• Welcome back Guest!

    MARSH is a private reefing group. Comments and suggestions are encouraged, but please keep them positive and constructive. Negative threads, posts, or attacks will be removed from view and reviewed by the staff. Continually disruptive, argumentative, or flagrant rule breakers may be suspended or banned.

So I'm Building Stuff Again. 150g Plus Fish Room. (1 Viewer)

Users who are viewing this thread

OP
OP
Cody

Cody

Vice President
Staff member
Administrator
Moderator
Content Moderator
Board Member
Supporting Member
Joined
Jul 23, 2014
Messages
7,284
Reaction score
4,254
Location
Spring, TX
Do you run these on a separate subnet?
There are a few free apps out there that can control them but I use the SmartLife app. I have multiple brands of plugs, all on the same dashboard.
A1316EE5-78EC-4A0F-B20A-EB65A5FB6ECE.png
 

DwPolcyn

Member Spotlight Contest Winner
Joined
May 16, 2019
Messages
308
Reaction score
296
Location
Denver
There are a few free apps out there that can control them but I use the SmartLife app. I have multiple brands of plugs, all on the same dashboard.
I love these smart outlets, I use the vesync app! Never had any problems, even when the power or wifi goes out.
Screenshot_20200602-123151.png
 
OP
OP
Cody

Cody

Vice President
Staff member
Administrator
Moderator
Content Moderator
Board Member
Supporting Member
Joined
Jul 23, 2014
Messages
7,284
Reaction score
4,254
Location
Spring, TX
@Cody it’s been over a year now I still want my asd Mille 😂 maybe in the next few months ill
Come get it if I get my tank in order.. again 😂😂
Anyway your tank looks amazing!
Thanks! That’s the only coral I have that isn’t thriving. I’ve been turning down my lights slowly to see if that helps. It was getting 550 par for seven hours per day. Back when it was in its prime, it was getting maybe 300-350 for seven hours per day. I’ve talked to other people that have that colony as well and theirs gets a similar par. I also might start dipping it again too to make sure the flat works are gone. There’s no tissue loss for maybe 4-5 months now, so I’m guessing they’re gone. Who knows though.
 
OP
OP
Cody

Cody

Vice President
Staff member
Administrator
Moderator
Content Moderator
Board Member
Supporting Member
Joined
Jul 23, 2014
Messages
7,284
Reaction score
4,254
Location
Spring, TX
Welp, let’s see how this goes. I’ve had some bryopsis show it’s ugly head in my frag tank so I’m treating the whole system. It always makes me extremely nervous when I dose something out of the ordinary like this. I had a fairly tough time dissolving the powder from the capsules so I put the saturated water back into the tank in segments. It was cloudy for a little then cleared up.
C5BF9064-16A1-486D-AA07-C64A2CAEF45D.jpeg
2900CA43-6A59-425F-870D-945C5783931D.jpeg
7D4A5526-D445-4AF5-B353-98260184468B.jpeg
 
OP
OP
Cody

Cody

Vice President
Staff member
Administrator
Moderator
Content Moderator
Board Member
Supporting Member
Joined
Jul 23, 2014
Messages
7,284
Reaction score
4,254
Location
Spring, TX
They wont touch bryopsis. It isn't palatable to them unfortunately.
@reeftopia said he used to dry it out then feed it to them. That’s the only way they’d eat it. I might be misremembering though.
 
OP
OP
Cody

Cody

Vice President
Staff member
Administrator
Moderator
Content Moderator
Board Member
Supporting Member
Joined
Jul 23, 2014
Messages
7,284
Reaction score
4,254
Location
Spring, TX
Two days in and the medicine is working beautifully. The briopsys is turning white. No side effects to the corals whatsoever.
5AA47ECD-4A96-4283-B060-976236E8689D.jpeg
5A01C231-0725-41FA-8E0A-8B7CD018CFC3.jpeg
 
OP
OP
Cody

Cody

Vice President
Staff member
Administrator
Moderator
Content Moderator
Board Member
Supporting Member
Joined
Jul 23, 2014
Messages
7,284
Reaction score
4,254
Location
Spring, TX
So I've said to myself for a long time that the part of the day when my tank looks prettiest is when the T5s cut off and it's just the LEDs. I think I'm going to build a new floating canopy with just LEDs. I think that the LED/T5 combo is probably the smartest combination for growing corals, but at the end of the day, the entire hobby is ornamental, and if I don't like the look of T5s then what's the point. I currently have 3 black boxes oriented left to right with two T5s on both sides. I will build a new floating canopy with the black boxes oriented front to back, with 2-3 more of them than I currently have, and leave the option for one T5 bulb on either side of the black boxes. Plus, the T5s blind me while I'm sitting on the couch in a way that the LEDs don't.
 
