FarmerTy

So, wanted to pick the collective brain of the ARC. I replaced my 250w Reeflux 12k bulb with an identical bulb after 1 year of usage about 1 month ago. All my LPS have been suffering bleaching (softies and SPS are fine) on their upper surfaces that are exposed to the light directly and then slowly the entire coral will fade in color, even along the sides that do not get light directly. I'm assuming that is due to the decrease of PAR over the lifetime of the old bulb and then when you replace it in a year with a brand spankin' new bulb, a temporary light shock is bound to happen unless you use window screens to slowly acclimate the coral to the brighter intensity. I'm kind of answering my own question as to the bleaching, I was just more curious about those that have experienced this, how long does it usually take to recover from this light intensity bleaching? Is there anything I can do to expedite this process? Jake at River City Aquatics told me to make sure to feed during this time of recovery since they don't have zooxanthallae to help garner nutrition. I have already decreased the photoperiod of the MH's from 6 to 4 hrs. Should I also move the bleached corals to a more shaded area of the tank? And if so, when should I start acclimating them back to the higher lighting? <---When I see recovery of zooxanthallae? Thank you for any input. Next time I will aim for acclimating the corals but since I am new to MH and this was my first bulb I replaced, I got a good lesson in doing ample research before changing anything within my tank system.

Thank Don, it was a pleasure meeting you and seeing your tank. Thanks for the awesome frags and the generous clippings. Bump to a great deal. -Ty

Pm'ed

Hi, I would like to buy the frag of Red Planet. Could you PM your address and availability. Thanks Hydro. -Ty

I'm sold, I'll try one original as well. Thanks Mama. -Ty

How much were you thinking for a frag? Plus, don't want to jump the line on Rprew since he was the one who started this topic in the first place. Let me know. Thanks. -Ty

PM'ed for Strawberry Monti Cap and 20,000 Leagues Lokani. Thanks.

Perhaps a group buy on one if nobody responds with a some frags? If we can find a small colony and split the cost and frag it ourselves, I think we'd all be happy. I vote for Cindy (Cmanning) to frag it if we do that since she has plenty of experience with fragging and SPS. :-) -Ty

Yeah, I have been weary about dumping it on the lawn for fear of the accumulative effect of salt concentrations building up in my lawn. I would imagine certain types of grass are more tolerant of salt concentrations than others but I'm in the process of building a nice pretty lawn and the last thing I want is my grass dying off because of the higher salt content in the soil. Imagine how much water it would take to leach the salts back out if that were the case. You'd be literally trying to drown your lawn! I'm an environmental scientist by trade, we don't really deal with salt content in the soil, but the chemicals that we do deal with in the soil, are usually a pain in the *** to remove and usually require excavation versus treating in place. I'd hate to have to excavate the first 6" of my lawn just because salt concentrations have built up so much that it inhibits the growth of grass. This is by no means a professional opinion, just trying to cross-reference what I do with a potential problem in front of us. It doesn't really apply in the same sense but close enough for me to not want to dump saltwater on my lawn. -Ty

Lamont, Without the actinics on, my tank is almost a crisp white with a very slight tinge of yellow. When I say tinge, I mean barely noticeable, not like staring into a 10k or anything. It actually does not look bad at all without any supplementation but I prefer a slight blue pop, just not saturated with blue. I do notice that my reds aren't as crushed anymore and show more intensely without my actinics on, casting everything in a blueish hue but I'll sacrifice a little red for lots of iridescent greens and blues. If I had to guess though, I think you'd be happier with a little more blue than just the 12k Reeflux bulb alone. But as Gabe says, there's more to actinic than just coloration, the coral actually uses that spectrum of light. My setup may work for you but just be careful and read some reviews on the HQI 12k Reeflux coloration. I heard it's slightly more yellow than the mogul-based bulb. I'm not sure if there's any validity to that but my brother bought the 12k Reeflux for his 150watt HQI and it does look slightly more yellow than my setup with the 250watt mogul, whether that's due to the lower wattage or the fact that it is HQI, who knows. Just my 2 cents.

