Sawdonkey's 220 Thread

What retro kit u use to add the t5, does the light still look sleek? I want to do this with this light now but I don't have a canopy like u to hide any potential ugliness that these retro kits add to these lights


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Rcunning8 said:
What retro kit u use to add the t5, does the light still look sleek? I want to do this with this light now but I don't have a canopy like u to hide any potential ugliness that these retro kits add to these lights


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I used the Let retrofit kit. It's basically four ballasts, a reflector that snaps onto the bulb, and a power supply. I'm sure you could figure something out, but you'd probably want to cover the back side of the reflectors and maybe use some black krylon paint on the balasts. Maybe even use black krylon on the back of the reflectors?

I have no plans tonight and the wife does, so there's a good chance I'll play around with the camera.
 
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Not the best pics, but here are some different shots. The camera misrepresents the color a little, but you'll get the idea:

This is T5's on with normal mid-day LED. The ATI Blue Plus give off sort of a minty blue. Not sure if I like it yet:
View attachment 20851

This is no T5 with normal mid-day LED:
View attachment 20852

This is no T5 with white LED cranked up to 80% (this photo actually looks decent, but to they eye, this setting is pretty yellow looking):
View attachment 20853
 
Just some other shots. Not my best work as I forgot to set my ISO before shooting.

Not sure if it's in response to the new lights, but I've never seen this kind of PE on my Tyree Icefire:
View attachment 20854

My Sexy OP frag is doing well. Polyps of many colors.
View attachment 20855

Sexy OP from the top (bad picture, but you can see the different colored polyps:
View attachment 20856

BC Glow Stick:
View attachment 20857

BC Soda Pop Granulosa:
View attachment 20858

WWC Blueberry:
View attachment 20859

My WD nub. Coloring up with some really pink polyps:
View attachment 20860

Wet Thumbs Double Doozy:
View attachment 20861

Polleti Yellow Tips:
View attachment 20862
 
things look super cool gunner :) those rainbows SC OP and WD are gonna go nuts now that you added t5 :)
 
Tank looks great! The "flood light" from the T5s is a nice addition~

I've heard from coral vendors that ATI Blue Plus is "the bulb", in that it drives both good growth and good color.
But I agree, as someone running LED+T5, it requires messing with LED settings (red & green mix) to get a pleasant look.
 
My corals haven't been looking great lately, so I ran the gamut of tests. Everything is in check, except my nitrates were somewhere between 10-15. I'm not sure how they jumped up so much. I have biopellets running and I haven't changed the way i feed. I guess my fish are going in a diet, I'll stop using Acro Power, and I'll do a 45 gallon water change today (in addition to the the 45 gallon water change yesterday).

I'm also going to take my GFO off line and see what happens. I suspect that my GFO is sucking some vital trace elements out of my water. PO4 is currently at .03, so we'll see if it increases drastically. Right now though, my main issue is my nitrates.
 
15 nitrates in that tank shouldn't last long and shouldnt really matter as much

I know your temp says 78 or something but can you double check ? May be with a glass thermometer or something ?

When is the last time you calibrated temp probes ?


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tinman said:
15 nitrates in that tank shouldn't last long and shouldnt really matter as much

I know your temp says 78 or something but can you double check ? May be with a glass thermometer or something ?

When is the last time you calibrated temp probes ?


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Good call on checking, but I'm set at 78.8 and here is where I'm at. Looks like I'm off by .2 or so, but nothing to be concerned with.
f37abbe73127fb157ae4ad5cac9895ae.jpg
 
ultimatemj said:
Any change recently?
Just the lights?


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No, my corals were looking a little strange for the last few months. My montis have been slowly dying for a long time. They pep up after water changes, so I think I may be missing something in my water. Maybe my GFO is sucking out something important?
 
I've had some tank issues lately. I had a spike in nitrates (15-20ish) and that combined with the stress of adding new light, I lost a couple of colonies. I was getting browned out corals due to the NO3 and burnt tips due to the new lights. Im working on getting the NO3 back down and I've dialed the new lights down. I've stoped the coral losses, but I still have some coloring up to do. I think I'm on the right track again.
 
Sawdonkey said:
I've had some tank issues lately. I had a spike in nitrates (15-20ish) and that combined with the stress of adding new light, I lost a couple of colonies. I was getting browned out corals due to the NO3 and burnt tips due to the new lights. Im working on getting the NO3 back down and I've dialed the new lights down. I've stoped the coral losses, but I still have some coloring up to do. I think I'm on the right track again.
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Good to hear you've got things going in the right direction. I've thought about your bad luck a few times and hoped the best for you as it's such a beautiful setup.

One question I forgot to ask when over. RO Filters pretty new? DI resin still giving you 0 tds?
 
Sawdonkey said:
I've had some tank issues lately. I had a spike in nitrates (15-20ish) and that combined with the stress of adding new light, I lost a couple of colonies. I was getting browned out corals due to the NO3 and burnt tips due to the new lights. Im working on getting the NO3 back down and I've dialed the new lights down. I've stoped the coral losses, but I still have some coloring up to do. I think I'm on the right track again.
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Glad to hear things are returning to normal. I bet the new lights are a challenge.
 
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