my 135 rimless - updated with new LED build!!

[hwntunda]

sweet pics! really enjoyed everthing:wink:

 

[Alpha Aquaculture]

Thought provoking insights. Kinda cool idea that you can have a low wattage/light tank with a spotlight and thus just grow sps in one area without overlighting the other areas of your tank. The current alternative is overlighting with a mh and then shading, the opposite idea and not energy efficient at all.

 

[johnanddawn]

sweet pics! really enjoyed everthing:wink:

thanks

Thought provoking insights. Kinda cool idea that you can have a low wattage/light tank with a spotlight and thus just grow sps in one area without overlighting the other areas of your tank. The current alternative is overlighting with a mh and then shading, the opposite idea and not energy efficient at all.

i knew you would understand

yeah to think you can have the light of a 400W MH in an area the size of a dinner plate and almost no light at all touching the glass 6" away

it will take some creativite coral placement and it certainly isn't for everyone, ii would be very expensive to try to light a large full blown top to bottom sps reef wall with LEDs - T5's or MH may still be a better option for that scenario

but this certainly could be the future of reefing and with solid planning one could light a large tank with a lot less wattage. this lighting scheme would be great for the basic two island aquascape that is so popular.
i think this is the problem with factory LED units and why some seem disapointed with LED - they try to light the whole tank evenly - not the best use of the technology IMO

of course this is new and still in the experimental stage, so i reserve the right to change my mind if it doesn't work out, but as for now i am completly sold on LED's

 

[Alpha Aquaculture]

Totally. The only thing is that with spotlights its very important to have a solid way of mounting them. Its such a precise lighting scheme and I could see it being stressful on the corals if they were mounted in a fashion where there were slight variations in the angle of the bulb when cleaning and moving the fixtures. Just something I've experienced with my flouro spotlights I use on my ats, but I do have a shady clip system for them thats not too solid, lol. I'm sure you're fixture hood is rock solid

 

[johnanddawn]

yeah definitly esp with 60* optics - i think 80* would be more forgiving as the cross over blending would br better

well i just got two more PAR 38's and think i have it right now
i don't have the PAR meter anymore but can't wait to get it back to see what my numbers are now
as far as corals - the LPS and zoas are showing very little change over the first two weeks - they barely seem to have noticed the change as of yet
my SPS are still recovering from the 2 power outages but i am stating to see some good things happening already
- as many have said about LEDs my blues and greens are vibrant as ever - and maybe even better
- my strawberry short which had browned out completly now is turning pink again
- my pink milli is still brown and unhappy, but my yellow/green is looking awesome
- polyp extension in general is fine - my chips looks like it should once again finally
- so the recovery seems to be occuring despite the light change
it would be unfair to take pics yet (because of the power outages and the lighting change) but maybe in a a couple weeks or so i'll update some pics

 

[Reefsurfing]

one of my favs

 

[johnanddawn]

one of my favs

wow, thanks

- i saw in your tank thread you were debating between LEDs and T5's and although i liked my T5 set up i'm really liking the LEDs, i would say go for it, you won't regret it

 

[johnanddawn]

well i decided to give a couple new corals a try - the first i've boughten since the power outage and the switch to LED
i'm a bit worried of course but think the tank is finally stable and ready

 

[Bruno]

look awesome

 

[johnanddawn]

look awesome

thanks

and just an LPS shot duncans under LED's - gotta like the green glow and this is full lighting, wish i could take actinic pics

 

[johnanddawn]

well i haven't done an update in a while, no new pics to share at this time, but thought i should update the LED progress
been a mixed few months
negatives:
- lost 2 of the three new sps i just added, i blaim myself for not acclimating them properly to the LED's
- had a two and a half day power outage (had a generator this time but still had a negative impact)
- had a stray voltage problem with a RIO pump that was feeding my skimmer - lost my chips before i caught it - real bummed about that i've had this coral for a long time and it was def one of my favs

positives:
- zoas seem to love LEDs, color and growth has been phenomenal - my zoa garden is quickly becoming quite crowded
- LPS color is great and the growth is acceptable. blastos, scolies, and duncans in particular have really improved
- SPS other then the couple i lost, the rest have really colored up and growth although stalled for quite a while, has resumed
- only added one new coral (a dragon soul type favia) and it is doing great - growth took off almost immediatly and has added a couple new mouths

overall the transition has been as smooth as can be expected and i am really happy with the change. the tank color when all the lights are on is quite pleasing and when just the blues are on its awesome. the tank has a radioactive glow when i'm on just dusk/dawn cycle and the house is dark
one day if i get time i'll update some pics - although with my feeble camera skills i can never catch that actinic pop anyway

on a side note, I'm going to add another (maybe two) PARS 38's - i like them a lot, even though the are expensive. they just add that top off touch to the tank that really completes the package

 

[olaggie01]

I'm glad to see this thread. My tank will be very similar to yours only 27" deep. I will have 48 LEDs as well, but spread across 3 heatsinks along with a pair of t5 lamps. My aquascape will be very similar to yours as well so I'm really liking your thread.

 

[johnanddawn]

thanks - cool
i thought about incorporating T5's as well, but decided to go with Par 38's for intensity instead of T5's for spectrum. it was a tough decision and really may never know if i went the right way. as i said i am very happy with my results so far, but there is always room for more experimentation, and T5's def have attributes that are undeniable

- i'm very interested in how your build turns out and i'll def be following if you have a build thread

 

[olaggie01]

I'll start one shortly when I get my tank in a few weeks. Still working on the stand and LEDs in the meantime.

 

[johnanddawn]

a few pics from today
from this

to this

from 1 polyp to this

a little color

blastos and scolly

 

[Kathleen]

Very nice thread. I looked through it to see if your elephant mushrooms were on here but didn't see them. Beautiful cabinet work also.

 

[johnanddawn]

thanks
my elephant shrooms are in my tank at school with a pair of clowns - i don't think i have a pic of them
there are some hairy rhodactus pics on the first page of this thread but i moved them to the school tank last fall

 

[skinz78]

Sweet looking tank! I would love to see some updated shots as well as a recent FTS?

 

[Just Clownin Around]

love that acro. is it the strawberry shortcake. the colors are coming in real nice
how long did it take to grow that much?

 

[johnanddawn]

Sweet looking tank! I would love to see some updated shots as well as a recent FTS?

thanks but sorry i don't have anything more recent then those at this time - i've been wanting to take out the camera just haven't had the time - i've done some rearranging with my zoas so maybe tomorrow i'll get a pic

love that acro. is it the strawberry shortcake. the colors are coming in real nice
how long did it take to grow that much?

yeah that is the northwoods ssc from live aquaria - a very nice colored version
its kinda slow for me at least 9 months i think??? i'd have to look back but dispite the slow growth the color has been easy to maintain