Tank Of The Month - January 2009

[Emster]

Originally posted by stigball
That is a very beautiful tank.. Good job!!!!

Thank you! I'm really glad you liked it.

[Emster]

Originally posted by Gondore
First off, congrats. on TOTM Emster. Your tank is a definite inspiration to me.

I found your discussion on light duration and K values very interesting. I have been running 2 x 250 watt MHs with the Reeflux 10K bulb in the Lumenmax 2 reflectors over my 90 gallon. I also have two T5s running Super Actinics for supplementation. Initially I was running my MHs for 8-9 hours and the T5s for 12 hours. I sort of came to the same conclusion that you did, which was that I was simply giving my corals to much light. I have decreased the duration of my MHs down to 7 hrs now and my growth rates are still as good as what they were at 9. Even though my growth is good some of my corals still have a pale appearence. I realize that there are several factors that can contribute to this but I believe it is that I am still supplying my tank with to much light. I am considering moving to Radiums now to increase coloration. I noticed that you had moved from 10ks Hamiltons to Radiums and was wondering if you have noticed significant growth and coral coloration differences.

If I was you I would go down to 6 hours with those 10k. The radiums have just as much growth or more then any other bulb I have tried. I'm not a big fan running the 250watt radiums on electronic ballasts(they are too blue for me)IMO they should be ran on hqi m80 ballasts because that is what they were designed to run on

[Gondore]

Originally posted by Emster
If I was you I would go down to 6 hours with those 10k. The radiums have just as much growth or more then any other bulb I have tried. I'm not a big fan running the 250watt radiums on electronic ballasts(they are too blue for me)IMO they should be ran on hqi m80 ballasts because that is what they were designed to run on

I think I will bump my duration down to 6 hours for the MHs and see how that goes. The bulbs only have about 2 months of life left on them though so I will be needing to make a decision soon on what to replace them with.

I don't want to side track this thread in any way getting into a discussion on Radiums, but I have read in several other threads that the new electronic ballasts (i.e. Gallaxy and new version of Icecap) run this bulb as a crisp whitish blue.

[Emster]

Originally posted by Gondore
I think I will bump my duration down to 6 hours for the MHs and see how that goes. The bulbs only have about 2 months of life left on them though so I will be needing to make a decision soon on what to replace them with.

I don't want to side track this thread in any way getting into a discussion on Radiums, but I have read in several other threads that the new electronic ballasts (i.e. Gallaxy and new version of Icecap) run this bulb as a crisp whitish blue.

I believe they are talking about the 400watt radiums(they are not a HQI rated bulb). The 250 watt radiums are HQI so they burn more blue on electronic

[Gondore]

Originally posted by Emster
I believe they are talking about the 400watt radiums(they are not a HQI rated bulb). The 250 watt radiums are HQI so they burn more blue on electronic

Hmm..interesting. I am just trying to find out what these bulbs would look like on my Galaxy ballasts and how long they would last. This is one of the sources I got my information from:

http://www.reefcentral.com/forums/sh...5&pagenumber=9

If you notice the posts by Todd March he says that the Radiums tend to burn a whitesh blue and that they will last for at least a year on the Gallaxy ballasts. This is also stated a couple times earlier in the thread and a also a couple different places on RC.

[Emster]

Originally posted by Gondore
Hmm..interesting. I am just trying to find out what these bulbs would look like on my Galaxy ballasts and how long they would last. This is one of the sources I got my information from:

http://www.reefcentral.com/forums/sh...5&pagenumber=9

If you notice the posts by Todd March he says that the Radiums tend to burn a whitesh blue and that they will last for at least a year on the Gallaxy ballasts. This is also stated a couple times earlier in the thread and a also a couple different places on RC.

I have not seen the 250watt radiums on a galaxy ballast so I can't tell you how blue they will be. I have seen them on older ice caps and can tell you they are bluer then on my tank or at least they seemed like that to my eyes. Hope this helps, you might try asking Todd March about it I have not researched it has much as he as.

[Gondore]

Thanks for the help Emster and congrats again on TOTM!

