Broadfield's Red Sea Reefer 450 Build - OCD Inspired... Going Back To a Reef

[Bob Escher]

You should practice more...

Work on some new FTS angles! Side, under, above, angled.. etc..

Can you tell me what these are so I can collect some

 

[Broadfield]

Nice shot!

Thanks! I took about 60 images and thought I was going to have a few good ones. This was the only one that turned out worth a darn and I didn't even think this was going to be one of the good ones lol.

I feel so inadequate every time I see your setup, LOL. Beautiful Tank!

Thanks lol.

 

[re76]

Hey Broadfield, could you explain how you mounted the panel with the iPad in the chiller compartment?

I'm assuming the lower piece is solely supported by the hinges, so that it can be lifted up, but how did you attach the upper piece? I really like the hinged design you came up with and want to try to emulate it if possible.

 

[Broadfield]

Hey Broadfield, could you explain how you mounted the panel with the iPad in the chiller compartment?

I'm assuming the lower piece is solely supported by the hinges, so that it can be lifted up, but how did you attach the upper piece? I really like the hinged design you came up with and want to try to emulate it if possible.

I'm actually getting ready to scrap it all in the next couple of weeks. So if you can wait that long, I'll take detailed pics of the brackets etc when I tear it out.

 

[revhtree]

I'm actually getting ready to scrap it all in the next couple of weeks. So if you can wait that long, I'll take detailed pics of the brackets etc when I tear it out.

Wait, why?

 

[Broadfield]

Wait, why?

I could of swore we went over this, but it may have gotten lost in the moment when you, Ben and I were all talking on Facebook about how much we love each other lol.

So when I did the plumbing and my "control center" for all of the electronics, that stuff was only meant to be temporary. I kind of threw it all together real quick just to get it set up... knowing that I would come back later and make it really nice. And I know what most people are thinking... "that's temporary?". But for me it is. In my opinion, my control center is about as basic is it can get... just some boards with holes drilled into them for wires. In my profession, I would be embarrassed to call that done. What I'm about to do will absolutely blow the current setup away! Stay tuned!!!

 

[revhtree]

I could of swore we went over this, but it may have gotten lost in the moment when you, Ben and I were all talking on Facebook about how much we love each other lol.

So when I did the plumbing and my "control center" for all of the electronics, that stuff was only meant to be temporary. I kind of threw it all together real quick just to get it set up... knowing that I would come back later and make it really nice. And I know what most people are thinking... "that's temporary?". But for me it is. In my opinion, my control center is about as basic is it can get... just some boards with holes drilled into them for wires. In my profession, I would be embarrassed to call that done. What I'm about to do will absolutely blow the current setup away! Stay tuned!!!

Oh yea!! I do love you and I am glad it wasn't what I thought it was. Remember I just turned 40 so I am forgetful...

Oh and PLEASE GET US SOME MORE FULL TANK SHOTS!

1. Get a shot in the front up under showing the reflection off the water.
2. Get a shot from up high.
3. Get some end shots.
4. Take about 100000 photos.

 

[Broadfield]

Oh yea!! I do love you and I am glad it wasn't what I thought it was. Remember I just turned 40 so I am forgetful...

Oh and PLEASE GET US SOME MORE FULL TANK SHOTS!

1. Get a shot in the front up under showing the reflection off the water.
2. Get a shot from up high.
3. Get some end shots.
4. Take about 100000 photos.

What I'm taking away from all of this is that you want more tank shots!?! 10-4!

 

[dru.b]

awsome tank ,i love it ,got the same fixture,but wondering what bulb combination you are running,dru

 

[Broadfield]

awsome tank ,i love it ,got the same fixture,but wondering what bulb combination you are running,dru

Nice!... the fixture is amazing!

So I have tried virtually every possible combination of bulbs in this thing. I think I have a total of 12 Giesemann bulbs sitting in my basement... Aquablue Azure, Aquablue Coral, Super Purple and Actinic Blue. The problem is that you can't necessarily take bulb combination advice from people that just have T5 fixtures... because you have to take into account how the LEDs affect the overall color.

When I first got the fixture, I tossed in a random set of bulbs... I think (2)Aquablue Coral, an Actinic Blue and a Super Purple. Not 100% satisfied, I kept trying a bunch of different combinations of bulbs and LED settings... it really is an infinite combination. Then I decided to try all of the same T5 bulbs to get a perfect, even coverage of color. I noticed that having one Actinic Blue would not get that coral pop to all of the corals in the tank... more so only the ones that were simply closer to the Actinic Blue bulb. So I decided to try an experiment:

• I tried all Giesemann Actinic Blue - Then brought up the white LEDs and a tad of blue to get to a 20k look.
• I tried all Giesemann Aquablue Coral - Then brought up the blue LEDs and a tad of white to get to a 20k look.

