SW Pico tank build

Very nice. I have some of the Orphek PR-25s and one of the ML-7s. I also have an unused JBJ AIO......Hmmmmm.......

subscribing to this one. Looking forward to seeing more!!!!!1

 

AHH! So I haven't posted in awhile mainly due to letting the little system cycle and I just got my coral in about two days ago and I am having major RTN occurring and I am doing water changes to help get the system back to normal. I am so pissed that the coral started to RTN. I am thinking that maybe the system isn't ready yet or that the light might be too low (too close to the coral). Ugh. Will post pictures when I am proud of the system.

 

i think the sexy shrimp idea is good there awesome lol u should def add them

 

rtn in 2 days? Where did you get the corals from and how did they look then? Unless you got params all out of wack 2 days seems pretty fast.

 

Cool build.

 

We just did PAR tests a week ago at the meeting and the PR25 was hot. The whole meeting was about the cost of running the lights. We measured consumption and then figured the cost out at 11 cents per kilowatt hour, 10 hours a day and all. The par in these things at the cost makes it a no brainer in my opinion. 63cents per month to run each PR25. Also, keep in mind When we put both PR25 over the tank the PAR went up to 160 to 170 range on the sand bed.....

Here is the cut and paste.

Heres what I have, feel free to add other information if you have it.

We had all the fixture 27 inches off the bottom, anyone know how far below the waterline was?

The first set of LED's DIY I beleive: Blues WL: 300, bottom: 130. Blues and whites WL: 500, bottom:200. I was super impressed by these the energy consumption was minimal and they gave good coverage throught the tank.
The next set of T5's werent working correctly the notes I have are WWhites only WL:200, bottom:100
Tek Light elite, 5 blue plus, 2 aquablue specials and 1 fiji purple, cost $13.20 per month to run factored at 10 hours a day. 4 Blues WL: 245, bottom:115. All 8 bulbs WL: 550-570, bottom: 220.
Elos Mini LEDs WL: 175, bottom 45
175 wt MH 15 k bulb I have it at $5.78 per month to run but nothing else. I think this one failed to restart or something.
250 watt DE Pheonix WL: 240-250, bottom: 93. Cost $8.31 per month to run 10 hrs a day.
PAR 38 LED 6 white 6 blue WL: 300, bottom: 80-90, .63 cents a month to run 10 hours a day?
6 blue, 4 white and 3 UV WL: 370, bottom: 87
Moonlight4 blue, 4 UV WL 100, bottom 25
These ran on a standard 110 light bulb socket. No ballast or anything but seemed to be more of a spot light type coverage.

Dave has all of the power consumption notes so I'm sure some of this will get changed.

My opinion? Well since you asked. MH are gas guzzlers but are proven and reliable. T5's arent quite as thirsty but close, little heat, wall to wall coverage. The most expensive to change bulbs. LED's they are getting there, very cheap to power no bulb changing, little heat. If I ran them I would be taking monthly growth shots to prove to the critics that it can be done. Hint Hint!

 

Watch out for sexies! I had a dozen i a 8g bio cube and the ate any and every lps I had. Little bastards!

 

Thanks for that info, MSR.

Any updates, Ms. Pink?

 

WOW! I haven't checked this link in a long time. Just thought I would give an update on my small tank and how everything has died! All my nice sps started to RTN and died within a few days. But, what I think really killed the tank was 1. my sand was dirty or 2. I have not been doing enough water changes. Now the tank looks great with no cyanobacteria growth and my two Galveston anemones are doing fine. I think once I have some $$ I will order some soft coral for the tank. What does everyone else suggest?

 

I loove sexy shrimp. Thanks for the warning. Maybe one day I will have a nice 30 gallon with my own army of sexy shrimp no lps involved. Mmm.... actually maybe just have a tank full of different types of shrimp. That would be fun too!