Pics of my critters

[Rybren]

I haven't really posted any pics of my setup, so here's a few....



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[Rybren]

and...
(pretend you don't see the GHA  )


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[mikerobart]

Great shots looks like a nice mature tank you got there.

[Rybren]

Thanks. It's only about 6 months old, but I'm pretty happy with the results so far.

[Hookup]

Nice...  Yer colors need some zinng.... any idea what's keep'n em a bit brown & washed out?

[Vincenzo.]

pics never do justice. personal is whats up.

[Rybren]

They do look better in person, but they're no where near as flashy as others that I've seen. 
If I had to pinpoint a single cause, I'd say it was my crappy lighting - I'm running 2x96W PCs.

[Vincenzo.]

^nothing is wrong with that.
what bulbs are you using? what actics?

[Rybren]

I'm running 12K white and 460nm actinic.  The bulbs are 1 mth old.

I'd love to put together an LED fixture for the tank.  Maybe it'll be a winter project.

[Hookup]

What's yer nutrient level?  Phosphate and Nitrate?

The lighting seems low, 2 bulbs if I understand... one 12k and one actinic.

Flow looks good based upon the extension of the corals btw... 

[sdivell]

What's yer nutrient level?  Phosphate and Nitrate?

The lighting seems low, 2 bulbs if I understand... one 12k and one actinic.

Flow looks good based upon the extension of the corals btw... 

2x96watts over a 30g?.. thats pretty good light.  maybe try replacing the 12k light with a 50/50 bulk instead.. you'll have more blue in the tank

[Hookup]

2x96watts over a 30g?.. thats pretty good light.  maybe try replacing the 12k light with a 50/50 bulk instead.. you'll have more blue in the tank

I just figured only two bulbs might be part of the issue... What do PC's do in terms of PAR when compared with T5's or MH?  Are they on "par" lol...

96w for each bulb call it 200watts over the tank, should be nice... agreed..

agreed with the swap suggestion of replacing the 12k with a 50/50...   

[sdivell]

PC does have the worst PAR output of the 3, but even so, should be plenty for that 30g tank... just needs some experimenting with the bulb colours

[Rybren]

Parameters are:

Ammonia 0
Nitrite 0
Nitrate 0
Phos undetectable (could actually be some, judging by the GHA)
pH 8.4
SG 1.025
Alk 9
CA 400
Temp 26

I have Chaeto in the tank and it grows like crazy.

I dose Kalk in the top-off water.  No other additives.

The PC lights are no where near as good as LED, T5, or MH, but except for the colour, the corals seem happy.  I have 3 SPS frags - birdsnest, monti digi, and monti cap.  Both montis are growing quite rapidly, the birdsnest is slower.  I have no plans to add any more SPS (unless I can find a cool green cap frag)

Thanks for the suggestions on swapping out the 12K.  I might give it a go.

Jerry

[Hookup]

Well, you cannot knock growth.. you're doing something right that's for sure... and with those parameters...wow.

You definately seemto have a phospate issue... cheato growing, and gha...  the reason it reads as undetectible is likely due to it getting consumed as fast as it enters the system... (just a guess).

I'm sure by plaing with some bulb combos over time more color can be found...

but honestly, it was just a minor thing... the tank looks awesome... it really does....

[sdivell]

yup fully agree with hookup.  Really nice params, but I agree on the phos.  Maybe try running phosban on the tank see what happens.

Love the picture of the donut.

[Rybren]

Thanks guys.

I suspect that I do have some phosphate in the system.  As Tim mentioned, I'm probably reading zero because it's getting used up by that nasty green stuff.

I'm running carbon and a phosphate absorbing filter pad in an old Aqua Clear HOB filter.  I don't think that the pad is absorbing much of anything.  My next attempt will be to run Phosban or something similar in the HOB.  Is Phosban the best choice?

p.s. The donut is my fave.