Dez' Tank Journal

[Dez]

Originally Posted by Aquattro

Dez, title updated.

Thanks so much

[mark]

hey Dez, for the lights, the Whites or Blues, how high above the water and what percentages you running them?

[Dez]

Originally Posted by mark

hey Dez, for the lights, the Whites or Blues, how high above the water and what percentages you running them?

Blues and I think highest percentage is about 60%, but it leans more toward the white color. I think the blue portion is only about 35%. They are about 6-7" above the water I think.

[lastlight]

Might be tough to do but if you recall what the tank once looked like in terms of colour etc... which look do you prefer having had LED now for a year?

[Dez]

I like the LEDs better in terms of look, but prefer the halide shimmer. The halide shimmer is more natural. That being said though, I'd never go back to halides even if I was a millionaire. I went from about 1200 watts on my display to under 400 watts without sacrifice in growth. My dehumidistat hardly kicks the bathroom fan on in my sump room anymore and I've discontinued use of my canopy vent to the basement that used to be on 24/7. My evap rate has dropped dramatically and even during the hottest days of the summer the temp fluctuation was almost not noticible. I like the ramp up time/ramp down time that you can never receive with halides. I ramp up the intensities over 4 hours, which means my peak time at my full intensity is less, hence using less power. I like the idea of not having to plan bulb changes (even though I was using $15 halide bulbs before the switch). In terms of coral colors, most of the corals have remained similar colors. They are still bright and nice, some colors pop more while others don't. It's hard to say cause I haven't been dosing all the zeo stuff like te first year and a half, I've regressed to the basic zeo system without all of the other additives. Also, in the last year I have not tested anything but salinity and temp, so I can't say that the LEDs are the sole reason. However, I am super pleased with the coral coloration this past year. But, the halide shimmer will always look more like the sun to me.

[Delphinus]

Wow, pretty solid endorsement. Reduction of shimmer seems a pretty small sacrifice compared to all the rest of that..

Are your DIY LED's in on this 4 hour ramping, if so, what controller did you use for that? (Apologies if you answered this already.)

[Dez]

The DIYs are on a straight on off. They were added to replace my T5s and also to hide the spotlight effect since my SOLs are only 6" above the water. They come on after the ramp time.

[Dez]

Just a quick picture snapped with my phone tonight on the living room side.

[The Grizz]

Still impressive

[Nano]

Holy crow that's hot.