Is this not enough lighting for a nano sps tank?

[shortcake]

So I recently went to my LFS and had my water tested. Everything was good except alkalinity was a bit high, but for some reason my sps corals still lack a lot of color and their polyps aren't showing all that much. I was wondering if you guys think it's because of too little light? I use one kessil A150 sky blue. I just don't know if that's enough light for these sps corals. What do you guys think?

 

[Sk8r]

I've moved this from the novice forum to here. New reefer asking about LED and SPS. Can people give him some help on an expensive choice?----jbaker, I've kind of dropped you into the deep end of the pool, here, but there's expertise in this forum that can save you some headache. First thing I know they'll tell you is to get your own test kits for alkalinity, calcium, and magnesium and don't rely on the lfs for that. This will save you the price of the tests in the long run. But you do need good advice on that light kit. Provide the distance between lights and corals: that will get a better answer.

 

[shortcake]

I have my own test kits, but they are api so they aren't as reliable. my LFS uses red sea test kits. And there is approximately 10-12" between the light and corals. I am considering purchasing one or two par38 bulbs to add on.

 

[rovster]

How big is the tank? If small enough should be OK. The 150's are not very powerful but should be fine for a nano. I second getting your own test kits. If you are serious about SPS, you need to be one with the water, LOL! Best of luck.

 

[eddiereefs]

we need moooore information. what size is the tank and more importantly what is ur alkalinity. u need to buy yourself a good alkalinity test kit because u cannot rely on lfs to test it for u in the middle of the night. i like the elos test kit, very simple and accurate and cheap. a lot of people grow sps with kessils...

 

[shortcake]

I have a 10 gallon tank. I use the API test kit. I just tested it and it was about 10 but that was due to dosing. So I am just waiting it out. Everything else was stable

 

[Reefvet]

The key to success with SPS corals is stable water parameters. Very hard to do in a 10 gal tank. You'll have to be methodical.

I several A150s. They're great lights and plenty for a 10 gal.. The Sky Blue is the whitest of the A150s, about like a 10K MH.

I'd lower the light a couple of inches, until you see it's covering the ends of the tank. A height of 6"-8" should be about what you need.

Alk of 10 isn't a problem but it won't grow colorful corals. Try to slowly lower it over a week to 10 days. Change a gallon of water every other day with freshly mixed water that's lower in Alk..

Alk of 7.5 - 8.2 seems to be ideal for color. Read the TOTM write ups and you'll find a lot of beautiful corals at those Alk levels.

TOTM

 

[Reefvet]

I just tested it and it was about 10 but that was due to dosing. So I am just waiting it out. Everything else was stable

If you tested right after dosing that's accurate. Alk isn't going to drop until something consumes it.

 

[shortcake]

Thanks guys I appreciate it! Do you think an extra par38 bulb would help or would that just be overkill?

 

[ReefWreak]

Sounds like you don't need more light or spectrum.

Corals usually brown out from fluctuating parameters, just as often as they do from poor lighting. Since others have chimed in that your light is just fine for colorful corals, I wouldn't mess with it, I would focus on parameter stability.

You should probably look into dosing pumps if you are serious about stable parameters. I have 2 on my 29g cube for calcium and alkalinity supplementation, and they keep my parameters nice and stable.

 

[shortcake]

What do you think my daily dosing should be for a 10 gallon? Recently I'll dose calcium and alkalinity 1 mL each daily. I've also been dosing NO3PO4X, 1 mL daily. Then magnesium 1 mL three times a week. Also zoo plankton 1 mL once a week.

 

[Art13]

you need a reliable test kit to determine your dosing, api is not reliable in that case. You have to figure out the coral uptake, usually by testing daily, then use a calculator to determine the dosing by using the difference over the course of a few days. start doing and keep checking, it is likely you will be tweaking the dose amount for a bit until you get it dialed in. As for mag, i don't even dose that currently, my water changes handle it, if you do regular water changes and don't have a lot of coral in the tank, it should be more than enough to keep up with the mag consumption.

 

[sahin]

Your light is sufficient. Concentrate on the water quality and feeding the tank.

1. Get parameters such as Ca/Mg and Alk stable.
2. Carry out week 15% water changes.
3. Feed the fish at least 2-3 times a day; but
4. Keep an eye on Nitrate and Phosphate. As long as Nitrate doesnt go above 10ppm and phosphate stays around 0.03ppm-0.06ppm you are ok.
5. Dont mess with the tank.

 

[sahin]

What do you think my daily dosing should be for a 10 gallon? Recently I'll dose calcium and alkalinity 1 mL each daily. I've also been dosing NO3PO4X, 1 mL daily. Then magnesium 1 mL three times a week. Also zoo plankton 1 mL once a week.

