I finally took the MH plunge!

fishmamma

Active Member
Well I did it. Went to LFS today for some snails and came home with some snails and a new light fixture. :scared: I went with a 150 watt 20K bulb for my 20 gallon extra tall tank. I have not set it up yet since I am trying to make sure I want the 20K bulb instead of a 14K. I want to bring out the gorgeous colors in my zoanthid collections so I figured the blue spectrum will be nice since it will be the only light source. :thinking:
 

dogstar

Active Member
Congrats and enjoy.
I personally would have went woth the 14K but to each their own, right?
In a 20g you should be able to keep most any thing with that light. Being a tall you have options as to place things high or low depending on the corals needs.
Good Luck
 

mr_bill

Active Member
Grats FIshmamma,
I will some day too, I just need to find a home for the one PC fixture it would replace. Oh, and get the OK from the Mrs.Bill.
 

fishmamma

Active Member
Originally Posted by Mr_Bill
Grats FIshmamma,
I will some day too, I just need to find a home for the one PC fixture it would replace. Oh, and get the OK from the Mrs.Bill.

I understand COMPLETELY!!
Dogstar- I considered the 14K. I think the decision breaker is that I love to look at my other reef tank under actinics only to take in all the flourescence......this being the case did I make the right decision? As you can tell I am on the fence here. :notsure:
 

alohami

Member
Hey Fishmamma,
You finally did it! I'm so excited for you! :cheer:
I think you will be happy with the 20k. I have a 150w MH on my 16 that is a 14k and its nice, but I think the 20k will really make your colors pop. I plan to try a 20k when it's time to replace the bulb.
What fixture did you end up going with?
 

mikeyjer

Active Member
That's great to hear! I run 14k in mine together with VHO actinics so that takes care of the blue part. :happyfish
 

fishmamma

Active Member
:jumping: :cheer: :jumping: Oh, thanks guys and gals!!! I went with the Aqua Medic Ocean Light 150. Paid more for it at LFS but it is their recommended lighting and I try to buy some equipment there since they help me so often with questions and provide wonderful stock and advice. Hopefully we will get it up this weekend so I can start adding some corals. I am so pumped to see my zoanthids regain their gorgeous colors under the lighting in the new tank. :jumping: :cheer: :jumping:
Aloha- How are things going with you and your tank? Anything new?
 

alohami

Member
Its going pretty well, thanks! No major catastrophes lately so that's a good thing. Need to do a little maintenance this weekend though.
A few things have changed. My six-line jumped ship, and this is going to sound horrible but I wasn't very upset. He was a meanie anyway.
So, with the bully out of the tank I was able to add 2 percs this past week. My kiddo is so excited about that and he's having a blast watching them. What is funny is seeing the little yellow clown goby try to pick on the newbies. He charges at them, but the percs don't hardly even notice. He's mostly given up now and gone back to just hanging out on the purple pagoda cup I added a little while ago. It's pretty unique because it has multiple cups. It opens really well, but I think it will look a lot brighter when I switch to a 20k bulb.
 

dogstar

Active Member
Yep, the corals with the fluoresent pigments are really nice under actinic lighting, but, and I dont mean to sound like Im telling you what to do, corals do better under lighting of a higher par lower spectrum. Many may survive with hihger K ratings but hard for them to thrive. Unless you are going to limit yourself to only corals that dont require strong lighting. Also and this is as always OMO. You will loose the natural overall beauty of the rest or other corals under a 20000k. Most just look darkend and drab.
I feel a 14000k will give you the best of both worlds and the corals as well.
Just some facts I found if your intrested. //
The zooxanthellae are the golden brown to brown colored algae that are found in the inner tissue layer of corals. They are responsible for the brownish coloration of many corals, and when coral bleach, their skeleton turns white from the expulsion of these tiny protist algae.
The fluorescing proteins, once thought to be only of the green type, are now found in at least eleven colors/types, including, orange, yellow, pink, and red. They appear to be mostly located in the animal tissue, near to the zooxanthellae, and may have numerous roles only now being investigated. The green fluorescing proteins are thought to absorb light of the near UV range and reflect it back to the zooxanthellae in a wavelength they can use in photosynthesis. They may also be used in quenching in high light environments and serve a sort of photoprotective role.
The animal biochromes are those which are found in the animal itself and serve no obvious light-related role. They are probably entirely obtained by diet, and give corals their many brightly colored hues. As corals are sessile animals, they serve no obvious role in display or mating, but may serve in mimicry or warning coloration. This is nicely seen in the symbiotic relationships with some zoanthids and sponges. Other roles of coral color are not well established.
HTH. BTW, is this the Jawfish tank ? Hows it doing ?
 