OP
OP
Cody

Cody

Vice President
Staff member
Administrator
Moderator
Content Moderator
Board Member
Supporting Member
Joined
Jul 23, 2014
Messages
7,284
Reaction score
4,254
Location
Spring, TX
So I've said to myself for a long time that the part of the day when my tank looks prettiest is when the T5s cut off and it's just the LEDs. I think I'm going to build a new floating canopy with just LEDs. I think that the LED/T5 combo is probably the smartest combination for growing corals, but at the end of the day, the entire hobby is ornamental, and if I don't like the look of T5s then what's the point. I currently have 3 black boxes oriented left to right with two T5s on both sides. I will build a new floating canopy with the black boxes oriented front to back, with 2-3 more of them than I currently have, and leave the option for one T5 bulb on either side of the black boxes. Plus, the T5s blind me while I'm sitting on the couch in a way that the LEDs don't.
@Reefahholic
 

Tstew32

Supporting Member
Joined
Feb 2, 2017
Messages
690
Reaction score
588
Location
Spring
So I've said to myself for a long time that the part of the day when my tank looks prettiest is when the T5s cut off and it's just the LEDs. I think I'm going to build a new floating canopy with just LEDs. I think that the LED/T5 combo is probably the smartest combination for growing corals, but at the end of the day, the entire hobby is ornamental, and if I don't like the look of T5s then what's the point. I currently have 3 black boxes oriented left to right with two T5s on both sides. I will build a new floating canopy with the black boxes oriented front to back, with 2-3 more of them than I currently have, and leave the option for one T5 bulb on either side of the black boxes. Plus, the T5s blind me while I'm sitting on the couch in a way that the LEDs don't.

Man I’ve been thinking the same thing for a while now...


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
 

TooMuchDog

Supporting Member
Joined
Feb 9, 2020
Messages
57
Reaction score
51
Location
Cypress
So I've said to myself for a long time that the part of the day when my tank looks prettiest is when the T5s cut off and it's just the LEDs. I think I'm going to build a new floating canopy with just LEDs. I think that the LED/T5 combo is probably the smartest combination for growing corals, but at the end of the day, the entire hobby is ornamental, and if I don't like the look of T5s then what's the point. I currently have 3 black boxes oriented left to right with two T5s on both sides. I will build a new floating canopy with the black boxes oriented front to back, with 2-3 more of them than I currently have, and leave the option for one T5 bulb on either side of the black boxes. Plus, the T5s blind me while I'm sitting on the couch in a way that the LEDs don't.
Interesting take. I am somewhat the opposite, though maybe not using the best LEDs I could for comparison. I had 2 AI prime 16's on my 4 foot tank and it really just looked like two spotlights on my tank that I didn't like much. Adding 4 T5s to my tank really helped the tank visually. Though I can't argue the coral pop at night when my tank turns bluer does look really good.
 

Tstew32

Supporting Member
Joined
Feb 2, 2017
Messages
690
Reaction score
588
Location
Spring
Interesting take. I am somewhat the opposite, though maybe not using the best LEDs I could for comparison. I had 2 AI prime 16's on my 4 foot tank and it really just looked like two spotlights on my tank that I didn't like much. Adding 4 T5s to my tank really helped the tank visually. Though I can't argue the coral pop at night when my tank turns bluer does look really good.

I’ve got two 26hd a prime hd and added the T5 lol so I could see what you mean by spot light!


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
 
Joined
Feb 4, 2014
Messages
10,899
Reaction score
2,066
Location
League City
.
I also believe the best combo is T5/LED
I think the absolute best combo with be MH/T5/LED

Second best MH/T5

Third T5/LED

The problem is that MH are bulky, put out a lot of heat, require a chiller or fans, and bulbs are getting hard to come by. So I scratched MH’s off my list.

So now I personally prefer the 3rd option of T5/LED as the best option. The problem with my new build is that it’s gonna cost a lot of money to run this combo. So I’ll need to get one light source at a time. At first i planed on getting a DX18 fixture and running just 4 T5’s for the first 6 months until I could buy some LEDS to throw in there with them. Now I’m shifting gears and going to do the opposite. I’ll buy the LEDS 1st and then buy the DX18 2nd since it requires a controller to ramp up/down. Then add T5’s later. Or depending on who people like that fixture, I may end up retro fitting some T5’s.

