Still updating tank-lighting & some other questions

[Jennduhh]

Hi again all,

Now that I have all my params under control, found out what killed some of my stony corals, and got my corralline algae starting to regrow I went out & purchased better lighting, as well as dropping about $800 on proper food & chemicals.

Today's first question is lighting. I bought an adjustable Fluval light (will update with exact one when I get home). Have had it on about 70% blue, 20% cold white & 10% cyan for the last 2 days 14-15 hours, with, 90% blue 10% cyan 3-4hrs split between morning & night before shut off & then the remaining 5-7 hours of night with no lighting.
I've read articles, but prefer to here actual hobbyists here. Should I have  some type of blue light on at all times, say 5%ish overnight, or is full dark okay?
Ive added a photo of the "auto" setting that the light came with. I'd like some input on what should be tweaked where, if someone would be willing to assist.


I've swapped most of my corals to soft corals. I've got about 5 different zoas, a new torch that is MORE than happy, a Galaxea (which I'm 70% certain is a torch) & then I have a candy cane that's been in the tank for several months & is doing great (I did nick it with a rock on accident yesterday, so it has a small break, but seems to be alright) & is even starting to grow a new head/branch, & I just added an acoropora that seems to be rather happy as well.

My question on corals is: I also have a pink kenya tree that I got yesterday. It's rather large & I got it from a LFS that is about an hour 30 from me. I acclimated for 2 hours after arriving home & it's been in the tank for about 28 hours as of now. It's been droopy the whole time. I know kenyas are fairly handy & grow like weeds, but im concerned that the trip home may have been too much. It's not completely on the bottom of the tank, but it is in the "low" light range & medium flow. Could It's deflated, droopyness simply be it adjusting after the trip home yesterday? Picture at bottom. (Water isn't cloudy, picture just seems that way cos my clown just sand sifted as I took the picture lol)


I got magnesium, calcium & alk from Top Shelf, but the instructions aren't great. How often should I be testing the params, & is there a user-friendly forum with better instructions on dosing?
Also, I premix my own water 5-10g at a time, using tap & a conditioner. Is this sustainable or would it be better if I bought water to mix with or just pre-mixed water?
I have city water so I'm wondering how much play that actually has on the condition of my reef.


Oh, I also went back through the filtration chamber on the back of the BioCube & added the protein skimmer, bio balls & phosphate remover as directed.

Finally, I know it's hard to see in the screenshot but just on the edges you can see things glowing orange. I've seen these in a few tanks and am curious what they are if anyone knows? Final picture.


ETA: I found an anemone called a Borneman at the LFS yesterday, too. Guy said they're extremely hardy, & great for beginners so I got one and it is THRIVING. Found its perfect home within minutes and has just been open and "sunning" itself all day. It's gorgeous! Just wondering if anyone has dealt with them before? 3rd photo.


As always, THANKS IN ADVANCE!

 

[Mr. Mojo Rising]

I would turn the light on full, the fluval light doesn't pack a lighting punch.

I think most hobbyists are somewhere in 8-12 hour range. 2 of my tanks are at 10 hours one tank at 12 hours.

I would suggest to ensure the kenya tree has enough flow on it, but otherwise I would leave it alone to acclimate to your tank. Some corals just take longer to adjust than others.

Alk is the most important parameter for corals, I test this almost daily or every other day. Calcium I check maybe once every 2 weeks, I don't test for magnesium.

If you want the best for your corals, then get a rodi machine, tap water will have lots of unknowns in the water, so you need to remove everything from the tap water, not just the chlorine. I would never trust any LFS with my water, who knows how often they change their filters, or what bored teenage employee's will do. At the very least, buy bottles of distilled water from the grocery store and mix it yourself, don't trust the LFS water or tap water.

Sounds like your off to a good start, good luck

 

[VintageReefer]

Fluval doesn’t make great lights to be honest. I would also expect you would need the blue channel maxed. What model light is this ? It might be ok for softies and some lps, but I doubt it would be able to sustain sps longterm

You don’t need any lights on overnight.

