How effective is it to change the light in a Nano Aquarium

[Alexander1312]

I am planning to replace my standard RedSea 50W LED on my RedSea Max Nano Peninsula 26 gallon mixed reef tank with the Ecotech Marine XR15 G6 Pro.

I have been able to keep water parameters now stable at the levels I mostly want them, except phosphate, which is still in progress, and I feel that lighting might now hold back further coral growth. Also, I am still trying to improve PH further, which is currently stuck at 8.15 max.

I have read several articles around this topic, watched various YouTube videos from (potentially) credible sources, and it seems light quality vs intensity only makes a difference.

I have some SPS, LPS, ZOAs and a rainbow BTA, no acros.

My question is, should I see a significant improvement of my coral growth with these new lights, even if PAR does not increase (except in some darker spots the RedSea light cannot reach)?

Thank you!

 

[CasperOe]

The Red Sea light that you you have is a pretty decent light already, so maybe you should look into different ways to increase your PH if that is the main goal that is..

That your PH is maxing out at 8.15 is not particularly bad- mine maxes out at 8.1-ish and I have three of the lights you're suggesting to buy. Not saying that it wouldn't make any improvements for you, I am simply suggesting that I don't think your light is as big an issue as such.

I would look at other ways in stead; maybe look in to changing your dosing to kalkwasser. Worked like a charm for me- and it is quite a bit cheaper than changing your light for sure!

Hey, how old is your tank btw? And how have you determined that you suffer from 'low coral growth'?

 

[Alexander1312]

The Red Sea light that you you have is a pretty decent light already, so maybe you should look into different ways to increase your PH if that is the main goal that is..

That your PH is maxing out at 8.15 is not particularly bad- mine maxes out at 8.1-ish and I have three of the lights you're suggesting to buy. Not saying that it wouldn't make any improvements for you, I am simply suggesting that I don't think your light is as big an issue as such.

I would look at other ways in stead; maybe look in to changing your dosing to kalkwasser. Worked like a charm for me- and it is quite a bit cheaper than changing your light for sure!

Hey, how old is your tank btw? And how have you determined that you suffer from 'low coral growth'?

Thank you very much, this is helpful. While I thought buying a really good new light seemed a good idea, I wanted to second guess this from what I know and you answered this question. I was just not sure how much the spectrum improvements will make a difference, as I will not want the PAR to be too strong, but rather similar to where it is at the moment, and also if the improved spread of this light will provide enough added benefit.

My tank was only set up at the end of August last year. I have not had a reef tank until then so this is still my first school year .

Improving the PH through the light was not my main goal but with stronger photosynthesis, O2 production would increase, CO2 lowered, and therefore PH increase, if I get this connection right, so yes, this would be a nice add-on benefit from the light. And a high PH seems to have a very strong impact on the corals - I did dose silicates for a while due to fighting prorocentrums/Dinos and I did not know that this would help increase the PH too and I had continuously a PH at or slightly higher than 8.3 and corals looked really good.

The reason I believe it is the light is that I have tried everything else already. Optimized trace element levels through multiple ICPs and followed with adjustments, optimized flow, daily live phytoplankton dosing, weekly AF Life Source and I have been dosing kalkwasser for a while now but cannot do more due to high Alkalinity and Calcium levels.

Your key question is how do I know if I have low coral growth, and the honest answer is that this is purely judgemental, watching tons of other videos where they have given timeframes for how many months it took them to grow their frags from being small to become where they showed them and I have similar corals and felt this was not even close to where mine are. But I did see growth on several/most so not really that it is not growing, just slower than expected.

 

[jda]

Light is one of the most important things that you can get to your corals. It is the only way that they get reliable energy in our tanks. Wider spectum and more quantity can help significantly in some cases.

It is so hard to answer some of these questions, but as a good rule of thumb, if you are growing coralline everywhere very quickly, then your corals should be growing well too.

pH is easy - get outside are into your home. Buy a cheap co2 monitor on Amazon if you need to. If you get that indoor co2 under 600, then you are all set... but lower is even better. Use a box fan in a window if you need to.

Higher po4 levels does inhibit calcification. The amount depends on the individual coral. If you want to optimize, then lower, but detectable is better for faster growth. Most don't even notice or care. It might be a few percent lower with .50 with some coral whereas others might not grow much at all with .10.

 

[Alexander1312]

Light is one of the most important things that you can get to your corals. It is the only way that they get reliable energy in our tanks. Wider spectum and more quantity can help significantly in some cases.

It is so hard to answer some of these questions, but as a good rule of thumb, if you are growing coralline everywhere very quickly, then your corals should be growing well too.

pH is easy - get outside are into your home. Buy a cheap co2 monitor on Amazon if you need to. If you get that indoor co2 under 600, then you are all set... but lower is even better. Use a box fan in a window if you need to.

Higher po4 levels does inhibit calcification. The amount depends on the individual coral. If you want to optimize, then lower, but detectable is better for faster growth. Most don't even notice or care. It might be a few percent lower with .50 with some coral whereas others might not grow much at all with .10.

Thank you. Very helpful. I forgot to mention that I have a CO2 monitor (Aranet4), as I thought this impacted my PH. Higher CO2 was indeed an issue at the time, but now it is never above 550, and typically between 450 and 550 (California, window open most of the time).

