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#51
11/28/2007, 11:58 AM
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Thanks for the reply. I'm currently deciding between the Solaris with cooling fans for temperature control vs MH with a chiller on a 225. Solaris will be approx $1k more expensive once I buy the chiller for the MH.
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Curt |
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#52
11/28/2007, 01:00 PM
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Well, when I considered the cost of Solaris vs. MH, I figured the bulb replacement costs, electric savings from a) running the chiller, b) running the MH and c) the additional cost of A/C to cool down the room from the heat generated from the lights. We keep our house at about 75 degrees, so I based it on that. You really have to play with the numbers to get an individual picture.
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"In among the branches of the corals, like birds among trees, floated many beautiful fish, radiant with metallic greens or crimsons...." J. Beete Jukes 1842-46 |
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#53
11/28/2007, 02:07 PM
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Are there any things you prefered with MH over the Solaris?
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Curt |
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#54
11/28/2007, 02:09 PM
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Some pics from this morning:
Pink Vase Coral:  Chocolate Tang:  Australian Pagoda Cup  Most likely Suharsonoi...need a bit more growth to be sure (note the nice polyp extension): 
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"In among the branches of the corals, like birds among trees, floated many beautiful fish, radiant with metallic greens or crimsons...." J. Beete Jukes 1842-46 |
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#55
11/28/2007, 02:12 PM
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Oh, and the corals aren't placed where they'll end up until I make sure where the anemone will settle.
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"In among the branches of the corals, like birds among trees, floated many beautiful fish, radiant with metallic greens or crimsons...." J. Beete Jukes 1842-46 |
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#56
11/28/2007, 02:18 PM
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Well, I haven't really had a chance yet to tell. There is definitely more shimmer with MH, but there is shimmer with these as well. I think I'll be happy with the amount these give off. With the G series I would say there is a big difference, but the I series gives off some serious light. I currently have the whites down to 65% and the tank is still very brightly lit. There is NO heat coming from the bottom of the lights. The tank is maintaining at about 77.5 to 78.6 according to the log on the Aquacontroller III.
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"In among the branches of the corals, like birds among trees, floated many beautiful fish, radiant with metallic greens or crimsons...." J. Beete Jukes 1842-46 |
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#57
11/28/2007, 02:33 PM
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Here's a short video that shows the shimmer on the rocks. Sorry for how blue the video is...the camera won't let me adjust white balance on the video...or if it does, I don't know how to do it. The pics show a truer representation of the color.
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"In among the branches of the corals, like birds among trees, floated many beautiful fish, radiant with metallic greens or crimsons...." J. Beete Jukes 1842-46 |
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#58
11/28/2007, 03:44 PM
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Looks good! As you adjust the color of the light does the unit tell you the actual "k" color of the light? If so, what K are you running?
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Curt |
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#59
11/28/2007, 06:17 PM
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It gives you the percentage of blue or white.
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"In among the branches of the corals, like birds among trees, floated many beautiful fish, radiant with metallic greens or crimsons...." J. Beete Jukes 1842-46 |
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#60
11/28/2007, 06:44 PM
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that's a short video alright!
 will be very interested to see that fixture turned all the way up, past models have been quite blue at 20K, yours should be much better at 15K very nice, thanks for the updates
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"Try not to become a man of success but rather a man of value" Albert Einstein |
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#61
11/28/2007, 07:07 PM
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Well, this is 100% blue and 65% white.
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"In among the branches of the corals, like birds among trees, floated many beautiful fish, radiant with metallic greens or crimsons...." J. Beete Jukes 1842-46 |
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#62
11/28/2007, 07:57 PM
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looks great and there is some shimmer there! Might just have to consider the solaris?
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"My mid life crisis is my reef tank! If I wated to save money I'd have bought a convertible Porche!" Brent |
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#63
11/28/2007, 08:04 PM
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It'll will be fun to see how long it takes for that vase coral to fully color back up. Some of the coral I"ll be putting in will be browned out or low color so I can track the coloration under LED's.
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"In among the branches of the corals, like birds among trees, floated many beautiful fish, radiant with metallic greens or crimsons...." J. Beete Jukes 1842-46 |
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#66
11/28/2007, 09:58 PM
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Thanks James! He ate like a champ tonight, both Frozen Formula 2 and mysis. Everything is very expanded, polyps all open and seem to be doing well. I'm going to wait until tomorrow to move anything else in...give the tank a bit of space to catch up and equal out.
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"In among the branches of the corals, like birds among trees, floated many beautiful fish, radiant with metallic greens or crimsons...." J. Beete Jukes 1842-46 |
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#67
12/02/2007, 08:36 PM
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any new updates? new full tank shot without your old tank in front?
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"My mid life crisis is my reef tank! If I wated to save money I'd have bought a convertible Porche!" Brent |
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#68
12/02/2007, 09:11 PM
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We're at day 14 and we just got the Vortech's in place. We tried them in various areas around the tank and decided on the back glass on the inside of the overflow boxes. All the fish and the anemone have been transferred over from the old tank (yesterday) and we finally got all the old equipment out today. I'll try to post some new pics up in an hour or two. Everything's doing amazing so far!
