So I have a 1.7gal(hex Betty tank) mixed 3 color types sps(~3in frag totak) , frogspawn LPS(2heads or branches) , 7 types of zoa(15medium size, 3huge size with 2babies, and like 20or so of the small size kind) , and 2 types of mushrooms(2 of them, dime size), GSP(like a dozen heads), some other star polyps that is green but not neon green, two dime size pieces of leather, and a tiny piece of jacko leptoseris. (I know that's a lot of stuff, but I like the full look and I know once they grow some will compete with others but I'm not worried about that, I'm here to cut them back) I DIY the lighting and put 72 5050 smd lighting strip lights, 18cold white, 30 uv, 24 blue with soda can as reflector and heat sink and a fan. I'm running it on a 14v power supply(12v led strip). And sealed the plastic hood cover with silicon to keep the led from getting wet. It's been running for like a month and a half with sand and dead rock(made live I guess) from Lfs 3yr old fish only tank. I added zoa like a 3 weeks ago, and everything else like a week ago. And 1 small clown.
Question 1: how do I know if the sps, LPS, is happy? Polyp extension is great. In such a small tank that is stocked so much I'm OK with the corals not growing much but short of just dying off completely, do they die slowly? And what are the signs? The zoa are popping new heads, but they are still very small and not fully colored like the parents. I used sealab #28 and one 50%water change weekly. In general, any advice on what to look for in terms of degradation. Or is it a all or nothing deal where they are either good or the tank suddenly crashes. As far as testing, nitrate and phosphates is maxed out on the test kit, added carbon and phosgaurd into the rio50 sponge filter thingie and added these nitrate pebble thingies haven't tested since. I also added this red macro algae thingie to hopefully export nutrients. I feed the clown once every 2days this coral life food and then the left over bits I dilute and feed the corals. So, how long does it have to be running without a crash could I feel safe that whatever I am doing is probably OK.
Question 2: I had a few algae outbreak including cyanobateria and still fighting it, but it is a lot less now. I was running 12hr photo period @13v then I reduced to 6hr @14v. But since the sps is in there now I want to increase to 9hr photo period, however, I notice the light is warmer with 14v I didn't want it to heat the tank too much so I decided to run it for 3hrs on 1hr off, for a total of 9hr total on. The question is, is cycling the lights like that bad for the corals???? (the tank is on my desk at the office and Room temp is always 73degrees so the hr off I'm thinking is to let the tank cool down. I just don't have the tools to measure the temp that's why I can't just measure the warmest the tank gets with continuous lighting.
Question 1: how do I know if the sps, LPS, is happy? Polyp extension is great. In such a small tank that is stocked so much I'm OK with the corals not growing much but short of just dying off completely, do they die slowly? And what are the signs? The zoa are popping new heads, but they are still very small and not fully colored like the parents. I used sealab #28 and one 50%water change weekly. In general, any advice on what to look for in terms of degradation. Or is it a all or nothing deal where they are either good or the tank suddenly crashes. As far as testing, nitrate and phosphates is maxed out on the test kit, added carbon and phosgaurd into the rio50 sponge filter thingie and added these nitrate pebble thingies haven't tested since. I also added this red macro algae thingie to hopefully export nutrients. I feed the clown once every 2days this coral life food and then the left over bits I dilute and feed the corals. So, how long does it have to be running without a crash could I feel safe that whatever I am doing is probably OK.
Question 2: I had a few algae outbreak including cyanobateria and still fighting it, but it is a lot less now. I was running 12hr photo period @13v then I reduced to 6hr @14v. But since the sps is in there now I want to increase to 9hr photo period, however, I notice the light is warmer with 14v I didn't want it to heat the tank too much so I decided to run it for 3hrs on 1hr off, for a total of 9hr total on. The question is, is cycling the lights like that bad for the corals???? (the tank is on my desk at the office and Room temp is always 73degrees so the hr off I'm thinking is to let the tank cool down. I just don't have the tools to measure the temp that's why I can't just measure the warmest the tank gets with continuous lighting.
