New reefer

[dazu]

Hello all,

My girlfriend and I are new to the reefing game. We got ourselves a Fluval Evo tank. We have cycled the tank and we have some clowns and inverts in there and we have also started adding corals.

We upgraded the pump like the one it came with was a little weak and we filled a chamber with some extra filtration etc. It's going well.

We are using the stock lights and they seem to be fine, but not great. We wanted the lights to automatically go on and off so I got a timer that would dim them etc to simulate some kind of sunset and sunrise, but it's not great.

The one thing it doesn't do is moonlight. It would be nice to have the lights switch to blue light, but the switch doest seem to do this.

Would anyone suggest anything we can use on the existing lights we have that couple help improve that?

Also, I was thinking of adding a strip of blue LED across the top to help bring out the colours of the corals.

Any advice would be great. I am not sure if this is the right place to do this?

Thanks!

 

[five.five-six]

welcome to reefing!

I don't know anything about your fluval tank, but I'm sure there are lighting options for it. I'm sure some of the nano guys will chime in but I'd look at rapid LED I'd avoid el-chepo stuff on eBay or Amazon, you'll end up replacing it after poor results.

good luck!

 

[Snarky Shark]

I pulled the lid and put a Kessil over it. Corals responding well.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[Timfish]

Welcome to the hobby and to Reef Central! Reef ecosystems are very complex and a lot goes on we can't test for. These videos by researchers may help explain some of the conmplexities we're dealing with. Also, keep in mind the term "corals" encompases a wide variety of animals and research shows there can be significantl differences in their requirements not only at the species level but at the genotype level. So don't be surpriesed if you always have someone who isn't happy while most are doing well.

"Coral Reefs in the Microbial Seas"
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-R2BMEfQGjU

Changing Seas - Mysterious Microbes
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=c7hsp0dENEA

Nitrogen cycling in hte coral holobiont
https://youtu.be/DWItFGRQJL4

BActeria and Sponges
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-oLDclO7UcM

Maintenance of Coral Reef Health (refferences at the end)
https://youtu.be/dGIPveFJ_0Q

Optical Feedback Loop in Colorful Coral Bleaching
https://youtu.be/oadKezUYkJE

Richard Ross What's up with phosphate"
https://youtu.be/ZRIKW-9d2xI

 

[outssider]

dusk to dawn dimming and moon lights are for the viewers benefit ....not the coral...they are not going to make any difference in the health of the coral or the fish

 

[Sk8r]

Back in the day, we used to add a single-bulb actinic blue light to the white light of the main fixture, and put them on separate timers. I believe Phillips manufacture(d) the actinics.

We also discovered, when we broke down that tank in favor of another, that Australian woodland finches, like the multicolored ones, adore that 2 part lighting system. We had nests and hatches in our flight cage when we had birds.