I flipped over the fixture and checked what bulbs were installed. I've been researching about growing SPS and it seems alot of people do it. Here are the bulbs installed.

switch 1:
Atinic +
Midday 6000K

switch 2:
Fiji purple
atinic +
pure atinic + (not lighting up)
Fiji purple

I need some help from people who are growing sps with T5's. What are the best bulbs to use and the best mix?

I have the same fixture.

I run back to front, or front to back, it is the same either way :p


Aquascience Blue
KZ Fiji Purple
KZ New Generation
KZ New Generation
KZ Fiji Purple
Aquascience Blue

I like it, nice a blue but not too blue.

As far as Par, it would be nice to measure it.

what's KZ?

KZ is Korallen Zucht. They are the guys that do the zeovit system.

http://www.zeovitusa.com/home.php?cat=254

Do you have a picture of your tank so I can see what your light looks like?

I am horrible at taking pictures because 1. I cannot get the pictures to not come out blurry, 2. I cannot get the white balance right.

That being said this is pretty close to what it looks like in person, a little more white when you are standing infront of it.

http://i179.photobucket.com/albums/w...hile/004-1.jpg

Up until I crashed the tank a couple months back I was growing SPS just fine with good colours with the same lamp configuration. I'm in rebuilding mode ;)

.. aslo as you can see I have a few clams at the bottom that are just peachy under T5's ... and my giant BTA :)

Very nice. We have similar tanks. I just picked up a clam so I'm happy to see that yours are doing good.

Giant is right Greg!!

From personally seeing Greg's tank, I'd say his bulb configuration is spot on. Not too blue of a light but the colours on his corals and fish are intense. I don't see why the same bulb config wouldn't give you the same results

I was looking at the anemone earlier. If thats a 4' tank that should be a big anemone. I think I'll go with KZ bulbs next time. I think I found a store that sells them in Edmonton.

I fixed the micro bubble problem in my tank. It instantly cleared up my tank and what a difference!

http://i379.photobucket.com/albums/o...0231resize.jpg
I guess I should have cleaned the glass before the picture. Next time:wink:

lookin' good! Get some corals in there already...sheesh

Our tanks are very similar indeed :) I have the dual return on the sides of my overflow as well but after a while I just took off the lockline and nozzles becuase they got in the way more than anything.

Ok here are some more pictures.

http://i379.photobucket.com/albums/o...andyCane-1.jpg
Candy Canes left one is orange/green and right one should eventually be pink.

http://i379.photobucket.com/albums/o...n1/leather.jpg
Leathers don't know the ID of these yet.

http://i379.photobucket.com/albums/o...dCandyCane.jpg
Orange/green Candy Cane and Crocea Clam I think (girlfriends but I paid for it:wink:)

I'm starting to figure out Adobe Photoshop. I'm adjusting my pictures now and they are starting to look better. It's funny how reefing is starting to improve my picture skills. Never seen this coming.

Now I need to find some SPS.

Nice coral scores. Looks good. To soon for a clam tho imho.

Thanks for the compliment. I asked before I bought the clam if it would be ok and he said yes. I'm not going to name the store but it is a reputable store. I'll hope for the best because it was expensive.
On a different note this is where the hobby started for me. Here is a couple pictures of my 10 gallon nano.

http://i379.photobucket.com/albums/o...n1/Sept608.jpg
This is when I had this tank in its prime. You can see in the back it was skimmerless

http://i379.photobucket.com/albums/o...1/IMG_0080.jpg
When I moved the tank crashed and it never recovered I lost almost all my coral.:cry:

So I thought to myself start a NEW TANK!!:mrgreen: It all started with a thought to upgrade to a 30 then a 55 then a 75. One day a 95 showed up on Canreef.

I made the drain pipe for my herbie overflow but when I installed it it made a loud sucking sound. I put a piece of tubing down the hole and it got rid of the sound but it goes through my valve. How would I get rid of this sound?

Without it I have the water level close to the top of the overflow with no sound.

what's wrong with the level near the top of the overflow as long as the secondary is dry? Up high there's less noise from the water spilling into the chamber.

I only wanted it so there was less water draining into the sump if the power went out. I've tested for power outs and I have no sump overflow problems so I scrapped the idea.

huh. Most people use Herbie's to quiet down their systems, especially if they are in living rooms or bedrooms. I have one tank that isn't set up as a Herbie and although it isn't THAT noisy, it's still noisier than my other tanks...and it's a little annoying LOL

I've actually got to bring up my emergency drain as I get too much water drop and some spalshing, the only problem is I did an anti syphon loop in the return so I need to deconstruct a little bit.. and as you know with your tank its a PITA!

