Nano Tank corals growth Stunted HELP

[jwilkey2468]

I have had my Nano reef tank running for almost a year now and recently have gone through a hair algae problem. As of right now I am not seeing much growth from my corals like I was imagining. I am feeding the tank 1x a day and feeding the coral about 1-2x a week. Don't mind the clarity, I need to swap out my mechanical filtration. Im going to be switching up the flow by putting my HOB on the right side wall where the frag rack is currently and moving the wavemakers on the left wall to direct flow back to the filter. I also plan on manually removing the green hair algae on the corals. I'm curious if anyone has any opinions that could help the coral growth.

Equipment:
- 10 Gallon Aqueon tank and Lid
- Current USA Orbit Marine light (longer rear light)
- Current USA Orbit Marine IC light (shorter front light)
- 0-4 hours: Lights run at 75% full spectrum (50 par in back 100 par in front)
- 4-8hours: Lights run 75% Blue, Red and Green (31 par in back 63 par in front)
- 2x Current USA Wavemakers (660 GPH) currently at 30%
- 100Watt heater (set to 78Deg F)
- Tidal 35 HOB Filter (with carbon, filter floss and filter sponge)
- Aquaclear 30 (DIY Refugium with Chaeto)

Livestock: (I know its a large bio load but I have plans on upgrading in the future to a larger 75 gal+ tank)
- 2x clownfish
- 6 line wrasse
- Lagoon Goby and Pistol shrimp
- Starry Blenny
- Blood red Fire Shrimp
- Cleaner Shrimp
- Lettuce Nudibranch
- Nassarius Snails
- Astrea Snails
- Cerith Snails
- Magarita Snails

Water Levels: (as of 7/5/24)
- Salinity: 35ppt
- pH: 7.8
- Ammonia: .05ppm
- Nitrite: 0ppm
- Nitrate: 5ppm
- Magnesium: 1320ppm
- Alkalinity: 8.4dKH
- Calcium: 450ppm

 

[Solo McReefer]

Needs more snails

 

[crazyfishmom]

The lights are not sufficient for most coral so I would start there.

It might also help to test for phosphate as this is a big culprit when it comes to hair algae.

 

[jwilkey2468]

The lights are not sufficient for most coral so I would start there.

It might also help to test for phosphate as this is a big culprit when it comes to hair algae.

When you say "Light" are you referring to the PAR, intensity of colors, or length of time full spectrum/blue light? I could go up from:
0-4 hours: Lights run at 75% full spectrum (50 par in back 100 par in front)
4-8hours: Lights run 75% Blue, Red and Green (31 par in back 63 par in front)
to:
0-4 hours: Lights run at 100% full spectrum (63 par in back 132 par in front)
4-8hours: Lights run 100% Blue, Red and Green (42 par in back 86 par in front)

OR change the length of time of each period.

 

[Solo McReefer]

I can't tell you what she means

If I had wrote it, it would mean that that is a fish tank light

Not a reef light

Pretty sure, she means the same thing. I have been wrong before

If you want to grow corals, it's best to use lights designed for that

Or lights proven to grow corals

 

[crazyfishmom]

When you say "Light" are you referring to the PAR, intensity of colors, or length of time full spectrum/blue light? I could go up from:
0-4 hours: Lights run at 75% full spectrum (50 par in back 100 par in front)
4-8hours: Lights run 75% Blue, Red and Green (31 par in back 63 par in front)
to:
0-4 hours: Lights run at 100% full spectrum (63 par in back 132 par in front)
4-8hours: Lights run 100% Blue, Red and Green (42 par in back 86 par in front)

OR change the length of time of each period.

Yes, sorry. I should have been more precise.

The PAR throughout the tank is very low. On top of that, with those lights you’re in the range of the spectrum that primarily helps algae grow rather than your corals.

I would highly recommend purchasing a reef light. There are budget options like Nicrew lights which pack a great punch. I have one over my 24 gallon AIO that is growing LPS, mushrooms, montis and zoas beautifully.

 

[jwilkey2468]

Yes, sorry. I should have been more precise.

The PAR throughout the tank is very low. On top of that, with those lights you’re in the range of the spectrum that primarily helps algae grow rather than your corals.

