mounting coral *newbie question*

[smurray]

Hey guys... Quick question. Can/Should I mount the frogspawn and the candy cane's that I have to some rubble pieces? I've noticed, that if I mess with the rocking too much, they fall. =**[ And I don't like it, cuz they are soft. And I'm worried about them. I'm hoping that I CAN mount them, and that will give them a bit more stability, wherever they are placed.

Reason I ask... Is I might pick up some rubble!! ;]~
http://reefcentral.com/forums/showthread.php?s=&threadid=998235

And I read this post....
http://reefcentral.com/forums/showthread.php?threadid=989415

They where saying that its possible to mount them underwater. I'm really hoping that is possible, and effective. Taking them out of water also scares me a bit more then I'm willing to do to myself! LoL! Just regular SuperGlue will do the job?

TIA!

~Shaun

 

[jpitts101]

zip ties and epoxy, you can peg them, super glue is good too but it tends to come loose after awhile if the coral dont encrust on the rock.

 

[smurray]

like the two part epoxy? can that be used while submerged?

 

[jpitts101]

yeah, thats what i do. i mix it put it on the coral base then zip tie it where i want it for about 2 days then cut the zip tie and it should be set up and good to go. a month or so you will have coraline all over it and wont even know its epoxy.

 

[Travis L. Stevens]

Make sure that the Epoxy Putty that you get is reef safe. I would recommend going to a LFS to get the putty or going to Home Depot and picking up some AquaMend.

 

[smurray]

Awesome! Thanks guys.... I have my chore for the weekend... =]~ Short of a water change, lol!

Two more things...

1. Coraline... I've never really gotten any. What am I doing wrong?

2. Buffers... I've got a couple that I'm currently using. A two part nano tank buffer (has a variety of trace elements it adds) and a calcium buffer. Do many people do this anymore? Is it that much beneficial? Or for the larger tanks, its not needed, or vise versa?

Thanks again!

 

[papagimp]

Buffers and Calcium are needed if your levels are being depleted enough between water changes. For the first year my tank was up I saw no decrease in either Ca or Alk between my water changes. But now I have to dose a bit of each to keep levels going through the week. As for coralline, how long has your tank been up? It can take a minute or two before coralline starts to show itself. Lot's of other "algae" will pop up first though. Also depends upon water quality and lighting. And natrually you'll need some coralline in there to begin with, if you used all dead sand and dead base rock, probably not going to see much for awhile, but well seeded cured rock will be loaded usually. I went about 6 month with very little noticable coralline, now my tank is covered.

 

[smurray]

Well, its a nano tank, only 10g... And I do about 1.5g water change weekly. So I'm taking alot out (mostly bad stuff....) Its been at the new house for about 4 months or so, and set up totally for about 9 or 10 months. (The move hurt... Always does tho. *sigh*) I'm using dead sand, but cured LR. Also... My lighting is the Coralife 95w PC 6500k. I actually need to look into getting a new bulb here soon, I don't notice any difference, but its almost at the end of the "good life"... And I'm thinking of trying out the 10000k bulb.

I've had the "other" algae... Mostly the green stuff, but I HAD to scrape that off of the front and sides. Doesn't bother me on the back wall. Ah well...

I guess if I'm not doing anything wrong, its just taking longer then normal. ^^ Just wanted to make sure I'm not hurting anything, or doing anything wrong. =] Cheers!

 

[Travis L. Stevens]

1. Most likely nothing. It takes a while for it to stabilize and to start growing. Before you know it, it will grow like mad. If you have a giant concern over it, make sure that you get the appropriate test kits and make sure that Strontium, Magnesium, and Calcium are on the high end of the safe range. If your tank is stable and your lights are good, it won't be long before you'll have more Coralline than you'll know what to do with. Be warned from experienced hands, scraping coralline algae is a labor intensive, time consuming process, and it can grow faster than some coral and literally grow over them.

2. Read up on what you are dosing, water parameters, and how to correct them if something goes wrong. Until you feel you have sufficient knowledge, I would suggest saving yourself the trouble of accidently over/under dosing a buffer. In the mean time, water changes should be more than sufficient. Remember, never dose anything that you cannot test for. FWIW, all I use for buffers are Calcium, Alkalinity, and Magnesium. I rarely use these because water changes seem to be sufficient for me so far.

 

[papagimp]

Also keep in mind that a 6500k bulb is typically used for plant growth, or macroalgae growth. I would definatly switch to a 10,000k bulb or possibly even a 50/50 bulb. Depending on the livestock you wish to keep in there.

 

[smurray]

That'll explain my super algae growth! Just kidding... Ok, I'll look a new bulb asap then.

As far as what I want... Not 100% sure... Probably mostly softies, I love the way clams look... And I like the way that the 10,000k bulbs look, more so then the 50/50.