While researching what to do yesterday I did find my missing baby regal tang.. he is sitting DOA at the bottom of the overfglow with no way to really get the corpse out.. I guys I just need to let the family of brisyle worms in the overflow do their work.

Sorry to hear about your tang. Do you think it jumped in the overflow? I'm thinking of buying a screen for my drain because I don't want anything going down it.

My overflow is very quiet but my skimmer is a different story. It's a constant hum sound which I've got used to.

I dipped into the idea of a anti-syphon loop in a previous tank plan. But I thought it was kind of bulky. I know you said it was a PITA but how are your experiences with it? good/bad?

The Tang must have jumped over, I do have teeth going up to the top of the tank rim so I am surprised it got in there, I had looked in the overflow after it went missing but did not see anything, it wasn't until the weekend when I turned off the pump and let the overflow/tank drain to the sump and removed the lights to get a good look in there.

Regarding the anti syphon it seemed like a good idea when I had the tank built because I wanted the returns on both sides and used lockline with difusers on the end, I just found these to be too big in actual use so I scrapped them and just had the return flowing out both sides. The Anti syphon sort of works but in the end it does not really stop that much water from going to the sump with the pump off, and my sump has enough volume to handle the extra water anyway. The other problem as I mentioned is that I want the emegency drain to go up higher, closer to the surface so I dont get as much as a splash and with the mess of 90 elbows in the middle as the ant-syphon I just cannot do it.

One of the these days when I have some time and ambition I think I will put a plug on one return side and change the return just to one 90 out one side so I can extend my emergcy line up and put a strainer on it.

In hindsight I would have built the tank with an external overflow so I would have more realestate inside the tank and a smaller overflow box on the back to pull out any debris. As it stands right now I need to getmyself one of those FW gravel vacuums so I can clean out the overflow on a regular basis. As I extended my main drain up about 6 inches with a strainer just so I could get at it if a snail or something plugged it, there seems to be a lot of debris (excess food, sand etc.) that is sitting at the bottom of the overflow box.

Looks awesome! :biggrin: Regal tangs are great fish.

BlueAbyss thanks for the compliment. My Regal tang looks really cool under pure atinics. It's a nice deep blue color which really stands out.

digital-audiophile I also have the same problem with buildup in my overflow. I'm also going with an external overflow next time. Also I want to go with starfire or the other kind of extremely clear glass.

I just setup my new tank and I'm already planning again! Do they have SW tank addiction interventions?!:biggrin:

Well I was at the fish store today and my girlfriend seen some pom poms and a scallop. She had to have them so we got them. I hope they aren't doomed with the tank being so young. I guess only time will tell.

Pom poms are great, I have a couple in my tank but I am lucky if I see them once a year, they just get lost in the rock work.

I would suggest doing a bit of reading on the scallop. I've never tried them myself but if I recall they are not the easiet creatures to keep.

If its a flame scallop (which I'm assuming it is) You'll need to direct feed it. Usually they last for around 3-4 months, then starve to death...

Well thats a kick in the nards.:sad: Good thing is was only $15.

Thought I'd update my thread so here are some pictures.

http://i379.photobucket.com/albums/o...efishsmall.jpg
Finally got a picture of them together.

http://i379.photobucket.com/albums/o...ttingsmall.jpg
My pipe organ coral is splitting quite rapidly.

http://i379.photobucket.com/albums/o...Montismall.jpg
Here is Superman Monti I picked up today.

I also picked up some zoos but they haven't opened completely yet.

LOVE the Monti. Good pickup

Wow. Very nice. Glad your fiancee likes fish, and congrats on that too.
I have a 72 bow and a 95 wave neither have anything under them had
the 72 for a couple of years the 95 is fairly new. Touch wood have had
no problems. Keep the photos coming, I love them. Maybe one day I will
actually learn how to use mine. lol

Thanks everyone.

My fiancee is a VERY patient person when it comes to my hobby. I kind of jumped into fish tanks head first with my wallet wide open.
Since I went SW she really likes it. It seems like she's the one stocking the tank sometimes. I always hear "your only allowed the SW tank and the small FW tank, that's it!":wink:

I really like the Superman Monti I chose. Karen had so many coral to choose from I had a hard time picking one. So I chose the one with bright colors and or course the flashy name.
I'll post a picture of the zoos I also got when the lights have been on for awhile.

