JIve's Custom 75g Build

[Myteemouse]

I would stagger your MH by 2 hours this will cut down on, bulb burn time, , Heat and power.
also this will stimulate sunrise and sunset for the reef tank.
this will be 1130 am left on 1:30 pm right on
5:30 pm left off 7:30 right off.
Ask TRIDO he did this and now his heat and evap.. is WAY down..

 

[JIvePhotography]

I would stagger your MH by 2 hours this will cut down on, bulb burn time, , Heat and power.
also this will stimulate sunrise and sunset for the reef tank.
this will be 1130 am left on 1:30 pm right on
5:30 pm left off 7:30 right off.
Ask TRIDO he did this and now his heat and evap.. is WAY down..

I was going to stagger them by one hour but I'll try two. I know that will help my heat. I keep my tank at 77 degrees and when both lights are on the heat can get up there quick. I have a fan that switches on at 79 degrees to to stabilize the temp. With the two hour stagger i'll probably only need it a little but as opposed to now it's on a lot.

 

[Myteemouse]

yes and if you keep the same amount of MH time (11:30-7:30) you'll actually cut 1:30 mins off each bulb a day that = longer life.

 

[3djedi]

Thanks! My MH bulbs are actually Coral Vue Reeflux 20K's (http://www.coralvue.com/reeflux.html). Yes, I'm using my 4 T5HO's actinics with the 20K's. The blue from the T5's is very similar the color that the 20K's throw off, just not as intense obviously. I'm actually replacing the T5's today. I purchased the light brand new back in April 2008 but didn't start using it until July 2008 when I set everything up. The T5 combo that came with the light was two 460nm (blue) bulbs and two 420nm (purple) bulbs. I'm replacing them with four 420nm Geisemann actinics which I think will add a lot.

Yeah, he's my girlfriend's favorite. When ever either of us come up to the tank its like he shows off all his spots and ever come up to the glass and will follow your finger. I also have a green clown goby, but for some reason he only comes out at feeding time and then hides. I think my pygmy angel was bullying him.

Oh yeah, my bad, I meant reeflux 20K. Are you happy with that much blue? Can you see a big difference in coral colors? I was thinking of trying the phoenix 14k's which I heard were a really nice blue. It's sucks trying to find the color you want when the bulbs are $60-$70 a piece! Thanks!

 

[JIvePhotography]

I'm very happy with the blue from the 20K's. The corals stand out more in this light but ask me again in 2 weeks or so once my corals have adjusted to this spectrum, I think it will be better than now. There's another user named luisse25 that has the same light I do and she has phoenix 14k's and loves them. I think its all about preference.

 

[JIvePhotography]

Just upgraded my actinics to 4 Blue Live 420nm (purple) bulbs. WOW my corals like amazing, especially the greens and oranges! I'm very happy

<img src="http://www.JIvePhotography.com/newreef/121.jpg">

 

[mimosa]

Nice tank! I will definitely keep an eye on this one as I build mine. I would like to see the Coralvue Reeflux 20K's in action. I wonder if they are similar to Helios 20K's that I liked a lot, with high peak at 420nm. Do you know the spectrum curve on the Reeflux 20K? In my experience having a peak around 420nm (rather than 460nm) is key to coloration and growth at the same time.

Currently I have 250W 20K DE Ushio. Helios was a different leage when it comes to color. Too bad I couldn't find them anymore.

 

[JIvePhotography]

Nice tank! I will definitely keep an eye on this one as I build mine. I would like to see the Coralvue Reeflux 20K's in action. I wonder if they are similar to Helios 20K's that I liked a lot, with high peak at 420nm. Do you know the spectrum curve on the Reeflux 20K? In my experience having a peak around 420nm (rather than 460nm) is key to coloration and growth at the same time.

Currently I have 250W 20K DE Ushio. Helios was a different leage when it comes to color. Too bad I couldn't find them anymore.

Thank you! I've not tried the Helios or the Ushio 20k bulbs so I can't compare them to the Reeflux 20K. I will say that once I moved to these lights they were very similar to a blue I was getting of my actinics that were 460nm, but the MH's were more intense. I tried googling for the spectrum analysis but I can't find any. I recently relaced my 4 T5 actinics to Blue Life T5s, all 420nm. Upon doing so it grealy increased the color in my corals, by themselves and running with the 20Ks. I could make a guess on the spectrum but I feel I'm covered pretty well with the combo I have now. Let me know if you want to see contrasting pics and I'll take some.

 

[noworries]

I really like that midas and bsj!

 

[JIvePhotography]

I really like that midas and bsj!

Thank you! They're my favorite, they both have very unique characters and are always entertaining.

 

[JIvePhotography]

Updated photos. Again, I adjusted these pics to try to match how they look in person. I'm having issues with my camera settings and still trying to figure out the best way to take photos.

