Derek's 225g - Magnifica / SPS Reef
- Thread starter derek_SR
- Start date
Eh. That was a turtle race. Like 8 months.
derek_SR
Supporting Member
I got water filling in that pic! The black RODI line is the waste from making RODI, using that for the leak test.Looking good! Derek and I was having a race between who would set up their frag system up firstlet see water today.
derek_SR
Supporting Member
Lots of big changes this week. Got the frag tank installed and electronics moved over. Haven't hung the light but it's plumbed, filled, and flowing. I will add a magnetic black front cabinet cover to match the DT when it arrives:
Also ran a line from the garage for kalk. I'm mixing up 32g batches, stored in this brute next to my sink and other tanks. Dosing at night for now, mostly as an experiment to see what goes on with PH. It's also nice to consume less ESV 2 part, it's expensive and refilling the jugs and mixing traces is annoying - so I should get a lot more mileage out of it this way if I stick with the kalk, which I'm starting at 1g/day:
Like @Alexander1312 my Quantas Helix lights also showed up, a full 6ft in length! They are a very nice product on first impression. Here they are on my light rack with the existing Reefis:
They only add about 250 PAR in the very center (so my Magnifica is getting about 850 PAR now, and the peak SPS are getting about 650). But they are mostly for spread, and they do a nice job of distributing an additional 50-100 throughout the tank while also getting a much better blanket of light, especially at the edges. They are angled about 30 degrees inward. No glare!
FTS before:
FTS after:
A little too blue for my liking - I can add more white to the Reefis to offset if I want to mess around with it. They do add a nice bit of pop without being overly fake/flourescent looking.
I'm not using any dimming or acclimation - just full blast on top of the Reefis for 5hrs a day. I am curious to see how the corals respond to the additional light. I suspect they will handle it just fine, we shall see.
Also ran a line from the garage for kalk. I'm mixing up 32g batches, stored in this brute next to my sink and other tanks. Dosing at night for now, mostly as an experiment to see what goes on with PH. It's also nice to consume less ESV 2 part, it's expensive and refilling the jugs and mixing traces is annoying - so I should get a lot more mileage out of it this way if I stick with the kalk, which I'm starting at 1g/day:
Like @Alexander1312 my Quantas Helix lights also showed up, a full 6ft in length! They are a very nice product on first impression. Here they are on my light rack with the existing Reefis:
They only add about 250 PAR in the very center (so my Magnifica is getting about 850 PAR now, and the peak SPS are getting about 650). But they are mostly for spread, and they do a nice job of distributing an additional 50-100 throughout the tank while also getting a much better blanket of light, especially at the edges. They are angled about 30 degrees inward. No glare!
FTS before:
FTS after:
A little too blue for my liking - I can add more white to the Reefis to offset if I want to mess around with it. They do add a nice bit of pop without being overly fake/flourescent looking.
I'm not using any dimming or acclimation - just full blast on top of the Reefis for 5hrs a day. I am curious to see how the corals respond to the additional light. I suspect they will handle it just fine, we shall see.
derek_SR
Supporting Member
So @boun11 let me borrow an XR15 - I have never used a radion and have generally avoided them. But I do find the AB+ spectrum to be quite nice, and set out to create it with my Reefis. Dunno if any of our Reefi users care @Darkxerox @BlueSallymandr @jonmedina , but I'm starting to get pretty close with this:
I think there's still too much amber/violet though. The AB+ spectrum is such a cool, clean white look but still has a bunch of coral pop. Not a fan of the price or build quality or company, but the spectrum sure is nice.
On the topic of lighting, I am still pretty pleased with the new Quanta bars. I have a lot of light going into the tank now - peak photo period is 9 hours (7am-4pm) and the Mag and SPS at the top are getting 650-750 PAR for this full duration. So far, so good EXCEPT I have to clean the glass every. Single. Day. Here's a pic showing a snail trail through glass algae just a couple hours after cleaning the glass:
This is a problem with an acrylic tank. You never really hear about this, but if you are cranking a lot of light into a full SPS tank - the glass algae problem is real. And it sucks with acrylic because more cleaning means more scratching. I really like a lot of things about acrylic tanks, but would not recommend them to anyone considering a high-energy SPS reef, period.
Frag tank is up and running now, with a Reefi over it (Xr15 moved to Frag Sump for a macro/softy area):
FTS from the far end of DT, acro city!:
I think there's still too much amber/violet though. The AB+ spectrum is such a cool, clean white look but still has a bunch of coral pop. Not a fan of the price or build quality or company, but the spectrum sure is nice.
On the topic of lighting, I am still pretty pleased with the new Quanta bars. I have a lot of light going into the tank now - peak photo period is 9 hours (7am-4pm) and the Mag and SPS at the top are getting 650-750 PAR for this full duration. So far, so good EXCEPT I have to clean the glass every. Single. Day. Here's a pic showing a snail trail through glass algae just a couple hours after cleaning the glass:
This is a problem with an acrylic tank. You never really hear about this, but if you are cranking a lot of light into a full SPS tank - the glass algae problem is real. And it sucks with acrylic because more cleaning means more scratching. I really like a lot of things about acrylic tanks, but would not recommend them to anyone considering a high-energy SPS reef, period.
Frag tank is up and running now, with a Reefi over it (Xr15 moved to Frag Sump for a macro/softy area):
FTS from the far end of DT, acro city!:
Get more trochus snails, I'm still only cleaning mine once every week or more, and usually that's from coralline growth.
Are you running 90 or 120 degree lenses? The 90s will restrict how much is bouncing off the panes. Also regarding spectrum, I know you enjoy the color with the AB+ like look, but keep an eye on SPS health and growth. You can ramp into a more amber/warm white spectrum to be closer to midday (or halide) colors, then ramp down to a more blue/violet colorful spectrum for viewing when you're home from work. I cut all cool white from my ramp portions as well since it's kind of an ugly look to me and the amber/warm whites make the fish and clams look better.
