brojj

Came across this article & I remember that a reefer once ask in this forum whether he needs to feed his SPS which he has just put inside his tank. This is the answer i caame across just now. It has always surprised me the lengths aquarists go to devise various simulations of natural reef processes. The amount of ingenuity, effort, and expense spent on various aquarium devices and products is almost beyond belief. Aquarists hinge their belief that some bottle of trace elements or some new color temperature light bulb will increase the health and growth of their corals, despite scanty or non-existent evidence of it being true. Of all the many things that can potentially increase respiration, photosynthesis, and calcification - and have been show again and again to do so absolutely- feeding and water flow are the major players. Light, of course, is critically important as well, but aquarists by and large can and do provide enough quantity and quality of light for corals. Period. Phytoplankton, while a very beneficial addition to aquaria, does not feed most corals (Borneman 2002). Something as significant as zooplankton to both coral and coral reefs would seem worthy of the highest efforts in trying to produce, add, grow, substitute or in some way provide to tanks. I cannot think of a single greater accomplishment and advance for aquarists than to provide by whatever means (higher export and higher input, larger refugia, purchase, plankton tow, culture, etc.) significantly greater levels of zooplankton or zooplankton substitutes to their corals. I hope I am being dramatic enough by writing this, for this is among the most important steps that must be made to realize the majority of those lofty goals and ideals that are so often stated and desired by those keeping corals in aquariums. Similarly, I very much hope that the information in this article, and provided in additional works in the bibliography below, gives the slightest inkling of the predatory capabilities and importance of feeding in all corals. " The quality and fates of coral primary production imply that zooxanthellae provide "junk food" to their hosts, and beg the question of nutrient limitation of coral growth rates under conditions of adequate light…On present evidence it seems clear that all corals need to supplement their diet (with food) from outside the symbiosis (heterotrophy) in order to meet these requirements. " Hatcher, 1988 This is only the conclusion part. For more info, the link: http://www.reefkeeping.com/issues/2002-12/eb/ Any thoughts on this?

Yes, Bro solasido, you are right regarding the UV, 420nm spectrum or what Bro Evolutionz mentioned, True violet or hyper violet. I have similar effects too but only 3 weeks, still too early to tell. I am worried about saturation of the pigments on the corals after some time & 'back fired'. Experimenting on my corals now.

Try to get one ATI blue + (460nm spectrum, for PAR) & one ATI actinic (420nm spectrum, to 'POP' out the corals color), total of 2 T5 first to see how it goes. Give it a few months time for the SPS colors to come back. Remember, u will need to change out the T5 tubes every 8 to 10 months. I think in the long run, investing in maxspect razor 16K will be more worth. (although I switch back to T5 after using this. Should have get the 16K in the 1st place).

It is quite common to see another fan breakdown again on radion lightset. Their fans have a lot of problems. Hopefully they do something fast. The internet is 'swelling' with this issue, all over the world. But no doubt their lights is one of the best.

U can consider adding T5 to supplement LED with only blue & white to bring out the colors. Maxspect Razor 16K can be consider too. IMO, for corals, 420nm wavelenght is to 'POP' out the colors of the corals. Quite near to UV wavelenghts but harmless. Any wavelengths below 400nm & moving towards 380nm will become harmful, to living tissues. The corals absorb this light & give out lights in the wavelengths of 500 - 600nm, that is why the colors 'pop'. 460nm, provides enough PAR, blue lights will penetrate water to the deepest, red will be lost first follow by yellow & green wavelenghts. 500 to 600nm consists of green & yellow colors. 660nm consists of red, also algaes fav wavelenghts. Expensive LEDs make use of this combination of wavelenghts to bring out the colors of dfferent SPS. There are also debates on PUR versus PAR. Some argued that PUR (photosythesis useful radiation) will be better & having lots of PAR (photosythesis available radiation) consist of a lot of useless spectrum which corals will not need. Those supporting having enough PAR, is important for lights to reach corals & PAR measurement is more accurate compare to PUR & a lot of lightsets manufacturers still use PAR to measure their products efficiency. A lot of info can be found on the internet using google & u can find out much more interesting debates. It will answer your questions much more & find the correct lightset for your needs. Why blue & white so cheap is because they will not be able to bring out SPS colors without T5 support & those with colors are using the latest technology to bring out SPS colors based on R&D. U get what u pay for.

