New lights today! Only took me a year and a half to get them finished!
Tank is now sporting 2x250 SE Phoenix in PFO reflectors on Vertex ballasts and a 2x54w Tek retrofit with UVL Super Actinics. Yes, I said
single end Phoenix.
Got those puppies from The Reef Shoppe. I think they are a bit bluer than the DE version, but just as much pop. Very nice bulbs. With the new halides and new actinics though the tank is rather blue...will look better in a week when they all burn in. Sure is nice to have lighting across the entire 48" length! Some of you may remember I just had a 36" fixture on there up until now.
Aside from the new lights, I'm getting some cyano growth on the rock pile on the right. Possibly caused by the Coralife 10K halide that was on that side of the tank for the last couple months. So hopefully that will resolve with the new bulbs. Also getting a bit more Valonia again, so I added another Emerald crab (have two now).
Some of my brain corals are slowly receding for some unknown reason. My old Favia, two Lobophyllia, and a Platygyra. I have no idea what's up with the Favia or one of the Lobos, but the other Lobo had a frag fall onto it and damage it which started the recession. It continued to recede quite a bit after that although I think it is on the mend now. The Platygyra I bought already partially receded (from stray voltage) in mid-November. It looked like it was on the mend a week after I brought it home, but has suddenly started receding again. It's now down to just a toonie size, and I would be surprised if it recovers. I would be sad to lose it as it is quite a nice Australian piece.
Last time I was having issues with brain corals it was from my Filefish feasting (he was re-homed), and possibly also because of sudden use of Zeolite rocks (sucks nutrients out aggressively) which i'm not using anymore. This time, neither could be an issue and I have no idea what's happening with them.
So...here are the new lights. As usual, the GSP on the back wall of the tank is not out. It seems to know when I take the camera out and it disappears!
