Your favorite Metal Halides for Acropora Growth and Coloration

[njreefkeeper]

Don't feed nori if you're currently feeding it. I don't and my tangs are picking at algae all day long. Turn up the flow and make them work out. But seriously, if your fish can't swim because it's too fat that's one thing, but if it's nice and round, who cares what other people think. Also, it has to do with quality of food and not feeding mysis as your main food source. I feed pellets 5 times a day, flakes once a day and LRS two to three times a day and my fish look good and healthy. It sounds like a lot of food, but these are small portions that get eaten as fast as I throw it in. Herbivores never stop eating during the day and I've seen some pretty chunky tangs on the reefs, so I doubt that your fish are obese, unless you're just feeding mysis, which is a no-no in my book.

^^^this is the way to a healthy reef tank. People are afraid to feed their fish too much. Within reason, I’ve always followed the mantra that my reef tanks are well fed, well lit fish tanks that happen to have corals. The best reef tanks I’ve seen over 25 years have always had well fed, hearty fish. Even on wild reefs, when the food is gone, the fish are gone and corals decline.

Most “help me” threads are always talking about pale corals and other troubles. Then you see their pics and there’s a few fish with a lot of corals and you can see the spines of the fish. That’s not how fish look in the wild. How many people post that their corals are turning brown from feeding too much? Not many at all.

 

[Reefahholic]

Yeah, if I didn't have an extra EB8 I would've just used some solid appliance timers for mine. I do run a wave engine on my main tank, but no problems there. I have the x4 pro pack on my nano system, but that's 12' or so away from the other tank. You could use a piece of shielded panel to block the RF? Kinda like Faraday fabric which blocks RF, EMI & RFID

Where are your ballast’s plugged in at?

I have mine plugged into my X4 Wi-Fi outlet. I think that is the issue.

I’ll plug into my other power strip tomorrow evening and see what happens.

May end up having to shield them like you said, but we’ll see what happens.

I’ll report back soon.

 

[Reefahholic]

^^^this is the way to a healthy reef tank. People are afraid to feed their fish too much. Within reason, I’ve always followed the mantra that my reef tanks are well fed, well lit fish tanks that happen to have corals. The best reef tanks I’ve seen over 25 years have always had well fed, hearty fish. Even on wild reefs, when the food is gone, the fish are gone and corals decline.

Most “help me” threads are always talking about pale corals and other troubles. Then you see their pics and there’s a few fish with a lot of corals and you can see the spines of the fish. That’s not how fish look in the wild. How many people post that their corals are turning brown from feeding too much? Not many at all.

You can easily tell when a reefer is overfeeding. The nitrates will be elevated 60+. They always say…”I only feed one cube a day.” When they measure in cubes, that’s usually another sign. HeHe…

There’s a difference between feeding the fish and spoiling the fish. All my fish are in shape, and I like to keep them on the thinner side. I’ve been to a few peoples houses and the fish look so fat it’s unbelievable. They can barely swim around.

I feed TDO and rinsed Mysis mostly. A few other Veggie type foods for the tangs. My fish are happy, fit, and my N-P ratio and tank are healthy.

 

[Reefahholic]

Disregard the weird looking pH waveform. I Pulled my old lights off that day. So for like 12 hrs there was no light.

 

[Reefahholic]

I worked on the frame with a piece of 3/4” plywood on top of the tank. Also drilled the holes in the ceiling with it there so nothing would fall into the system.

This was the old hanging kit that failed. I didn’t realize it did not have any adjustable grips. Not to mention it adjusted from the ceiling. That is just dumb.

Here’s a better pic where you can see the full kit. Don’t buy anything like this. I had to cut it and use pieces from different hanging kits I had on hand and crimp them with heavy duty 150-200# aluminum crimps. This thing was just so front heavy from the Radions. Will fill the old ceiling holes from the Radions with spackling. I already matched the ceiling and wall paint.

Another thing that really frustrated me was that 8020’s hardware was 3-4 different sizes. Good thing I bought several multi tools, because it handled the job.

