50 gallon cube SPS dominant

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cpark645

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About time for an update. Been fighting algae issues for the past 6 months, just starting to win back the fight.

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Nice updates seems like the tank is healthy. Hows the t5/radion Combination working out? I have a 60cube and I'm running t5/halide combo and I'm thinking about switching my halide out for a radion. My lights are about 18" above the water and I don't think I'm getting good penetration into the water with a 250w halide.
 
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Nice updates seems like the tank is healthy. Hows the t5/radion Combination working out? I have a 60cube and I'm running t5/halide combo and I'm thinking about switching my halide out for a radion. My lights are about 18" above the water and I don't think I'm getting good penetration into the water with a 250w halide.

Thanks! I haven’t run any par testing, but things are growing and coloring up pretty nicely. I run my lights about 12 inches off the water. I’ve never used halides, are you running the lights 18 inches off because of the heat?
 

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My tank is in my kitchen/ living room so I was trying to keep the light "spill" to a minimum so that my whole living area isn't lit by the fish tank. Also to keep the rimless look I built my canopy so that it's elevated off the tank and at the same time I wanted it to hide the bulbs so when you're sitting on the couch ( down low) you're not being blinded. I was able to achieve all of this but the end result were lights tucked up high in a canopy.

I used to have a radion above my last tank and I liked it. Corals all seemed healthy I just wasn't getting the growth from sps I used to get with halides on previous tanks. Hence why I ended up with a halide on this tank.

Can you attribute any change in the tank since adding the t5s?
 
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My tank is in my kitchen/ living room so I was trying to keep the light "spill" to a minimum so that my whole living area isn't lit by the fish tank. Also to keep the rimless look I built my canopy so that it's elevated off the tank and at the same time I wanted it to hide the bulbs so when you're sitting on the couch ( down low) you're not being blinded. I was able to achieve all of this but the end result were lights tucked up high in a canopy.

I used to have a radion above my last tank and I liked it. Corals all seemed healthy I just wasn't getting the growth from sps I used to get with halides on previous tanks. Hence why I ended up with a halide on this tank.

Can you attribute any change in the tank since adding the t5s?

Huge growth spurts. I can’t say if it was just the t5s, but I think it did help a lot.
 

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Huge growth spurts. I can’t say if it was just the t5s, but I think it did help a lot.
First off, your tank is looking awesome! What t5s are you using and what kinda schedule are you running with the t5s and radion. I have a 60gal cube running a Radion gen3 xr15 on the ab+ schedule and was thinking about adding a hybrid t5 for my sps.
 
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First off, your tank is looking awesome! What t5s are you using and what kinda schedule are you running with the t5s and radion. I have a 60gal cube running a Radion gen3 xr15 on the ab+ schedule and was thinking about adding a hybrid t5 for my sps.
Thank you! :) Right now I'm running b+, c+, p+, b+ front to back, all ATI bulbs. Radion is running ab+. I'm actually thinking I want to try actinic bulbs to replace either the c+ or p+ though... Still playing around with different bulb combos but for now this combination has been yielding decent results.

I actually have a 60 cube too, I didn't name the thread correctly :p
 

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Thank you! :) Right now I'm running b+, c+, p+, b+ front to back, all ATI bulbs. Radion is running ab+. I'm actually thinking I want to try actinic bulbs to replace either the c+ or p+ though... Still playing around with different bulb combos but for now this combination has been yielding decent results.

I actually have a 60 cube too, I didn't name the thread correctly :p

Are you running your t5s all the time or do you have a schedule for them? What are you using to control them?
 
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Are you running your t5s all the time or do you have a schedule for them? What are you using to control them?

I'm running my radions: noon - midnight
B+: 2pm-8pm
C+,P+: 3-7 pm

I don't have dimmers on my t5s, I just turn it on/off. Using reefkeeper lite to control the lights. RKL is good enough for my current needs, but I think I want to purchase an apex or profilux for my next build.
 

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Cpark, what is your overall intensity and run times on the ab+?

TIA
 
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Did you ever decide on switching out one of your c+ or p+ bulbs for an actinic?

Yeah actually, I ended up swapping out the c+ for an actinic. Just judging visually I prefer it over c+, it's definitely more dim to the naked eye and less white. The c+ was too white for me.
 

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Yeah actually, I ended up swapping out the c+ for an actinic. Just judging visually I prefer it over c+, it's definitely more dim to the naked eye and less white. The c+ was too white for me.
Nice. I'm wanting to follow your example and add t5s to my cube to help out my Radion. Hopefully I'll get results like yours. Love the color in your SPS.
 

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Did you change your lighting schedule/duration any when you switched out the Coral+ for the Actinic? I got my lights set up and am trying to figure out my schedule and acclimate to my final schedule.
 
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I didn’t make any adjustments. Just watch your Corals carefully and if you see anyone become suddenly unhappy then decrease duration on t5s.
 
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