FarmerTy's 215-gallon SPS Tank

[FarmerTy]

Very nice, I prefer the normal lights pic!

100000% agreed. I'm a white light guy... I can look at the actinics for 1 hour in the morning and at night and that's about as much as I like of it.

It's in your face bright and sparkly but then you lose half the beauty of the corals just looking at fluorescence only.

But I know there's a growing sect of the hobby now that looks at their tanks under blues 90% of the time so I like to include blue pics too. I welcome everyone, no matter their preference off spectrum. [emoji23][emoji23][emoji23]

 

[najer]

100000% agreed. I'm a white light guy... I can look at the actinics for 1 hour in the morning and at night and that's about as much as I like of it.

It's in your face bright and sparkly but then you lose half the beauty of the corals just looking at fluorescence only.

But I know there's a growing sect of the hobby now that looks at their tanks under blues 90% of the time so I like to include blue pics too. I welcome everyone, no matter their preference off spectrum. [emoji23][emoji23][emoji23]

I'm spectrum neutral, apart from not liking the blue look, I can take pics of all my corals under max lights and they still look nicer to me than when under blues / leds only during the ramps when the T5s are off.

 

[FarmerTy]

I'm spectrum neutral, apart from not liking the blue look, I can take pics of all my corals under max lights and they still look nicer to me than when under blues / leds only during the ramps when the T5s are off.

[emoji23][emoji23][emoji23] Spectrum neutral... That's awesome!

 

[FarmerTy]

Top down video of the tank. Easily the best view of the true beauty of the corals.

 

[bubbaque]

That was an awesome video. I loved the efflo. I can't wait for mine to get that size.

 

[FarmerTy]

That was an awesome video. I loved the efflo. I can't wait for mine to get that size.

I like my efflo more than 90% of the other corals in my tank. It has such a unique growth form and the purple with green polyps is a nice contrast.

I have the GregC Ultimate efflo growing out too but its just a frag. I can't wait until it gets as big as my purple efflo.

Which one do you have Bubba?

 

[Jimbo662]

I like my efflo more than 90% of the other corals in my tank. It has such a unique growth form and the purple with green polyps is a nice contrast.

I have the GregC Ultimate efflo growing out too but its just a frag. I can't wait until it gets as big as my purple efflo.

Which one do you have Bubba?

Did you remember to check the PAR over the efflo? I went ahead and moved mine up and am already seeing lighter shades appear on it.

 

[bubbaque]

I like my efflo more than 90% of the other corals in my tank. It has such a unique growth form and the purple with green polyps is a nice contrast.

I have the GregC Ultimate efflo growing out too but its just a frag. I can't wait until it gets as big as my purple efflo.

Which one do you have Bubba?

I have the Battlecorals efflo 2.0 and the GregC ultimate efflo. The Battlecorals one is the larger one, as the Gregc is still a frag. The Battlecorals one has nice growth tips but besides that I'm not so fond of it, as the main body color I just don't like.

 

[FarmerTy]

Did you remember to check the PAR over the efflo? I went ahead and moved mine up and am already seeing lighter shades appear on it.

Oops, I got in trouble! [emoji37] I'll try to do it today Jimbo though par numbers will be a hair lower since one of my ballasts shorted again and I'm only running 6 bulbs instead of 8.

 

[Jimbo662]

Oops, I got in trouble! [emoji37] I'll try to do it today Jimbo though par numbers will be a hair lower since one of my ballasts shorted again and I'm only running 6 bulbs instead of 8.

HA..bummer about the ballast!

 

[FarmerTy]

I have the Battlecorals efflo 2.0 and the GregC ultimate efflo. The Battlecorals one is the larger one, as the Gregc is still a frag. The Battlecorals one has nice growth tips but besides that I'm not so fond of it, as the main body color I just don't like.

I see what you're talking about with the beige in the center of the BC one. The contrast looks nice though against the purple tips.

I'm excited about the GregG Ultimate efflo! Its starting to catch stride and I hope I have something to show by the end of the year.

 

[FarmerTy]

HA..bummer about the ballast!

I replaced one already and then within 2 days, it shorted. So I have to check out if something is funky with my wiring or if its just plain rotten luck that a second one went out so quickly afterwards. It was a used ballast from my extra fixture so could be a possiblity.

 

[FarmerTy]

Its been a month and a half since I started the lighting experiment with anemones (removing them from frag tank under LEDs and putting them in the display tank under T5s).

Here's what I've observed so far:

1) All Infernos have grown tremendously (top box) and have strong bubbling. They are all super bright... Not sure if it captures in the pics but bright bright green oral disc and reddish-orange tentacles.
2) Infernos still maintain a bright green oral disc, tips are still yellow/green
3) Reefwise Lemondrop (middle box) has lost some of its purple oral disc and has gone from a bright yellow color with some green to a yellowish/goldish color. It has grown tremendously in size as well.
4) All CSBs have grown as well but not as quick as the other two types of anemones. They have all turned very reddish/orange and yellow tips. They kind of have that spotted look like a CC supernova on their tentacles. A majority of the green oral disc they had under my LEDs has lessened in intensity, which I consider a good thing.

