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Post by Carl on Oct 8, 2014 9:39:30 GMT -5
*I would avoid this LED option as it uses warm white emitters and RGB controls which further causes spectral issues. Reference for RGB: aquarium-digest.com/2010/04/11/led-aquarium-lights-lighting/#rgbFrom my Aquarium Lighting Article: The Warm White (3500K) & Cool White (4200-5500K) are typical lighting kelvin ratings used in home lighting and is common of lights sold in hardware stores, etc. While these sources were used years back for both planted and even reef lighting out of necessity (as there were not many options available), these are poor choices due to little essential PUR energy and many more cool white and especially warm white lights are required to delivery this light energy for photosynthetic life.
Unfortunately many LED manufacturers such as Evergrow, Ocean Revive, even the respected Maxspect, & EcoTech LEDs include these kelvin rated emitters in their lights to achieve Photosynthetic Life PUR via a shotgun approach and/or more human pleasing colors. If you are looking for the highest output in useful light energy for watt of energy consumed, these kelvin color lights/emitters should be avoided!Reference: www.americanaquariumproducts.com/Aquarium_Lighting.html*I definitely would consider the Vecton UV Sterilizer *A better #3 or pea sized gravel would be a better choice, but make sure to change it out slowly, usually about 1/3 at a time over 6-8 weeks to avoid upsetting the nitrogen cycle For more on substrates: www.aquarium-pond-answers.com/2006/08/aquarium-gravel-which-size.htmlCarl
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Post by sdboers on Oct 8, 2014 12:35:02 GMT -5
I will give those links a good read, but... My initial comment would be that the lighting is more for me (the viewer) than the tank. I say this since I am not running a saltwater tank with corals - or a heavily planted freshwater tank - both of which have very specific lighting requirements. If I'm missing something in that equation, please let me know. I have no issue being set straight...
I agree - I'll probably toss the notion of RGB. 99% of the colours are useless to me. I only want the bright white - and the ability for the night light (dim, blue). As such, white LEDs with an second set strip for night would be more than sufficient.
Sean.
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Post by Carl on Oct 8, 2014 12:40:52 GMT -5
Thanks for the clarification However it is also noteworthy that optimum lighting does have a positive effect on just fish too Reference from Aquarium Disease Prevention article: www.americanaquariumproducts.com/Aquarium_Disease.html#lightIf this is the case, why not consider SHO, T2, T5 too with just one LED strip to dim at night? Also the AquaBar is a very good, in fact better than most LEDs and it is also less money than the AquaRay GroBeams. I would consider 2-3 of these strips along with a Fiji Blue if you desire a dark light for night. Resource: www.americanaquariumproducts.com/LEDOther.html#aquabarCarl
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Post by sdboers on Oct 8, 2014 13:59:04 GMT -5
Thank you Carl - I will check all of those out!
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Post by devonjohnsgard on Oct 8, 2014 17:00:17 GMT -5
6500K has been proven to be a benefit to health, just like sunlight for depression...For fish and humans.
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Post by Deleted on Oct 8, 2014 20:22:18 GMT -5
Sean,
Now I need a bigger tank! Gorgeous!
I loved your video! and enjoyed reading everything. The barking sound effects were actually quite fun! I did have to smile when I read about the Jack Dempsey. I don't have a big enough extra tank to remove naughty fish. I had to give two wonderful fish away because of aggression. I visited them at the pet store though. Both were purchased within a few days. One was a five year old leporinus (Leporinus fasciatus or Leporinus affinis...I can't remember which one I decided it was). I didn't research the leporinus until I got home (bad girl). The store label said it would get to 7" to 9"...Well... he was about 12" when I gave him away. The other fish that was banished was a Firemouth Cichlid (a beautiful fish, too. He was two or three years old).
I gave another pet store an Australian Rainbow that was too aggressive. I visited him every week and no one bought it. One time when I went it I saw he was all beat up....Large Gold Gouramis were eating alive! I bought the fish (Yes, I had to buy my own fish back. I look at is as rent). He healed in my aquarium just using Melafix every day. He lived a few years after that. He certainly had learned his lesson. He was not aggressive at all.
