Formosa Forest II

[Leonardo's Reef]

Lightspread of the new pendant. Lightstrenght increases when bundles overlap.

Leonardo

[adddo]

Sweet, combination of two worlds will make a very nice impact i think.

[Leonardo's Reef]

Thanks Adddo, I'm thinking the same

Small technical update - I will add a Tunze Wavebox to my 4 x 6101 Streams, to make sure the corals will recieve enough flow, even in the middle of the colonies.

Directed flow can weaken by coral branches, rocks etc. The "back and forth" motion throughout the whole tank will provide watermotion in all places.

Leonardo

[gman0526]

That's a good addition Leo. Kinda tricky to hide, but the motion is well worth the visual obstruction IMO.

[Leonardo's Reef]

I hope so. I think it will blend in a bit when I put it in the back corner against the black background.

Leonardo

[Leonardo's Reef]

Together with the upgrade I will change my whole room -from wall to floor- everything will be new.

My tank will, of course, be the focus of my room. Besides that I will start with my new study in September (Marine Biology) so the room will be set up for doing research and writing reports also (Desktop PC, Microscope etc.)

Because the tank will be larger and will have more equipment I have thought about heat and humidity control. I've bought a small A/C - dehumidifier unit.

About the aquascape, most of my inspiration comes (again) from this Japanese website. (click) The Formosa Forest is also inspirated by these tanks.
I love the clean look and minimal use of LiveRock.







Like most Japanese reeftanks, I will use some additional LED-spots to highlight some corals or area's (islands etc.) I will update the pictures of my lighting-setup, so click back a few pages and click the refresh-button to see the updated pictures


Example: These LED-spotlights fit into "normal" fixtures and are available in different strengths and colors.

I will start building the stand soon! I will keep you updated with photo's!

Leonardo

[uhuru]

Originally Posted by Leonardo's Reef

I hope so. I think it will blend in a bit when I put it in the back corner against the black background.

Leonardo

Have you considered using 2 vortechs on opposite sides of the tank instead? It would be much less visible.

[Leonardo's Reef]

Uhuru; The Vortec pumps are sold in USA only. I can import them, but that would be very expensive. Besides that, I would not have good customer support here in Europe.
Besides that I have good experiences with Tunze. I'm not saying Vortechs aren't good (I think they're great) but I I'll stick to what works for me

Besides all the advantages of the Vortechs (less heat, wider flow, battery pack etc.) they have one downside compaired to the Tunze. You can't direct the flow. And even when the flow is very wide, I like to direct the angle of it so I can create the best random, turbulent flow. Just my opinion of course
A while ago btw I saw a video of 2 vortechs creating huge waves, comparable to a wavebox on steriods That was very impressive, but like I said above, I (have to) stick with Tunze...

Yesterday the Tunze Wavebox arrived



Leonardo

[hng]

Looks great Leonardo!

[fish.freak]

Originally Posted by Leonardo's Reef

Example: These LED-spotlights fit into "normal" fixtures and are available in different strengths and colors.

I will start building the stand soon! I will keep you updated with photo's!

Leonardo

Congrats on getting into Marine Biology, I am 6 month away from my BS in Marine Bio. Do you have any links to the led lights, all I can find is 5000k.

[Leonardo's Reef]

Thanks Hoang!

FishFreak, thanks for the congrats. I'n not really in yet, but I'm sure I will!
I found those bulbs at a Dutch electronics site. They had White (6500 K), blue, red and green LED spots. I'm not sure were to find them online on US sites. Anyone?

Leonardo

[Leonardo's Reef]

I changed my lighting plans (again ). I will use 3 lumenarcs, and cut back the T5 from 8 to 4 bulbs.
I really like MH more then T5, and for using half of the T5, I can buy another Lumenarc, bulb and Electronic ballast.

I wil use two double 80 watt T5 pendants, the ATI Powersafe.





Besides that I bought a Schuran kalkwasser-reactor from another reefer.

Height 32"
Diameter 6.3"
Operated by Eheim 1048 pump

I will add a fixed amount of kalkwasser to the system (controlled by dosingpump) every night. I'll start with 0.5 gallon a day, added in frequent small dosages. This will bring up the pH and reduce the amount of Carbon-Dioxide (CO2), which makes calcification for corals easier.
I expect it to arrive on wednesday so I will have pictures then!

Leonardo

[hng]

Wow, great graphics. I like the plan for the new lights. I have been thinking about using a kalk reactor too. Does your pH drop much at night?

[Leonardo's Reef]

Thank you Hoang, I needed a bit of backup to stop doubting

It doesn't drop that much. From pH 8,1 to pH 7,9 at the end of the night. With the constant Kalkwater addition (less during day/more during night) I hope to keep it stable around pH 8,3
I read some claims that corals calcify easier with higher pH. Hydroxide-ions will react with CarbonDioxide forming carbonate (simplified) when adding Kalkwater.
Carbondioxide makes it harder for corals to form CalciumCarbonate. The Kalkwasser reacts with the Carbondioxide (-->increasing the pH) Therefore theoretically the growth is better with higher pH.
I don't know if this is true. I will have to test it.

How is your pH?

Leonardo

[hng]

Well, i just turned the CO2 down a bit on my calcium reactor. This morning, the pH was 8.01 and right now, it's 8.22. That's probably the highest I've seen my pH in a long time. I don't add kalk at all right now.