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"In among the branches of the corals, like birds among trees, floated many beautiful fish, radiant with metallic greens or crimsons...." J. Beete Jukes 1842-46 |
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#69
12/02/2007, 11:08 PM
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WOW! I have 48" Solaris on Oceanic 90 Tech Tank. Now I want a 210 thanks!Looks great and I've had Solaris for over a year and its a great great light. All the hype is 100% true! Keep us posted w/ more pics
joe
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JMCHZN This reef insures my kids get nothing! |
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#70
12/02/2007, 11:41 PM
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So, after placing the Vortech's and turning them on...wow! I think I have the cleanest rock in the hobby! The Vortech's took all the silt and debris off the rock and into suspension in the tank. The sand is gently moving on top and all the coral seems to be moving well. I think we have the flow perfect between the Vortech's and the Flow Accelerators. Still love the lights. There is one minor negative to the lights: near the top there are some areas that have patchy light due to the LED's not having reflectors. Doesn't bother me, but I could see this as a negative to some that want to build right up to the surface. I always keep my rock lower in the tank. The postive aspects of the lights certainly outweigh that one negative IMO. All my parameters are staying stable:
Salinity: 1.024 Calcium: 460 Alk: 10 Magnesium: 1420 Ammonia: 0 Nitrite: 0 Nitrate: 0 Temp: 77.5-79.5 Here are some pics from yesterday and today: Moving the anemone:   A couple hours later:  
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"In among the branches of the corals, like birds among trees, floated many beautiful fish, radiant with metallic greens or crimsons...." J. Beete Jukes 1842-46 |
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#71
12/02/2007, 11:42 PM
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     Blue Spot Jawfish:  Lots of silt and detritus in water after adding vortechs 
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"In among the branches of the corals, like birds among trees, floated many beautiful fish, radiant with metallic greens or crimsons...." J. Beete Jukes 1842-46 |
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#72
12/05/2007, 12:44 PM
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Just an update: so far so good! The only problem so far has been that I lost some tissue on the tip of the Suharsonoi as I think it was too close to one of the Vortechs. I had a slight diatom bloom on the sand and added 5 Tongan conchs and it was gone in a day and a half. The anemone is doing well and ate two silversides and some scallop last night. It settled nicely right where I wanted it so I'm really happy about that. I added my pair of Bellus Angels and the female is hanging out with the female maroon clown which makes me nervous as they are very close to the anemone. I usually don't worry about fish getting close to it since the clowns chase them off...but they don't seem to mind the angel being right there. I also added a second female Pseudanthias pluerotaenia (Squarespot anthias) and am waiting on a super male to finish up the trio. I've had the first female about 5 years. I had a male as well but I lost him to lockjaw. After extensive research I now make sure that I feed lots of good veggies (love Julian Sprung's Sea Veggies) as I think the lockjaw was caused by a vitamin deficiency. Over the past 5 years I've only lost two fish: the male anthias and a midas blenny. The midas was startled when the lights went out and dove right into the anemone. Now I always make sure my moonlights are on when my lights go off. I'm still very happy with the Solaris. All my corals are doing well, no bleaching and nicely extended polyps.
Please do note: I don't recommend rushing a tank as I'm doing. I had many "tools" at my disposal to get this up and running quickly. My rock was fully cycled for close to a month and I added 4 bags of pods to the cycling bin. I also added a good amount of live sand from existing tanks, rock and sand from existing refugiums were added to my refugium, water from existing tanks was used so my tanks was not "sterile" when I started. I also have access to backup tanks if I were to notice any problems. I highly recommend at least a 3-6 week cycle period, especially for new hobbyists in order to allow the new tank to build up a strong biological base before adding livestock!
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"In among the branches of the corals, like birds among trees, floated many beautiful fish, radiant with metallic greens or crimsons...." J. Beete Jukes 1842-46 |
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#73
12/05/2007, 12:49 PM
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I have the Solaris set to 100% blue and dropped the white to 50% as they light seemed very intense and I wanted to add more coral. I placed a gorgeous plana last night that my wonderful friend Carole (Waterfaller1...thank you!!!!) gave me as a tank warming gift. This will be a great piece to gauge the effects of the Solaris over time.
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"In among the branches of the corals, like birds among trees, floated many beautiful fish, radiant with metallic greens or crimsons...." J. Beete Jukes 1842-46 |
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#74
12/05/2007, 01:16 PM
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Looks great. Keep us posted on how your sps are responding to the Solaris. I'm very interested to see how the LED lighting effects coloration.
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Curt |
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#75
12/05/2007, 02:08 PM
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Some pics from this morning:
215 gallons to hang in and they ALL have to stay inches from the anemone..sheesh!    Holding color nicely:   Aussie Elegance:  Plana: 
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"In among the branches of the corals, like birds among trees, floated many beautiful fish, radiant with metallic greens or crimsons...." J. Beete Jukes 1842-46 |
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