SchnitzelReef
Valuable Member
Pics are around 2 years apart. Only change made to the tank wassss........T5s!!!!! I had Radion Gen 3s before, I ditched them for T5s. Seeing before and after pics is always fun. [emoji1303]
Before and After....
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Pics are around 2 years apart. Only change made to the tank wassss........T5s!!!!! I had Radion Gen 3s before, I ditched them for T5s. Seeing before and after pics is always fun. [emoji1303]
Ezeke1
Well-Known Member
Pics are around 2 years apart. Only change made to the tank wassss........T5s!!!!! I had Radion Gen 3s before, I ditched them for T5s. Seeing before and after pics is always fun. [emoji1303]
That’s pretty amazing. Thank you for sharing!
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I also see most of the substrate was removed...would you say that helped??
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SchnitzelReef
Valuable Member
Cyano is still there, and water clarity is exactly the same. Only difference is the quality of camera that was used for the pics.
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SchnitzelReef
Valuable Member
Yep. Most of the blood sweat and tears came early on. Lots of research went into setting up a solid system that hopefully wouldn’t fail me and cause a disaster.
Only reason sand was removed was to suck out cyano. There is still a lot of sand in the tank, so I would say no removing some of the sand made no difference.
Yep I sure did. After I switched from Radions, and my tiny frags grew into mature colonies, I had to increase the flow A LOT. It’s amazing how a large acro colony will disrupt flow in a tank. When I was running Radions I only needed 2 MP60s. Once I switched to T5s and corals started really taking off, I added 1 6105. Then they kept growing larger and larger so I added another 6105, and put both of them on Sea Sweeps. Then about a year ago I added 2 6095s. These dang corals just grow too fast, A problem I never had with LEDs. Lol
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SchnitzelReef
Valuable Member
All ATI bulbs. 6 blue 1 coral 1 purple
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Looks awesome Nick! I'm going to need a frag pack in a few months buddy.
Looks awesome Nick! I'm going to need a frag pack in a few months buddy.
Absolutely looks beautiful and growth is obvious. Could there be any other factors ie.... newer tank 2 years ago.... better control of water chemistry parameters...etc... only posing this question since leds can and do grow corals....not sure about how your previous lights were programmed but maybe the spectrum was a bit off.... at any rate your tank looks great and I wish you continued good luck.
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SchnitzelReef
Valuable Member
My tank is currently 4 years old. I started the tank with DIY Phillips Luxeon LEDs. After about a year I switched to 5 Radion Gen 3s. I ran the Radions for a little over a year, and after spending all that money I was extremely disappointed. I sold all the lights and switched to T5s.
I didn’t make any major changes to the tank after I switched to T5s. As corals grew I added more power heads. I’ve changed salts a couple times over the years, but I never saw a difference in corals after I changed. I’ve used IO, Red Sea blue bucket, and now I’ve been using Fritz for a little more than a year. I started the tank with a calcium reactor, and the only thing that has changed is upgrading to a larger calcium reactor. I’ve changed my skimmer a few times over the past 4 years.
Same fuge, same rocks, same sand, same heaters, same return pump, same apex, same RODI. I know you want to hear that it was something else that caused the corals to grow, but the only major change was lighting. I’ve been in this hobby 10+ years, and you couldn’t give me the newest best LEDs. The colors and growth I saw in my acros once I changed to T5s was incredible.
I only ran the AB+ lighting schedule on my Radions, and I ran the intensity at 100%. I tried my hardest to grow SPS with LEDs, and no matter what I tried, I was unsuccessful. I never said LEDs can’t grow coral, my SPS didn’t die under Radions, they were just growing very slow. After I switched to T5s, I had some acros grow more in 6 weeks than they had grown in 6 months under LEDs. My alk consumption went through the roof. I had to test alk daily, because after a week it dropped big time.
MnFish1
10K Club member
Pics are around 2 years apart. Only change made to the tank wassss........T5s!!!!! I had Radion Gen 3s before, I ditched them for T5s. Seeing before and after pics is always fun. [emoji1303]
The other change is 2 years time.....
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SchnitzelReef
Valuable Member
In 1+ years time with Radions my acros went from 1” frags to 1.25” frags. After switching to T5s My frags grew to mini colonies within 3 months.
It’s ok, all LED fan boys hate my tank. [emoji1303]
Thank you for the detailed history.... again, your tank is beautiful and I wish you continued success. I’m not too busy with worrying about T5 vs led vs Radions..... 2 months ago I started running my GHL mitras 7206’s and even though I am still monkying with them, I am impressed with the growth and how quickly things adapted to the new “sun”. Again beautiful tank!!
k You
MnFish1
10K Club member
I really like your tank. Don't know where you're coming from, but clearly you have an agenda. I would say this - without knowing the par values pre and post - and whether your radions were at their highest possible level and the other settings - its impossible to say what made the difference. In any case part of the difference was 'time'...