I would highly recommend purchasing a reef light. There are budget options like Nicrew lights which pack a great punch. I have one over my 24 gallon AIO that is growing LPS, mushrooms, montis and zoas beautifully.

I understand that I need a reef light, which it is one. My primary reason for running whites and then then blues are to give the corals time to rest before slamming them with blue photosynthetic light. What is your PAR in your tank for your coals and have you had luck with growing?

 

[crazyfishmom]

I understand that I need a reef light, which it is one. My primary reason for running whites and then then blues are to give the corals time to rest before slamming them with blue photosynthetic light. What is your PAR in your tank for your coals and have you had luck with growing?

When people do that (meaning light cycle so the coral are not stressed) we are talking about tanks where they’re seeing PAR in the 500-600 range and they let the corals rest a little bit by bringing that down to 300-400 for short periods of time.

My tanks have different PAR levels throughout at the appropriate spectrum. Areas range from about 100 on the sand bed of a 30 inch deep tank to about 500 at the top where my SPS are located. I have other tanks with 250 at the sand bed. It depends on what I’m trying to keep. More important than PAR is spectrum and the light that you’re using, while advertised as a reef light, is not really a reef light.

Not trying to argue with you. Merely making a recommendation to help you with growth as this was the reason behind your initial post.

Good luck!

 

[Mr. Mojo Rising]

xxx

 

[NanoNana]

As mentioned by everyone. You need better lighting. Rent a par meter from your lfs and check par readings where your corals are.
Adjust your current lights to match par requirements for your corals. If you can’t meet the requirements , it’s time for new lights. If you want to give them a break, just lower the intensity across the whole spectrum. Corals need the blue light. The white is growing your algae and doing a fabulous job.
I know your zoas are light starved because they are stretching for the sky.
Thats enough algae to feed that lettuce nudibranch for a long time. It could use some help (like your hands cleaning around your corals) but lettuce nudis are the only thing I’ve ever seen that will eat tall algae.
I’m not going to ignore clarity as it’s important to the things living in your tank. A green killing machine nano UV or aquatop nano UV both have internal pumps, just stick it on the glass and plug it in. It will clear your column in a few days or less. Algae is out competing your corals for nutrients.
Next area of concern would be flow. When my hammers droop the first thing I look at it flow. They do not like to blow around they want to barely wiggle. It looks like you turned flow off for your pic. If you didn’t, you don’t have enough. A short video with flow on would help people here advise more specifically.

 

[Gumbies R Us]

I would grab a par meter and see what your lighting is. You can use the Photone app on phones. It's not the most accurate, but it can give you a rough estimation of the light levels in your tank.

 

[jwilkey2468]

As mentioned by everyone. You need better lighting. Rent a par meter from your lfs and check par readings where your corals are.
Adjust your current lights to match par requirements for your corals. If you can’t meet the requirements , it’s time for new lights. If you want to give them a break, just lower the intensity across the whole spectrum. Corals need the blue light. The white is growing your algae and doing a fabulous job.
I know your zoas are light starved because they are stretching for the sky.
Thats enough algae to feed that lettuce nudibranch for a long time. It could use some help (like your hands cleaning around your corals) but lettuce nudis are the only thing I’ve ever seen that will eat tall algae.
I’m not going to ignore clarity as it’s important to the things living in your tank. A green killing machine nano UV or aquatop nano UV both have internal pumps, just stick it on the glass and plug it in. It will clear your column in a few days or less. Algae is out competing your corals for nutrients.
Next area of concern would be flow. When my hammers droop the first thing I look at it flow. They do not like to blow around they want to barely wiggle. It looks like you turned flow off for your pic. If you didn’t, you don’t have enough. A short video with flow on would help people here advise more specifically.

Thank you for your input I really appreciate it! On the topic of light Ill have to change my schedule to allow more intense blue light for my corals. Ill run more intense blue lights and less white lights, but should I run blue 100% of the time. I only run whites for my corals to rest a little.

I was thinking about re-organizing the flow in the tank to allow for proper circulation. What are your thoughts on my current (top pic) vs. new(bottom pic) orientation?

 

[Luigi Reefs]

Thank you for your input I really appreciate it! On the topic of light Ill have to change my schedule to allow more intense blue light for my corals. Ill run more intense blue lights and less white lights, but should I run blue 100% of the time. I only run whites for my corals to rest a little.

