MH&T5 oh my

[Big_Pun]

some pics coral is really growing in nicely.

http://img.tapatalk.com/d/13/02/01/aha2ypeh.jpghttp://img.tapatalk.com/d/13/02/01/yryduhyj.jpghttp://img.tapatalk.com/d/13/02/01/u7u4y8ur.jpghttp://img.tapatalk.com/d/13/02/01/eseqa2eg.jpghttp://img.tapatalk.com/d/13/02/01/gaba7y2e.jpghttp://img.tapatalk.com/d/13/02/01/a8ytyne4.jpg

[grouch]

So when are you going to frag me some of those sticks. LOL

[Big_Pun]

just pm I do a couple frag packs once in while when I need to trim up.

[Paul28]

those pics dont show the real size there alot bigger

[Flyride95]

God I love your tank. But I must say, it looks better in person.

[Paul28]

i see that leather in the front i want real bad haha :)

[grouch]

Will do Chris, by the way really nice tank.

[Big_Pun]

thanks guys, there are days I wanna toss in the towel but way too much time into at this point. it's a labor of love !

[350gt]

It's alright.......





Lol jk looks good.

[allan]

I was thinking the same thing... that tank looks small, but when you're standing in front of Emily's tank it looks much bigger.

Very nice job, Emily. :)

[hobogato]

great looking tank, you really have figured out this coral growing thing :) obt looks awesome, really draws your eye with that intense blue.

[Big_Pun]

great looking tank, you really have figured out this coral growing thing :) obt looks awesome, really draws your eye with that intense blue.

That blue tort is really growing im surprised same with garf bonsai, ive really tried to keep it simple this time around, my old 70g was like a lab experiment way too much dosing, the less you mess with things the better response you get from your coral.

[Big_Pun]

I was thinking the same thing... that tank looks small, but when you're standing in front of Emily's tank it looks much bigger.

Very nice job, Emily. :)

oh allen ...... Gloria tank is coming along great too, you should ask her to buy some MP-40's for it

[Reefnub]

Nice looking sticks you got there the colors look good. What mh bulbs are you running and are you still useing biopellets? And if your still running biopellets what is your alk at? Just wondering because I I'm going to run mh on my tank and pull my ais led lights offline. I have never done sps under mh and would like to see the other side. Yea I'm going to the darkside.

[Big_Pun]

Nice looking sticks you got there the colors look good. What mh bulbs are you running and are you still useing biopellets? And if your still running biopellets what is your alk at? Just wondering because I I'm going to run mh on my tank and pull my ais led lights offline. I have never done sps under mh and would like to see the other side. Yea I'm going to the darkside.


my new best friend!!! welcome to dark arts of reefing lol. So with mh you really gotta plan out your setup get a good ballast and then good bulbs and good reflectors dont cheap out! i run phoenix 14k on galaxy 250w ballast. i also run ATI t5 bulbs and KZ. 1x blue plus and 1x fiji purple(kz) and 2x coral plus. yes i have been running bio pellets since day one of this tank, i used to run eco bak(great product) and now i run dr tims also great. my allk and cal are dosed through a good kalk reactor dkh in my tank stays at 8.5-9 solid, cal at 460-480. also i found that i need to GFO pellets do not control po4 as great as people think or companies state.
how big is your tank? i really dont think LEDs are bad but MH growth is great but LED color is great so why not keep your AI for color and get some mh. Tony and i came up with idea to make a rail with lumenbrights and AI sol blues. i may do this one day when i find some cheap sols.

[Reefnub]

Well my old ballast is a sunlight supply bw-7 dual 250w type m80 and i plan on running 20k xms or ushio and no t5 due to no money to add. The tank is a 65g 3'long 18" front to back and 24" deep and thought about putting both mh over the tank with one ai in the middle front to back if it will fit to have the dusk to dawn affect. I run eco bak pellets and just moved my alk up from 7 to 8 and have been holding at 8 for a month now and growth is looking better except a couple corals didnt like the change. My calcium is 460 to 480 also and i do water changes every month with red sea pro. I dose with bionic with doseing pump for alk and calcium and third for water top off. Im just hopeing the corals take to the light with no problems. What hieght should i start the mhs at off the water? I was thinking about 10" for a month and then lower them to 8". I was talking to Nick and he said xm alone would give me really good color and i have seen his tank in person and his corals do have nice colors. And yes there is nothing wrong with led, my tank has been led from day one for almost 2 years will great results. O i also use gfo and carbon in canisters to keep phos at near 0 and water clear. After i finish my wifes covered patio (trade off) i would like to get a rimless 120g or 175g and start over with more room for fish to swim and lower my rock and take all that i have learned from this tank and apply. Thanks for knowledge in advance.

