Hawkeye's AGA 120

[Hawkeye]

of course the RI fixture has 3 plugs- so really my choices are limited to:

2 LED one plug (this is the 7w grouping)

2 T5 one plug (this would be the sunrise/sunset)

4 t5 one plug -the main battery of lights.

Of course I just realized now that I will also need to get timers (which were built in to my led fixture before). Sheesh do I spend money on a (gasp) a controller like a RKL?

I just ordered a canon DSLR...it's a newbie one. When I get it I'll take pics!

 

[JRWOHLER]

You can run your LED and the pair as your sunset sunrise and the 4 others as daylight.

I am a big fan of the Geissman actinic little pricey though.

Guess your just going to just have to experiment to see what you like. ;D

 

[Hawkeye]

if i did that then wouldn't i have 8 t5s on during the day? or would the lEDs go off when the daylights came on?

i have to go search jerseywendy's thread on her t5s. I feel like such a newbie again. ;D

 

[Hawkeye]

holy cow how did I not see that she sold her tank! wow what a shocker. she is such a great inspiration. Gotta see what can be done about getting her back in (nano tank!).

Anyways - i saw her recommendation on this set:

ATI Blue Plus
ATI Aquablue Special
GE 6,500
ATI Blue Plus
ATI Aquablue Special
ATI Blue Plus

 

[Tazmaniancowboy]

holy cow how did I not see that she sold her tank! 

Holy cow how did you miss that!  Are we going to have to rename you deadeye!  LOL

Anyways - i saw her recommendation on this set:

ATI Blue Plus
ATI Aquablue Special
GE 6,500
ATI Blue Plus
ATI Aquablue Special
ATI Blue Plus

I'm running basically this with the addition of a procolor and an actinic also.  Getting great growth and good color.  I expect my coloration to improve though with my cyano gone and nutrient levels down., I just think I need to figure out a better lighting schedule.

 

[JRWOHLER]

Do you have moonlights on it too? Two of those LED bars is going to be a lot of light for moonlight....I have to see it to understand it. During the day I have all my T5 on start with 4 at 10ish 1130 daylights on....930 daylights off 11 blues+actinics off.

 

[Mbodell]

I got the same light. We will have to compare results. I ordered 8 or 9 different bulbs to mess around with. I will let you know what I find.

 

[Hawkeye]

I got the same light. We will have to compare results. I ordered 8 or 9 different bulbs to mess around with. I will let you know what I find.

which bulbs? if you found a good site - pm me!

 

[Mbodell]

I ended up using the following:

ATI Blue +
ATI Aquablue Special (whitish blue)
UV Red Sun (they were out of kz fiji purple) (this thing is really red, was more white with GE 6500)
KZ Coral light II (similar to aquablue special)
ATI Blue +
ATI Blue +

It gives off a 14k light bluish look. I am pretty happy with the look. The light is definitely brighter than my 150 mh fixture with the two pcs.

 

[Hawkeye]

I ended up using the following:

ATI Blue +
ATI Aquablue Special (whitish blue)
UV Red Sun (they were out of kz fiji purple) (this thing is really red, was more white with GE 6500)
KZ Coral light II (similar to aquablue special)
ATI Blue +
ATI Blue +

It gives off a 14k light bluish look. I am pretty happy with the look. The light is definitely brighter than my 150 mh fixture with the two pcs.

I picked up the following:
ATI Blue
ATI Blue
ATI AqBlue
ATI AqBlue
KZ Fiji
and I had an icecap reefcrest - already. let's see how it goes.

 

[Hawkeye]

Holy cow how did you miss that! Are we going to have to rename you deadeye! LOL

Isnt' dead-eye even better than "hawk-eye"? ROFL!

yes i am ashamed I missed that.

here, a picture is worth a thousand words:

 

[Hawkeye]

I ended up using the following:

ATI Blue +
ATI Aquablue Special (whitish blue)
UV Red Sun (they were out of kz fiji purple) (this thing is really red, was more white with GE 6500)
KZ Coral light II (similar to aquablue special)
ATI Blue +
ATI Blue +

ok - i put the bulbs in - and the cords are connected as follows:
LED
ATI Blue +
ATI Aquablue
KZ Fiji Purple
Icecap Reefcrest
ATI Aquablue
ATI Blue +
Led

now the problem is that there are 3 plugs -
1 plug controls the LEDS
1 controls the ATI Aqua blue/KZ Fiji Purple
1 controls the rest.

So my question is -what makes sense for the "dusk/dawn".
Should it be ATI Aquablue and ATI Blue plus?

 

[Hawkeye]

Just IMHO...go 2 10K 2 12K and 2Actinic 2blue LED
or 2 10K Growth 1 12K 2 Actinic and 1 ATI Blue Plus...or twilight IC bulb.
ATI have great par for that spectrum.
10Ks are a bit white tiny yellowish...don't think you want three ...
Midwater bulb didn't do anything for me couldn't tell difference between that and 12K
With the ATI bulbs you won't lose par vs 12K...and very little vs 10K
The GE 6500 bulbs are not much more yellow and they have great par and growth...never used personally though and are generally cheaper.

Thanks for all the questions. Congrats on the new fixture.

Sorry i read this but thenafter I picked up the ATI's - am trying to apply. I bought:
ati blu plus x2, ati aquablue x2, kz fiji purple. Plus I already had leds x2 and a reefcrest.

 

[Hawkeye]

Another dumb question - but mbodell - how do you slide the plastic splash guard in? do you unscrew the sides???

 

[JRWOHLER]

Hawk you will mess around till you find what you like....all cool that is the fun.

 

[Mbodell]

Another dumb question - but mbodell - how do you slide the plastic splash guard in? do you unscrew the sides???

Yeah and mine didn't fit right so I had to bend it some to get it in there. I probably should have sanded it down first and I still might take it out and do that.

 

[Hawkeye]

Sand it down? no way - the chinese-owned company that produced (it's clearly labeled chinese product and I am not being a racist) this plastic cut it at least a half inch too wide. Idiots. Grumble. Took me forever to get the panel corrected. Then me being the newbie t5 user i had a hard time turning them properly. They sat in correctly when the fixture was upside down. But then when I put it on top of the tank, one was loose and then they wouldn't fire. You can call me incompetent I don't mind but it was frustrating. With the led fixture it was totally plug and play. I also miss the dimming and slow dusk/dawn gradual lighting. Both the coris wrasse and the firefish totally timed their bedtimes/wake up to this gradual event.

Obviously though the benefits have outweighed the loss of the leds since the tank does look crisper- the purple pops thanks to the kz. My clowns though seem spooked...they better not stop breeding just because the tank light changed....sigh.

 

[Hawkeye]

update on some good news - icecap incorrectly charged me for my reef illuminations fixture. I didn't make a big fuss and just sent a note to ask if there was a mistake. Laura/Chris fixed it right away and took care of it. I love it when dealing with top-notch companies like icecap. A+

Anyways - this is my final light set up:
dawn/dusk
aquablue
blue plus

main battery:
aquablue
kz fiji
aquablue
daylight reefcrest

The LEDS stay on 24 x7. Though I'm thinking of turning them off for one hour at night. My solaris never shut off so not sure what others do here.

 

[Tazmaniancowboy]

The LEDS stay on 24 x7. Though I'm thinking of turning them off for one hour at night. My solaris never shut off so not sure what others do here.

Are the leds any brighter on this fixture than your other? I have one tube of the IceCap led's on my tank and my fish won't sleep with them on!

 

[ricwilli]

I shut mine off at night. Though the lights on the Vortech controllers do penetrate threw the bottom of the tank.