Tharsis' 20 long ~2-11-12~ sps and lps pics!

Ive noticed my acan and trumpet on the sandbed as well soon after the rebuilt. LED is indeed awesome.

 

Yeah my tank is just now getting back to normal from the flatworm episode so I don't want to shock it again with the biopellets.

I will start really slow in about a month.

 

so I am guessing that the poor sensitivity of the POT is due to the quality of the driver? Like I said, I am finding that the light output isn't increasing linearly (wish i had a par meter) with the knob. Most of the light increase (like 50%) happens with the last little bit of turning the knob (the last 10%) if that makes sense.

 

Sounds like a plan

I have just noticed that the optics in the pic

are all clear housing. Do you still use the same clear ones? I have the same optic and the side spillage was really annoying me so I wrapped around the side with black electrical tape. It might work for you as well 8)

I know exactly what youre describing. The Meanwell and the pots combo acts very similar for me.. I wish I had PAR meter as well.

 

ahh good idea with the tape. I actually took the optics off because there wasn't enough spread to the edges of my tank...and I just lowered the light. The coverage and blend is really good as is, but I will be getting some 90 degree optics any day now, I may try your method with these ones because there really was so much light spillage.

thanks for the tip!

 

I see. You could use both 60 and 90 in the mix. I didnt want to waste/spill the light, so I used narrower optic on the LEDs that are at the edge of heatsinks. Besides, I dont see a lot of problem not having enough light coverage to the edges. I used the 23" heatsink with 24 LEDs on my 90 gallon for a long time (6 months)!

 

yeah I may do 60's in the middle and then use the 90's on the outside. I may just do all 90's...I will have to play around with it.

Initially I had the fixture 12" from the top of the tank with the 60's and i still didn't have complete coverage. I really didn't want to hang my fixture 2 feet above the tank because I have my couch nearby and it would be right in the line of sight.

In your case you had a 23" heatsink (roughly half the length of the tank) but your tank depth was much greater so I am not surprised you had better coverage.

 

Pic of the acan during feeding time... two of the smaller heads playing tug of war with the mysis shrimp. The piggy on top is stuffing two down its mouth.



I love these guys!

I am actually getting really good feeding response from the lps and sps. The staghorn and montis are releasing their filaments a few minutes after adding the oyster feast and the acan is sending out its feeder tentacles with the introduction of the mysis. So cool!

 

Man I am absolutely loving these LED's. I am probably just projecting onto my corals but everything seems happy! I don't know if it is linked to the LED since the shrooms were already on the rebound but they have doubled in size over the last week. I am really happy to have things getting back to normal.

Here some pics I took last night, I really like the color of the leds when they are both on full blast. The color of the rocks is much nicer I find, with the other light they looked grey/brown but now they have nice blue tint to them. ..it also helps that I am getting lots of coralline growth. ;D


The shrooms are still looking puckered and nowhere near how they were before the flatworm toxin but they are soooo much better than 3 weeks ago. I am happy and looking forward to them gettting all puffy again.


You can see the manjano in these pics. I know I am probably flirting with disaster by leaving them there but i find them to be quite beautiful. They moved around quite abit with the addition of the led's. Also, the palys at the back (just below the clown) have started to spread onto my back wall...i am contemplating whether I should let it happen or not.


The only coral that hasn't rebounded is the watermelon zoas. They completely lost the red in the middle and they don't seem to be getting it back. These guys are still looking unhappy, it is a shame because they were my best growers before the incident, it seemed like I was getting a new polyp every day.

 

Stopped by the LFS on the way home... that store will be the death of me. And death will come from the hands of my wife.

In honor of my shrooms coming back from the brink, I bought a beautiful green striped shroom and I also picked up a small frag of blasto merletti. I just added them to the tank and they are looking quite happy.

Will take pics later! If I am still alive that is.