 

[bubbaque]

I see what you're talking about with the beige in the center of the BC one. The contrast looks nice though against the purple tips.

I'm excited about the GregG Ultimate efflo! Its starting to catch stride and I hope I have something to show by the end of the year.

I notice if you look at a lot of the older pics that he took, they all have that light beige for the body, even his BC Secale. My secale is solid blue. His nutrients must of been low back when he took those original pics. As far as the efflo, my body is not beige at all, it's solid dark purple/brown. I will take a pic of both the efflos I have and post them later.

I want one of the anemones so bad but the cost of those things are crazy, lol.

 

[FarmerTy]

I notice if you look at a lot of the older pics that he took, they all have that light beige for the body, even his BC Secale. My secale is solid blue. His nutrients must of been low back when he took those original pics. As far as the efflo, my body is not beige at all, it's solid dark purple/brown. I will take a pic of both the efflos I have and post them later.

I want one of the anemones so bad but the cost of those things are crazy, lol.

I was going to say, mine was similar to what his looked when just a frag but then went all purple with green polyps.

Just do what everyone else has done that bought one from me... Wait for it to split and sell it for what you bought it for and boom... Free anemone. [emoji23][emoji23][emoji23]

 

[Caravanshaka]

I replaced one already and then within 2 days, it shorted. So I have to check out if something is funky with my wiring or if its just plain rotten luck that a second one went out so quickly afterwards. It was a used ballast from my extra fixture so could be a possiblity.

Ty, it may be a grounding issue. Sometimes the ballast case doesn't ground well against the metal chassis in an ATI unit, especially after you've cracked it open a bunch of times. To fix the issue, run a ground wire from each of the ballasts back to the grounding screw to ensure they are always properly grounded.

 

[FarmerTy]

Ty, it may be a grounding issue. Sometimes the ballast case doesn't ground well against the metal chassis in an ATI unit, especially after you've cracked it open a bunch of times. To fix the issue, run a ground wire from each of the ballasts back to the grounding screw to ensure they are always properly grounded.

Thanks Joe! All the ballasts have a slot for a ground but ATI doesn't use one it seems. So should I just run a green grounding wire from the two ballasts and connect them where? I don't know if I saw a grounding screw in the fixture. Forgivr my ignorance of all things electrical. I only know enough to get myself in trouble.

 

[Caravanshaka]

Thanks Joe! All the ballasts have a slot for a ground but ATI doesn't use one it seems. So should I just run a green grounding wire from the two ballasts and connect them where? I don't know if I saw a grounding screw in the fixture. Forgivr my ignorance of all things electrical. I only know enough to get myself in trouble.

I think you've got the concept. ATI doesn't run those wires because they ground the chassis, and the metal cases of the ballasts are touching the chassis. I've noticed in some cases though, that the ballast case doesn't properly ground against the chassis, so running a ground wire from the 3rd prong on the ballast to the grounding screw solves the issue.

What I would do is run a short wire from each of your ballasts together, then use a wire nut to connect them to 1 long ground wire that goes with the other power wires back towards the power side of the ballasts. There may be a spot you can just push the wire into the connector to tie into the ground, or you may need to get a small washer style connector on the end of the wire and ground it to the chassis where that connector is mounted to the chassis (if memory serves me well, that is where the ground wire from the plug goes).

 

[Caravanshaka]

Looked back through my pics and found one of an ATI. Green is ground wires, Red is a wire nut to tie them together.

At the connector that is mounted to the chassis, the center one is ground. You can run that end of the wire right into that ground slot! (forgive me for the crude drawing...was doing it on my phone with a finger, so the green wires aren't very exact, lol)

 

[FarmerTy]

I think you've got the concept. ATI doesn't run those wires because they ground the chassis, and the metal cases of the ballasts are touching the chassis. I've noticed in some cases though, that the ballast case doesn't properly ground against the chassis, so running a ground wire from the 3rd prong on the ballast to the grounding screw solves the issue.

What I would do is run a short wire from each of your ballasts together, then use a wire nut to connect them to 1 long ground wire that goes with the other power wires back towards the power side of the ballasts. There may be a spot you can just push the wire into the connector to tie into the ground, or you may need to get a small washer style connector on the end of the wire and ground it to the chassis where that connector is mounted to the chassis (if memory serves me well, that is where the ground wire from the plug goes).

Thanks Joe! I'll give that a try!

Just another random thought/idea, would it also work to just put a thin rubber mat under the ballast before screwing it down, therefore, isolating the ballast from the metal chassis?