[Emster]

I had been asked if I had any older pics of the tank so I thought I would share this one I found. It was taken when the tank was almost 1 year old, notice how small the ORA blue tort is(middle left) It is now to the top of the water

[Emster]

Originally posted by reefkeeper2
Congrats Emster! Well deserved TOTM. It proves there's more than one way to skin a cat. The multi colored monti is amazing!

Thanks reefkeeper2! I loved your tank and that room was just absolutely stunning!

[reefkeeper2]

Originally posted by Emster
Thanks reefkeeper2! I loved your tank and that room was just absolutely stunning!

Thanks Emster, and after all this time I finally figured out how to post a quote correctly.

[Emster]

Yeah I actually had a hard time posting the picture above your post. It was always easy for me on photobucket but now for some reason it does not work like it used to. Have a good one.

[runningnreefing]

Originally posted by Emster
I'm using the sugar sand Carib sea the flow does move it around but not too much

Thanks for the info.

[Emster]

Had some requests to see the back of the tank so here you guys go.....

[SCIFI_3D_zoo]

What are we looking at? The white pvc is flow out? The smaller black ones are a split return? Did you paint your back black?

[EvMiBo]

Congrats!

Awesome tank! I too got a kick out of the mixed monti idea, cool idea. Thanks for sharing !

[Emster]

Originally posted by SCIFI_3D_zoo
What are we looking at? The white pvc is flow out? The smaller black ones are a split return? Did you paint your back black?

Yes the white pvc is the overflow to the sump and the black ones are split and go up to the sea swirls. There are some wires that run the lights and a couple of air hoses that pump bubble into the tank if the power goes off. I painted the back glass black and also drilled the hole for the drain. I use the two holes in the bottom of the tank for safety overflows.

[Emster]

Originally posted by EvMiBo
Congrats!

Awesome tank! I too got a kick out of the mixed monti idea, cool idea. Thanks for sharing !

Yeah I really like that piece too, can't wait to start glue up more discs of that one, seeing what else I can come up with. Thank you for the compliments.

[OnlyCrimson]

Do you feel that having such a large amount of living organisms in the tank helps keep your Nitrate and Phosphate levels down? What I mean, Is it easier to keep those levels low now that the tank is grown out?

[SCIFI_3D_zoo]

So you do have a "drilled reef" tank but you drilled your own hole behind your overflow box... and used your drilled bottom holes for safety. Never heard of anything like that before. Interesting. And you split your return... but I thought you had them going to a Sea Swirl? I don't see the SS in your pics. I noticed you have a Korallia at the bottom right too... is that a #1 or #2 Hydor?.. and was there problems with growth at that level?

[tamarindthai]

congrats,,, very beautiful tank,,i love the monti packs

[m0nk]

Awesome tank! I love the mutant monti creation.

[haus]

Congrats Emmett That is one nice tank good job keep up the good work

[Emster]

Originally posted by OnlyCrimson
Do you feel that having such a large amount of living organisms in the tank helps keep your Nitrate and Phosphate levels down? What I mean, Is it easier to keep those levels low now that the tank is grown out?

I really don't think the corals keep them down at all. I do believe my feeding habits do though. I feed flake that stays suspended in the water so the fish can eat all of it. I also feed the big PE mysis and rinse it before feeding. I'm not a big fan of all the chopped up frozen foods that have very small pieces that get lost in the tank.

[Emster]

Originally posted by SCIFI_3D_zoo
So you do have a "drilled reef" tank but you drilled your own hole behind your overflow box... and used your drilled bottom holes for safety. Never heard of anything like that before. Interesting. And you split your return... but I thought you had them going to a Sea Swirl? I don't see the SS in your pics. I noticed you have a Korallia at the bottom right too... is that a #1 or #2 Hydor?.. and was there problems with growth at that level?

Yes my return is split and goes up to both sea swirls. I drilled the tank mysef and yes there are safety overfows in the bottom. I believe the power head is a korallia 1, I added it besause my soli was not getting enough flow but now it happy.

[Emster]

Thanks - tamarindthai, monk, and haus really appreciate you guys stopping by.