The Garden -- Rakies shallow SPS cube

[Reefapprentice]

Friend of mine went to the lfs and found something I e been wanting, that I've convinced quite a few people to get..

Geometric pygmy hawkfish.

Had one before. Amazing personality! Excited to have one again...

Always been afraid if flame Hawks, they get big enough to eat shrimp and takeout smaller fish (like the 2" tiny gobies I like)

The other fish/critters I want again...
- Neon goby
- Tail spot blenny
- Trimma gobies (2-3)
- Pintail Wrasse

I'm also interested in some mini dart fish from Fishy business aquatics.. I'm kind of afraid they will end up as Geo hawk snacks now though, as they show up at 0.75" and Max out at 1.25 - 1.5" so pretty snack sized!

Always been my favorite fish, saw some the other day at the LFS but do t have the tank room

 

[RichtheReefer21]

Yeah a single XR30 G4 pro cannot cover the space I need. I'm running 2 Actinics -- One Geisemann, one ATI.

To make up for the missing 6500k spectrum I run my Radion pretty white, my whites green and red are at 45% for most of the day until my evening ramp down. Because I'm also a huge believer in UV/Violet spectrum I've added Actinics opposed to B+ or 6500k (which I'm getting more than enough of from my radion).

I love the 6500k bulbs, I even have two Geisemann tropic 6500k's in my closet.. But the radion has way more than enough red, green, and warm white/white, people just neglect to use them.

Lighting is a complicated subject, which is why T5 and MH usually just "work" for people. They have taken out all the guesswork. With LED's you can now plug and play, but should you need supplemental lighting some consideration needs to be made. What do you want more of, growth, or color? Can you adjust your LED's to give you whats missing? Is shadowing the true problem, or just part of the problem? Etc etc.

6500k light = Unsurpassed growth
UV/Violet = Color (not POP like royal blue LED's, but full color shift)

My most unpopular opinion of all time: Blue+ bulb isn't as good as a full mix with ABS, P+, C+, Actinic. It looks horrible when you just slam 5-7 B+ bulbs in a single fixture.

If I were to run a 6 Bulb Today it would be 2B+, 2C+, 2 Act, an 8 bulb would add a P+ and ABS.

When I get the AquaticLife hybrid I'll be putting 4 actinic in it most likely. Possibly 1 C+.

EDIT: Also, whenever I get my Canopy I will be removing the diffuser from the Radion. Spectrum testing shows it should be no different, and the PAR loss should be negligible as my Radion was only at 40% previously and is now at 100%, but colors were better without the diffuser. Took a year of use to truly determine that color slowly has shifted for me.

;Hurting my brain hurts after trying to comprehend all this. Lighting is my new goal to soak in for this hobby. Really struggling with the concept of the spectrums etc...

 

[Rakie]

Lighting is complicated and simple. Basically, you need all the spectrums, and we are criminally deficient in white/yellow/red/green light, and we can always use more UV/Violet.

 

[NY_Caveman]

Very nice!

 

[Rakie]

Very nice!

I figured you'd like him. It was only a matter of time until I got another

 

[NY_Caveman]

Mine has been coming out quite a bit. Everyone else, despite their normally active social skills, completely ignores him.

 

[Rakie]

Mine has been coming out quite a bit. Everyone else, despite their normally active social skills, completely ignores him.

Yeah I noticed that too when I had mine. They never really interacted with him, that's why a pair of hawkfish is usually so super interesting, they interact with each other all day long. Although I'm afraid unless you can sex these guys... They might just fight if you get a pair.

 

[Crabby48]

Good lookin fish you got. I will have to look in to them.
I find it interesting how you and others can use a lot of whites, red and greens and some people say they had algae problems. I want to start increasing mine. I used minimal red, green and whites and now I’m seeing they can be beneficial

 

[NY_Caveman]

Good lookin fish you got. I will have to look in to them.
I find it interesting how you and others can use a lot of whites, red and greens and some people say they had algae problems. I want to start increasing mine. I used minimal red, green and whites and now I’m seeing they can be beneficial

Algae utilizes the reds, but that does not mean the corals do not. Overall I tried to set my blues for growth and then tuned the whites in for the best aesthetic to my tastes. My reds and greens are tied to my white channel, but I have considered pulling the lenses off of them to make them less focused.

 

[Rakie]

Good lookin fish you got. I will have to look in to them.
I find it interesting how you and others can use a lot of whites, red and greens and some people say they had algae problems. I want to start increasing mine. I used minimal red, green and whites and now I’m seeing they can be beneficial

People blame everything for everything.

High nutrients = Algae!!! Except for all the people that run very high nutrients and have zero algae problems... including multiple aquariasts of the year.

Red LED's = algae! Except I know people who grow algae just fine with any light, and struggle to grow chaeto with horticulture lighting (because of other problems).

The more I learn the more I realize very few of us actually know much. It's all anecdotal bro science in this hobby, which is slang for unsubstantiated bull crap.

 

[Musovski]

People blame everything for everything.

High nutrients = Algae!!! Except for all the people that run very high nutrients and have zero algae problems... including multiple aquariasts of the year.

Red LED's = algae! Except I know people who grow algae just fine with any light, and struggle to grow chaeto with horticulture lighting (because of other problems).

The more I learn the more I realize very few of us actually know much. It's all anecdotal bro science in this hobby, which is slang for unsubstantiated bull crap.

i love this and agree.

 

[Musovski]

Ive been reading up on this post and it keeps making me want to make a sps garden. @Rakie you evil person!

 

[Rakie]

Ive been reading up on this post and it keeps making me want to make a sps garden. @Rakie you evil person!

Too bad they don't look like they used to, but they're getting back to form!

 

[Rakie]

Dirty glass and crazy bubble algae! Also, baby shrooms!

 

[Jacked Reefer]

Gimme the baby shrooms! And bubble algae isn’t the worst. At least it’s pretty lol

 

[bubbaque]

Have you tried taking a tube and scraping off the bubble algae as you do a water change? Reducing their numbers, even if for a short time may allow a different type of algae to take hold that normal algae eaters eat.

 

[Rakie]

Have you tried taking a tube and scraping off the bubble algae as you do a water change? Reducing their numbers, even if for a short time may allow a different type of algae to take hold that normal algae grazers eat.

Yep, but I suppose I can always try again.

 

[fredk]

...

The more I learn the more I realize very few of us actually know much. It's all anecdotal bro science in this hobby, which is slang for unsubstantiated bull crap.

Spot on. I wish more people had this attitude. I knew so much more when I was twenty.

 

[Rakie]

Dirty glass and crazy bubble algae! Also, baby shrooms!

Okay @UWC -- I'm giving Vibrant a shot. I'm always timid of these type of things... We'll give it a go and see what happens!

@UWC -- Do you suggest skimmer cup off while treating with vibrant?

 

[UWC]

Skimmer is totally fine.

My suggestion - start slow and work your way up.

Half dose first week
Full dose next few weeks and assess from there if you want to up your dosing.

Slow and steady wins the race.

Where do you keep your no3 and po4?