As far as the dosing. I'll halt, until I get a little more research, and some more testing. Looks like I will need to be getting some more test kits. Speaking of test kits. I'm trying to remember the brand I use. Its the kind with the packets, and the square tubs, and you put the water in the tube, pour the contents of the packet, shake, sit, and compare it to the colored plastic piece that sits next to it. I've always used those, but... Perhaps I'm using the wrong kind?

 

[papagimp]

clams will need alot more lighting than what your tank has. MH or similar intensity lighting. Powercompact won't do, I've got mine under 6 x 54 watts, and wouldn't want to put him under anything less than that. Reason I suggested a 50/50 was because the actinics on it, but not really sure how that would effect growth on soft corals or not. I know that some euphyllia's like the frogspawn like alot of blue spectrum in their lighting, or so I hear. Mine has done with and without alot of actinics going. As for the super algae growth, algae is a much much more simpler plant than higher order plants such as Mangroves, macro-algae, potatoe plants, stuff like that, so it'll grow very very well under almost any lighting, regardless of spectrum. having a refugium with macro is probably going to be one of the better ways to outcompete the algae, without one, you are pretty limited to monitoring feeding very carefully. And perform quality water changes to keep nitrates and phosphates down enough to where algae cannot sustain itself.

 

[smurray]

Can't wait to get that cheato going! ;]~ LoL! Yeah, I figured that would take all the nutrients all the nasties in the tank would need. As far as the 50/50.... Still out on that. I like the blue, but the bright TRUE white light always looked better IMHO. Then again, its not what I like, as opposed to whats better for my tank, ya know? So no clams now, huh? *shrug* I can deal, lots of people have beautiful pictures that I can just drool over, hahaha! So is 95w for a 10g considered a low light??

 

[papagimp]

I'm not 100% weather or not 96watts PC is going to be low/medium/high lighting on a tank that size. Following the general "rule of thumb" you'd have 9.6watts per gallon, which normally is considered moderate - high intensity lighting, but since it's only one single compact flourescent, I'm not sure. It may not put out enough light intensity for the corals. I think Travis or one of the Pauls here could answer that better than I.

 

[smurray]

Well... Its one ballast, and one connection, but 4 bulbs. Make sense?

 

[papagimp]

So you have 4 of the 96 watt bulbs? Or do you have one of those 96watt "quad" bulbs?

 

[smurray]

quad bulbs

 

[Travis L. Stevens]

As far as the dosing. I'll halt, until I get a little more research, and some more testing. Looks like I will need to be getting some more test kits. Speaking of test kits. I'm trying to remember the brand I use. Its the kind with the packets, and the square tubs, and you put the water in the tube, pour the contents of the packet, shake, sit, and compare it to the colored plastic piece that sits next to it. I've always used those, but... Perhaps I'm using the wrong kind?

That should be fine, but it's what you are testing for. Certain brands are supposed to be more reliable and accurate than others, but depending on the situation and your personal preferences, it might not be needed.

clams will need alot more lighting than what your tank has. MH or similar intensity lighting. Powercompact won't do, I've got mine under 6 x 54 watts, and wouldn't want to put him under anything less than that.

It's really a game of risk when placing clams under PCs. It can be done, but it definitely isn't ideal. That large of a Quad Flat bulb on a 10g tank, might be sufficient, but then again, the growth rate of the clam and the feeding requirements would outweigh the 10g space it is limited to.

So is 95w for a 10g considered a low light??

Yes and no. It's a fairly large amount of light for the 10g tank, but then again, the intensity is very limited and not as bright. I've seen many woderful 10g tanks with a variety of corals and even clams under this type of lighting, but it all has to be maticulously cared for because of the limited space. It can be done, but I wouldn't recommend it for someone that is just really getting in to the hobby. I've been around for a little while now, and I still wouldn't keep a clam in a 10g tank regardless of the type of lighting. Now, I would be willing to keep SPS under PCs, but the lights would either have to be specially modified, a shallow tank, or the aquascaping would have to be done just right. Either way, it's not worth it when you compare the growth and color to other forms of lighting.

Well... Its one ballast, and one connection, but 4 bulbs. Make sense?

It's a Quad Flat bulb like what I'm going to put on my 2g Cubes. They are very bright for PCs, but really it's better to play it safe with just Softies and LPS with this type of lighting.

 

[smurray]

Yeah! Thats the kinda bulb I got in mine. Well... I am still new to the reefkeeping portion! Thats for sure. I was thinking some zoo's might do nicely for now. At the moment, I have some frogspawn and candycanes. And I'm hesitant to get more, because the frogspawn opens up kinda big for my tank, and I don't want them fighting with anything else I get.

As far as the testing kits, again... I gotta wait till I get home to find out what the brand name of kits I am using. I just remember that they weren't cheap, LoL!

 

[Travis L. Stevens]

Luckily, for the most part, the more expensive the brand, the more reliable. But buyer beware. The preferred brand for accuracy is Salifert, but there are others that come quite close.