What a difference proper lighting and flow has on corals

[Karen00]

Hello fellow saltines,

I thought I would post my experience with my first attempt at corals (disastrous) and my second attempt (going much better). This is my first SW tank (yes I still have to do a build thread) that was started early July 2021 as a fish only tank. The tank is a TopFin 5g and everything about it was meant for FW including the lights and pump. It wasn't until November when my parameters started to stabilize that I added two Gorgonians, a Corky Sea Finger and a Purple Plume. I was still using the stock light and pump and had not yet added a powerhead for flow. It didn't take long to know the gorgs were very unhappy. The Corky Finger never did put out polyps and the Purple Plume had minimal polyp extension. Both melted away and rather quickly. That was upsetting because it was entirely my fault and preventable.

Fast forward to December and I upgraded the light to a Luminie Pixie 30w (Chinese light) and added a Sicce Voyager 1000 powerhead. I then added another gorg and a xenia. They did much better but still weren't as fluffy as what they should be so in January I upgraded to an AI Prime HD that I got a great deal on (should've just purchased this in the first place) and added another Sicce powerhead. I immediately saw better polyp extension on the gorg and xenia so I went out and bought another Corky Finger and almost instantly it opened up and now it is fluffy beyond fluffy.

Moral of the story... proper lighting and flow really do matter! This coming from a newb who did all the reading and still skimped out and learned her lesson the hard way. The first pic is my first Corky Finger and the second pic is my new Corky.

@kittenbritches I'm tagging you because I was so envious of your Corky. I'm catching up to you. LOL

 

[Nigel35]

Flow and lighting are arguably the most important elements to coral sustainability. While parameters are critical proper placement flow and lighting are vital.

 

[WVNed]

Yup

 

[Karen00]

Flow and lighting are arguably the most important elements to coral sustainability. While parameters are critical proper placement flow and lighting are vital.

Exactly! And my first two corals paid the price. I will never get over the guilt of killing them. :-( A lot of corals are flexible when it comes to parameters but no coral will tolerate poor lighting and flow for very long. Even NPS might be more flexible with lighting but definitely not flow.

 

[reefGoat]

I feel like flow is always understated. It's getting easier to quantify light but proper flow to the corals is hard to explain, until you just get it. "Low" flow still means strong water movement, just needs to be indirect.

 

[damsels are not mean]

I wish there was more attention given to the environments our corals come from. Everyone's tank is a melting pot of many very different environments. You'll have an acropora from the low end of a drop off next to a reef crest monti and under that a hammer coral that was collected from a shallow and sheltered lagoon. Most corals are adaptable to a wide range, but to see them really flourish requires either careful attention to stocking or careful manipulation of the aquasacape to create micro-environments that fit each piece.

 

[rtparty]

Water chemistry, flow, lighting. In that order. You can not skimp on any of them and run a successful tank long term.

 

[Karen00]

I feel like flow is always understated. It's getting easier to quantify light but proper flow to the corals is hard to explain, until you just get it. "Low" flow still means strong water movement, just needs to be indirect.

Spot on! Even after adding the powerheads it took me a bit to get the flow and placement correct to make all the corals happy. I'm up to eight soft corals. Actually what's funny is that the Sicce 1000 which was one of the lowest flow types I could find for a 5g was still too powerful in my tank. Everything, including fish, were being blown near sideways so I tried wrapping them in various mesh nets but most of the mesh sizes were too open and did little to stem the harsh flow. I finally found one that did a good job of restricting the flow but it was too much so I had to add a second powerhead to beef up the flow with the mesh on it. Two powerheads in a 5g is insane but it works and now I have them placed and directed to make everyone happy. If I start to see growth then that wil be the icing on the cake.

 

[Karen00]

Water chemistry, flow, lighting. In that order. You can not skimp on any of them and run a successful tank long term.

Running a fish only tank is pretty easy especially coming from keeping freshwater tanks bit keeping corals is definitely a finely tuned mixture of science and magic. I have a whole new appreciation and sense of awe for mother nature.

 

[Karen00]

I wish there was more attention given to the environments our corals come from. Everyone's tank is a melting pot of many very different environments. You'll have an acropora from the low end of a drop off next to a reef crest monti and under that a hammer coral that was collected from a shallow and sheltered lagoon. Most corals are adaptable to a wide range, but to see them really flourish requires either careful attention to stocking or careful manipulation of the aquasacape to create micro-environments that fit each piece.

I agree. I'm sure some reefers are doing it really well. I have to start studying members' tanks more closely. I have also started doing a lot of reading about the different environments corals come from that I'm interested in keeping. I can't do a lot of manipulation in a 5g so everything I'm keeping has to be happy with what I can control but I hope to be able to upgrade at some point where the design is either focused on one specific coral biotope or create multiple biotopes in one tank if that's possible.

 

[reefGoat]

Spot on! Even after adding the powerheads it took me a bit to get the flow and placement correct to make all the corals happy. I'm up to eight soft corals. Actually what's funny is that the Sicce 1000 which was one of the lowest flow types I could find for a 5g was still too powerful in my tank. Everything, including fish, were being blown near sideways so I tried wrapping them in various mesh nets but most of the mesh sizes were too open and did little to stem the harsh flow. I finally found one that did a good job of restricting the flow but it was too much so I had to add a second powerhead to beef up the flow with the mesh on it. Two powerheads in a 5g is insane but it works and now I have them placed and directed to make everyone happy. If I start to see growth then that wil be the icing on the cake.

Whatever works. Once you get them happy then they start growing like crazy. Your next problem will be what to do when they are too fast for your tank

 

[Karen00]

Whatever works. Once you get them happy then they start growing like crazy. Your next problem will be what to do when they are too fast for your tank

I can only hope to have that problem. If I do then I will throw a frag party and find room for a larger tank. LOL. I think my LFS will take frags. Actually I think one of my gorgs might be getting a branch. I see a nub appearing on it. Time will tell. I'm preparing the guest list for the frag party.