[Reefnub]

I also want to add that i would also upgrade to ai vega with larger tank, i have the ai sol blues right now and would like to have more color in my sps.

[allan]

oh allen ...... Gloria tank is coming along great too, you should ask her to buy some MP-40's for it

LMBO, touche, my friend. :)

[Big_Pun]

i ran a 65 at one time with a single 250, exact same foot print. yea nick is nuts and runs that 400w. you should be ok with two mh and a SOL, no canopy i hope. 10 in sounds good i run mine at 10-12 right now but im about to lower them down a lil. i have a 4 foot fixture on a 5 foot tank so i need the spread. XM are great bulbs not sure how they will look with that ballast, if you can get me model number also i could help guide you on bulb choice.

[350gt]

Dude 1 mh pendant with 2 ai sols, one on each side of it should be plenty and pretty sick IMO..

[Big_Pun]

Dude 1 mh pendant with 2 ai sols, one on each side of it should be plenty and pretty sick IMO..

i agree!

[Reefnub]

this is the only number on the ballast 0620200516112436 hope this helps, i bought this ballast in 05 and only used it for a year. If i new how to post pic off my phone i would show you but it seems it has changed on this site how you post pic.

[Reefnub]

I thought about that too but I have a divider in the middle.

[350gt]

Divider?

[Big_Pun]

I thought about that too but I have a divider in the middle.

plastic divider? if so and im just saying from my personal experience i just cut mine out and ran it that way for over a year. it was a AGA tank

[Reefnub]

Divider as in brace sorry

[Reefnub]

How do you post pic off your phone, the site use to give you a choice and then you just pick a pic off your phone and insert

[Big_Pun]

How do you post pic off your phone, the site use to give you a choice and then you just pick a pic off your phone and insert

all the crazy posters on here use tapatalk to post on maast. so easy to use

[Big_Pun]

heres my 65
http://i663.photobucket.com/albums/uu357/stangchris/9AE70AC4-0D18-4FBA-A316-34DA4CDE070D-2446-000001D74B7582CE.jpg

[lt1z28]

Looks awesome Cris!

Reefnub if your ballast is the sls bluwave m80 you can go with single ended radium bulbs. Colors with that bulb combo are the best I've seen. You'll also get good growth

[Reefnub]

Yep same tank i have, kinda scary cutting out the brace im afraid i would come home to a mess.

[Reefnub]

The pendents that came with the ballast are for de mh or yes i would have went with the Radiums. I read about a year ago that the best bulb to use with this ballast would be a german bulb and the 2 they mentioned would be ushio and radium but i cant find this info again on the sunlight ballast site.

[Big_Pun]

Yep same tank i have, kinda scary cutting out the brace im afraid i would come home to a mess.

lol im a lil crazy and seen similar rimless tanks with no brace, so i came home one day and got pvc cutters and cut it out.

[Big_Pun]

The pendents that came with the ballast are for de mh or yes i would have went with the Radiums. I read about a year ago that the best bulb to use with this ballast would be a german bulb and the 2 they mentioned would be ushio and radium but i cant find this info again on the sunlight ballast site.

all depends if its pulse or probe start is the issue with mh ballast, bulbs are designed diff i believe the m80 is probe start so the inner envelope inside the DE bulb should have 3 lil probes inside as a pulse start has only 2.

[KING]

Any way u can post reading like tony did on the vages? Would like to c what ur getting in mid an sand bed..

[Reefnub]

So the sticker on the ballast says 250 watt hqi and im going to ask a dumb question are all mh hqi

[Big_Pun]

currently getting 150-175 on sand 300's mid level. its a lil weak towards the sides but not bad. HQI was a term used for DE bulbs at one time i believe

[Reefnub]

I dont have the mhs up yet, I still have ais up and running which I have sps and clam growing on the sand

[Reefnub]

thanks bigpun for your help and experiance and look forward to watching your tank grow slower than mine lol just kidding. Your sps grow like weeds from what i have seen and hope to swop some frags with you in the future. im always up at loises store bugging him and trading in corals for money so maybe we will meet in person one day.

