Advice requested

[allan]

I have an undrilled fifty-five gallon tank that I've decided to use as a frag tank.

I plan on looping in the water to my current one ninety display.

Barebottom, but not for display. I want to build acrylic racks to hold the frags midway up.

I plan on putting low light frags below the racks to limit light.

Sharpshooting my plans are welcome, and would really like to hear options for lighting. I want to get the frag rack out of my display tank.

I'm going with this tank because of availability and that I will be able to keep spongebob longer as I plan on giving up the bio cube.

I do plan on drilling the tank in the back as I don't know if the bottom is tempered or not.

[Gseclipse02]

If u want it to be cheap on lights just use one t5 bulb but put the corals about five inchs under it eerything will grow great

[allan]

If I do tfive and am only interested in growth.... Which bulb do you recommend?

[StevenSeas]

6700K maybe 10K for coloration too

[Gseclipse02]

If I do tfive and am only interested in growth.... Which bulb do you recommend?


they say the 10k look is great for growth but i didn't like it makes yours sps look like crap ... i would go with a blue plus for color and growth ...


also with the 10k look zoas are to tell apart makes them look like crap

[Gseclipse02]

4 foot ATI T5 bulb 22$
work horse 3 ballast 15$?
individual glo reflector from pollys 8$

[allan]

How many tubes can I get on a single ballast?

I'm using glo ballasts on my dt and have an extra glo currently in use under my dt for the larger frags of coral that I don't want. But it's for 36 inch tubes.

6700? I thought that was the range for macro? Or is that 6500?

[txav8r]

6500k to 6700k are for plant growth. I have several 4' ones that I tried to give away but had no takers.

[Europhyllia]

Isn't it that basically 6700 is daylight. The kind of light that corals would encounter high up on the reef top. The higher k values simulate deeper waters (less daylight).
I would think lower k ratings would equal more growth -plant or otherwise.

[Europhyllia]

here you go (answer is towards the bottom):
http://www.reefkeeping.com/issues/2002-08/dw/index.php

[StevenSeas]

ya 6700K has more PUR b/c its a redder spectrum which is what the 2 kinds of chlorophyl in the zooanthyl uses to photo sythesis = more growth. and the glo ballasts require that u use 2 bulbs on them, i tried just one, works for all of 5 seconds

[StevenSeas]

what you could do is have the 2 3' bulbs overlap in the middle for higher lighting corals and the lower lighting on the ends

[txav8r]

Good read Karin! I didn't know 6700k would grow sps so well. I thought they were just for plants. They are really yellow though.

[StevenSeas]

ya the yellow red spectrum is what deters most people from using them, they tend to make your corals more yellow. Also the more dull and washed out colors of corals experienced is due to the. fact that a 67K color from a black body has less of a full spectrum. thats why a lot of coral have more vibrant colors under say a 14K. If it were me I would grow the frags under the 67K and then put them under w/e spectrum in your DT and they will color up nicely.

[allan]

Yellow works for me as I cam apply blue LEDs to check coloration.

Now I guess I have to figure out how to drill glass. That's okay since on tv the crooks make it looke so easy.

[txav8r]

Drilling glass is easy. Slow and steady wins the race.

[allan]

So the actuUal coloration is dependent upon the actual exposure of the correct frequency?

I would have thought that the exp to 67000 would do the job and placing under the higher freq would show immediate coloration of the coral.

[Mr Cob]

So the actuUal coloration is dependent upon the actual exposure of the correct frequency?

I would have thought that the exp to 67000 would do the job and placing under the higher freq would show immediate coloration of the coral.


I think the problem is that there would be less Zooxanthellae on the coral due to the proficient amount of light....less need for Zooxanthellae. That's where your color is coming from on your corals.

I could be wrong...but that's how I understand it.

[allan]

You folks are quick. I'm going to get a drill bit from HD and see if I can't git er done.

[allan]

I thought that the zoo digestive processes are what feed the coral thus the full spectrum so near the surface would really feed the zoos which will in turn feed the coral.

As I understand it now the lower the freq the more problematic water depth becomes and for that reason we specialize in higher freqs to provide light to thos living deeper.

Am I wrong a lot or a little?

[Mr Cob]

I don't know.

I would just go with a cheap 10k bulb and a couple of blue bulbs, I mean it's a standard 55g...not very deep anyways.

[allan]

Yeah you're right. I have some time to lock something down. I'm going to build the stand today and drill it as well. The tank, not the stand.

[jroescher]

As far as plumbing goes, the only safe way I know of to connect two tanks together is have one overflow into the other. Same way you plumb your sump. Trying to match flow with pumps will not work. Or have them so the water level is at the same level.

[allan]

Yeah, I was going to drill for an overflow to the sump, and what I pump in will overflow into the sump.

Of course I have GOT to run another circuit into that room. I'm pretty sure I've maxed out the circuit in that room. I had it quoted at seven hundred, but I think I'm going to run the conduit myself and just hire out for the connections.