I love how happy the mag looks
Derek's 225g - Magnifica / SPS Reef
- Thread starter derek_SR
- Start date
derek_SR
Supporting Member
When you stare at all of them obsessively several times every day, the names stick. I'm actually surprised at how well they stick...for sticks.
Yeah it's a red dragon - one of my favorites. I almost lost it when it got some kind of weird infection. I had to frag it down and move it, and now it's taking off again. The red/white contrast you get when they are growing fast and their delicate growth pattern is so nice. Underrated coral.Always a good day when Derek posts new tank pics, I get to see nice pics of great colonies
That’s a nice carduus, is it red dragon? Every acro is extremely fuzzy
Whatever you’re doing is working. I would take your SPS class
Hahaha, actually one of the reasons these lights are so great is that both the Reefi and Quantas have like basically no glare!! I can't look at a kessil or radion from anything closer than about 60 yards because the glare can be so heinous.
When you get a chance can you do a test of just Meso Blue Helix, just Reef Crest Daylight Helix, and then one of each (supposed to be similar to AB+ with one of each) and your opinion on the color of each of those light combos?
derek_SR
Supporting Member
Absolutely, already part of the plan! I was hoping the combo does replicate AB+ visually, I was going to actually set up a side by side with an XR15. It's almost impossible to get it right with pics but I'll get some pics of each combo and share those along with my thoughts next week.
If the 1:1 Quantas ratio looks good, I'll probably replace the Reefis and go with 8 Quantas bars for maximum spread - basically just trying to imitate a big bank of T5s with better visuals.
You da man!
Patio
Supporting Member
Looking forward to this!
Got a pair of meso blues to go on each side of my existing radions. I originally ordered one of each blue and white but Luca called me and talked me out of it saying they might not blend well or look odd on each side of the radions. I went with his suggestion and kept it to one color but after seeing one of the bars in action, I think they would blend just fine or fine enough for my liking. Enjoying the light so far. Plan to add the second bar this weekend.
tribbitt
Supporting Member
I have tinfoil taped to the front of my kessils so I can be near it without eye damage
derek_SR
Supporting Member
Hey Ian, thanks!
Happy, growing, mounted in DT:
Master yoda
Hawkins echinata (really growing like crazy)
Tyree $500 efflo
Fox flame
Neon green monti
The other efflo you gave me
Sanjay red photon (very slow)
In the frag tank, happy:
Rainbow splice Mille (encrusted - no branches yet)
Bubblegum digi (growing, won’t turn yellow)
The tyree pink lemonade has slowly turned miserable - I even fragged it to try a few different locations and no luck. Have one frag left which is pretty unhappy but I’m just gonna leave it alone in the frag tank and see if it ever bounces back. Weird cause I didn’t think this was a tough one but it doesn’t like my tank I guess?
The firecracker I lost right away - I think something stung it. I had one from @boun11 once too and lost it when an urchin bonked it over - seems like a very delicate coral. Would love to try another at some point. How is yours doing?
iani
Supporting Member
Firecracker can be a tricky one when I frag it. Mine is doing well. The red photon grows very slow, however mine is just starting to take off. PL does not seem like a difficult coral, let me know if you need another. I just hope the whole colony doesn't break when fragging.
derek_SR
Supporting Member
@dangalang @Patio @Alexander1312 Quantas Helix photo comparisons.
I did my best to adjust white balance to accurately reflect what the tanks look like in person, got pretty close but obviously not perfect. The Reefis are OFF in the first 4 pics obv.
This is 2x Meso Blue Only (it's very blue):
This is with Reef Crest x2 only (it's white, but there's a lot of green - too much green IMO):
This is with both Quanta Mesoblue x2 and Reef Crest x2 lights on:
Here is a shot showing both Meso Blue x2 and Reef Crest x2 on with an XR15 running AB+ in the sump directly below:
As you can see, it's clearly not a perfect match for AB+ - there's too much green, I think. Note that these lights have dimmers so you can tune the white lights down and the blue lights up, which helps overall IMO. But I'm not sure if I'll switch away from the Reefis entirely, since they allow me to adjust the spectrum just right.
The nice thing is that with 4 of these so far there's a very noticeable "blanket" of light now, which was the intent. I just need to decide if I want to add a couple more (and which) and keep the Reefis down the middle or what.
Here's a shot with all the lights running for comparison (including the Reefis) and I think it looks the best of all:
I did my best to adjust white balance to accurately reflect what the tanks look like in person, got pretty close but obviously not perfect. The Reefis are OFF in the first 4 pics obv.
This is 2x Meso Blue Only (it's very blue):
This is with Reef Crest x2 only (it's white, but there's a lot of green - too much green IMO):
This is with both Quanta Mesoblue x2 and Reef Crest x2 lights on:
Here is a shot showing both Meso Blue x2 and Reef Crest x2 on with an XR15 running AB+ in the sump directly below:
As you can see, it's clearly not a perfect match for AB+ - there's too much green, I think. Note that these lights have dimmers so you can tune the white lights down and the blue lights up, which helps overall IMO. But I'm not sure if I'll switch away from the Reefis entirely, since they allow me to adjust the spectrum just right.
The nice thing is that with 4 of these so far there's a very noticeable "blanket" of light now, which was the intent. I just need to decide if I want to add a couple more (and which) and keep the Reefis down the middle or what.
Here's a shot with all the lights running for comparison (including the Reefis) and I think it looks the best of all:
Ooooo! That's cool!
derek_SR
Supporting Member
Last shot of my Homewrecker from @boun11 before I frag it up for DBTC. Unfortunately the way it’s grown has totally shaded out the main stalk, which has died back where the light isn't hitting it:
@Apon a couple update pics from corals on the MC group buy:
Corals from @iani - Fox Flame, Confetti, Hawkins Echinata,
Bill Murray from @RandyC:
Bill Murray from @dandemeyere that has suddenly started growing, and has coloration more like Randy's. I guess it's the higher PAR where this one is located:
Red Dragon from @dandemeyere :
"Greg's Unicorn" from RAP, really cool coral that's started branching recently:
@Apon a couple update pics from corals on the MC group buy:
Corals from @iani - Fox Flame, Confetti, Hawkins Echinata,
Bill Murray from @RandyC:
Bill Murray from @dandemeyere that has suddenly started growing, and has coloration more like Randy's. I guess it's the higher PAR where this one is located:
Red Dragon from @dandemeyere :
"Greg's Unicorn" from RAP, really cool coral that's started branching recently:
Coral reefer
Past President
I think you need lighting on the sides not just above the tank