thats some serious set you got going edc.
nice. If i was to set up one again i'd like two corner tanks 90+ gallons
one coral , one fish only, salt
I had a 110 gallon tank - mostly angel fish (I just love angelfish). I used to get everyone else’s problem fish as they were usually less of a problem in a huge tank.
But the heater thermostat failed on - came home from vacation to find a cracked tank of fish soup.
That must have had a heady bouquet, with delicate fishy overtones.
OIOW - an appalling stench!
I have had nearly every type of aquarium and fish species at on time or another . Started with small freshwater tanks when I was 10 years old , and was never without an aquarium for another 35 years .
At one time I had eight saltwater tanks . The most interesting saltwater fish I've owned were : four different species of Volitans ( Lionfish ) Three different types of Moray eel ( Snowflake , Green Wolf , and Blue Ribbon .)Jawfish , just about every Clownfish , Flame Scallops and many types of crabs . Angels ( Singapore , Queen and others ) Living coral , and tons of other invertibrates .
Fresh water : Almost every genus and species you can find . I ended up raising , breeding and selling African cichlids for about a decade . The ones I had the most success with were Frontosas , Julidochromis Ornatus , and Pseudotrophius of several types . Many of the fish I used to collect from the rift lakes are now extinct or severly threatened . Mostly due to overfishing by an overcrowded population in the region due to an ongoing civil war . Instability in the area has resulted in far fewer fish being collected for the aquarium trade .
Finally got rid of all of my aquariums a few years ago .
I guess my interest waned . I did enjoy my fish , though . If I were to have an aquarium again , it would be no smaller that 90 gallons and it would be salt .
I tried saltwater aquariums. Cost too much for how much I got paid. The water changes cost a fortune.
Weekly.
I am so glad I found that thread! Very interesting to read. Another thing to share with you guys! Here is my 100 Liter Tank in my students appartment. I got another two at my parents. All freshwater.
Very nice plantings in that one, Philipp ! I tried a few natural plants in mine, but the Oscar decided to uproot everything if I didn't keep to thrice-daily feedings. I now use plastic. :)
@edc: Those Bristlenose Plecs look like something brought back from a Mars mission. Do they do well with cichlids ?
All of the South American cichlids are pugnacious .
Such as Red Devil , Jaguar , Green Terror , Jack Dempsey ....
I dug up some old pics from the 80s and took a picture of them . These are some of my African cichlid tanks . I used a lot of coquina rock in those days to give the fish a way to hide from each other . Territorial fish or shy fish prefer lots of cover .
Generally they are okay unless the cichlids are big. Most will eat bristlenose fry so not much good when breeding. My Oscar considers anything in his tank food. Even bit me a few times when I am cleaning his tank.
29 gallon All In One tank made with a regular 29 gallon like u get at petco.
I have 17 cree royal blue xte leds.
7CREE XP-G R5 5W Cool White LEDs
2 t6 xmls cool and 2 xmls warm.
two meanwell drivers at 700ma.
Leds have been fine in my tank but have only had them running for a short time.
Frog spawn torch coral tons of zoanthids and a bta.
No cyanobacteria problems or other algae problems due to the change in lighting.
Are LEDs any good for lighting tanks? I need new lighting for my tank.
I’m way out of date on this but for freshwater tanks it really depends on planting. Fish don’t need (or want) much light so if you have Oscars or the like get some LEDs of a colour you like so you can see them. If you go for the “underwater garden” type of tank, LED growlights should do the business. Unless the tank is deep when you might need more powerful lights.
For marine tanks you pretty much need metal halide lights (Which are not cheap to buy or run)
I have friends and family that run leds over there tanks and they have all sorts of different stuff in them
Leds will be fine for alot of different coral. The only thing i dont like about the leds is if you have to much water agitation
at the surface you get way to much of the shimmering or “disco” effect.
Glad to hear from someone who know more than I do on this.
When I ran a half cubic metre marine tank - more or less triangular roughly a metre to the short sides and a metre deep - as a marine tank I used 6 mercury vapour bulbs. Which were barely adequate - but at the time the kilowatt or so of metal halide lights would have cost several months’ pay to buy and electricity round here is not cheap (Currently around 40 cents per kilowatt hour. About 65% of my electricity bill was the tank.)
There were no LEDs back then that would do the job.
The only issue i know of with leds is that some coral like acros for example can start to bleach.
Due the intensity of leds. optics play a big factor in that as well as the height of the fixture from the water.
acclamation to the brighter lighting is needed I have done had a couple of different zoanthids start to change color
due to getting zapped lol. but
I wouldnt have any intensity issues if i had mine suspended right right now mine is just a couple of inches above the waterline with a board holding the heatsink up. just because i need to relocate the tank due to not having a board right above the tank in the ceiling to mount to.
Very cool saltwater tank.
Have you tried diffusion film? I would think that going from point source illumination to distributed illumination would reduce this effect.
I had thought about it but was afraid i would lose to much light going to the coral.
Right now i have it with just about right. But once i go higher i will get more of a shimmer.
I was hoping to just be able to add another 8 leds and call it good.
I hope lol
The only other issue i wasnt sure about was I have a few uv leds in the mix and wasnt sure how well
the film would do with uv leds over them.
oK just thought about the diffusion sheets at lowes/depot
I will swap out the acrylic splash shield and put some in to see if that works. 
My bio teacher has some Plecostomus. And do those things breed and have fry like crazy! She just bought a male a female last fall…and now they have about a dozen new fry every week or two, she’s had to give a ton to pet world already.