Lighting

I have installed a new R2 Solutions 48" LED Lighting Fixture with 24 LEDs alongside my Aquactinics TX5. I'm using this fixture as a moonlight and I currently have it dialed down to 10% brightness with the optional controller I ordered along with it. One hassle I've had with this light is that it came with no mounting legs. However, I was able to easily bend some metal strips to accomplish the job.

One of the reasons I purchased this fixture is because I noticed that all the fish I have lost to jumping have jumped at night. I haven't lost any fish since installing the fixture, but it hasn't really been long enough to judge yet.

I replaced my main lighting fixture with a 5x54 Watt Aquactinics TX5 unit. In addition to an extra bulb, this unit has a active cooling in the form of a fan. Although it does make a little more noise, I've been reading that a properly placed fan can increase bulb output by as much as 20%.

The unit is very quiet. The only problem I have with it is that I have to unscrew screws in order to take out the acrylic shield or change any bulbs.

I'm running 2x Giesemann Aqua Blue and 3x Giesemann Actinic+

I also changed out the bulbs in my refugium fixture. I'm now running 1x Giesemann Midday and 1x Giesemann Aqua Flora. Initially it looked very red, but I've grown accustomed to it now. The Giesemann bulbs are a lot brighter than the Current USA Slimpaqs that I removed.

I decided to go ahead and place my refugium lighting on its provided leg mounts. This helps raise the fixture about 2 inches and prevents salt creep from accumulating on the fixture (previously, I was having to clean it weekly).

Unfortunately, to do this I had to remove the moveable flap above my refugium. This has resulted in some aesthetic and noise issues but was necessary. I will be installing some new molding when time permits.

While cleaning around the refugium, I accidentally knocked my 24" light into the water. The GFCI kicked in and turned off power to everything within a second or two. Needless to say, the light itself no longer worked.

I used a desk lamp to light the refugium for a couple of days until this new unit came in. This is a Current USA Nova Extreme 48" 2x54 Watt T5HO fixture. Right now it has SlimPaq 10,000K and SlimPaq Actinic bulbs in it, but I'll change these out to 6,700K down the line.

With the help of my new digital timers, I have modified the lighting schedule slightly. The white lights in the display tank and refugium are on from 10:30AM to 10:30PM. The actinics in the display tank are on from 10:25AM to 10:35PM.

The lighting system system for this tank is the same as for my previous tank.