Your dosing will be what is required to keep Ca around 420ppm, Alk around 8 (10 is fine too), Mg around 1300ppm. Measure same time each day and adjust the daily dosing until you figure out exactly whats need daily. Then measure Alk every 3-5 days, Ca once a week and Mg every other week.

On a tank this small you dont need to dose the NOPOX. Do you have a skimmer on this tank?

I'd rely on water changes and feeding the fish very well.

 

[shortcake]

I do have a skimmer, the JNS cyclone which is identical to the aquamaxx hob-1. I began dosing NOPOX because I was getting algae but now its pretty much gone.

 

[markalot]

Howdy,

I have a few colorful SPS but mostly brown acros, so I'm closer in time to making some of the mistakes you are. I am certainly still making mistakes!

First, you don't have to have SPS, especially acros, to have a nice reef. I love them, they are a real challenge, and it forces you to raise your skills to a new level AND always pay attention to what you are doing.

There are caveats to all of this advice, but this is a good starting point IMO.

Acropora and other SPS like stable water parameters and can really do bad if parameters swing. Sometimes they can tolerate just one parameter swinging, and other times it will kill them. For example, if everything is rock solid and you have a significant KH spike the corals may not react, but if multiple parameters are swinging and KH spikes you may lose a lot of corals, especially acropora. So with that in mind ...

KH must stay fairly stable, as in say less than .5 KH a day. API kits aren't good enough to measure at this resolution, I like salifert test kits.

You should never do anything that will change parameters unless you are testing. NOPOX is great at dropping nitrates and to some extent phosphates but if you drop them too low or too fast you can do significant harm to acros and some other SPS. You will want a good phosphate and nitrate test kit, again I like salifert for both. If you have money to burn then the Hanna ULR Phosphate tester is a good one to have, but not required.

SPS, and Acropora especially, are rather ironic beasts. They demand good water quality but at the same time do much better with food in the water. Drive Nitrates and phosphates too low and you'll end up with pale corals, but an algae free tank. It seems a lot of folks have really good results keeping nitrates around 5 and phosphates around .05. I am still struggling mightily with this, but my target is ~5 nitrates because when I get them too low, and if I allow phosphates to rise, I run into STN (slow tissue necrosis) and RTN (rapid tissue necrosis) issues.

Feed heavily, export frantically. With a smaller tank it should be easy for you setup a system where you can do regular large water changes to export nutrients. Some of the best nanos I've seen feed an impossibly high volume of food and do regular large water changes, gravel vac during water changes, and skim heavily.

Good luck!

 

[slin1977]

Howdy,

I have a few colorful SPS but mostly brown acros, so I'm closer in time to making some of the mistakes you are. I am certainly still making mistakes!

First, you don't have to have SPS, especially acros, to have a nice reef. I love them, they are a real challenge, and it forces you to raise your skills to a new level AND always pay attention to what you are doing.

There are caveats to all of this advice, but this is a good starting point IMO.

Acropora and other SPS like stable water parameters and can really do bad if parameters swing. Sometimes they can tolerate just one parameter swinging, and other times it will kill them. For example, if everything is rock solid and you have a significant KH spike the corals may not react, but if multiple parameters are swinging and KH spikes you may lose a lot of corals, especially acropora. So with that in mind ...

KH must stay fairly stable, as in say less than .5 KH a day. API kits aren't good enough to measure at this resolution, I like salifert test kits.

You should never do anything that will change parameters unless you are testing. NOPOX is great at dropping nitrates and to some extent phosphates but if you drop them too low or too fast you can do significant harm to acros and some other SPS. You will want a good phosphate and nitrate test kit, again I like salifert for both. If you have money to burn then the Hanna ULR Phosphate tester is a good one to have, but not required.

SPS, and Acropora especially, are rather ironic beasts. They demand good water quality but at the same time do much better with food in the water. Drive Nitrates and phosphates too low and you'll end up with pale corals, but an algae free tank. It seems a lot of folks have really good results keeping nitrates around 5 and phosphates around .05. I am still struggling mightily with this, but my target is ~5 nitrates because when I get them too low, and if I allow phosphates to rise, I run into STN (slow tissue necrosis) and RTN (rapid tissue necrosis) issues.

Feed heavily, export frantically. With a smaller tank it should be easy for you setup a system where you can do regular large water changes to export nutrients. Some of the best nanos I've seen feed an impossibly high volume of food and do regular large water changes, gravel vac during water changes, and skim heavily.

Good luck!

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