Playa's Reef

[Playa]

TG while the cycling is taking place, everything should be ok. Adam(Ajax)was just telling me today that as long as I left the algae alone and did not disturb it, the cleaning crew should take care of teh mess. I have started with 20 lefties, 20 blue legs and 20 snails. I will be adding twice that many in the next few days(from the 65). The tank has been up and running for a week now.

I have also added a Red sea Sailfin Tang that caught my eye this afternoon. Very docile and friendly little fellow. Also new to my reef this afternoon are a pair of tank raised perculas.

This evening I will be spending more time aquascaping the left side of the reef. I am thinking about puting back into the 65 a few of the colonies of zoanthids and ricordias(I have way to many). I have 350 ideas a minute as to what I should do on the left side and nothing rhymes in my head just yet:-(

Cheers!

Luis

[dgasmd]

P I C T U R E S !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[tankgirl]

Thanks, Luis!!! Also, where did you buy your 400W electronic ballasts (if you don't mind saying)?

Very exciting to have corals in the new tank!!!

[Playa]

TG I bought 2 MH electronic eballasts(brand new and unused from ROBZ) and the other I ordered from "Champion lighting".

The ICECAP 660 electronic ballast for the VHO's I ordered from Premium Acuatics.

[TDEVIL]

Originally posted by Playa
I am thinking about puting back into the 65 a few of the colonies of zoanthids and ricordias(I have way to many)

and that is a problem

are you going to put any of those deep water acro's in there? if so, what are you going to do about the lighting, or will they get use to the lighting

pics to come soon, i hope

TD

[tankgirl]

Thanks, Luis! I appreciate the ballast info. Hope you're having fun with the new tank!!!

[nivek]

We want pics, we want pics

[Playa]

No probs TG:-)

Today's addtion to the reef:

1 Genicanthus Melanospilos ( female ) Angel
1 Mimic Tang

Wiring of the Lights has been completed this afternoon.

Pictures soon to come:-)

Luis

[mredman]

Luis, looks fantastic.

Two suggestions:

1. Use a quality ground fault interupter - it may save your life!

2. I suggest using a stainless steel catch pan (I had one made for about $100). The pan should be placed underneath the sump and plumbing. Even if you never have a leak (and you would be the first), it will also catch the salt creep from pipes.

I have mine drain into a drain, so in the event of a major disaster, at least I don't ruin the floor and carpet.

Mike

[tankgirl]

Luis, does one Blueline E ballast control all three Radiums (MHs)? I was looking at them and they say there are "3 disconnects" but I don't understand what that means. It seems kind of crazy to have to have 3 ballasts.

[Playa]

TG you need one Ballast per bulb on the MH's, although I am firing 3 VHO's bulbs with a 660 ICECAP electronic ballast. Most MH ballasts fire one bulb. :-)

Mike thanx a lot for the suggestions. I am a great advocate of a ground fault interrupter myself.

Luis

[tankgirl]

Thanks again, Luis! The magnetic ballast I have controls all three MHs, and before that I only had 1 mh in the small tank. So, I never learned about it. You can see I'm trying to learn a lot from your tank setup.

[Playa]

TG I think you and Sugar are twin sisters! :-)

[tankgirl]

Sugar's the good twin and I'm the troublesome, vinegar half. Someday I'll sit down and count all the times I've gone down in flames just to make a point. doh.

[sharks]

Originally posted by tankgirl
Luis, does one Blueline E ballast control all three Radiums (MHs)? I was looking at them and they say there are "3 disconnects" but I don't understand what that means. It seems kind of crazy to have to have 3 ballasts.

Each ballast has 3 connections. A positive, negative, and a ground. Last year mine came with BNC connectors a lot like coax connectors that twist and lock down. The new ones are more like the AV cables on the back of you TV just with longer and fatter metal inserts. One of mine blew and they stopped making the BNC type. From the hood/fixture the connection is mage directly on the ballast. So you can mount the ballasts somewhere and if you need to take the fixture off you just undo the connections and take the fixture and the wire harness with it.
HIH
S