**UPDATE 11/11
Saturday Test Day!
SG: 35
Ph: 8
No3: 0
Po4: 0
dkh: 7
Ca: 450
Mg: 1425
Avg Tmp: 77.63
Notes: I tested No3 three times to double check the number. Twice with the Nyos kit and once with an API. Every time it registered 0. I also tested P04 twice with the Nyos kit. I should pick up a Salifert or Red Sea phosphate kit to double check my numbers. Certainly there is not 0 nutrients in my system. The refugium is growing nicely so between that and what the skimmer is pulling out my kits are reading 0. I'm going to try and up my feeding a little more this week. I would like to run between 2-5 No3 and between 0.05 and 0.10 P04.
This week my Triton Core7 supplements will be here so I will begin that system. I still don't have a dosing pump so I'll be manually dosing. It should be ok at first as it'll be very small doses. I'll try to get a pump within the next few weeks. I also have a Hanna dkh checker coming.
Lighting: I posted last week about wanting the tank to be a little bit more blue than what the 20K Radium is producing. I ordered a Kessil A80 LED light which arrived on Monday and I'm not overly pleased. To be honest, I'm not sure what I was expecting for a 15W LED.
PRO'S:- Good color spectrum. The color spectrum is nice and the single adjustment knob is easy to dial in the exact color that you want. I wish each channel was controllable but that's OK
- Form. It's a very sexy little light. Much nicer looking than their can-spot models
- No noticeable disco effect
CON's: It's hard to call these con's as the light is designed for a certain application and I'm pushing those boundaries
- The light is not very bright. My Par38 LED bulb from eBay that I have on my Cichlid pond is brighter than this fixture.
- Not great spread. I have the light 12" above the tank and the light seems to fall off really drastically away from center
- Price. I think $130 is pushing the price point for this type of fixture. With the AI Prime HD now only $199 I hope that the A80 will come down in price a little.
Here is a photo of the light on the tank. I have the color set just above full blue
Since this fixture hasn't really accomplished what I was looking for, I've decided to pick up a T5 retro kit from BRS and I'm going to make a floating canopy out of modular aluminum tube from EzTube. Stay tuned for build photos discussion of the light rack. Once the light rack is complete, I'll move the A80 over to my cube tank, which it'll be much better suited.