My 29 gallon mixed reef

scopus tang

Active Member
myzislow that is some serious change
! How long of a time period? What type of a light are you running? Your ricordias look amazing
.
 

myzislow

Member
Thanks. About 3 years or so in between. I'm using a 150w sun pod and in that pic a 14k phoenix bulb.
 

mopar9012

Active Member
how many pounds of live rock do you have? I have a 29 Gallon and wish my rock was like that. I have about 65 pounds. Do you break it up into smaller pieces?
im currently working on getting T-5 lighting over my tank
 

myzislow

Member
Thanks for the kind words everyone.
mopar9012- It's been so long since the tank was set up but if i had to guess they're is probably ~40-50 lbs or so, maybe a tad more. There are actually some pretty good size pieces in my tank, it's just kind of hard to decipher from the picture. Here is a pic with a flash and no light that I took last water change when I was doing some cleaning. It kind of gives you a better idea of my rock lay out.
 

vivioo7

Member
do you keep your power heads pointed up like that? i read somewhere that they should be pointed down and towards the middle of the front glass, any truth to that?
 

myzislow

Member
Originally Posted by vivioo7
http:///forum/post/2667162
do you keep your power heads pointed up like that? i read somewhere that , any truth to that?
I sure do. I have some serious flow in my tank for a 29 gallon. It took some tweaking to get it just right, but the flow pattern is awesome now. My flow is very random and chaotic, with crazy surface agitation. Seems to be working for me. I have added another korilia nano for the back behind the rocks to keep detritus suspended.
I don't know if there is any truth to the statement; "they should be pointed down and towards the middle of the front glass" as every tank and set up is different and you just have to find what works for you. I used to have a emperor 400 HOB that dumped flow "pointing down and in the middle" and it created the weirdest flow pattern. It was pushing everything down and was inhibiting a few of my SPS from growing upwards as the flow was just pounding down on them. I removed it and the corals immediately started to shoot upwards and the tank looks way better with out it.
Yeah the tank has been up since 04 and has had many different looks over the years:

beginning

LPS/zoanthid dominated with PC lighting

getting crowded-still PC lighting

Got the HQI set up and SPS craze begins-still crowded


Changed the look and cleaned/fragged things up a bit-I really liked the tank here

current FTS- It looks really bad here as there is a lot of white rock and putty showing as I've been messing with the tank a lot lately. The sps bug hit me and I've been collecting for the past year and half. A lot of my corals are still small frags but they're growing like crazy and have awesome color.
You can see how much some of the coral have grown though from comparing the shots; most notably the large encrusting rainbow monti on the top left area, and as you can see I still have my original two acroporas from the PC pictures, right in the middle of the tank. I've fragged the left one though so it's kind of small, but it is in other places in my tanks and loooks awesome.
I'll see if i can take some newer shots of some of my corals later.
Thanks again for the kind words
 

gatorwpb

Active Member
I love the progressions shots! Great looking tank!
What do you think about the phoenix? What were you using before?
Growth has been good? Did you notice the corals' color changing?
I have the 2x150w sunpod over my 65 and Im thinking about switching bulbs.
I kept the stock bulbs for a year. Then I switched to Aqualine AB 10k which have great PAR and a good blueish white color. I have a pair of 21w t-5 actinics. Im thinking about going with 14k phoenix bulbs and swapping out the act for 10k t-5 bulbs.
 

myzislow

Member
Originally Posted by GatorWPB
http:///forum/post/2667714
I love the progressions shots! Great looking tank!
What do you think about the phoenix? What were you using before?
Growth has been good? Did you notice the corals' color changing?
I have the 2x150w sunpod over my 65 and Im thinking about switching bulbs.
I kept the stock bulbs for a year. Then I switched to Aqualine AB 10k which have great PAR and a good blueish white color. I have a pair of 21w t-5 actinics. Im thinking about going with 14k phoenix bulbs and swapping out the act for 10k t-5 bulbs.
I liked the phoenix a lot but found it to be a lot dimmer after 7 months of use(10 hours a day). The corals colors were awesome and the growth was good but I wanted to try another bulb before I set on the phoenix as my sole choice. I ran the stock current 14k before it and didn't like it after awhile. I'm now running the radium 20kand love it. It's brighter then the phoenix and has more PAR, so better growth; things are really taking off right now.
I'm going to be adding a retrofit T5 actinic here soon. Kind of DIY project and it may not look the best aesthetically but it will be effective.
 

fishieness

Active Member
how does the color of the radium compare to the phoenix?
Do you have a picture of the tank with the radium?
 

myzislow

Member
radium 20k is definitely not your average 20k in terms of color. It is a very bright, crisp white color with a tinge of blue. My phoenix was definitely a bluer bulb, even though it's rated at lower kelvin. I'm still undecided which one I like better in terms of color; but they are both great looking. I really think the growth is going to be a lot better with this bulb as well as some of my corals are already showing very noticeable accelerated growth in the last week and a half.
The last FTS is under the radium 20k. I'll try and getter better a better FTS soon as that one sucks and doesnt really represent the true color.
 
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