fishmamma

Active Member
Journeyman- Not sure of the actual brand of the bulb since it is under the LFS label. Hopefully it is a good quality bulb.
Thanks for the info Dogstar, input is always appreciated. I discuss the needs of different corals and the LFS said clams, zoos, softies etc. would be fine under this lighting but if I ever want SPS I would need to switch bulbs. Does that sound right to you? I know the 10K is best for growth but since it is a nano I am not overly concerned with a slower growth rate. Out of curiosity do you feed your zoos anything? My tanks get frozen cyclopeeze a couple times a week and some Selcon once a month but that is about it. No phyto or anything. I actually have not been able to elicit a feeding response from any of my zoas, even with target feeding. :thinking: Yup, this is the Jaw tank and the Jawfish is doing really well, thanks for asking! He is so funny to watch and the goby is a perfect tank mate for him. They just share burrows and holes and don't ever compete or get aggressive for food.
Aloha- What a character that goby is....so happy you finally got the clowns for your son. They are so fun to watch wiggle around the tank! What kind did you get? Any new pics you can post?
Roo- I have one picture of the Jaw (still unnamed) and Mr. Yasha) that I can try to post soon, but otherwise not much new to show. I will share once I get some corals in and the new light up and running. How are things with your tank?
Maybe I will see about posting the pic of my two silly fish......
 

celacanthr

Active Member
hmmm....well...
LOTS! LOL
I am setting up a sump (finally) so that I can move all of my LR to it.
I am doing this so that i can actually enjoy all of the macro's and seagrasses without the rocks getting in the way.
I placed another order with that place, and ordered some REALLY neat stuff! like...A BLUE BRITTLE STAR!
I am also gonna add another inch (or more) of sand, and I am gonna do a mix of different size grains, to see if that will help my jaw build a permanent home (he moved again!).
I will probably mix the following:
Miracle mud (except it is not really miracle mud, it is that mud at that site i order from)
some of that "pink" sand (It's particles are actually preetty big, like clumps of aragonite, except not big enough to trap detritus)
some shells (I bought em from michaels, since I new I wasn't gonna use a lots, I still need ot boil the shells that I bought from michaels)
the "live keys sand" (not alot of it though, only like 1 pound) that they sell at that site
and home depot sand (very fine, what most of my sand bed si made up of)
My PJ cardinal is fine
Still battling those diatoms, which was another big decission maker on moving the rock into a sump
I am gonna settup a 15 gall tall for seahorses sometime soon... like in the next 3 months ( I plan on actually drilling the tank...maybe...)
Oh...and I plan on ordering the overflow box this weekend!!! yay..now to go look over at fleebay....
I am so hyper...I have lots to do this weekend!
 

celacanthr

Active Member
YAY! he/she is soo coooool (LOL) very very nice!
ooooooh it looks like the yashe (sp?) is taking after the Jawfish. imitation is the most sincere form of flattery.

*tooo cool*
 

fishmamma

Active Member
Wow, sounds like you have lots going on! Will you be leaving any rock for your brittle to hide in/under? My Jaw moves frequently also between a couple of spots....still no burrowing. Just piles up some shells. :mad: I hope you get some good activity in that DSB once the rock is out. Diatoms will pass in time. What do you have in there for snails?
 

celacanthr

Active Member
1) yes, i will be leaving a bit of LR in there, but mostly for the corals to have a place to spread on.
2)Yes, aren't jawfish wierd. You give em everything they need to dig...so of course they don't!
3)I have astrea, turbo, Nassarius vibex, nerite, some unidentified peach colored ones I got from a friend, and some marginella's.
 

fishmamma

Active Member
Are they making a dent in the diatoms? Is it like in anew tank where everything is covered....glass, sand and rocks?
 

fishmamma

Active Member
I should add that I do love my quirky Jaw and totally regret not getting tow of them. After talking to my LFS the other day they seemed to think two would have been fine in my tank. Oh well. Probably would have needed to add both at the same time right?
 

celacanthr

Active Member
As for them denting the diatoms....nope, not at all. No, I calean of my front glass daily,a dn my side glass weekly,so very little accumulation there. Absolutely no growth on the sand.

Also as for having to add 2 at the same time.
That is what everyone says you have to do, but I have a theory, tha tI think I may implament into my redesigned tank.
Maybe if you take out the jawfish that is already in the tank, and then acclimate the new one to the tank, and then add them both to the aquarium, then that may work.

Although, the only problem is that there is no way to --- jawfish, so if your first jaw was a male, and the second was a male, then the smaller one will be bullied. The best thing is to have jawfish trios. If you have all males, then the aggression is usually between the 2 largest, and the smaller one can live in peace. Also you run a higher chance of getting at least one female and at least one male. Although in a tank that small, I think 3 jawfish would be impossible to keep in there. I suppose that if you have a LFS that regularly imports jawfish, then you could buy a jawfish, and if he is aggressive then you could take on of the jawfish back.
 
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