250 Gallon room-divider project log

[jeffbrig]

Here's some cool info for the equipment geeks out there. I was able to borrow a Hanna lux meter from another hobbyist, so I got to play around and take some measurements of my lighting setup. Remember, lux is nowhere near as meaningful as PAR would be, so this is just a vague comparison of lighting intensity. I'm not sure how valid a comparison of lux from sunlight vs. artificial, so take everything here with a big grain of salt.

For background reference, an outdoor reading here in S. Florida in January was 110 near midday.

T5s
Right after turning on, I measured 53 with the probe against the bulb. At the water level, I saw 13-15 right under the bulb, with a low of about 10 across the water's surface. I also wanted to check the performance of the T5s against temperature, since it is reported that output falls off in some fixtures that trap heat. After 10 minutes, the bulb surface measured 120 degrees F with a temperature probe. output had risen to 57. After another 10-15 minute, the bulb surface was 132 F, and I measured lux output of 58.

That seemed to be on the hot side of things, so I was surprised output didn't drop. I did some reading, and it seems that temp ratings are based on ambient air temp, not bulb temperature. T5HO is supposed to have a max output at 95 F. Well, the inside of my canopy is usually just 78-79, and the lights aren't terribly enclosed. I placed my temp probe between the T5 bulb and the side of the reflector, and the air temp was 102 F. I think that's close enough that I don't need to worry about adding fans to increase T5 output.

Then I turned on the MHs. Just under the pendant glass, I measured anywhere from 140-170. Yep, higher than my outdoor readings. Of course, that drops off quite a bit, and by the surface of the water, I was seeing 50 directly below the pendant, and around 25 at the extreme edges of the tank.

Last, I checked the refugium light - an 18w screw in compact flourescent. It read 60 at the bulb surface, but just 4.5 at the water. It's a flood light, so the spread isn't terribly surprising, given that its currently mounted several inches above the water.

I expect to wrap up some projects (switch wiring, VHO testing) and post some more pictures later this weekend...

[The Reefer91]

Jeff, how long would you say it took to get this system suitable and running with rock in it?

[jeffbrig]

Too funny....I posted in your other thread before I found your question here.

It was about 5 months from the day the tank arrived to when I added LR.

[ufchristyb]

Hey everybody!!

Go vote in the January photo contest. Vote for pic No. 15 if you want to vote for a certain special clownfish who survived a bout with Brook!

http://archive.reefcentral.com/forum...readid=1033752

--Christy

[agarza]

15 it is, good luck

[Ah64av8tor]

Jeff,

I can't find where you posted your new coral dip procedures?

I have been pretty lucky but did get some flat worms ... not the bad coral eating ones or the big red/green ones these were very small about 1mm and only a few of them, but they are gone now thanks to some FW Exit.

I need to get it wired for swap and the start up of the 150.

[jeffbrig]

I've been doing an overnight treatment of Interceptor (at 3-5X recommended in-tank dosage), then a FWE treatment, then a 10 minute bath with an iodine coral dip. Also, a visual inspection to make sure there's nothing else undesirable on there, like AEFWs. If I'm not re-mounting the coral, I take a toothbrush and scrub the heck out of the rock that the coral is attached to, just to be safe.

Christy and I have been busy this week. We dusted off the 55g QT, and right now we have 7 small blue/green chromis (we needed a new schooling fish), 2 pink skunk clowns, a tomini tang, an african kole tang (different from your average kole), and a target mandarin with orange lipstick (she's a girl, lol). As of now, all of them (even the mandarin) are eating, and I just did the first water change to start lowering them into hypo. Most of the fish are from Coral Reef Farm, but the Kole came from Reef's Edge (who always has great fish in their african shipments).

I also cherry picked one of the corals I've always wanted to find. A pink pocillopora eyedouxi (cat's paw) that came in a shipment today at Coral Reef Farm. I REALLY hope this one acclimates well and holds its color, it should be a fantastic piece.

Hopefully I can get some pics to post tomorrow...

[Glorfindel]

I thought mandarins were imune to ich - why wouldn't you just go ahead and introduce it to your system instead of risking having it starve?

You probably have a very good reason - I am still fairly new to this and trying to learn.

[jeffbrig]

While mandarins usually do not catch ich, they're not immune. I've read more than one account of one coming down with it. So, better safe than sorry...

Since the mandarin is eating live brine, frozen mysis, and cyclopeeze, there's little/no risk of starvation.

[Lunchbucket]

what do the African Koles look like??

thanks
Lunchbucket

[jeffbrig]

Instead of a dark grey fish with yellow eyes, the body is more mauve/lavender with pale blue spots and yellow eyes. very interesting looking. She doesn't have her full color right now, but I expect her to perk up in our care.

--Christy

p.s. The last mandarin goby we had (died in qt) had ich. So, they are definitely not immune.

