Square one

NicLongman · Dec 2, 2017

If you look up my username you’ll find all the previous posts.

We are starting from square one. The first attempt at saltwater fish keeping has indeed failed

and it was an extremely extremely expensive lesson. I thought I would do it perfect right away and be the best reef keeper around holy **** was I wrong or what. So.....square one.

Today’s topic is lighting! I have 2 options T5 or LED. I have 2 t5 38” ballasts and 2 led fixtures I will link to them below. My t5 are 6 bulb each. Question is first what combination for my 75 gallon tank and if the t5 is in that combo which bulbs and pattern have the optimum growth rate. I like it To pretty much look like a blaklight at night but normal-blue during the day.

LEDs
https://www.amazon.com/Ledgle-Aquar...e_desktop?_encoding=UTF8&psc=1&ref_=yo_ii_img

ChrisRD · Dec 3, 2017

Is this a 48"x18" footprint tank? If I'm following correctly, you have two 6-bulb 36" T-5 fixtures (in addition to the two LED fixtures)? What are you planning to keep in the tank?

rocsec1 · Dec 3, 2017

I have both over my 120.two radions and two,retro t5 fixtures. It works really well for me.

Instigate · Dec 4, 2017

NicLongman said:
If you look up my username you’ll find all the previous posts.

We are starting from square one. The first attempt at saltwater fish keeping has indeed failed and it was an extremely extremely expensive lesson. I thought I would do it perfect right away and be the best reef keeper around holy **** was I wrong or what. So.....square one.

Today’s topic is lighting! I have 2 options T5 or LED. I have 2 t5 38” ballasts and 2 led fixtures I will link to them below. My t5 are 6 bulb each. Question is first what combination for my 75 gallon tank and if the t5 is in that combo which bulbs and pattern have the optimum growth rate. I like it To pretty much look like a blaklight at night but normal-blue during the day.

https://www.amazon.com/Ledgle-Aquar...e_desktop?_encoding=UTF8&psc=1&ref_=yo_ii_img

I'm sorry for your losses, but I'm glad it didn't discourage you from continuing on!

As far as bulb selection it can vary quite a bit. And with the ATI bulbs they are kind of hard to screw up. Just use what looks good to you is the advise I was given. I really like the look of this combo:

Blue+
Coral+
True Actinic or Purple +
Blue+

I'm currently using a 4 bulb t5 fixture with:
Blue+
Coral+
True Actinic
Blue+
And I have an LED actinic strip that I have turning on first and off last to achieve the look you mentioned.

But for a 6 bulb setup that has the blacklight look at night and early morning I would try:

True Actinic
Blue+
Coral+
True Actinic
Blue+
Coral+

Having both the Actinics and one of the blue+ turning on first and turning off last.

NicLongman · Dec 4, 2017

ChrisRD said:
Is this a 48"x18" footprint tank? If I'm following correctly, you have two 6-bulb 36" T-5 fixtures (in addition to the two LED fixtures)? What are you planning to keep in the tank?

I guess I should have explained better.....I don’t use them all on one tank it’s what I have in general went from the T5 yo LEd and now want both but with only one T5-6bulb and less on each side? Or would That be too m Ch for the tank from my measurement sits would only be a couple inch overlap of lights in tank but I was thinking maybe put the leds at an angle it was an issue. Trying to make the best light without spending anything EXCePt on T5 bulbs all 6 so pattern and color would be great advice if anyone has it

NicLongman · Dec 4, 2017

Thank you so much for taking the time to help me understand the lighting. I really appreciate when someone helps a new person son on the hobby rather than telling them what they did wrong etc....I feel I see far to much of it. And you apologized and then praised for pushing through. If more people did that that focus on the negative there would be a lot more hobbiests than there are now....so thank you, for once I didn’t feel stupid and crazy for trying to do this.

NicLongman · Dec 4, 2017

However I heard something once and I think it was a friend of mine when I was going through the crash. She told me “ think about it, your keeping the worlds MOST FRAGILE animal, in a glass box, in your living room...that in itself is amazing”. Whenever I think bout that my mistakes don’t seem so horrible

Waters · Dec 4, 2017

Nobody that has started has done so without issues..........just learn from any mistakes and keep moving forward

ChrisRD · Dec 4, 2017

Even the most experienced reefers have losses. Anyone who hasn't killed some stuff in this hobby hasn't been around it very long! As others have said, just learn from it and move forward. On the upside, in reefing, as in life, you tend to not repeat the mistakes that hurt.