What is the instagram pic? That tank has high quality lighting. The fluval does not compare to radions and prime

With softie and lps you can Test parameters weekly

Watch how much your alk and calcium reduce; then use the products to replenish. There should be calculations on the package that give a formula to figure out how much to use. Whatever amount it is, divide by 7 to get the Daily dose.

After a few weeks of doing this and testing you can see if your alk and ca are remaining consistent, rising, or lowering. And adjust your daily dose until you get those numbers to stay stable

The beginning is a bit of trial and error, bit of a learning curve, but eventually you figure it out and it gets easier

I have to ask…how do you spend 800$ on food and chemicals ? I don’t even spend that in a year on my fully stocked 75g reef.

 

[Jennduhh]

Fluval doesn’t make great lights to be honest. I would also expect you would need the blue channel maxed. What model light is this ? It might be ok for softies and some lps, but I doubt it would be able to sustain sps longterm

You don’t need any lights on overnight.

What is the instagram pic? That tank has high quality lighting. The fluval does not compare to radions and prime

With softie and lps you can Test parameters weekly

Watch how much your alk and calcium reduce; then use the products to replenish. There should be calculations on the package that give a formula to figure out how much to use. Whatever amount it is, divide by 7 to get the Daily dose.

After a few weeks of doing this and testing you can see if your alk and ca are remaining consistent, rising, or lowering. And adjust your daily dose until you get those numbers to stay stable

The beginning is a bit of trial and error, bit of a learning curve, but eventually you figure it out and it gets easier

I have to ask…how do you spend 800$ on food and chemicals ? I don’t even spend that in a year on my fully stocked 75g reef.

The light was $110, Chem pack from Top Shelf was $60ish, stocked up on filters, bio balls, new protein skimmer, new heater, some new live rock along with some corals mixed in. I had a lot of stuff, but I really want to do this right so tried to invest in some stuff that would lead me in the better direction, but alas, there's always something better.

As for lighting, I knew I should've done more research before buying. ‍ When you think you've done enough research, do more lol

Everything is doing well today, except the kenya did start to shed its skin & basically just started to fall apart, which surprised me because everything else is good & I always thought kenyas were hardier than most.

I did also forget to mention-i got a small tube anemone, as well. It shed its tube & I cant seem to find where its gone lol
Any input on how to locate said anemone?

 

[VintageReefer]

The light was $110, Chem pack from Top Shelf was $60ish, stocked up on filters, bio balls, new protein skimmer, new heater, some new live rock along with some corals mixed in. I had a lot of stuff, but I really want to do this right so tried to invest in some stuff that would lead me in the better direction, but alas, there's always something better.

As for lighting, I knew I should've done more research before buying. ‍ When you think you've done enough research, do more lol

Everything is doing well today, except the kenya did start to shed its skin & basically just started to fall apart, which surprised me because everything else is good & I always thought kenyas were hardier than most.

I did also forget to mention-i got a small tube anemone, as well. It shed its tube & I cant seem to find where its gone lol
Any input on how to locate said anemone?

Here to help!

When I questioned the amount of money I thought the 800 literally was only food and chemicals. Makes more sense now

I kept tube anemones for a while. They don’t really like being disturbed. I’m not surprised it shed it’s tube. It will make a new one rather quickly. Don’t go prodding around for it, you will stress and scare it. My understanding is they go in the tube for safety and protection. By moving it to a new tank, it feels the current (prior) tube is no longer a safe spot. It abandoned it, and will explore under the sand and find a quiet place, and make a new tube. Once it does…if the anemone is not opening in a favorable area (ie back of the tank) do not move it yet. Give it a week or so to settle in and become comfortable. Then, when ready to move it, dig out a large new trench in the sand in the desired area. Almost to the bottom glass of the tank. Gently scoop it from the existing area and slowly move it to the new trench. Position so the tubes opening is just above the sand in desired location. Then bury the tube and fill in the trench.

Feed regularly. Daily. They eat almost anything. Mysis. Flake food. Small krill. Anything meaty. If you broadcast feed fish they usually catch food on their own also.

 

[Jennduhh]

Here to help!