Big thanks to Karen for the coral. Your tank is beautiful.

So I went to the fish store and bought some fish. I bought a yellow watchman goby, tiger pistol shrimp and a red scooter blenny. I really need to learn to research first because the yellow watchman gody is dead the pistol shrimp killed one of my purple firefish and random crabs here and there. I was hoping the shrimp and the goby would pair up but no luck. Funny thing is I found out I shouldn't have bought the blenny until my tank was mature but the it's still alive. I hope it stays that way!! I also told my fiancee that I'm not going to anymore fish stores because I can't control my urge to buy.

I'll post a picture FTS tommorrow when the lights are on.

Ouch, that's to bad about the fish. Where are the pictures?????

I really think the tank looks bare. I can't wait until the tank is 6 months old then I will add more coral(sps). For now it's only the superman monti, pipe organ, zoos and mushrooms.

Here are pictures taken March 1, 2009
http://i379.photobucket.com/albums/o.../95gmar109.jpg
Not much change just some cyano which is finally starting to go away.

http://i379.photobucket.com/albums/o...1/pinkzoos.jpg
Pink zoos I was supposed to post with the monti a while back.

I finally found the charger for my camera.

My yellow watchman goby is alive after all. It just hid for a couple of days.

I currently have diatoms on my sand. They have been there for a month and refuse to dissapear. I will check my parameter to see if somethings wrong.

I bought some more LR and placed one on top of my rocks in the middle of the tank and two smaller pieces in the sand.

I also picked up a Tiger Goby (haven't got a pic yet) and a cleaner shrimp since I last posted.

Here are some updated pics:
http://i379.photobucket.com/albums/o.../fts033109.jpg
FTS

http://i379.photobucket.com/albums/o...1sps033109.jpg
http://i379.photobucket.com/albums/o...2sps033109.jpg
http://i379.photobucket.com/albums/o...3sps033109.jpg
http://i379.photobucket.com/albums/o...4sps033109.jpg
http://i379.photobucket.com/albums/o...5sps033109.jpg
I have no idea what they are I just know they are sps! :)

http://i379.photobucket.com/albums/o...mandshrimp.jpg
New orange mushroom and cleaner shrimp.

http://i379.photobucket.com/albums/o...zoos033109.jpg
I placed all my zoos on this piece of LR I got so they can spread out.

http://i379.photobucket.com/albums/o...wzoo033109.jpg
A nice small frag of colorful zoos I picked up.

I picked up some more LR for my tank. I think I have around 110 pnds in my tank now. I finally learned how to merge my photos so here is a panorama of my tank.

http://i379.photobucket.com/albums/o...orama1copy.jpg
I lika a lot

I picked up a Midas Blenny and some zoas today.

http://i379.photobucket.com/albums/o...dasblenny2.jpg
I could tell this guy had problems as soon as I put it in my tank because it's already hitting the pipe!:lol:

http://i379.photobucket.com/albums/o...dasblenny1.jpg
Seen this kind of fish in the store before and I really liked it. When I went back next time it was gone. So when they had one in this time I took the opportunity to buy it. When I seen it inside the tube I attach nori to I couldn't help but laugh.

When the zoas open up I'll get a picture of them.

SPS #1 could be a rainbow stylo...hard to tell from the lighting, but I would definately go with a stylophora of some form or another.

#2 looks like it's also a Stylo...orange and green by the looks of it.
#3 & 4 I think are acropora species
and #5 looks to be a millie of some sort.


I think :D

Here are updated pictures of my tank.

http://i379.photobucket.com/albums/o...S_June2009.jpg
FTS
http://i379.photobucket.com/albums/o...eftmay2009.jpghttp://i379.photobucket.com/albums/o...ghtmay2009.jpg
Right and Left sides


Cayano has finally gone away. Must have been a long cycle?
I have been getting into the zoanthids and it seems I can't get enough. I'm starting a zoo garden on the left side and I'm going to try the same to the right side.

I broke a handle off a ball valve on my drain about 3 weeks ago. I'm going to have to shut down my sump while I fix it but I'm not sure how I'm going to go about it. Not cool at all is all I can say about that.

I'm happy how the tank has come along since January.

If someone can help with this problem:

I have a 2 rocks with about 7-8 heads of hairy mushroom each. How if possible can I transfer the coral from one rock to another?