JamesL

Back in the day before kids, my wife and I had grand visions of becoming golf professionals. Ok, not really... we started taking golf lessons, but then got busy with other stuff and lost interest.

So while cleaning out the garage, I came across some clubs we bought. I remember buying part of them at Golfsmith (the Zevo part at least). My wife and I were close enough in height that we could share the clubs (I am 6'1"). So not much pink involved, expect for on club and cover.

All is included in the pictures (ok, not my daughters chalk - she would cry, and would you really want to make a 4 year old cry?). There is the bag, clubs shown, and hidden treasures in the pockets. While searching through them I found (what seemed like) a metric ton of golf balls, tees, a Circle C Golf Course towel (vintage!), and maybe a pair of womens gloves.

All of this could be yours for a low, low, get-it-out-of-my-garage price of $50 cash. I am willing to meeting in Buda and SW Austin area.

These would be great for someone starting out learning golf. Or someone looking for some cheap home defense.

And here are the pictures:

I have a Coralife Aqualight Advanced Series fixture that is partially working. For some reason I came home the other weekend day and the cooling fans stopped working. Thankfully I had arrived home shortly after the light turned on. So the ballasts are still working to light both of the lights. I fiddled a bit with it but could not get the fans going again... instead of spending time on it, I pulled the trigger on upgrading to a pair of BML LED lights.

So I am seeing if anyone is interested in purchasing it cheep either for parts or to try and fix it. I purchased this light probably 6.5 years ago when I set up the 75g in this house.

The top of the light is in good condition. The bottom got a bit scratched up tonight as I was prying off some stunner LEDs from it (going to try and incorporate those back into my setup). There is some sticky pads still on the fixture from the LEDs. There are a pair of Pheonix 14K bulbs in it, probably 6-8 months old.

If someone is interested, I would sell it for $50 just to get it out of my garage. I could meet people with in Buda area or SW Austin area.

Here is a picture of it from a website (new, not what it's current condition is):

Thanks all for the feedback. The lifespan of the LED wasn't as big of an issue, I was more thinking of spectrum shifts. As MH bulbs get older, the light spectrum tends to change (to a more favorable spectrum for algae). I guess this is not a concern for LEDs?

Yes, LEDs can definitely shift color over time, but a quality LED lighting system should not see the major color shifts associated with MH arc tube deterioration. LED color shift can be traced to both the LED construction (materials used to build the LED package) and to fixture construction (i.e. optics materials).

Nick

Good to know. I am looking to a long life with my pair of BuildMyLED fixtures

Thanks for the support!

Thanks all for the feedback. The lifespan of the LED wasn't as big of an issue, I was more thinking of spectrum shifts. As MH bulbs get older, the light spectrum tends to change (to a more favorable spectrum for algae). I guess this is not a concern for LEDs?

It is a BuildMyLED fixture. And the 6 years is about what I was expecting (since my MH fixture - not bulbs, but fixture lasted about that long).

I have taken the plunge into the work of LED lights for my tank. And after buying them, it dawned on me that I don't really know how long LED lights are supposed to "last" or be usable for photosynthesis for the corals.

So I am taking the slightly lazy web approach to see what people have heard. I realize that LED lighting (as main lights at least) is fairly new for the aquarium hobby, so there won't be much long term data out there. I am coming from a metal halide mentality of needing to replace the bulbs every 6 months or so, and that definitely doesn't hold true for LEDs (it better not, or the wife will kill me ).

Thoughts/predictions?

FTS 4/15

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Love the polyp extension on that leather!

That's not a yellow coris wrasse is it? It looks awesome!

It is a 4 Spot or Yellow & Purple wrasse. I have really enjoyed him in the tank, and he has been a good citizen too.

Here is the clown... not as clear as I thought... the new lights really make his stripe pop!

Round two.

Close up of brain coral:

Same brain coral:

Tried to get my Bristletooth Tang:

The wrasse started posing at this point:

Yep, more Duncans:

Unhappy plate (hermit walked over it):

And one more shot of Duncans:

And my Scopas Tang:

Didn't bother getting the damsels and all I got were burry pictures of the Coral Beauty. I thought I had a decent picture of the skunk clown... need to look again.