Glad I browsed around here.
Judy
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Post by sdboers on Oct 10, 2014 7:11:45 GMT -5
Hey Judy, I'm totally loving the big tank. When I decided to get back into keeping an aquarium, my one criteria was that I wanted a bigger tank - 100+ gallons. Really happy that I did that. Also - knowing what I know now - I'm really glad I got the 6 foot tank as opposed to some of the shorter ones of the same capacity. The length allows some good swimming room. Barking... Yes - barking is a constant at our house. At last count there was 32 dogs under our care in the rescue - plus our own - all in the house. Thus the fish tank is downstairs!! The dog free(ish) zone. Jack's tank was only a 15 gallon for the short time I had him out of the main tank. More like solitary confinement than anything. I felt bad for him in there. He's back in the main tank now - so far so good. We'll see if he can continue to behave himself or not. He's one of the big 3 in the tank (Jack, Venustus, Paratharaps Melanurus), but definitely has the biggest mouth. I just moved my female Kenyi and my White Lab (or so I'm told that's what it is) to the small tank as they both appear to be holding. I tried separating the last batch of babies in the main tank with a breeder net, but that didn't work so well. Hopefully this will work better. Sean.
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Post by sdboers on Oct 11, 2014 19:14:24 GMT -5
Goodness. Babies everywhere! My son spotted a baby hiding under the log in the big tank, so we scooped (suctioned) the baby out to put in the small tank. Then - since mama Kenyi and mama White Lab were still holding - I decided to try my hand at stripping them. Never done that before... Amazing! Open the mouth and out pop all these tiny babies. I must have 40 to 50 fry between the two of them! I'll try and shoot a video later, but they are so small...
Sean.
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Post by sdboers on Oct 16, 2014 8:44:27 GMT -5
And here is the video of the babies. I have no idea what to do with them if they all survive! A little blury after upload for some reason...
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Post by Carl on Oct 16, 2014 10:01:56 GMT -5
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Post by devonjohnsgard on Oct 16, 2014 18:58:11 GMT -5
Congrats grandpa! Thanks for the video. So many of them! If they make it, looks like you can do some wheelin and dealin down at the LFS.
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Post by sdboers on Oct 20, 2014 6:49:34 GMT -5
Grandpa? Oh - you are a very bad man... I hope your ears were burning with the things I just called you... So... A little news on the tank front... I stumbled on an ad for a 220 gallon drilled tank on Kijiji (similar to Craigslist) including stand and hood for only $200. At that price - I couldn't resist. So... I'm off to pick it up tonight - provided it looks in good shape... I don't have the cash lying around to fire up a whole new monster tank, so I think I'll turn this one into a "project" tank. Adding things as I can until I'm ready to fire it up. Or do I transfer everything to the 220, and leave the 135 as a project tank... hmmm... Either way - I think my Christmas wish list just got fully populated. lol. Sean.
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Post by devonjohnsgard on Oct 20, 2014 10:38:15 GMT -5
Grandpa? Oh - you are a very bad man... I hope your ears were burning with the things I just called you... So... A little news on the tank front... I stumbled on an ad for a 220 gallon drilled tank on Kijiji (similar to Craigslist) including stand and hood for only $200. At that price - I couldn't resist. So... I'm off to pick it up tonight - provided it looks in good shape... I don't have the cash lying around to fire up a whole new monster tank, so I think I'll turn this one into a "project" tank. Adding things as I can until I'm ready to fire it up. Or do I transfer everything to the 220, and leave the 135 as a project tank... hmmm... Either way - I think my Christmas wish list just got fully populated. lol. Sean. Don't like grandpas? It's enduring and applies having wisdom... No? I tried... I haven't earned the grandpa status yet... Still just have a bunch of punk teenagers... JK. Anyways, still congrats on the baby fishies. The tank sounds monster. Great deal though. You have a big choice on your hands. Don't forget pictures. It will be great to follow along.