When I questioned the amount of money I thought the 800 literally was only food and chemicals. Makes more sense now

I kept tube anemones for a while. They don’t really like being disturbed. I’m not surprised it shed it’s tube. It will make a new one rather quickly. Don’t go prodding around for it, you will stress and scare it. My understanding is they go in the tube for safety and protection. By moving it to a new tank, it feels the current (prior) tube is no longer a safe spot. It abandoned it, and will explore under the sand and find a quiet place, and make a new tube. Once it does…if the anemone is not opening in a favorable area (ie back of the tank) do not move it yet. Give it a week or so to settle in and become comfortable. Then, when ready to move it, dig out a large new trench in the sand in the desired area. Almost to the bottom glass of the tank. Gently scoop it from the existing area and slowly move it to the new trench. Position so the tubes opening is just above the sand in desired location. Then bury the tube and fill in the trench.

Feed regularly. Daily. They eat almost anything. Mysis. Flake food. Small krill. Anything meaty. If you broadcast feed fish they usually catch food on their own also.

I'd read all this, my main concern is I didn't see him shed his tube or move to a new place. Is that normal? Lol
The sand bed is only maybe 3/4"-1" deep, should I add more for him to burrow?

 

[VintageReefer]

I'd read all this, my main concern is I didn't see him shed his tube or move to a new place. Is that normal? Lol
The sand bed is only maybe 3/4"-1" deep, should I add more for him to burrow?

How do you know he shed the tube? When you bought it, was it in a tube still?

And yes, will need 3” sand depth. The adults tube is 2” diameter and needs to be buried so 3” is approx what they need once a spot is picked

 

[Jennduhh]

How do you know he shed the tube? When you bought it, was it in a tube still?

And yes, will need 3” sand depth. The adults tube is 2” diameter and needs to be buried so 3” is approx what they need once a spot is picked

I watched the guy pull it from the tank & it WAS still in its tube. Only the tube was in the bag when I got home & started acclimating so assuming it was still in at that point, too, lol.
Now, it was an extremely small anemone, so I guess there's still a chance I may just not be seeing it, BUT I'm 99% certain it isn't in the tube, because the tube is laying on top of the sand bed in the very front of my tank and I can see thru it lol, I don't see anything inside of it from what I can tell.

There's no chance that it could've slipped the tube as the LFS worker pulled & bagged it is there? That's been a thought in my mind, too, like I basically paid for the tube and no anemone ‍

 

[VintageReefer]

I watched the guy pull it from the tank & it WAS still in its tube. Only the tube was in the bag when I got home & started acclimating so assuming it was still in at that point, too, lol.
Now, it was an extremely small anemone, so I guess there's still a chance I may just not be seeing it, BUT I'm 99% certain it isn't in the tube, because the tube is laying on top of the sand bed in the very front of my tank and I can see thru it lol, I don't see anything inside of it from what I can tell.

There's no chance that it could've slipped the tube as the LFS worker pulled & bagged it is there? That's been a thought in my mind, too, like I basically paid for the tube and no anemone ‍

Ya know, I have no idea lol

If it left after being introduced to the tank…it could be anywhere under the sand, and you won’t see it until it constructs a new tube.

As mentioned earlier, this is actually a tube worm. And worms will burrow and crawl and end up who knows where.

 

[Jennduhh]

Ya know, I have no idea lol

If it left after being introduced to the tank…it could be anywhere under the sand, and you won’t see it until it constructs a new tube.

As mentioned earlier, this is actually a tube worm. And worms will burrow and crawl and end up who knows where.

Lol, I knew it would have to construct a new tube, guess I just didn't realize it wouldn't come out to eat as it did so.
I'll give it some time & see what happens I guess lol
Thank you

 

[Jennduhh]

Ya know, I have no idea lol

If it left after being introduced to the tank…it could be anywhere under the sand, and you won’t see it until it constructs a new tube.

As mentioned earlier, this is actually a tube worm. And worms will burrow and crawl and end up who knows where.

On another topic, I'm looking at lighting & this video-WHAT IS THE ORANGE THING?!
I see them on so many of the higher quality tanks but have 0 clue what they are and Google has been no help lol

 

[VintageReefer]

Looks like a food dispenser

Something a cube or pellet can float in until it’s thawed/saturated enough to sink and be dispensed vs floating to the overflow