aquariums so far and new light

I'm gonna throw up some pics of my progress soon. I've got (3)40g in various stages, (2)5s, (2)10s, and a 20g mostly setup. I just have to laugh about my latest find. I got a crazy deal on an aquarium light partially because there aren't many practical situations for it. I knew it was a lot of light and I was not joking when I said it could light half my aquarium room to the person who asked if it would work on a rather small tank. To see my husband struggling with a only 4' long but widest light I've ever seen I haven't stopped laughing. It's got t5s, halides, and led with digital control for 24hr lighting. I will stop laughing when I plug the thing in and it blows every circuit breaker on my 1800s house. :lol: <br /><br /> __________ Thu Jun 30, 2016 9:27 pm __________ <br /><br /> oopsy... I was unplugging things that might take a lot of power and missed the space heater. While trying to figure out the display I must have hit the turn on metal halides and sent 300w into my best surge protector on the outlet with the heater. There's a reason I used my best surge protector and only the 10g light sharing that one blew up. I unplugged the space heater. I'm still having trouble seeing the display though so I have to figure it out tomorrow.

The tank on the left is as long as the light, the tank on the right is as wide as the light and they both hold the same gallons. So it's around 48x18" of concentrated light sources.

Fun! Did you ruin the surge protector? Or did it just kick off like it is supposed to?

I'm curious about your setup - I see a window - I have always been told to keep tanks away from windows b/c of algae growth... are they there intentionally?

It was my good surge protector it turned off, we unplugged everything, hit the button and it turned on.

I run my tanks like mini ecosystems. If I want I could put one in full sunlight and have minimal algae. I just have to set it up for very high light. The one on the right isn't ideal for a window. It's a crayfish tank so planting is difficult making algae more likely to find nutrients but I am using RO water with purigen instead of carbon so no phosphates unless I add them and I can control the other fertilizers that aren't in my general hardness mix. A lot of algae also hates high water flow and I tend to go all out there too unless it's a breeding tank. The one on the left is to be my river tank. <br /><br /> __________ Sat Jul 02, 2016 11:55 pm __________ <br /><br /> hahaha I have obtained the power of my own sun



That's not even half the light. Just one set with a heavy layer of duckweed and other floating plants on one side. I was concerned the fish would not like to live under the sun but they don't seem to care. Once the plants are grown it should be fine. I might need co2 injection since usually you go to about 4watts per gallon as high light on a freshwater tank. That' s a 40g with 300watts of metal halide.

I blew everything that was on the surge protector at once but it did no other harm which considering my husband's computer is connected to the same line that's a very good thing. The Leds don't work since they were on, a light with incandescent tubes actually shot a tube out of the base into the side of the fixture, and RIP decade old duetto filter. The very expensive parts of the very expensive light still work fine after changing a clock battery. You'd think it would display fine just plugged in but trying the easiest fix I bought a new $2 battery and it works (except the blown leds that are cheap to replace)

Whew! I can't even begin to process all that you are sorting through :lol:

I like the idea of a mini ecosystem - but I wouldn't have a clue how to get that going, or keep it balanced enough... very fascinating!

I want some duckweed for my chickens! I have a tiny kiddy pool that blew into the yard during a storm (NO idea where it came from though, it's not like we have a lot of neighbors, and we're related to 99% of them :lol: ) - I was going to use it, but my fisherman husband vetoed the idea b/c he didn't want to spread anything potentially invasive if birds were to land in it then carry it off to another pond in the area. Feasible argument... I would love to try and get it to work with a wire top or something maybe? And maybe keep a couple fish in it as well? I am pretty sure I "talked" this out on here a while back... it's too late and I'm too tired to remember the details though :roll:

heritage, you could certainly make yourself a nice little pond (a screen/wire to will also help against predators). Beware what fish you put in though, if you add goldfish (there are some beautiful fancy varieties, like fantails, ryukins, telescopes, shubunkins, etc.) before the duckweed has gotten a good population going, it'll disappear faster than it can grow! I have 2 fantail goldfish in an aquarium, but they look so beautiful from the top... I've often considered setting up a pond. And those hard plastic kiddie pools are an inexpensive way to make that happen.

These little boys are Aragorn (orange) and Boromir (calico). There's a zebra nerite small in there named Sam, too. He especially lives up to his name and eats all day. :mrgreen:
<br /><br /> __________ Tue Jul 05, 2016 4:32 pm __________ <br /><br /> Akane, your tank setup is amazing. I love ripariums and "natural" type aquascaping. Great job and good luck going forward!

Akane - for the lights, do you turn them off at night or do they stay on all the time? I've always wondered what was better...

You want a 9-12hr on cycle depending on details.

Duckweed is native and there is generally no danger of letting it spread naturally. I get it free or near free from wild ponds and individuals raising pond fish. If there are ponds within miles of you the stuff is already spreading about. It's part of the natural ecosystem of some ponds and in others it will not survive for various reasons. It will not grow in moving water which restricts it from most larger bodies of water.