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Post by sdboers on Oct 20, 2014 11:25:40 GMT -5
Don't like grandpas? It's enduring and applies having wisdom... No? I tried... I haven't earned the grandpa status yet... Still just have a bunch of punk teenagers... JK. Anyways, still congrats on the baby fishies. The tank sounds monster. Great deal though. You have a big choice on your hands. Don't forget pictures. It will be great to follow along. Love Grandpas - just not ready to BE one!! lol... I'll have to start a separate thread on the 220 as I inch my way along getting it set up. I'll be asking tons of advice and trying to set it up for maximum health and minimum manual intervention. I'm already thinking dual FSBs. Location will be right next to existing plumbing as well, so my thoughts are leaning towards continuous water change driven by an RO system. What I would need to figure out is how to continuously dose with the proper replacement minerals that are stripped out by RO. First question - do you still bypass the water softener if driving a water change through RO with mineral replacement? I believe yes, it just makes it more complicated plumbing wise... Sean.
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Post by Carl on Oct 20, 2014 12:58:54 GMT -5
Unfortunately yes. The reason is an RO system will still leave in a lot of the sodium, this many properties of the water softening system results will still be present. The only way around this is an RO system that then goes through a DI resin chamber which will then totally strip the water 100% pure (unlike just plain RO). BTW, DI stands for "De Ionized", as these water purification affect ionization, unlike RO systems For aquarium uses, an RO system is usually more than adequate, but since it leaves many minerals or at least their ions in tact, it is not adequate for some applications such as for topping off lead acid batteries, etc. IMO, the cost of replacing these resins (which get exhausted more quickly then a the RO membrane), will in time trump the cost of your re-plumbing job Further information: www.aquarium-pond-answers.com/2006/12/how-do-fish-drink.html#reverse_osmosisCarl
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Post by sdboers on Oct 20, 2014 18:58:29 GMT -5
And scratch the 220g... Ah well. It was in pretty rough shape. Stand and canopy were scrap. Overflow was broken. Completely filthy. Probably could have made it work - but just not desperate for a tank...
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Post by sdboers on Oct 29, 2014 8:29:27 GMT -5
Ok - so yesterday I added a 67 gallon tank to the mix. It was so close to free I couldn't resist! Got all of the following for $75. - 67 gallon Miracles Aquarium
- Black Aquarium stand with 2 doors
- Black Canopy
- Original 3ft fluorescent light
- Additional AquaticLife 420050 Light (built in timer)
- Two Fluval 405 filters with media
- Enough additional media to last years (seriously)
- Test kits galore, 2 liters of Cycle and 2 liters of Waste control
- 60 pounds of crushed coral substrate
- 60 pounds of holy rock
- lots of little extras...
Plus fish: - 1 Yellow Lab
- 4 German Reds
- 3 Pseudotropheus Itungi
- 1 Demasoni
The fish are not very healthy right now. You can see a lot of fin rot, pop-eye and likely bacterial infections. I'm treating them now, so we'll see how it goes.
If I can get everyone in the tank happy and healthy, my intent is to add them all into my 135g as they are all mature, and then run the 67g as a juvenile tank... Here is a pic of the setup:
Sean.
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Post by Carl on Oct 29, 2014 9:49:57 GMT -5
Looks Great, nicely decorated with the Holey Rock! Now that the fish are under better care, you might see some improvement in any bacterial infections without any medications. Carl
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Post by devonjohnsgard on Oct 29, 2014 10:18:40 GMT -5
Great idea! I think it's a pretty good deal too Good luck with the care. The pictures are great.
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Post by sdboers on Nov 12, 2014 11:41:59 GMT -5
Stumbled on a 6" Red Empress male today that I added to the 135g. Since I have 2 red empress females - hoping for some amorous results. Colours aren't great on the male, but he hasn't even been in the tank for 24 hours yet, so he may well still be stressed.
Sean.
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