[Big_Pun]

thanks bigpun for your help and experiance and look forward to watching your tank grow slower than mine lol just kidding. Your sps grow like weeds from what i have seen and hope to swop some frags with you in the future. im always up at loises store bugging him and trading in corals for money so maybe we will meet in person one day.

you prob have run into me, the big Mexican guy lol

[Reefnub]

yes thats right we have met cool nice to put a face to the name, im the white guy thats looks at all the bad *** sps online with you and lois lol

[Big_Pun]

yes thats right we have met cool nice to put a face to the name, im the white guy thats looks at all the bad *** sps online with you and lois lol

if you have room im doing a group order with battlecorals soon your welcome to jump onboard

[Reefnub]

well thanks but if i could post a pic you would see i have no more room lol

[Reefnub]

http://img.tapatalk.com/d/13/02/02/qyteruna.jpg let me know if this worked I bought tapatalk lol

[Big_Pun]

Dang time for a new tank! next time i see you at the store you cant leave till you buy a new bigger tank!!!

[Reefnub]

http://img.tapatalk.com/d/13/02/02/qepatasa.jpghttp://img.tapatalk.com/d/13/02/02/6asu4eva.jpg wow nice to post live pic makes posting pics easy

[Reefnub]

Yea I'm telling you it's time , but wife is getting patio 1st then she can't say nothing about my tank lol

[Big_Pun]

Yea I'm telling you it's time , but wife is getting patio 1st then she can't say nothing about my tank lol

im free this weekend lets build a patio lol

[Reefnub]

It's starting Monday and slab has just finished today

[350gt]

****! Nice nub!

chris are you a believer now? Lol
Lol just goes to show it takes more than nice lights..... Both of you all know what you all are doing...

[350gt]

Don't know why you would want to swap to MH with that..... But I say do the combo if you feel the need....

2 led on ends/mh in the middle.....

[Reefnub]

Thank you, this tank has been fun to watch grow and is my 1st sps tank. If I knew they grew this fast I would have put less rock and had a larger tank to start with lol

[Reefnub]

I just want the more colors that I think I'm missing and don't have the money for 2 Vegas. If I could sell these sol blues for 600 then I prob would do that

[FireWater]

There are other options to help with color rather than going to MH.

I was talking to Chris about using par style bulbs instead of t5 and tony already wants to try the Orphek par bulbs.

[Reefnub]

Well the only reason is I have all the equipment except the bulbs and didn't want to spend money on anything else. When I do upgrade my tank I can use both on the bigger tank until I get some Vegas.i was also curios if I'm missing out or difference in growth with mh

[350gt]

Radian pros probably have every color one would need... But are pretty pricey.

i ran 2 t5s with my sols and was happy...

The Vegas don't really need much more color but I just want to get Some UV light in there.... Even though its up in the air if its really needed or not....
I was looking a the par 38 bulbs with blue/UV combo just cause of the cool factor and pretty cheap. But I like some DIY stuff and thought about adding 6 UV LEDs on a simple heat sink.... It would be the cheapest route..


You all know how it is.... Lol it never ends

[350gt]

I'm always curious too about the growth rate of mh...
Let us know how it goes!...


document it!!! Lots of pics too!!

[Big_Pun]

LED hi jacked......why cant you just let him run MH lol

[Reefnub]

Yes it never ends and yes I would love some radions to go with my mp40s but can't see spending 2,000 on just 2 lights. I would rather spend half that

[350gt]

I told him to do it!!?.... LoL

[Big_Pun]

hes the first led guy ive seen put full tank shots of his tank and not just vague close ups of coral........

[Reefnub]

How do you get what's new on tapatalk like it is on maast website thanks

[Big_Pun]

latest button and drag and hold down then let go on iPhone
http://img.tapatalk.com/d/13/02/02/8uhupude.jpg

[350gt]

At least the first I have seen with a tank full of sps...


But then there is other factors that both of you guys are doing for success.... Lights are just a part of it.