[new2u]

I know everyones had a debate on this through here BUT...

Wouldn't you say that with the increased immunity, that if not QT'd he would have a much greater chance of survival? I'd say he stands a better chance of starving in the QT or catching ich from one of the other QT inhabitants (which is probably how the other manderian got it)?

[Lunchbucket]

Jeff, are those Afrian ones spendy? any pics that you know of out there??

my wife LOVES yellow eye kole tangs and would love to see pics.

thanks
Lunhbucket

[ufchristyb]

Originally posted by new2u
I know everyones had a debate on this through here BUT...

Wouldn't you say that with the increased immunity, that if not QT'd he would have a much greater chance of survival? I'd say he stands a better chance of starving in the QT or catching ich from one of the other QT inhabitants (which is probably how the other manderian got it)?

Yes, I agree with you re: mandarins stand a much greater chance of survival if not QTd. Our last one starved in QT - the fish store told us he was eating frozen food, but he was not. We never could get him to consume anything - including the live pods we pulled out of our chaeto and dropped into the QT for him. the mandarin we have currently is eating live brine like a pig, so I think he has a much better chance of getting through QT just fine.

As for the ich. Our last mandarin had visible ich spots two days after we brought him home from the fish store, so, knowing the lifecycle of ich, I am almost 100% sure that he was infected with it at the fish store.

That being said, I am not willing to risk all of my healthy, ich-free tangs in my display by putting in any fish that has not gone through a QT procedure - even an ich resistant mandarin.

So, our current mandarin will remain in the QT for a nice little hypo treatment before moving to his new home. And in the meantime, I will keep buying live brine on a bi-weekly basis so he has something to munch on.

--Christy

[ufchristyb]

Originally posted by Lunchbucket
Jeff, are those Afrian ones spendy? any pics that you know of out there??

my wife LOVES yellow eye kole tangs and would love to see pics.

thanks
Lunhbucket

Here is a pic of what we expect her to look like once she colors back up - she is a little pale right now, likely from stress and the meds used at the LFS.



We got her for a steal at one of our favorite LFSs ($24.99), but I don't think the internet prices are bad either.

--Christy

[ufchristyb]

Oh, by the way, think this fish is also known as a Spotted Kole Tang. Our LFS refers to it as an African Spotted, since thats its origin, but I don't think thats a common name.

--Christy

[maxxII]

FYI, Live brine has almost no nutritional value. It is possible for a fish to starve to death while eating live brine. If you guys arent already doing it, I would suggest adding Selcon and Zoe alternately to foods to supplement.

Nick

[new2u]

Jeff and Christy, great astute observations. I hadn't weighed the value of the fish in the aquarium beforhand. Perhaps QTing the manderian alone with some macro algea in your corals tank would yeild better results. Watch him either a full, or abbreviated QT period to check for the ich while the pods from the algea sustain him, then plop him in the big one.

[ufchristyb]

Thankfully when dealing with mandarins, its fairly easy to tell when they are not getting enough to eat because their bellies get concave. The one we have currently is nice and fat throughout and seems to be eating fairly well. He was even showing interest in some pellets the other night. So, I have high hopes for him. Interestingly enough, he also has what appears to be a few ich cysts on his top and bottom fins. None on his body - likely thanks to that protective slime coat, but they are definitely evident on his fins.

The mandarin and all the other QT inhabitants are now fully in hypo at 1.09 sg, so we expect the ich to resolve over the next little bit.

--Christy

[jeffbrig]

Well, this isn't what I hoped for. We didn't spot the mandarin this evening, so we carefullly checked all of the PVC structures and came up with nothing. I eventually found a dried up fish on the floor behind the tank. Apparently, it jumped out through the cutout in the back of the hood where the Remora hangs on the tank (not on there currently). I guess it's my fault. . . I had never seen or heard of a mandarin jumping before, so it never crossed my mind that this could be an issue. Strange for a fish that spends almost all of its time on the bottom.

-Jeff

[Ah64av8tor]

Sorry to hear that Jeff, sounds strange to me too.

[Stile2]

Was it being chased? I had to move both my Madarins to the fuge because my six line wouldn't stop chasing them. I'm waiting for them to get bigger and more able to protect themselves.

[jeffbrig]

We never saw any of the fish chase each other in the QT. We are down to just 5 chromis, the ones that didn't make it had obviously chewed tails and were missing a few scales on their sides. So, there was probably some squabbling when we weren't in the room. Never saw any indication that the mandarin was getting picked on, though.

[jeffbrig]

The run of bad luck continues. This evening, the Kole tang was laying on her side and breathing hard. She didn't even respond when I netted and placed her in a bucket of water. We'll wait and see what happens overnight.....

The tomini, skunk clowns, and chromies all look great.

[JohnL]

This thread was automatically split due to performance issues. You can find the rest of the thread here: http://archive.reefcentral.com/forum...readid=1041413