Wiskey
Well-Known Member
- Joined
- Sep 7, 2017
- Messages
- 748
- Reaction score
- 927
- What state or country do you live in
- California
I've had a freshwater planted tank with shrimp on my desk at work for about 6 years, at this point every shrimp in that tank was born there, as were his parents, and their parents etc,... This tank has gained company-wide fame, even to the point that it was mentioned by the CEO of our global company at an all-hands award ceremony held at a local banquet hall. It's been a part of company scavenger hunts, and people often drop by just to see how the shrimp are doing and look for babies.
I've been keeping Reef tanks for over 20 years, and I've come to the point where I want to bring one of those into work. I don't want to be seen working on it all the time though, so effective maintenance is key. My plan is to run a cube of about 10 gallons, use an Apex for control and run low(ish) ALK (NSW), low(ish) light, low fish load (only a barnicle blenny or two) and low phosphates. If the nutrients and ALK are low, and the Light is low, I expect slow coral growth, very little algae, and good color. I will focus on crabs, shrimp, coral, and other unusual life (for most people) to make the tank interesting. I plan to keep mostly LPS and softies, with maybe a Digi and pavona up high.
This brings me to my question. I want the tank to shimmer!!! I've been running T5's since 2010 and I miss the XM 10K's of my 180. They brought the tank to life! So I have three options:
1. I have a 70W 14K MH. Its Par output is remarkably low, and it lacks blue but I could pair that with some Violet and Atinic Blue LED's to bring me to about 100 par in the tank top 1/3rd.
2. I could just buy a AquaIllumination Prime HD LED and configure it to the right light levels.
3. I could buy some other LED
I'm after shimmer and the best color, I need control over the light to keep from bleaching the corals. I'm not very concerned about cost or total light output as long as I get 100 Par at the top, and 70ish at the bottom. I do own a Par meter to tune the system BTW.
What would you do?
Whiskey
I've been keeping Reef tanks for over 20 years, and I've come to the point where I want to bring one of those into work. I don't want to be seen working on it all the time though, so effective maintenance is key. My plan is to run a cube of about 10 gallons, use an Apex for control and run low(ish) ALK (NSW), low(ish) light, low fish load (only a barnicle blenny or two) and low phosphates. If the nutrients and ALK are low, and the Light is low, I expect slow coral growth, very little algae, and good color. I will focus on crabs, shrimp, coral, and other unusual life (for most people) to make the tank interesting. I plan to keep mostly LPS and softies, with maybe a Digi and pavona up high.
This brings me to my question. I want the tank to shimmer!!! I've been running T5's since 2010 and I miss the XM 10K's of my 180. They brought the tank to life! So I have three options:
1. I have a 70W 14K MH. Its Par output is remarkably low, and it lacks blue but I could pair that with some Violet and Atinic Blue LED's to bring me to about 100 par in the tank top 1/3rd.
2. I could just buy a AquaIllumination Prime HD LED and configure it to the right light levels.
3. I could buy some other LED
I'm after shimmer and the best color, I need control over the light to keep from bleaching the corals. I'm not very concerned about cost or total light output as long as I get 100 Par at the top, and 70ish at the bottom. I do own a Par meter to tune the system BTW.
What would you do?
Whiskey