Copperband butterfly difficult to feed after aiptasias are all gone. But can be trained to accept prepared frozen food. Filefish readily accept pellets within a week. The down side to this once they choose to accept better food compared to aiptasias, they might not tackle any more new aiptasias that spur out later. IME i will choose filefish as i have higher survival rate with this. Sent from my GT-I9100 using Tapatalk 2

Copper butterfly & filefish are generally reef safe. I have kept 2 copperband butterfly before & they dun bother my corals. For filefish, 1 of them dun bother but the bigger one likes to eat my zoas. It all depends on their own taste buds. But 80% of the filefish shld be reefsafe. Sent from my GT-I9100 using Tapatalk 2

Keeping below 30degC at all times will be ok for most corals, provided that they re not from deep water or from cooler waters. However, if u have SPS, most reefers reported having success with around 26degC. Sent from my GT-I9100 using Tapatalk 2

There is no harm adding biofuel but not necessary if u re already using biopellets. No point as they are similar. Basic concept same for both. Sent from my GT-I9100 using Tapatalk 2

Get a chiller if u re serious about keeping corals for long term. Mushrooms re ok but colors will not be vibrant. Sent from my GT-I9100 using Tapatalk 2

$22 Sent from my GT-I9100 using Tapatalk 2

Sounds expensive but can last very long loh. Using them for 2 months already but bottles still 70%, of course, varies from tank to tank. More volume, consumption higher. Sent from my GT-I9100 using Tapatalk 2

Yah. Good skimmer. I am using this & love it. Sent from my GT-I9100 using Tapatalk 2

Dosing biofuel will help to bring down NO3 further. Biofuel is similar to carbon dosing. But will have to dose biofuel daily to see signifiance results. Sent from my GT-I9100 using Tapatalk 2

Based on it's performance & it's price, it is a 'value for $' skimmer. My 4th & best skimmer, so far. Sent from my GT-I9100 using Tapatalk 2

Some doctor fish feeds on frozen prepared food, example marine life cleaner wrasse already trained to feed on his food, greatly enchancing this fish survival rate compared to older times. Of cos u will have to buy his frozen food to continue feeding this fish in your tank if u decided to get from him. Make sure it is already feeding before buying. Also, other fishes in the tank will like this food very much too. Sent from my GT-I9100 using Tapatalk 2

This is very informative & it is gonna help a lot of fellow reefers using LED. Good work. Keep us posted on more results & info. Sent from my GT-I9100 using Tapatalk 2

I use both, depending on situations, i will choose either one. Epoxy more for bigger applications or where stronger bond is required. Epoxy the more u use, the better u will become. Sent from my GT-I9100 using Tapatalk 2

Then, better dun hang it. Sent from my GT-I9100 using Tapatalk 2

Bro, u will have problems changing tubes if your fixture 1) very near water 2) long tubes, more than 3ft, longer than when both your arms extended out & u cannot reach both ends. 3) when the tubes are too compact, too close to each other. Not enough room for your fingers to go in at an angle. 4) Retro fit. Sent from my GT-I9100 using Tapatalk 2

Yes, for 4ft need to get 2 sets of 120W for good coverage. Sent from my GT-I9100 using Tapatalk 2

The cover also slides in & out very easily. Sent from my GT-I9100 using Tapatalk 2

Not really diificult, at least for my case. 7 inches above water & the tubes came out & go in very easily. However, i do need to off the wavemaker & the power supply to the lights 1st. Sent from my GT-I9100 using Tapatalk 2

And dun worry, a lot of maxspect user here, in this forum. Sent from my GT-I9100 using Tapatalk 2

Sorri can't help u here. Never see in detail the hanging kit although i have used maxspect razor before but i believe it should have one end where u can secured it onto hooks. My ATI came with that. Hope somebody can help u with that. Bro Evolutionz hang his maxspect. Maybe u can try PM him for help. Sent from my GT-I9100 using Tapatalk 2