gets two branches on it and suddenly it’s a “mother colony” with a frag rack under it and a price tag attached. Either that, or the coral never lives long enough to become anything other than a sad plug with a fancy name.

It feels like 90% of tanks now are really frag tanks with better photography. And I get it. Corals are expensive. If you can cut a piece and recover some money, that makes sense. I’m not pretending this hobby is cheap or that I haven’t fragged corals. I’ve cut plenty. But there is a big difference between fragging a colony because it needs to be trimmed, and never letting anything become a colony in the first place.

The part I miss is seeing a tank grow into itself. Letting an acro turn into the shape it wants to be. Watching it shade something, block flow, make you rethink placement, and generally become a pain in the neck like a proper SPS colony should. That’s the reef. Not twelve one-inch sticks on plugs all lined up like they’re waiting for school pictures.

Same thing with lighting. I’m still a big metal halide fan. Always have been. There is something about halides over an SPS tank that just looks right to me. But LEDs can grow coral. That argument is pretty much over. My new tank has LEDs over it, and I’m happy with them so far. I still miss some things about halides, but I’m not going to pretend LEDs don’t work just because I have old reefkeeper damage.

I’d just like to see more tanks where the goal is the reef again, not the rack. Grow the coral. Let it become something. Then frag it because it’s taking over the tank and annoying you like nature intended.

Here we go.. It is what it is. I get it. This new generation sees everything differently in regards to what they should aim for, in my opinion. I mean... everything!!!! The big difference is that back in the day, in the 90's and 2000's, we had knowledge from serious authors and great books. There was a common sense and shame was still a thing. During the last 2 decades we had a movement that shocked reefing! The marketing started to tell people how to behave and what to buy when they wanted using videos. The number of newbies is way bigger than anyone that is reefing for a long time. Those old fellows are ignored and they simply get out of the internet. If they stay online and are still active is because they agree with the marketing and actively participate. Videos are made to boost sales and to remove products in favor of other new products for more ca$h!! The manipulation also goes with the more expensive brands and the wide spread number of sponsorships! The sponsors represent such a heavy weight on opinions today in all ramifications Their money is the law of information! It's disgusting!!!!! They choose old folks as the main target, then the younger ones who make videos. Give free stuff to promote that way. Whoever sees this as a hobby takes it lightly and gives to the new ideas of this era. I don't see it as a hobby, but a great activity that should bring respect for the animals we keep and give them the very least they diserve. Lighting is one of the main subjects of urgency today in my personal opinion. 95% of the tanks have less than favorable lighting to their organisms, period! Corals suffer and grow distorted! People complain about the growth and having headaches looking at their tanks with LEDs... It's bad for our eyes too! They use those stupid orange glasses and think it's cool, or normal? The manufacturers must mock those customers!!! Unbelievable! I don't think using halides or T5s is a sacrifice in any way, but they should be the minimum we should do to keep shallow water corals to boost their health. Time to wake up!
The tiny frags deal for the large amount of ca$h is attached to Blue LEDs. Almost all of those "colorful corals" aren't colorful at all under the sun, or under normal lighting. So they keep them struggling under the Christmas tree lights to boost fluorescent pigments and call it that $1000.00 rare frag with a cartoon name. It's a money machine invented around 2012! Those guys are rich now. That drives the market today and will for a long time.
They can't grow large colonies because the majority of the tanks simply can't maintain large colonies due to the lack of proper/quality lighting to start with! Truth spoken!!!
We used to call it a hobby, but in reality it was way more important to all of us... we knew more than scientists in the 90's! Believe me on that! Today we are influencing scientists to use cartoon names for their corals. How do we expect the general public to respect reefkeeping when they listen to what we say???? Anyone in their right mind also will see that to light a system with mostly blue LEDs are the most absurd thing ever! Don't believe me? Ask your dear grandma!
I respect whoever chooses LEDs because they really believe what this market has been preaching and this money machine created, preaching that what is happening today IS normal. The fact is that "normal" means what most people do. That way, we achieved, within the relativism, what can be accepted by the majority! They don't know better! Whoever knows and lies to themselves need to analise their priorities and tell the practical truth. The priorities should be the biological needs of the organisms we keep, not what money dictates what we should do.
I'm sorry for the rant.