I'm very curious about this too. I have heard so many conflicting reports.. some replace their T5s once a year, some every few months, and you replace yours every 3??

K.

Incredible tank John! That tank has amazing growth and is stunning! I have had my eye on those purple tangs too over the last few weeks. Would love to try one if I can get this tank up and running quickly (if there is any left!). They are so nice and fat!
GREAT BUY! Sorry to hear of the tank mishaps - seems to always go that way - one thing after another!
Gorgeous tank!

Previous to this I saw 6 months once, and I though that was crazy. I also thought the general consensus was 1 year (depending on quality of bulbs) - mine burned out sooner (damn Current USA 18" bulbs), but \I have a PAR meter to monitor my bulb life.

What's your reasoning on the 3 months (if indeed that is correct)?

thanks Brett, no bleaching yet and colors have stayed the same, the tank now has a bright white look to it. i am trying to be like, Iwan lasser from the Switzerland. :mrgreen:

yes me too. :biggrin:

yeah its all bitter sweet in the end, as much as there are issues and time envolved with the tank, i really love the hobby in the end.

yup he is chillin out, it would be great to have a larger tank and have a school of them, they have an intresting body pattern.

and sure come on over, reefers are always welcome to drop by, when i am not working, hehe.

huh...? is this like pokemon stuff ?

BTW, how do you get pikachu on a bus ...?


POKE-HIM-ON :mrgreen:

yeah its a bummer, but it had a good run, and i dont fault ecotech.

it was a gen1, like the first batch that were produced, it came in a brown cardboard box with stickers on the side.

i do have a mp40w as well, both are great pumps.

Thanks shrimpchips

not sure about the issues they have, as there have a few with the gen1, this was the first that i have encountered.

and YES, i do change out the t5;s every 2.5-3 months.

Yes, the blubs get changed out, 2.5-3 months.

i had orginally planned to change them out every 6, but i wanted to see if there was a difference after 3. and to the eye the tank looked more bright and a hint of blue after changing them out early. it kinda stuck on me.

Thanks Carmen, yeah those purple tangs are FAT. i put half a sheet of nori in the tank, he tried to roll nemo in it to have nemo sushi, hahah, not true. but he did go to town on it.

yup, 3 months, i have had good results with them thus far, so its kinda hard to change now. maybe in a new system, i would try to go further, and see what happens, but for now i will contiune to change them out, 2.5 -3 months.

and for those who have asked. my friend Scott comes by every 2.5-3 months, to pick up the blubs and trade frags.

thanks everyone.

japanese reef magazines
 

my friend Kazu went to Japan last week and I asked him to pick up some Japanese reef aquarim magaiznes.
heres what he got me.
the last pic i thought was a large aquarium, until you see the eye glasses in the pic.

lots of pics in side, tanks spotless, tons of werid nano planted tanks,

now i wish i could read them :lol:

http://i496.photobucket.com/albums/r...G_2186-1-1.jpg

http://i496.photobucket.com/albums/r...0/IMG_2187.jpg

http://i496.photobucket.com/albums/r...0/IMG_2188.jpg

http://i496.photobucket.com/albums/r...0/IMG_2189.jpg

http://i496.photobucket.com/albums/r...IMG_2190-1.jpg

Are those tiny shrimp in that last pico? Wow, small. That first one in the spherical container is amazing... pretty cool stuff!

red crystal shrimp