 

[Reefahholic]

My buddy hung his like this. Not the prettiest, but it works.

This is 14K Ushio with Supplemental. Color looks good.

 

[Smite]

I worked on the frame with a piece of 3/4” plywood on top of the tank. Also drilled the holes in the ceiling with it there so nothing would fall into the system.

This was the old hanging kit that failed. I didn’t realize it did not have any adjustable grips. Not to mention it adjusted from the ceiling. That is just dumb.

Here’s a better pic where you can see the full kit. Don’t buy anything like this. I had to cut it and use pieces from different hanging kits I had on hand and crimp them with heavy duty 150-200# aluminum crimps. This thing was just so front heavy from the Radions. Will fill the old ceiling holes from the Radions with spackling. I already matched the ceiling and wall paint.

Another thing that really frustrated me was that 8020’s hardware was 3-4 different sizes. Good thing I bought several multi tools, because it handled the job.

My first thought looking at this was that it would be hard to balance. Not to rework the wheel here but those reflectors spread great out the sides. I'd be tempted to go mogul towards the back of the tank, so pendants perpendicular to the length of your tank with a layout of xr15/RB/xr15/RB/xr15. That would be center balanced, you'd only need to makeup for the cord weight really.


What is the thought process for the ballasts causing interference with the ph probes? Is it some type of noise they are causing in your controller's outlet?

 

[minus9]

Where are your ballast’s plugged in at?

I have mine plugged into my X4 Wi-Fi outlet. I think that is the issue.

I’ll plug into my other power strip tomorrow evening and see what happens.

May end up having to shield them like you said, but we’ll see what happens.

I’ll report back soon.

Mine are plugged into my apex eb8.

I wouldn’t plug them into a WiFi strip, just a nice heavy duty timer for each ballast and you’ll be fine. The eb8 is plugged into a separate circuit from the rest of the equipment. I have lighting on one circuit and the rest on another circuit.

 

[Reefahholic]

My first thought looking at this was that it would be hard to balance. Not to rework the wheel here but those reflectors spread great out the sides. I'd be tempted to go mogul towards the back of the tank, so pendants perpendicular to the length of your tank with a layout of xr15/RB/xr15/RB/xr15. That would be center balanced, you'd only need to makeup for the cord weight really.


What is the thought process for the ballasts causing interference with the ph probes? Is it some type of noise they are causing in your controller's outlet?

Was very hard to balance. I agree, probably would have been better to go perpendicular, and I may do that later. It’s working for now and I’m tired of messing with it so I’ll leave it alone for a while and think up a master plan. Haha.

I think that is exactly what it is. Apparently Hydros doesn’t like the ballasts. Milwaukee is also mounted on the same wall and when I plug the probes into those they do fine. So it might be because the ballast’s are plugged into the X4 Wi-Fi strip and that’s giving some kind of noise or interference. I have no clue.

 

[Reefahholic]

Mine are plugged into my apex eb8.

I wouldn’t plug them into a WiFi strip, just a nice heavy duty timer for each ballast and you’ll be fine. The eb8 is plugged into a separate circuit from the rest of the equipment. I have lighting on one circuit and the rest on another circuit.

Has to be because mine are plugged into that Wi-Fi strip for the X4. Can’t wait to switch it later tonight and see what happens. I need to get my CaRx back on the Hydros. Easier to control from my phone and I don’t need to manually turn that ridiculous little knob on the Milwaukee controller that is hard to fine tune.

Nice control board BTW. Did you route that yourself? Where to find the template for the oval grommet holes at the top?

 

[minus9]

Has to be because mine are plugged into that Wi-Fi strip for the X4. Can’t wait to switch it later tonight and see what happens. I need to get my CaRx back on the Hydros. Easier to control from my phone and I don’t need to manually turn that ridiculous little knob on the Milwaukee controller that is hard to fine tune.

Nice control board BTW. Did you route that yourself? Where to find the template for the oval grommet holes at the top?

Thanks! I did it by hand. I used a forstner bit on the ends of each hole so they would look even and used a palm router to cut the straight edge. They’re not perfect, so each hole is slightly off a little. It’s in a coat closet behind the tank, so who cares, right? I still need to tidy up the cables.