For me it’s all about proper spread and spectrum. I hate peaky LED’s or any lighting that lacks the spectrum I’m looking for.

Since you will probably ask which LED’s...I’m going with Radion G5’s because I’m convinced they finally have the spread I’m looking for. Orphek’s would be my second LED choice, but the customer service seems to be lacking and Gregg Carrol pulled one apart and said they are simply not a premium light.

The only thing about the G5 is that EcoTech designed the fan in house, and it’s a really goofy design IMO. $20 says they redesign it with the G6.

To answer your original question...Go with what makes you happy. I love the look of T5’s and they create awesome pictures and video. Although LED’s give more color pop if you’re into that. I’m into coral health which is why I prefer both. Each has its own advantages.
 
OP
OP
Cody

Cody

Vice President
Staff member
Administrator
Moderator
Content Moderator
Board Member
Supporting Member
Joined
Jul 23, 2014
Messages
7,284
Reaction score
4,254
Location
Spring, TX
.
I also believe the best combo is T5/LED

I think the absolute best combo with be MH/T5/LED

Second best MH/T5

Third T5/LED

The problem is that MH are bulky, put out a lot of heat, require a chiller or fans, and bulbs are getting hard to come by. So I scratched MH’s off my list.

So now I personally prefer the 3rd option of T5/LED as the best option. The problem with my new build is that it’s gonna cost a lot of money to run this combo. So I’ll need to get one light source at a time. At first i planed on getting a DX18 fixture and running just 4 T5’s for the first 6 months until I could buy some LEDS to throw in there with them. Now I’m shifting gears and going to do the opposite. I’ll buy the LEDS 1st and then buy the DX18 2nd since it requires a controller to ramp up/down. Then add T5’s later. Or depending on who people like that fixture, I may end up retro fitting some T5’s.

For me it’s all about proper spread and spectrum. I hate peaky LED’s or any lighting that lacks the spectrum I’m looking for.

Since you will probably ask which LED’s...I’m going with Radion G5’s because I’m convinced they finally have the spread I’m looking for. Orphek’s would be my second LED choice, but the customer service seems to be lacking and Gregg Carrol pulled one apart and said they are simply not a premium light.

The only thing about the G5 is that EcoTech designed the fan in house, and it’s a really goofy design IMO. $20 says they redesign it with the G6.

To answer your original question...Go with what makes you happy. I love the look of T5’s and they create awesome pictures and video. Although LED’s give more color pop if you’re into that. I’m into coral health which is why I prefer both. Each has its own advantages.
Yeah, like I said, I will still leave the option, and will still probably use t5s, but I want to lean more into leds. My previous tank was one of my all time favorites. It had a 36”x18” footprint. I had two black boxes with two t5 bulbs. The two led units were right next to each other and completely covered the tank from left to right. The t5s were just there for supplementation. The leds were doing maybe 80% of the heavy lifting, but my current setup has them about half and half. I don’t think I’ll completely get rid of the t5s, but will just switch to leaning heavier on the leds.
 
OP
OP
Cody

Cody

Vice President
Staff member
Administrator
Moderator
Content Moderator
Board Member
Supporting Member
Joined
Jul 23, 2014
Messages
7,284
Reaction score
4,254
Location
Spring, TX
Man I’ve been thinking the same thing for a while now...


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
How long are your t5s on every day?
 
OP
OP
Cody

Cody

Vice President
Staff member
Administrator
Moderator
Content Moderator
Board Member
Supporting Member
Joined
Jul 23, 2014
Messages
7,284
Reaction score
4,254
Location
Spring, TX
Interesting take. I am somewhat the opposite, though maybe not using the best LEDs I could for comparison. I had 2 AI prime 16's on my 4 foot tank and it really just looked like two spotlights on my tank that I didn't like much. Adding 4 T5s to my tank really helped the tank visually. Though I can't argue the coral pop at night when my tank turns bluer does look really good.
The difference is that I’m using black boxes. They’re 16”x8” of leds. The color doesn’t blend as well as those AIs but it’s not terrible. The trade off is less of a spotlight, however they’re still leds and create somewhat of a spotlight. Because they’re so much cheaper, you can blanket your tank with them then turn each unit down.
 
Top