Make that two if someone has a huge colony. :-)

Hey Lamont, I don't know if you remember because it was so brief, but my tank is lit exactly the same as Hydro Innovations, 12k Reeflux Mogul bulb with VHO supplementation, except I have 4 strips of VHO actinics, but 3 bulbs are really old so it's not overly blue. I like the combination and the look, gives good amount of clean white lighting and the pop of the actinics without being overly blue. If I remember right, the Phoenix bulbs have a reputation for being bluer than most bulbs so with actinic supplementation, it might be giving you overkill on the blue. If you can't find a 12k, perhaps even a 14k in another brand may be a lot less blue than what you were experiencing with the Phoenix. Good luck on the lighting upgrade, your tank is looking great. -Ty

Thanks Mike for the generous frags as well. Your tank looks great. It was a pleasure meeting you.

I talked to the people at Home Depot today while I was trying to buy some Aquamend. Supposedly they stopped carrying Aquamend and have started carrying JB water weld. I just tried a stick of it today. It was a little more sticky when working with it then the aquamend (be sure to use gloves unless you want epoxy hands all day) but like everyone is saying... epoxy is epoxy. My skimmer did go nuts after I used it but that was the same effect with the Aquamend. The "Safe for Potable Water" marking on the side of the box sold me enough to try it on my tank. I will update if anything doesn't look right in the tank afterwards but so far so good.

PM'ed you Mike. Thanks.

I say do it... and do it right. Your tank hasn't been fully established yet so I say drain it and drill it. I think you'll be happier in the long run.

I'd be happy to buy from whoever sets up their own culture, knowing that the mother colony came from Florida Aqua Farms. The prices for DT's is ridiculous and you know Austin's motto... keep it local.

I've had pretty good success with it too. It definitely elicits a feeding response in most of my coral. If anything, I dose to feed the filter feeders and use it as a cue for the rest of the corals that it's time for dinner.

I do the same as Gabe as far as maintenance. I don't think it would hinder the flow of pods if put before the refugium.

Jimbo, Yes, I called the cellphone number listed.

I guess just to clarify, my metal halide bulb I replace every year, no matter what. But I really don't consider the VHO's part of my lighting system, just sunrise/sunset and actinic supplementation. Regardless of whether I think of it as part of the system or not, it is... so I'm was just wondering what opinions were out there on the VHO's and its effects of the change of spectrum. I'm treating them like accentuated lighting, almost like LED's added to the system for glimmer. Again, doesn't mean that their fluctuations in spectrum will not affect my system. Timfish, thanks for the input about the VHO's. That was what I was reading between T-5's and VHO's, in the long run, I'm paying more for the VHOs. Thanks all for the input received so far. It's helping me narrow down my next move. -Ty

I called and ordered last night. He says he has several of these packs available. Obviously first come, first serve. He seemed real nice and I paid him through paypal. He said he will be off Monday but will ship out and I should receive them Wednesday. Hope this helps. -Ty

So, was thinking to myself, bought this complete system with a 250-watt metal halide and 4 VHO bulb setup. The VHO's are strictly actinic and I have them on a 11-hr schedule with 8hrs of the metal halide. I really only use the VHOs for sunrise/sunset effect and actinic supplementation for a slightly bluer look. I am starting to have suspicions that the spectrum change (VHOs change fast supposedly, within 6-12months) is causing unhappiness to my coral population. Not to the point of anything not looking good, but just a general irkedness I can see in the many different species of coral, especially my zoas. Reason being is that prior to the lights coming on, all the corals are opening in anticipation of the light, they all look great, then the actinics come on and they are still open, but just look slightly pissed. So, with that in mind, I was wanting to throw this problem out there to see what everyone on ARC has experienced or know of to see what you guys think. Do you think its possible for the VHO's to cause this irkedness (no idea the age of the bulbs)? The fans are tied to the VHO bulbs so I haven't gotten to try to run just the metal halide by itself, but I'll get around to it this weekend and test for a few weeks without VHOs. In the long-term, it would almost make more sense to switch to T-5's because they don't change spectrum as fast as VHO's if I am only using them for actinic supplementation, especially since I have have an IceCap 660 ballast that can run either. Let me know what you think. Thanks in advance for taking the time to roll this one around the old noggin' and share your thoughts with me. -Ty

I like the idea too. Just curious, what happens when it breaks?

Those short tentacle variety of fungia plates are almost bullet proof. Most are actually found in nature upside down, and they are still prolific. The only one I have ever had go south was because of a shrimp picking at its fleshy polyps. Do you have any shrimps in your tank? Those could be the culprit. Just my guess.