My advice is to not overthink the lighting too much. I would put one of those T-5 fixtures over the tank and try to get everything else sorted before worrying anymore about lighting. A good 6-lamp T-5 fixture over a shallow tank will be enough light keep anything happy (might actually be a bit much for some stuff) and is probably about the most user-friendly lighting option. I second the ATI recommendation...they have a proven record of success over many years...particularly the Blue+ and Coral+ lamps.

Again, these are just my opinions...HTH

NicLongman · Dec 4, 2017

ChrisRD said:
Even the most experienced reefers have losses. Anyone who hasn't killed some stuff in this hobby hasn't been around it very long! As others have said, just learn from it and move forward. On the upside, in reefing, as in life, you tend to not repeat the mistakes that hurt.

My advice is to not overthink the lighting too much. I would put one of those T-5 fixtures over the tank and try to get everything else sorted before worrying anymore about lighting. A good 6-lamp T-5 fixture over a shallow tank will be enough light keep anything happy (might actually be a bit much for some stuff) and is probably about the most user-friendly lighting option. I second the ATI recommendation...they have a proven record of success over many years...particularly the Blue+ and Coral+ lamps.

Again, these are just my opinions...HTH

Thanks so much makes things a lot easier

NicLongman · Dec 9, 2017

Okay, so ultimately I have decided to just hang the T5 6bulb light for now, and now that I look at the difference in effect that it has on the overall look of the tank....and wow......it looks soooo much better without the LEDs.

So throughout my uphill battle and self inflicted fatal mistakes. 2 of my coral have survived. And when i say survived I mean these are the very first 2 coral I purchased. My Dill Pickle Bounce and some zoas. With the massive ammonia spike awhile back, i thought everything died the bounce dissolved to nothing except a speck....and long story short is growing so quickly and is clearly coming back quickly. The zoas started to open back up a couple weeks ago and are loving life today. My only complaint right now is this dang cyanobacteria i literally have blanketing my tank about 80% covered...but I seem to be winning the battle. Ive changed water sources, and added an additional filter I forget what its called, but its green and takes out the phosphates, etc. My LFS owner uses them and recommended it. I will know more when i get home in 30 hours if Im really winning the battle on that.

Im making sure to take it slow, and let me tell you I AM IN NO HURRY TO ADD ANYTHING right now. I have most definitely learned my lesson. However, I need to add the cleanup crew so any recommendations on what to add for my 75g . Should I just add the cleanup crew or should i add any other livestock as well?

Instigate · Dec 10, 2017

NicLongman said:
Okay, so ultimately I have decided to just hang the T5 6bulb light for now, and now that I look at the difference in effect that it has on the overall look of the tank....and wow......it looks soooo much better without the LEDs.

So throughout my uphill battle and self inflicted fatal mistakes. 2 of my coral have survived. And when i say survived I mean these are the very first 2 coral I purchased. My Dill Pickle Bounce and some zoas. With the massive ammonia spike awhile back, i thought everything died the bounce dissolved to nothing except a speck....and long story short is growing so quickly and is clearly coming back quickly. The zoas started to open back up a couple weeks ago and are loving life today. My only complaint right now is this dang cyanobacteria i literally have blanketing my tank about 80% covered...but I seem to be winning the battle. Ive changed water sources, and added an additional filter I forget what its called, but its green and takes out the phosphates, etc. My LFS owner uses them and recommended it. I will know more when i get home in 30 hours if Im really winning the battle on that.

Im making sure to take it slow, and let me tell you I AM IN NO HURRY TO ADD ANYTHING right now. I have most definitely learned my lesson. However, I need to add the cleanup crew so any recommendations on what to add for my 75g . Should I just add the cleanup crew or should i add any other livestock as well?

I love my cleaner shrimps. I didn't expect them to be so interesting. I like the trochus snails, they're suppose to be a more thorough cleaner compared to the other options. They can also flip themselves back over if they end up upside down. The nassarius snails are awesome too, the way they all come up out of the sand when you feed. I've been meaning to order some cerith snails also, they're suppose to be good because they're smaller and can get in between stuff better. Emerald crabs are really cool but be warned, they do have a chance of going after your corals. I guess they're usually fine but I just had to banish one to the sump for eating my duncan and torch corals. He was a large male, I read that the males are more likely to do this but idk if that's really true or not.

If I were you I would probably get some cuc in there and appreciate that for a while. They are quite interesting.