Appreciate the comment on Phosphate. I am working on getting this lower, as it is currently stuck at 0.3 despite starting to use GFO a few weeks ago, but it seems as if it will take a while to get this lower without dropping to 0.

 

[minus9]

Are you using a protein skimmer? It sounds like you might need better water/air exchange? Do you have a FTS so we can see the whole tank? With GFO, use a smaller amount and change it more frequently, as you want to reduce PO4 very slowly. I like to use PNS Probio as a more "natural" way of reducing PO4, I've had much better results using it over GFO, but that's me. Btw, the reduction of growth at that level is probably less than 10%, nothing any hobbyist should worry about. My PO4 levels are that high and I can see growth on my corals, but I get why you would want to lower them and that seems like a good goal to strive for. I do agree that light quality matters more than quantity, but it's a balancing act that one must figure out. If you are considering a new light, then I would check out the Reefi Uno Pro 2.0, it's way better than the xr15 and it's a light that can grow with you if you decide to upgrade to a larger tank.

 

[90's reefer]

The xr15 will grow anything you want. Cant go wrong with it. I run 4. Are their others that will do the job of coarse. I run primes too and just purchased a noopsyche pro k7 3. This looks like a nice light for the money. Only time will tell.

My ph runs 7.9-8.1 for years with no issues.

Po4 is easy to control with po4 reducing media. I like <0.1 po4.

"Stability is king". You say your parameters are mostly in range except po4.

You said high alk and ca.
Please post your ranges and parameters.

 

[Alexander1312]

Are you using a protein skimmer? It sounds like you might need better water/air exchange? Do you have a FTS so we can see the whole tank? With GFO, use a smaller amount and change it more frequently, as you want to reduce PO4 very slowly. I like to use PNS Probio as a more "natural" way of reducing PO4, I've had much better results using it over GFO, but that's me. Btw, the reduction of growth at that level is probably less than 10%, nothing any hobbyist should worry about. My PO4 levels are that high and I can see growth on my corals, but I get why you would want to lower them and that seems like a good goal to strive for. I do agree that light quality matters more than quantity, but it's a balancing act that one must figure out. If you are considering a new light, then I would check out the Reefi Uno Pro 2.0, it's way better than the xr15 and it's a light that can grow with you if you decide to upgrade to a larger tank.

Yes, I do use the stock skimmer from RedSea for the Red Sea Max Nano Peninsula (26 G), as there is apparently no better skimmer for this tank available. I also sense there is an issue with the air exchange, but not sure how to improve this further. The tank picture is attached - new fish is currently acclimating, hence the little box on the right.

Is the PNS Probio also reducing Nitrates as this is actually on the lower end (between 5-6), so I do not want to reduce this further?

Very little content online on the Reefi - any link you can share where I can read more about this light?

Thanks again!

 

[Alexander1312]

The xr15 will grow anything you want. Cant go wrong with it. I run 4. Are their others that will do the job of coarse. I run primes too and just purchased a noopsyche pro k7 3. This looks like a nice light for the money. Only time will tell.

My ph runs 7.9-8.1 for years with no issues.

Po4 is easy to control with po4 reducing media. I like <0.1 po4.

"Stability is king". You say your parameters are mostly in range except po4.

You said high alk and ca.
Please post your ranges and parameters.

Thank you. Yes, I recognize it is all about stability, and except for Phosphates, most others have been stable for several months (the tank was established end of August 2022 only).

Alk was always between 9 and 9.5 until a couple of weeks ago when I added a rainbow anemone, which is when the Alk dropped 0.5 in just one week, and I am now dosing Alk in addition to 200 ml Kalkwasser / daily over 13 hours.

P.S. PH increased to 8.2 only today, and not sure why suddenly. My only change was to reconnect a CO2 scrubber and not add the weekly microbacter7 dose.

 

[JohnNYC8]

Yes, I do use the stock skimmer from RedSea for the Red Sea Max Nano Peninsula (26 G), as there is apparently no better skimmer for this tank available. I also sense there is an issue with the air exchange, but not sure how to improve this further. The tank picture is attached - new fish is currently acclimating, hence the little box on the right.

Is the PNS Probio also reducing Nitrates as this is actually on the lower end (between 5-6), so I do not want to reduce this further?

Very little content online on the Reefi - any link you can share where I can read more about this light?

Thanks again!

Off topic but that's a beautiful tank. Out of curiosity, what do you have in there for your clean up crew? I have a similar tank and I hope mine looks that good in 9 months.

 

[minus9]

Yes, I do use the stock skimmer from RedSea for the Red Sea Max Nano Peninsula (26 G), as there is apparently no better skimmer for this tank available. I also sense there is an issue with the air exchange, but not sure how to improve this further. The tank picture is attached - new fish is currently acclimating, hence the little box on the right.

Is the PNS Probio also reducing Nitrates as this is actually on the lower end (between 5-6), so I do not want to reduce this further?

Very little content online on the Reefi - any link you can share where I can read more about this light?

Thanks again!

It will reduce NO3 as well, but it won't deplete it completely. As long as you have a measure of NO3, it wouldn't worry about it. I'm not too familiar with those skimmers, but I'm sure there's a way add more air to the skimmer via wooden airstone or similar. You can search Reefi Uno Pro 2.0 here, but here's a link to @telegraham and his take on the light.
Read Telegraham's take on the Reefi here.