More Jidz Babble

[Jiddy]

WoW to all three of you genius's and thank you for your help! Nothin like wakin up to some good advice!

-Jidz

 

[Travis]

James, thanks for that advice. I'm definately going to have to try it with my non-digital. My digitals are all pretty accurate but the non-digital is about 3-4 degrees off.

 

[Travis]

Jiddy, I forgot about the bacteria. The main part about cycling rock is letting all of the stuff that died in shipping decompose, which starts the nitrogen cycle. Your clowns will get the nitrogen cycle going just fine for you. Just feed them very light for the first couple weeks so you don't get any major spikes.

 

[Jiddy]

Okay now that the tank is set up and i have to wait for it to completly cycle, i was goin to bother my father-in-law to build a canopy, i was curious what the best lights and reflectors are? I will be goin with 3 250w MH

 

[NaH2O]

Do you know what ballast you are going to use with the MH lights? This will help you to look at different studies and see how various bulbs do on different ballasts. As for the best reflectors.....I think the Lumenarc 3s are the best: Which MH Reflector Do You Use?

 

[Jiddy]

Thanks for the Nik Linky! Not sure what ballast to use, i was kind of hopin for personal opinions

 

[NaH2O]

I've found the hard thing about personal opinions when it comes to Kelvin rating on the light bulbs, is everyone has a different idea of what "looks good". Some folks like a more blue color, some more of a white crisp color. Some prefer 14Ks some 10Ks, etc. Here is a website with all of Sanjay's studies on bulbs, reflectors, ballasts....just click on articles: Sanjay's Reef Lighting Page. These will give you an idea on performance for all of the above in different brands. Also, check out this website: cnidarianreef.com...on the right side under Links...click on "250 Watt Metal Halide Testing". If you scroll down, he has pictures of the tank with each bulb, so you can see what they look like. Click on the pictures for a better view.

Hope this helps a bit!

 

[Scooterman]

I think Nikki said it best, lots of personal opinions on the looks desired.

 

[Jiddy]

Just want to know what ballast and reflectors people would buy if they had to today

 

[Scooterman]

http://www.championlighting.com/home.php?cat=409
I like the Blueline 250w or 400w electronic ballast with a good 10k lamp, In your tank I would put two 400w 10k lamps on either side & a 4000w 15k or 20k in the middle to give it bluer color. I would add moon lighting & put the middle lamp on a timer where it turns on 2 hours before the rest & two hours after letting the two end lamps run around 8 hours. I would not use any other lighting, now there that is my personal opinion LOL. Now everyone else can chime in with theirs, all said two factors will remain, how much can you afford, & what do you think would work better on your tank for that price. BTW, to start out if money is tight, buy one or two at a time then add the rest later.

 

[NaH2O]

Hmmm - I would do Luminarc 3 reflectors, PFO HQI Ballast with Ushio 10Ks. I like the look of the 10K bulb, but some people like a more blue coloration.

 

[Travis]

LA3 reflectors. Ideally, you should match your ballast with what bulb you plan to use. However, if you are like me, you will be trying different bulbs out all the time anyways so go with a ballast that will fire every bulb. I would say go with IceCaps. PFO HQI's if you think you will be sticking with 20k's.

 

[Jiddy]

I really like IceCap brand and cust. service, is there MH halide ballast good?

 

[Jiddy]

I was curious, not goin to do it, just was thinkin, if you had a tank full of Xenias, could keep alive a fish or animal that only ate them?

 

[Scooterman]

yes & no!
Yes IC MH are good & not I doubt it because they would probably eat it all quicker than you could grow it unless your housing them in a MOJO tank!

 

[Travis]

Yup, IC ballasts are great and so is there customer service. No, you couldn't keep a fish that only eats xenia. As scooter said, it will probably wipe out the population. Another problem with xenia is that it will completely crash for no apparent reason and every stalk in the tank will melt. You better see if you can grow the stuff first anyways. I couldn't keep it alive for longer than a few months during my first couple years. Then, all of a sudden I got the stuff to take off like a weed. I had a dedicated refugium using only xenia for nutrient export and I was trading in 25-50 heads a month at the LFS. Xenia is some strange stuff. Some can't grow it and some can't keep it under control. I've experienced both.

 

[Jiddy]

Mine is growin great, gettin big and happy, sept for when the wrasse comes up and nips the thing, the Xenia does not like that

 

[Jiddy]

Hey Travis how much does the LFS pay you for Xenia?

 

[Travis]

I would get around $10-$20 store credit for 50 heads. Then they would turn around and sell them at $20 a head. I always have hated that LFS (mini critters). The other LFS (safari land) gave me $30 store credit for 4 heads. Problem is, the xenia established itself in their tanks and has been growing in the tanks all over the rocks and on the walls ever since and that was over 2 years ago. At mini-critters the xenia would slowly start withering away as soon as it went in their tanks.

 

[Jiddy]

I traded my Lunar yesterday for a LMBlennie straight up