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Upgrade, 75 gallon reef

K

kason42

Thanks for the compliment. I really want to keep it that way- nothing out to the right. The green thing is a carpet anemone.
 
K

kason42

What differences come with different actinic bulbs? I notice that some are more blue, while others are almost a purple color, similar to a black light. I'm looking for bulbs that really bring out the colors when the metal halides are off. I want more of a florescent type.
 
K

kason42

Also, can anyone make any recommendations towards t5 lighting brands. I really want to switch over to all t5's, however I need to support my sps. Oh yeah, and any recommendations on skimmers...my odysea is falling apart and sucks, bad.
 
JRWOHLER

JRWOHLER

You can certainly keep SPS under T5 lighting, Tek lights, Catalina Aquariums, Ice Cap retros, and there are bunch of other ones. I would say 6 or 8 bulbs for you tank would work. I have 8x54 Catalina Aquarium fixture and it is doing great. I think JerseyWendy had a 6x54..Tek on her 75...if memory serves correct that was her old setup.
Just look around see what you like. Think the bigger choice will be what bulbs you will eventually use.
Hope that is a help/start.
 
K

kason42

Long time without an update. I actually decided about 9 months ago to go with the 6x54 watt Tek T5s. The bulb combination has been lacking due to a poor amount of knowledge at the time. Today I'm happy because I finally bought new bulbs. I went with JerseyWendy's recommendation of

ATI Blue +
ATI Blue Special
GE 6500
ATI Blue +
ATI Blue Special
ATI Blue +

I love it!! I'm finally happy with the lights and my corals are really coming out. I'll post some pictures as soon as I get a chance.

Merry Christmas Everyone!
 
K

kason42

Not yet, but my odysea skimmer pulls out a ton of muck every week. The trick was to just set it and leave it alone. It used to constantly overflow on me because I was constantly fiddling with the level...now it works fine. It's not the best skimmer in the world, and I will get a new one asap, but it's been doing a great job over the last month. :D
 
K

kason42

Here are some new pictures. I had a crash a few months ago because my heater had died..however, I'm finally slowly adding coral. I made a stop at red sand yesterday to see Feng, and ended up buying a few heads of frogspawn and some really pretty red zoas. Today, I'm buying a blue tang and a maroon clown. ;D

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K

kason42

I'm hoping my frogspawn will make it this time. A year ago I had a torch coral that died from brown jelly, and a few months ago while I held 2 heads of fs for a friend, one of the heads died, and the other would not open. So far so good with these ones. They are looking very healthy, more every day. I think my tank has finally come to a balanced maturity. Wish me luck.
 
K

kason42

Does anyone have a 75 gallon with T5's? I'm running 6x54 watt Tek T5s and I'm wondering how close they should be over the tank. I used to have them hanging about 4 or 5 inches above. Today I decided to lower them to where they're just about kissing the rim. I'm wondering how much of a difference in par this makes? Anyone have any suggestions?
 
JRWOHLER

JRWOHLER

I have 8x54 T5 over a 120 I would say about 8 inches above the water. You don't lose a lot of par going through air. :)
 
K

kason42

Good to know. I've just looked through your build, beautiful tank by the way, and I definitely notice that your corals aren't lacking any color. It seems like my colors are too dull. I'm using the same combination JerseyWendy was using on her 75.
 
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