Hog Head

Yeah the mini punches deeper then the larger ones. The larger one spread more and punch less.

Thanks for the info. Aqua Cave says nothing about this.

I would do 400s but thats just me. Lumen brights are great fixtures. Maybe look into the lumen bright mini since they can punch deeper tanks.

The mini can punch deeper than the full size? Is it designed to focus more light downward instead of spreading it out?

I personally think that the Lumenmax Elite would be the way to go. I use them almost exclusively now at the new shop and have been very pleased. The Lumenmax 2 is is a great choice as well but for a 24" wide tank I would go with the Elite.

Thanks Garrett. I haven't looked at the Elites yet.

I have never seen a better reflector than the lumen brights. They are amazing at throwing the light straight down. I had my lumen bright small pendant about 18" from the water over my 24" cube and still got over 200 PAR on the sand. IMO they are THE best out there.

 

I just took the pendant down, but if you want to come over and check it out I can fire it up for you.

Thanks Miles, I like the idea of the light being higher. It seems like it would heat the water less. I will get ahold of you before I buy.

I would do 400s but thats just me. Lumen brights are great fixtures. Maybe look into the lumen bright mini since they can punch deeper tanks.

The mini can punch deeper than the full size? Is it designed to focus more light downward instead of spreading it out?

I personally think that the Lumenmax Elite would be the way to go. I use them almost exclusively now at the new shop and have been very pleased. The Lumenmax 2 is is a great choice as well but for a 24" wide tank I would go with the Elite.

Thanks Garrett. I haven't looked at the Elites yet.

I have never seen a better reflector than the lumen brights. They are amazing at throwing the light straight down. I had my lumen bright small pendant about 18" from the water over my 24" cube and still got over 200 PAR on the sand. IMO they are THE best out there.

 

I just took the pendant down, but if you want to come over and check it out I can fire it up for you.

Thanks Miles, I like the idea of the light being higher. It seems like it would heat the water less. I will get ahold of you before I buy.

I have one nod for 400w anyone else? I am a little concerned about heat and adding another chiller to the house. This tank will not be able to be plumbed to the garage without going under the house.

I have a pair of Lumen Max 2 pendants that will be used for my 150g 48"Lx24"Wx30"H. They have an approx reflector dimension of 11.5x11.5. The Lumen Bright 3's are 19"x19". Will the LM 2's get the job done or will the Lumen Bright 3's do it better? I will be using Radiums and only want to use T-5's for Dawn/Dusk. The tank will be, for the most part, a softy tank. Speaking of the Radiums, with a 30" depth will 250w bulbs be good enough or would 400's be better? I will have about a 4" sand bed to support a carpet nem.

Clownfish are funny' date=' by the mid part of the week most of them were trying to cram into one anemone. After some jostling over territory some of them moved into a different anemone[/size']

 

 

 

 

 

As you can see this anemone was starting to get a little crowded too!

 

 

Very cool!! They are some of the neatest fish out there with the personality they have.

Makes sense. He just edited the first post to update the price drop. Last edit was 9/19/11 on the first post.

It does now. I had to read through it a couple of times. There were a few $ changes.

It would make a nice sump. A little worried a out that hole though.

Correct, 20k would give alot of blue and nice color but much slower growth. I ran 10k for about 14 months which gave alot of growth but alot of the colors were muted or washed out a little bit.

how come no 20k? is the higher the number the slower the growth but better color etc?

I might change ballasts some day but I have only been running these for a year now. I want to get a little mileage out of them.

They run better on an electronic ballast. I had one of each and you could tell a difference in the colors

 

 

 

 

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The new bulbs are in and they are nice. I can definately tell that there was alot of yellow in the Ushio 10k's now. This is a much softer bluer white light. Eveything looks better also. Even the fish.

My tank is pretty much a mix of sps/lps and softies(mushrooms). Also, I am running Blue Wave Ballasts.

With all the reviews I read and the few replies I got on here, I think I am going to try the Phoenix bulbs and stick with the Actinic+ for now. Later on if I want to mix some Pure Actinic in there I will. Thanks for the opinions and advice.

Are they blue enough to change from the Actinic+ to the Pure Actinic bulbs or mix the two? Two Actinic+, Two Pure Actinc and the Phoenix bulbs?

It's time for new bulbs. I was going to buy Ushio 14K's but then I read so many positive reviews about the Phoenix bulbs I am now leaning the other way. What is your opinion/preference? I have gotten good growth out of the Ushio 10K's but I am running out of room and I am ready to sacrifice a little growth for some color until the next tank upgrade.

I have been using Reef Crystals for a while and I am thinking about changing to the Tropic Marin Pro. Any opinions? Is the TMP good enough to warrant the extra money? Thanks

I believe/know that a person could get a DD 300g for alot cheaper than 3k.

I would be interested in that info. My pricing is only from a few online sources.

Thanks, I just sent him an email. I really do want to stay with glass but the only tank I can find larger than 210 is Marinelands deep dimension 300 and if I remember correctly it is around 3-4k.

What happened to Envision? Are they just no longer a sponsor or are they not in business any more?

She has never drawn blood, not that she hasn't tried. But she bullies fish twice her size. She now has an Eight Line Wrasse and a LM Blenny for company and so far everyone gets along.

Dude' date=' our maroons are in the sump, the female LITERALLY comes completely out of the water to attack your hand, it's kinda scary, an she hurts like hell when she hits you an has drawn blood on me multiple times LOL, I know your pain.[/quote']

I wouldn't have a separate tank for the clown, but she is such a little b**ch she needs her own home just so the others can live in peace.

An it seems like everyone is tieing multiple tanks together now' date=' we're doing the same thing, tieing a 30b tank into our existing system that's going to be a combo frag tank/maroon clown breeding tank lol.[/quote']

Thanks. I'll think about it for a while. The price is about the same, give or take a few $. The money isn't an issue. Timing might be though.

LOL no worries man' date=' that sump I linked you is completely turn-key, with everything needed built in, shoot Charles a message an he'll more than likely walk you through everything, or even set up a time for you to come check it out.[/quote']

The 100g will become the new Maroon Condo, only it will be drilled instead of the overflow box. Also I plan on using 60" 80w t5's. Good grief. I hijacked my own thread.

I have been toying around with the idea of building the stand. A shelf is a great idea. A place to put food or whatever when working on the tank. That is a really nice refugium.

Thats the easy part Gene' date=' just build the stand a bit bigger, I'm of the belief that you should build your stand to house your sump, not your tank, cause the bigger your sump is, the better off you are. Make the stand 30" wide, it gives you a lip around the tank where you can set a beer or whatever while you're fooling around in the tank an what not.[/quote']

I contacted envisions about one also. I like the look of the Aqueon because it looks like a turn key fuge. But I don't know anything about it other than thier ad.

Dave at Davy Jones Locker could probably build you a custom one to your specs for a good price. I know a number of people on here, including myself that have Dave built sumps/refugiums

 

Doug