Blue Wellsophyllia from Cherry Corals group buy
<img src="http://www.JIvePhotography.com/newreef/122.jpg">

My red and green lobo
<img src="http://www.JIvePhotography.com/newreef/123.jpg">

Cirrhipathes spirals from Cherry Corals group buy
<img src="http://www.JIvePhotography.com/newreef/124.jpg">

FTS with actinics only
<img src="http://www.JIvePhotography.com/newreef/125.jpg">

Left side
<img src="http://www.JIvePhotography.com/newreef/126.jpg">

My chalice grew another eye on the bottom
<img src="http://www.JIvePhotography.com/newreef/127jpg">

Gobies and tiger pistol
<img src="http://www.JIvePhotography.com/newreef/128.jpg">

 

[JIvePhotography]

Some more photos.

This one is a picture of the back of my tank. I wish there was an easy to clean the glass around the rocks. Anyone have any suggestions?
<img src="http://www.JIvePhotography.com/newreef/129.jpg">

My Blue Spot Jawfish decided he wanted to make a burrow in the back corner.
<img src="http://www.JIvePhotography.com/newreef/130.jpg">

Here's a photo from the back right corner of my tank looking through to the front.
<img src="http://www.JIvePhotography.com/newreef/131.jpg">

Another shot from the back right corner looking towards the front side. The reflection makes my tank look twice as big!
<img src="http://www.JIvePhotography.com/newreef/132.jpg">

90% FTS with flash.
<img src="http://www.JIvePhotography.com/newreef/133.jpg">

 

[luisse25]

very nice pics!!!wellso is nice

 

[TJL]

Hey Jarod,

Tank looks great, I may have to adjust my lighting to a little more blue spectrum now after seeing yours. I would like to add a few more LPS and they seem to like it on the blue side as well.

Todd

 

[iroll253]

Sweet. That actinic shot is awesome.

 

[JIvePhotography]

Hey Jarod,

Tank looks great, I may have to adjust my lighting to a little more blue spectrum now after seeing yours. I would like to add a few more LPS and they seem to like it on the blue side as well.

Todd

Everyone in the tank is adjusting great to the new lights. Tonight when I came home from work everyone was all puffy and looking happy. My green bubble was probably the biggest I've ever seen it, about a foot wide. Thanks for meeting tonight and swaping frags! I'll let you know how they're all doing once they're adjusted. The softy leather has all his polyps extended right now.

 

[JIvePhotography]

Sweet. That actinic shot is awesome.

Thanks! I'm trying to get the right settings to take a pic of how it really looks in person but its hard. Pictures don't do it justice, it's way better in person.

 

[JIvePhotography]

Well I have to admit that I haven't taken any tests of my water in a long time. Everything is doing great and I've been keeping up on my weekly ~15% water changes. When I was taking water tests I was only testing for nitrates, nitrites, ammonia, alkalinity and phosphates.

I've never tested for magnesium or calcium so I had no idea what they were at. I ended up getting a test for both this past weekend as recommended by Rob at ARSA. I tested all my parameters and everything was spot on except for my calcium which was a little of at about 360-370 ppm. The magnesium is what shocked me, it came in at 1040!:shock: I've since got a gallon of DT's magnesium Pure Reef Elements and am slowly dosing a little bit to gradually bring that level up to around 1300 give or take.

 

[JIvePhotography]

I would stagger your MH by 2 hours this will cut down on, bulb burn time, , Heat and power.
also this will stimulate sunrise and sunset for the reef tank.
this will be 1130 am left on 1:30 pm right on
5:30 pm left off 7:30 right off.
Ask TRIDO he did this and now his heat and evap.. is WAY down..

Adam - I've made this adjustment to my lights and I've already seen a great difference in the temp range during the day as well as not as much evaporation. At night with all lights off my tank stays steady at about 77.5 degrees. Then the max it gets to with all the lights being on during the day is 79.5. Everything is doing great and looking well at those temps. We'll see how that goes this spring/summer when temps are hotter outside. I may have to end up getting a chiller but we'll see...

 

[JIvePhotography]

Also this past weekend I got tired of always not having enough room in my stand for all my tank gear and always having to move cords around. So I solved the problem. I took everything out and organized my cables. Before I had my dj switches mounted in my stand at the top along with the DC8 so all my cables would be hanging and getting in the way. So I took one by one and wrapped them up in velcro cable ties that I stapled to the roof in my stand to hide. I then took the big box I had to store my stuff out and ended up throwing half away. I have tons more room now and its easier to get at everything.

One thing that was driving me crazy was I wanted to hang my control for my ACJR and my Vortech MP40 but I didn't any small enough screws for the Vortec controller (plus I didn't want to permanently lock it in place) and the ACJR controller didn't have any way to attach it to anything.

I was going to go browse Lowe's for something that would work, cause I didn't have anything in my garage, then my girlfriend recommended that I take some hold hangers and bend them into holsters to hold them. Presto! the worked great and probably better than anything that I could have purchased at Lowes, plus they were free!

I'll take pics tomorrow and show.