[Big_Pun]

dang i just noticed tank will be one year in march and ive gone through 2 buckets of salinty in one year inlcuding start up of tank.... wow i save on salt lol

[Reefnub]

http://img.tapatalk.com/d/13/02/02/heqy9yqu.jpghttp://img.tapatalk.com/d/13/02/02/me7epe7u.jpg sorry here are a couple close up shots lol sorry just live this tapatalk

[Big_Pun]

you have great sps color and growth

[350gt]

Have any pics when the tank was started nub?


Lets hijack this thread!!! Arggggggghhhh!

[Big_Pun]

Have any pics when the tank was started nub?


Lets hijack this thread!!! Arggggggghhhh!


ill just flag and have all led refrence removed its my thread!! lol j/k

[350gt]

Lol then it's going to be a lonesome convo...

[Reefnub]

http://img.tapatalk.com/d/13/02/02/uhesedu4.jpg

[350gt]

I am impressed! What's the time line on the pics?

[Big_Pun]

what light is that on it looks too clean to be led lol

[Reefnub]

http://img.tapatalk.com/d/13/02/02/ena7u4up.jpghttp://img.tapatalk.com/d/13/02/02/9e2yqavy.jpghttp://img.tapatalk.com/d/13/02/02/a5emarum.jpghttp://img.tapatalk.com/d/13/02/02/yjysyvub.jpg

[Reefnub]

It was a 200watt evalution with just blue and white, sorry bigpun didn't mean to overtake you thread not my intension just love sps and talking about them. This is a time period of about 1year 9 months of dedication and learning

[Big_Pun]

It was a 200watt evalution with just blue and white, sorry bigpun didn't mean to overtake you thread not my intension just love sps and talking about them. This is a time period of about 1year 9 months of dedication and learning

its all good if you havent noticed any thread started by tony and i wonders around

[FireWater]

Chris and wander? I didn't think the two went together.

We all have ways of taking care of our tanks that works best for us. I like my led and Chris doesn't. I don't need to put up pics to prove it. I don't take very good pics and photo editing will do whatever a person wants. Chris is just jealous because Allan likes my tank more than Chris's.

Both of you are doing something right. Nub, I wasn't aware you had most of the equipment you needed already. That is why I was suggesting the par style bulbs.

[Big_Pun]

Chris and wander? I didn't think the two went together.

We all have ways of taking care of our tanks that works best for us. I like my led and Chris doesn't. I don't need to put up pics to prove it. I don't take very good pics and photo editing will do whatever a person wants. Chris is just jealous because Allan likes my tank more than Chris's.

Both of you are doing something right. Nub, I wasn't aware you had most of the equipment you needed already. That is why I was suggesting the par style bulbs.

you and i have the same phone with same camera thats all i use is my iphone nothing is altered..... Allan secretly loves my tank lol

[Reefnub]

It's no prob I'm just in the other end of the stick, I have only owned sps that I was focused on under led and want to see the other side. Here is a pic of some sps that I had in my 125 g from 8 years ago befor I even new I had to check alk and cal and phoshttp://img.tapatalk.com/d/13/02/02/ty8uzaha.jpghttp://img.tapatalk.com/d/13/02/02/nebunape.jpg

[Reefnub]

http://img.tapatalk.com/d/13/02/02/e4ypejav.jpg

[FireWater]

18920

There. Happy?

[Reefnub]

Need some closer pic to see color please thanks lol

[FireWater]

You're killing me. Lol
Chris don't like the close ups.

18922

18923

18924

[Paul28]

you guys are to funny haha

[Reefnub]

What were percentages of color when pic was taken. I have sol blue and run them at 100 percent on all 3 colors and would probably do the same with Vegas

[Big_Pun]

peer pressure i love it!

[Reefnub]

I'm still going mh and will take lots of photos so we can see color change and growth difference love your tank bigpun looks perfect.

[FireWater]

Nub, I am running whites and reds at 80% max and all 3 blues and greens at 90% max. I have two Vegas over my 120 that covers a 4' x 2' footprint.

[Big_Pun]

I'm still going mh and will take lots of photos so we can see color change and growth difference love your tank bigpun looks perfect.

thanks hope it works out.. you know how nick and I feel about halides