 

[Reefahholic]

Thanks! I did it by hand. I used a forstner bit on the ends of each hole so they would look even and used a palm router to cut the straight edge. They’re not perfect, so each hole is slightly off a little. It’s in a coat closet behind the tank, so who cares, right? I still need to tidy up the cables.

Looks pretty good!

 

[CNDReef]

I set up a friends tank about 6 months ago. Had a crazy idea he let me try out. Brought over a scoop of my sand and a full collection cup of skim mate. Dumped them into the tank. Kept his skimmer off for a month. He’s yet to see diatoms or dinos. Now I know better moving forward.

That was a common practice when I started reefing in early 2000’s. We’d get a cup of sand from fellow reefers that lived near by so we could get all their bacteria.

 

[xabo]

Have a chance to purchase a large Lumearc III reflector for $30. Looking for another one or two.

Found some but.....................the vendor does not ship to the U.S.

Reflectors

Computer designed reflectors for optimum light distribution inc, lumenarc 3, spiderlight and sunlight aquarium reflectors.

www.fastlight.co.uk

 

[X-37B]

You can easily tell when a reefer is overfeeding. The nitrates will be elevated 60+. They always say…”I only feed one cube a day.” When they measure in cubes, that’s usually another sign. HeHe…

There’s a difference between feeding the fish and spoiling the fish. All my fish are in shape, and I like to keep them on the thinner side. I’ve been to a few peoples houses and the fish look so fat it’s unbelievable. They can barely swim around.

I feed TDO and rinsed Mysis mostly. A few other Veggie type foods for the tangs. My fish are happy, fit, and my N-P ratio and tank are healthy.

My main food is brine and mysis with some herbivore pellets.

In my 120 I was at 8 cubes a day when the system was up.
No3 <5 po4<.1.

I do not feed the corals except for my scolys.

I have practiced heavy in and out for years. You just need a plan to deal with no3 and po4. When they rise address it. Fairly simple, imo.

People with issues almost never have a plan from day one to address issues when they arise, from what I have seen.

 

[Reefahholic]

My main food is brine and mysis with some herbivore pellets.

In my 120 I was at 8 cubes a day when the system was up.
No3 <5 po4<.1.

I do not feed the corals except for my scolys.

I have practiced heavy in and out for years. You just need a plan to deal with no3 and po4. When they rise address it. Fairly simple, imo.

People with issues almost never have a plan from day one to address issues when they arise, from what I have seen.

I keep it simple. Good Skimmer, Feed less, keep a 50:1 to 100:1 N/P ratio, and use bacteria + carbon source to control nutrients when needed. I usually dose N&P back to the system. I never let my import exceed my export.

 

[njreefkeeper]

That was a common practice when I started reefing in early 2000’s. We’d get a cup of sand from fellow reefers that lived near by so we could get all their bacteria.

Yep. Remember Garf Grunge?

 

[wrassie86]

Yep. Remember Garf Grunge?

When I restarted my tank a couple yrs ago that was 2nd thing I dumped in. great stuff. I believe it's still available for now.

 

[jmichaelh7]

My main food is brine and mysis with some herbivore pellets.

In my 120 I was at 8 cubes a day when the system was up.
No3 <5 po4<.1.

I do not feed the corals except for my scolys.

I have practiced heavy in and out for years. You just need a plan to deal with no3 and po4. When they rise address it. Fairly simple, imo.

People with issues almost never have a plan from day one to address issues when they arise, from what I have seen.

Heavy in heavy out +1

I’ll crank my refugium light up if I ever need to

I feed my animals a lot pellets flakes 6-8 cubes of different types of cubes for angels , carnivores, through out the day. Why not

 

[Reefahholic]

Hamilton 14K 25” off the water for the start of acclimation with 20K supplements. Really liking the new light so far. Feels like T5’s with shimmer. PAR should be about 175 6” under the water line according to my buddy that has $900 meter (without supplements on). He hung his same height so I’m kinda going by his data and looking at my corals.