Picture time with the new lights. If only I had taken more time to, oh you know, focus *grumble*. Full tank shots have always been the bane of my picture taking.

I found Mr. Blurry Cam:

The hermit was by the clam, so he wasn't too happy:

Attempt to get a picture of my wrasse's face morphing color:

Duncans:

Another wrasse color morph attempt:

More duncans (they do well in my tank):

Sympodium:

Candy canes:

Blurry picture of finger gorgonian:

Some yellow zoas from Mr. Saltwater TV himself:

So I have noticed that after adding the new LED lights, my clam has not longer been moving around in the sand bed. Maybe it is happy with the lighting now?

After Fatheree's talk last weekend, and the big tank article in Reef Keeper magazine we got at C4, I'm curious what your tank's response to the LEDs will be. Please keep us updated!

Will do. They seem quite a bit brighter than what I had before, so this should over-all be good for the tank.

Now if only I would start doing water changes

Nice colors. Is that a purple gorg on the right or macro?

That is a finger gorgonian... more tannish/brown.

Quick before/after pictures in my tank thread.

Well, my MH fixture started going hay wire today... so my decision to change my lights got accelerated

Here is a picture with the old lights:

And here is a picture with two new 48" BuildMyLED Reef Spectrum fixtures (from the Dome):

I really like them! The over light coverage in the tank is much better than the MH fixture I had. I still might rig up something to do a dawn/dusk effect with the stunner strips I was using with my MH fixture (that is, if I can pry them off the fixture).

And at the same time I decided to try open top ... here is a shot of a Paly patch:

Oh, and I did dial back my light schedule ... don't need to fry things

I just wanted to make a shout out to one of our great sponsors. I had started contemplating moving up to LEDs, and had recently been starting to research them. Well lo and behold, my MH fixture bit this dust this morning, and so my decision got moved up.

I wanted to not only thank you for a reasonably priced product, but for also getting local stores (in this case Aqua-Dome) to stock them... they were a real life saver. I got a pair of your 48" Reef LEDs, and man do they look nice! My entire tank is lit up now, compared to my dual 150W MH (with a few supplemental strips of LEDs for dawn/dusk affect) which lit it up well, but the front was always problematic.

It is weird not hearing the light fans, but I think I will rapidly get used to that

So thanks again for the great product! Your sponsorship to ARC is what drove me to seek you out in the Dome.

Nice!

Sporting an ARC polo and (eventually) wearing my ARC ID card... and kid free for once

So my new trick today is I buried a rock under the sand, and placed the clam on it. Trying to see if it will attach to the rock, as I want the clam up higher in the tank for better light.

So now I think my clam has flung itself out of the rockwork twice ... I really think it wants to be in the sand. Both times I have found it in the sand, right-side up. I know the fish didn't do it at least once, cause I saw it in the sand in midnight when all the fish where asleep. I guess I will let it be there.

Will you have some on demo over the clam tank?

I was there this weekend picking up some plants. They were very busy and it took me an extra half hour to check out becuase i kept wandering out of line looking at that tank by the lights. I think I am hooked on this and can't wait to get my first tank started.

I think we were there at the same time (or maybe coincidence that there were some plants on the counter when I was paying ). I was juggling the two kids, and trying to keep the oldest from smashing my just-paid-for plate coral to bits on the ground.

yep, i saw you. actaully, i think i helped you put something in your bag. that's funny. well, it was nice meeting you and i hope your stuff survived the trip home.

Ah yes, thank you for the help We were having some melt downs at that point of the day. And yes, things made it home. The plate is happy ... and the wrasse has been shy so far, but I suspect that will change here soon.

Congrats!

Will you have some on demo over the clam tank?

I was there this weekend picking up some plants. They were very busy and it took me an extra half hour to check out becuase i kept wandering out of line looking at that tank by the lights. I think I am hooked on this and can't wait to get my first tank started.

I think we were there at the same time (or maybe coincidence that there were some plants on the counter when I was paying ). I was juggling the two kids, and trying to keep the oldest from smashing my just-paid-for plate coral to bits on the ground.