The outcome to the eye was almost indistinguishable on the above two combinations. I decided to go with the all Aquablue Coral because I felt that since the T5s were providing the bulk of the illumination coverage, I would want to use the widest spectrum bulb. I have been extremely happy with growth, coverage etc. I may try some Super Actinic at some point, but I'm extremely happy at the moment. I have been running this combination for about 3 months.

 

[Dan McNertney]

Had a good friend come over tonight to help teach me how to take proper images with my Canon 50D. He also quick schooled my on processing RAW images and some basic Photoshop skills to make sure my images look like they do in real life.

IMG_4434 by Toby Broadfield, on Flickr

IMG_4278 by Toby Broadfield, on Flickr

IMG_4421 by Toby Broadfield, on Flickr

IMG_4402 by Toby Broadfield, on Flickr

wow well done

 

[wowkingjames]

Beautiful set up.

 

[Broadfield]

Took a couple more pics recently... #reefphotographyishard

IMG_6408 by Toby Broadfield, on Flickr

IMG_6443 by Toby Broadfield, on Flickr

IMG_6457 by Toby Broadfield, on Flickr

IMG_6490 by Toby Broadfield, on Flickr

IMG_6403 by Toby Broadfield, on Flickr

 

[locito277]

Took a couple more pics recently... #reefphotographyishard

IMG_6408 by Toby Broadfield, on Flickr

IMG_6443 by Toby Broadfield, on Flickr

IMG_6457 by Toby Broadfield, on Flickr

IMG_6490 by Toby Broadfield, on Flickr

IMG_6403 by Toby Broadfield, on Flickr

Man I've seen your posts everywhere and never ran into your thread. Tank looks great!!

 

[Broadfield]

Man I've seen your posts everywhere and never ran into your thread. Tank looks great!!

Thank you very much! I'm glad you've seen me around the site... that means I'm trying to do my part in helping others.

 

[revhtree]

Gorgeous shots! Still waiting for some new FTS!!! HA!

 

[locito277]

Thank you very much! I'm glad you've seen me around the site... that means I'm trying to do my part in helping others.

Indeed!!

 

[Fuel Doodle]

Love Full tank shots!

 

[dru.b]

Nice!... the fixture is amazing!

So I have tried virtually every possible combination of bulbs in this thing. I think I have a total of 12 Giesemann bulbs sitting in my basement... Aquablue Azure, Aquablue Coral, Super Purple and Actinic Blue. The problem is that you can't necessarily take bulb combination advice from people that just have T5 fixtures... because you have to take into account how the LEDs affect the overall color.

When I first got the fixture, I tossed in a random set of bulbs... I think (2)Aquablue Coral, an Actinic Blue and a Super Purple. Not 100% satisfied, I kept trying a bunch of different combinations of bulbs and LED settings... it really is an infinite combination. Then I decided to try all of the same T5 bulbs to get a perfect, even coverage of color. I noticed that having one Actinic Blue would not get that coral pop to all of the corals in the tank... more so only the ones that were simply closer to the Actinic Blue bulb. So I decided to try an experiment:

• I tried all Giesemann Actinic Blue - Then brought up the white LEDs and a tad of blue to get to a 20k look.
• I tried all Giesemann Aquablue Coral - Then brought up the blue LEDs and a tad of white to get to a 20k look.

The outcome to the eye was almost indistinguishable on the above two combinations. I decided to go with the all Aquablue Coral because I felt that since the T5s were providing the bulk of the illumination coverage, I would want to use the widest spectrum bulb. I have been extremely happy with growth, coverage etc. I may try some Super Actinic at some point, but I'm extremely happy at the moment. I have been running this combination for about 3 months.

looks nice but a lot of $$$$ just to find the right colour,the things we do ,mine now got 2 giesseman super actinics 2nd gen, and 2 actinic plus 1st gen.seem quite happy, now that my lights are all tuned in,are you using the second gen lamps,can i ask what your time schedule is(not important) and what percentage you are running your light ,might try what you are running and see how it looks on my tank,thanks dru

 

[Broadfield]

looks nice but a lot of $$$$ just to find the right colour,the things we do ,mine now got 2 giesseman super actinics 2nd gen, and 2 actinic plus 1st gen.seem quite happy, now that my lights are all tuned in,are you using the second gen lamps,can i ask what your time schedule is(not important) and what percentage you are running your light ,might try what you are running and see how it looks on my tank,thanks dru

Mine are all 2nd gen lamps. I run my lights for 8 hours total with 2 hour ramps on each end. I run right around 65% for my max. I also run a moon cycle. I run my blues around 65%, whites around 15% and my T5's around 60%.