Bubba's SPS Journey

NikoO · Jul 3, 2018

I'll take one!

bubbaque · Jul 6, 2018

I need some help on lights for a new tank.
https://www.reef2reef.com/threads/radions-or-orphek-atlantiks.417114/

bubbaque · Jul 6, 2018

I ordered a new tank today that I should be able to pick up next week. On the new tank I decided to go with 4 radion xr15 G4 pros. I'm actually pretty nervous to go all led. I read a lot that people need to supplement with t5, which I will not be doing due to heat. I will probably set it up like WWC has them, hung high above the tank.

I will cut some corals I have and place them under the radions to actually see if I can tell any difference in color or growth. This tank will be plumbed into the other two, so it should be the leds if there is a difference.

Fudsey · Jul 6, 2018

Your SPS look fantastic ! !

bubbaque · Jul 6, 2018

Fudsey said:
Your SPS look fantastic ! !

Thank You!

Wrangy · Jul 7, 2018

bubbaque said:
I ordered a new tank today that I should be able to pick up next week. On the new tank I decided to go with 4 radion xr15 G4 pros. I'm actually pretty nervous to go all led. I read a lot that people need to supplement with t5, which I will not be doing due to heat. I will probably set it up like WWC has them, hung high above the tank.

I will cut some corals I have and place them under the radions to actually see if I can tell any difference in color or growth. This tank will be plumbed into the other two, so it should be the leds if there is a difference.

I wouldn't be worried. I reckon you'll be impressed with them as long as you have the coverage right! I've decided to keep the halide on my tank and I'm going to add some more led strips instead haha

I'm going to the xr15's for my frag tank though! I'll be interested to see what changes lol

I'm looking forward to watching the new tank come together!

bubbaque · Jul 7, 2018

Wrangy said:
I wouldn't be worried. I reckon you'll be impressed with them as long as you have the coverage right! I've decided to keep the halide on my tank and I'm going to add some more led strips instead haha

I'm going to the xr15's for my frag tank though! I'll be interested to see what changes lol

I'm looking forward to watching the new tank come together!

What led strips are you adding? Which do you currently have?

bubbaque · Jul 7, 2018

I have said it a couple times how much I love this coral. I know it's not a rainbow tenuis that most people love these days but the red is unbeatable. If you want a deep red coral that will stand out, this is the one to have.

I took this pic in full daylight.
CB Maleficent

Fishfinder · Jul 7, 2018

Very nice

FarmerTy · Jul 7, 2018

bubbaque said:
I have said it a couple times how much I love this coral. I know it's not a rainbow tenuis that most people love these days but the red is unbeatable. If you want a deep red coral that will stand out, this is the one to have.

I took this pic in full daylight. There is no added saturation or vibrancy added to this this pic. I even left the rasta zoas in the pic to compare color.

CB Maleficent

I want it! [emoji16] That is stunning!

Fishfinder · Jul 7, 2018

What about the confetti? You like it better than that one?

bubbaque · Jul 7, 2018

Fishfinder said:
What about the confetti? You like it better than that one?

I bought the confetti because of how their colony looks. I loved how the polyp and body color changed as it grew out. Mine is still so small that it is mostly pink and white. Some of the polyps look awesome with the gold color they have but overall it's still a pink coral with pink polyps. I am sure as it matures and grows it might start to change and it might become one of my favorites but at the moment it's not.

I can see how some people do not like the maleficent as it's basically a red coral with red polyps. It's the color of the red that makes it a stunner. The red it has it not the standard red planet red, it's a deep solid red, I think it's even more red than the pic looks. Maybe because its happy and healthy but it just stands out in my tank. I have seen some maleficent have orange in theirs but mine doesn't really.

bubbaque · Jul 7, 2018

I had a little light change for the new tank. I decided I need some type of t5 to help with the shadowing. I really didn't want to due to heat but I feel I'll have the best outcome with at least some. I purchased the fixture that has t5's and you mount leds in the middle of it, along with 3 xr15 pros. I think I'll have great success with this setup.

This is the fixture https://www.bulkreefsupply.com/48-h...re-with-led-mounting-system-aquatic-life.html

If anyone is interested I will try and document the setup of this tank.

Fudsey · Jul 7, 2018

Got the same fixture and I love it. It does need some modifications to make the wires come out on the same side. I did the same as @Crabs Mcjones and @Behnken did with theirs. Although I did mine more like Behnken did, coming out the middle of the back light.

https://www.reef2reef.com/threads/re-wiring-aquatic-life-hybrid.354772/#post-4404007

bubbaque · Jul 7, 2018

Fudsey said:
Got the same fixture and I love it. It does need some modifications to make the wires come out on the same side. I did the same as @Crabs Mcjones and @Behnken did with theirs. Although I did mine more like Behnken did, coming out the middle of the back light.

https://www.reef2reef.com/threads/re-wiring-aquatic-life-hybrid.354772/#post-4404007

I'm glad to heat it's a good fixture. I'm not worried to much about the cords as it's just in the garage and no one sees it. I read a review that said the hanging kit wire is very short. How was yours?

Bpb · Jul 7, 2018

Man. Top shelf selection you have there. A real joy to view and glad to see something more than just nubs. Some actual growth. That BC Backdraft is becoming a holy grail leave piece for me. I’ve gotta have one

Fudsey · Jul 7, 2018

bubbaque said:
I'm glad to heat it's a good fixture. I'm not worried to much about the cords as it's just in the garage and no one sees it. I read a review that said the hanging kit wire is very short. How was yours?

Well mine is in my office and I have plenty of hanging wire left over but my ceilings are not high. I would say almost 4 feet is the max height of the hanging kit, ceiling to fixture. The single cord is about 3 ft long and the connectors are about a foot off the light.

Wrangy · Jul 8, 2018

bubbaque said:
What led strips are you adding? Which do you currently have?

A second 3ft actinic sBar strip

reefbrite are stupidly expensive to ship! I love the sBar though!

(like the new choice of lights for the new tank too!)

madweazl · Jul 8, 2018

bubbaque said:
I'm glad to heat it's a good fixture. I'm not worried to much about the cords as it's just in the garage and no one sees it. I read a review that said the hanging kit wire is very short. How was yours?

The included wire is ridiculous and will only drop 4' from the ceiling. On the plus side, your local hardware store should have 1/16" inch cable sold by the foot. It's an easy swap and you can use something like this to clean up the ends (they sell bigger packs for less money).

The other thing I disliked was the width of the fixture but I'm not sure you can address that with the Radions. With the Kessil mounts, you can flip them 90° and run the 16" end plates to bring the T5s a bit closer together.