I was thinking about re-organizing the flow in the tank to allow for proper circulation. What are your thoughts on my current (top pic) vs. new(bottom pic) orientation?

I have the same set up as yours. A 10-gallon Aqueon with a Tidal 35 HOB. I used the bottom option, where the wavemakers are blowing detritus across the tank and towards the HOB. The purpose of this is to have the flow blow any suspended detritus towards the mechanical filtration, which in our case, is the Tida HOB.

World Wide Corals recently put out a nice video on this topic that is worth a look.

 

[NanoNana]

Don’t you get access to a par meter this week? I would check your par at the top of your your scape center, right side, left side.

Mid area of scape, center, right side, left side

And lower area of scape as above

Sand bed center , right, left and corners. Be sure to check par in shaded areas.

Check with lights at 100% blue then turn down in 25% increments. Off 100% is too much try 75% if that’s too low week in between etc. if 100% is too low you need new lights.

It’s going to be much easier to advise on flow if we can see what’s happening with video. Anything I could say about flow at this point would be speculative.

 

[jwilkey2468]

I have the same set up as yours. A 10-gallon Aqueon with a Tidal 35 HOB. I used the bottom option, where the wavemakers are blowing detritus across the tank and towards the HOB. The purpose of this is to have the flow blow any suspended detritus towards the mechanical filtration, which in our case, is the Tida HOB.

World Wide Corals recently put out a nice video on this topic that is worth a look.

I watched the video and that's what made me think about it lol. But ill have to change the flow and and increase my flow and my light. What is your tank looking like right now?

 

[jwilkey2468]

I have the same set up as yours. A 10-gallon Aqueon with a Tidal 35 HOB. I used the bottom option, where the wavemakers are blowing detritus across the tank and towards the HOB. The purpose of this is to have the flow blow any suspended detritus towards the mechanical filtration, which in our case, is the Tida HOB.

World Wide Corals recently put out a nice video on this topic that is worth a look.

I watched the video and that's what made me think about it lol. But ill have to change the flow and and increase my flow and my light. What is your tank looking like right now?

 

[jwilkey2468]

Don’t you get access to a par meter this week? I would check your par at the top of your your scape center, right side, left side.

Mid area of scape, center, right side, left side

And lower area of scape as above

Sand bed center , right, left and corners. Be sure to check par in shaded areas.

Check with lights at 100% blue then turn down in 25% increments. Off 100% is too much try 75% if that’s too low week in between etc. if 100% is too low you need new lights.

It’s going to be much easier to advise on flow if we can see what’s happening with video. Anything I could say about flow at this point would be speculative.

Here is my tank with flow running. As mentioned above Im going to change the HOB and flowmeters around to allow for proper flow. Along with boosting the flow in general

 

[Northern Flicker]

I would grab a par meter and see what your lighting is. You can use the Photone app on phones. It's not the most accurate, but it can give you a rough estimation of the light levels in your tank.

In my opinion, a PAR meter is not a good suggestion for a new hobbyist who is growing Zoas and lower light coral.

As many have said, start with lighting and parameters.

Most of the common lights (T5s, AI Prime 16s, Nicrew, Noospyche) all have well established PAR expectations and you should be able to guess pretty accurately. Skip the $300 PAR meter and invest that money in better lighting.

For testing, Salifert kits are quite inexpensive and will get you in a ballpark. The Hanna meters are nice but also pricey.

In the meantime, crank those lights for 12 hours a day 100% on all channels until you can upgrade. Maybe make this adjustment over the period of a week.

 

[NanoNana]

I can’t see your vid from my phone. (Best way for everyone to see it would be upload to YouTube then link it here). Hopefully someone who can see it will chime in.

Fixing flow and lighting is going to go a long way to helping your coral. It won’t however fix your algae issue.

 

[jwilkey2468]

I can’t see your vid from my phone. (Best way for everyone to see it would be upload to YouTube then link it here). Hopefully someone who can see it will chime in.

Fixing flow and lighting is going to go a long way to helping your coral. It won’t however fix your algae issue.

Here is the link: If i turn my whites down my algae should diminish. I will also manually remove