The Garden -- Rakies shallow SPS cube

Rakie · Mar 3, 2019

Thanks much! As of Friday, I will have my official 1st week update on my Bubble Algae -- So far not much to report, a few have gotten white and burst, but there's still a long way to go.

@UWC -- My bubble algae is currently hellish, and most those I've spoken to that beat BA with Vibrant have told me they dosed between 1.5x - 2x recommended dosage. And Brew12 is currently dosing every 3 days.. I see a lot of people dosing much more frequently and higher doses than recommended for treating algaes. How would you assess if you do, or do not, need to increase dosage?

UWC · Mar 3, 2019

As I said before, low and slow is best. No need to rush anything. I know we all want our algae’s gone like yesterday, but this is not the best for our tanks. Brew is trying to rid a form of turf that keeps coming back after multiple treatments of reefhd.. this is totally different as he has been dosing vibrant for a few years on a maintenance dose.

You can absolutely up your dose, but I would do it slowly over a month or twos time... but bubble goes down pretty easily, so not entirely sure it’s necessary

Rakie · Mar 3, 2019

UWC said:
As I said before, low and slow is best. No need to rush anything. I know we all want our algae’s gone like yesterday, but this is not the best for our tanks. Brew is trying to rid a form of turf that keeps coming back after multiple treatments of reefhd.. this is totally different as he has been dosing vibrant for a few years on a maintenance dose.

You can absolutely up your dose, but I would do it slowly over a month or twos time... but bubble goes down pretty easily, so not entirely sure it’s necessary

Thanks, i'll stick to it and keep monitoring then.

RichtheReefer21 · Mar 3, 2019

That acan is gold rakie.

My vibrant mission is progressing. Today is start of day 25 and its thinning out, bubble algae is gone basically.

Rakie · Mar 3, 2019

RichtheReefer21 said:
That acan is gold rakie.

My vibrant mission is progressing. Today is start of day 25 and its thinning out, bubble algae is gone basically.

Glad to hear it! Bubble algae is annoying, so always good to hear positive results

Rakie · Mar 4, 2019

Picking up the AquaticLife T5 Hybrid fixture tomorrow. Hope it's worth it!! I'll start with 2 Actinic but probably end up running 4 actinics, or at least 2 actinics and 2 coral+

RichtheReefer21 · Mar 4, 2019

Rakie said:
Picking up the AquaticLife T5 Hybrid fixture tomorrow. Hope it's worth it!! I'll start with 2 Actinic but probably end up running 4 actinics, or at least 2 actinics and 2 coral+

That's huge!

Rakie · Mar 4, 2019

RichtheReefer21 said:
That's huge!

A lot of people would be happy with an xr30 pro over a tank my size.. but just too much shadowing for me.

RichtheReefer21 · Mar 4, 2019

Rakie said:
A lot of people would be happy with an xr30 pro over a tank my size.. but just too much shadowing for me.

I'm sure the corals will be plenty happy!!

Rakie · Mar 4, 2019

RichtheReefer21 said:
I'm sure the corals will be plenty happy!!

I do as well!

NY_Caveman · Mar 4, 2019

The bubble algae will love it! Oh wait.

Rakie · Mar 4, 2019

NY_Caveman said:
The bubble algae will love it! Oh wait.

Probably! Hopefully the corals will just encrust over them at this rate

RichtheReefer21 · Mar 4, 2019

NY_Caveman said:
The bubble algae will love it! Oh wait.

;Hilarious

SDboatguy · Mar 5, 2019

Questions for you @Rakie , are you running AB+ on the Radion ? What are your ramps and peak period ? And what’s your plan for the T 5s timing wise? Congrats on the addition of T5s ,I know a second Radion was your first choice ....but I think you will be pleased with the hybrid.

Rakie · Mar 5, 2019

SDboatguy said:
Questions for you @Rakie

- Are you running AB+ on the Radion ?

- What are your ramps and peak period ?

- And what’s your plan for the T 5s timing wise?

Spectrum: I'm running my own settings, which are different from AB+, the difference being Whites/Green/Red being at 40-45%. The UV/Violet/Blues are all at the standard 100%. Intensity is also at 100%.

Ramping: 1 hour ramp up (WWC Settings), 8 hour peak (My settings), 4.5 hour ramp down (2.5 hours AB+, 2 hours WWC settings).

T5 Timing: I'm running the T5 from 9am to 4pm, 7 hours. All 4 bulbs are actinic.

I ran ATI T5 before, and it was fine, but I greatly prefer the look and growth of Radion. Having had them back to back, the Radion G4 Pro is an improvement over T5, but still a lot of shadowing issues. 4 Bulb T5 will fill the gaps that a single XR30 can't cover.

Rakie · Mar 5, 2019

It's up.

All bulbs are 4 ATI Actinics.

Raised lighting from 8" off the water to 10" off the water. Even helps the radion with spread.

Next I will be removing the radion diffuser.

The hanging kit was very long... I was forced to improvise, or at it's highest the fixture would be less than 4" off the jump screen, and about 5.5" off the waterline.

I won't lie, I'm conflicted on bulb choice... I am very happy with actinic bulbs to help with color. Adding the Actinics with a cheasy 2 bulb fixture helped bring out more color in some of my more finicky SPS, which Is why I'm now running 4 actinics. At the same time, if I were to throw on a pair of AquaBlue Specials, and Coral+ bubls with a heavy 6500k spectrum growth would seriously take off.

So what do I want most -- More growth, or improved color? Decisions decisions.

RichtheReefer21 · Mar 6, 2019

Looks great... grats on the new set up. Excited to see the reactions in coloration of ur pieces as time goes on

Rakie · Mar 6, 2019

RichtheReefer21 said:
Looks great... grats on the new set up. Excited to see the reactions in coloration of ur pieces as time goes on

Thank you!

I had been running a cheap 2 bulb fixture with 2 Actinic and it made a big difference. That has influenced my decisions to pickup the 4 bulb fixture.

Another friend has the same Aquatic life hybrid fixture, and replaced the ballasts with the ATI ballasts. I am definitely considering this swap as well.

I looked closely at par reading of the aquatic life 4 bulb vs the ATI 4 bulb, and the ATI had higher par, both overall and at individual points. This is why I'm considering the ballast swap. Might be worth it.

blackizzz · Mar 6, 2019

Rakie said:
Thank you!

I had been running a cheap 2 bulb fixture with 2 Actinic and it made a big difference. That has influenced my decisions to pickup the 4 bulb fixture.

Another friend has the same Aquatic life hybrid fixture, and replaced the ballasts with the ATI ballasts. I am definitely considering this swap as well.

I looked closely at par reading of the aquatic life 4 bulb vs the ATI 4 bulb, and the ATI had higher par, both overall and at individual points. This is why I'm considering the ballast swap. Might be worth it.

Consider the difference in reflectors as well. I'm not sure how they differ but if they do, it could make a pretty big difference.

Rakie · Mar 6, 2019

blackizzz said:
Consider the difference in reflectors as well. I'm not sure how they differ but if they do, it could make a pretty big difference.

It assuredly does. I made a thread about this exact topic with these exact fixtures in the lighting section. The oy person that replied had taken oar readings showing that the aquatic life 4 bulb was only 21% more par than an LET retrofit.

I considered replacing the reflectors may make the difference. Although it was pointed out that the Aquatic life fixture also has HEP ballasts, they may not be the same ones ATI uses.

Because of that I am also considering switching out the ballast for the ones ATI use. For $30-40 it seems worth it.