Ok so I have been traveling for both work and pleasure. I just returned from a week in the Black Forest area of Germany where my dad lives 1/2 the year. I flew in to surprise him for his 87th birthday! So this is the first weekend back home since early August. I have two significant updates.
First, my frag tank has finally cycled so I can start moving corals over from my temp holding tanks. I will add a few pictures over the next few days but we're only looking at a few very small frags. Still, I'm excited to get things into the frag tank as I plan to very carefully quarantine anything I will add into the main display.
Unfortunately the main display still sits in a crate in the garage but now I'm just about there, where I can move it into place in the next week or two.
However, I did get something else done this weekend, and that is hang the main lighting for the tank. He is a pic of a brand new Giesemann Spectra.
Giesemann Spectra by
choerenz, on Flickr
I'm really excited to see things grow under this light. I'll elaborate more on why I'm going with a MH/T5 combo but this decision is mostly based on my old school success I had with MH, and fantastic reviews I've seen of this light on forums, BRS TV, etc.
For bulbs, I will be starting with a 250 W Radium, 2 24" ATI Blue+, one ATI Coral Plus, and one Purple Plus. I also purchased a 250 Phoenix 14k bulb so I'd love to get opinions on one v. the other for growth and color.
I also will use a luxcore selectable ballast so that I can later go up to 400w but I think based on the dimensions of the tank, the 250 should be fine. As I am again traveling, I will post a few more pics of the light and frag tank by the weekend.