Are you running 90 or 120 degree lenses? The 90s will restrict how much is bouncing off the panes. Also regarding spectrum, I know you enjoy the color with the AB+ like look, but keep an eye on SPS health and growth. You can ramp into a more amber/warm white spectrum to be closer to midday (or halide) colors, then ramp down to a more blue/violet colorful spectrum for viewing when you're home from work. I cut all cool white from my ramp portions as well since it's kind of an ugly look to me and the amber/warm whites make the fish and clams look better.
Coral reefer
Past President
I was about to say, more snails needed! I agree with trochus is exactly what I’d use
derek_SR
Supporting Member
I appreciate the suggestions but there is NO WAY snails are going to keep nearly 30sqft of glass clean at the rate they fog up. There would need to be hundreds if not thousands - they'd basically have to live on the glass full time and would simply obstruct the view. They also clean too randomly (as you can see by the snail trail in the pic!)
@Darkxerox I recently switched to the 90s (from 120) and raised up the light rack, mostly because I needed better tank access after installing the quantas way out on the sides. The issue is that I WANT the spread, and kind of appreciate the light bouncing off the glass. I have some acros so close to the glass now they get good light this way. It's just part of the problem with a lot of light and a lot of spread in particular, but it's by design really..
I haven't adjusted the reefi spectrum in a long time, so I will keep an eye on things. I think part of why the lights are so good is the spectrum, so I didn't want to change it TOO much, and it's why I left plenty of amber still in the config.
@Darkxerox I recently switched to the 90s (from 120) and raised up the light rack, mostly because I needed better tank access after installing the quantas way out on the sides. The issue is that I WANT the spread, and kind of appreciate the light bouncing off the glass. I have some acros so close to the glass now they get good light this way. It's just part of the problem with a lot of light and a lot of spread in particular, but it's by design really..
I haven't adjusted the reefi spectrum in a long time, so I will keep an eye on things. I think part of why the lights are so good is the spectrum, so I didn't want to change it TOO much, and it's why I left plenty of amber still in the config.
PjFish
Supporting Member
Did you have to clean the acrylic everyday before the Quantas Helix were up?
Wonder if Dolabella Sea Hares would eat algae film?? Their voracious eaters on the longer stuff
Hard getting flow in peninsulas wonder if you added two more vertical gyres on one end specifically blasting more flow down each 6ft panels?
Love your Mag awesome its staying put!! So tempting
Wonder if Dolabella Sea Hares would eat algae film?? Their voracious eaters on the longer stuff
Hard getting flow in peninsulas wonder if you added two more vertical gyres on one end specifically blasting more flow down each 6ft panels?
Love your Mag awesome its staying put!! So tempting
derek_SR
Supporting Member
Partially cleaned glass still needs cleaning, so I just don't see a world where animals can reliably do the job.
The film algae definitely became a bigger issue when I added the Quantas, yep - like Thomas implied it's really more of a problem with spread than absolute PAR, and those bars added a ton of spread and spill onto the glass, which is driving the issue. But like I said - it's kind of by design and just something I have to live with I guess.
I have experimented a bit with vertical gyres, @Alexander1312 has success with it. But when I do that the "gyre" pattern kind of circulates around the Mag instead of crashing right through it, so I just can't get it right!
Trochus are mostly nocturnal for me and hide in corners during the day. In my 29g tank I have about 15 plus 2 money cowries. It's narrower than yours too (probably 14 inches wide) with the 90 degree v2.1 Reeflectors at about 11 inches above the water line. Haven't had a snail death in ages either. Pluses of buying the captive bred ones super young! No turbos or anything else that eats film in my tank other than maybe micro inverts.
I'd start with probably 100 and do a wholesale order though Kenny or Algaebarn if you're not in the East Bay for awhile. Probably will cost a good $400 though.
Another option is to angle the bars slightly by about 10 degrees like Jake Adams did on his systems to minimize glare and spill. Given how hard it is to clean anyways, I usually keep a 2-3 inch barrier around my viewing panes.
Alexx
Supporting Member
What torch is the one you have in the middle?
derek_SR
Supporting Member
It’s a magnifica anemone
Kensington Reefer
Supporting Member
No more new frags
You don’t have room to grow what’s there out!
And your Phat PBT needs room to swim
I say lovingly, with great admiration, from way up here
That tank is amazing
Please keep doing what you’re doing
Can I get ya another flat?
You don’t have room to grow what’s there out!
And your Phat PBT needs room to swim
I say lovingly, with great admiration, from way up here
That tank is amazing
Please keep doing what you’re doing
Can I get ya another flat?
Alexx
Supporting Member
wow really and is not moving to your sps to sting them?
I wonder how it looks in real life. Are they expensive?
Alexander1312
Supporting Member
Cleaning the glass Every.Single.Day would be might my nightmare. I am up to twice a week which bothers me already.
In a recent German youtube interview a LFS owner commented on this issue and said they are using either Zebra or Mexican Turbos only for this purpose, and almost never have to clean the glass - so there are surprised why people bother cleaning the glass at all.
However, I am not sure if any snail - or an army of them - can help you given your specific setup. Also, good flow only helps in my opinion with cyano, but not your glass algae. You are running a growth race in your tank with super high par and very high nutrients. How could any method outcompete algae growth in your tank unless you cut back on what makes your tank successful?
Ozone does not work with acryl, I believe?
psidriven
Supporting Member
haha, I used to call dnak's mag a toadstool.
MichaelB
Supporting Member
In my 65 I'm cleaning the glass every day, with 2 150 watt niecrews.